If you don't enjoy the details of a birth story, you might want to scroll down to the pictures ;)
Around 10:30 am on Sunday morning, January 13th, I began having contractions. I knew we had to be getting close to "the day" since I was five days overdue but having had several false alarms in the previous weeks (when I was sure labor would be starting) I wasn't holding my breath. Finally though, around 5:30 pm, I called my midwife to get her opinion. She asked if my contractions had increased in intensity and duration over the last few hours and since my answer was 'no' she told me to eat dinner and go to bed at home but to "get organized and get ready to come to the hospital." We did just that. Both kids went to bed knowing that we might not be there in the morning, I alerted our superstar kid-watchers and eventually we headed to bed. But, that didn't last long. Around 10:00 pm that whole "intensity and duration" thing happened and David said he knew it was time to go because I began to sound different as I breathed through contractions that were lasting about a minute long and coming one after another, and sounded pretty much like a wounded wild animal! We got the midwife on the phone and she said it was TIME! :) Happy, happy, joy, joy!
David called Ali (night-time and morning kid-sitter extraordinaire) and Sarah (morning and day-time kid-sitter extraordinaire) and let them know we needed to go to the hospital. As David packed up the vehicle and made me a snack I got myself in the car and prayed this labor and delivery would be short and sweet. Ali arrived within minutes and we were off.
The hospital we delivered at was pretty far from our house (considering Blaine and HG were delivered at a hospital that was under ten minutes away from our old house) so thank God we went in the middle of the night as there was no traffic. We had my special baby music playing the whole time - music I had picked out and been playing for Sev and I for months prior to his arrival. I am sure David and the L&D nurses get sick of hearing the same songs on repeat, but it is a wonderful meditative practice to me! The song I listened to the most was by Hillsong United and is titled "Oceans." Meditating on the lyrics and hearing the soothing music were a great comfort to me through the waves of intense contractions. Here are the lyrics, which I absolutely love.
"You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand
And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now
So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior"
We arrived in our room around 1:00 am I suppose. The team got to work preparing my antibiotic that needed to be administered because I was Group B Strep positive and they asked me tons of questions. Finally they checked my cervix and I was a disappointing 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced. After my antibiotic was done and baby was found to have a strong heartbeat they unhooked me from everything and I hopped into the jacuzzi tub for over an hour. After that I went to the birthing ball, moved on to hang on David's shoulders and finally ended up on my side in the bed, where I spent most of my time and felt most comfortable. In the middle of all these position changes we discovered that (like Blaine) Severan was presenting sunny-side up and the lip of my cervix was not coming over his head so I couldn't start pushing, though I knew it was time. Misery began to set in for me as I began to remember how long we waited for these two things to come together when Blaine was born: forever! As we approached the 5:00 am hour I had been in very painful back labor for almost 10 hours and knew that I needed some relief so I requested a pain reliever in my IV to take the edge off. While the painful contractions didn't lessen I was able to rest in between contractions and this was HUGE for me in terms of being able to recover and prepare for the next wave of pain. The medicine only lasted 30-45 minutes but it felt like an eternity to me because there was real rest. My nurse also administered a bag of fluids for hydration and that allowed my contractions to space out a bit more which made them more manageable. Don't get me wrong... I still cried and continued to complain that I was not going to make it but "Team Severan" wouldn't let me give in and David knew I didn't want an epidural, so he was my #1 fan and encourager! At 6:00 am they checked me again and I was 7.5 cm dilated (YAY!) After a short celebration and high fives I continued to labor and at 7:30 am the nurse and midwife made a plan to get baby around my cervix so I could push. They put me in the "Queen of Sheba" position (I'll spare you the details), my midwife went in and held my cervix while I 'gently' pushed his head past that last bit. AND IT WORKED! Amen! And then the real work began. It felt sooooo good to begin pushing. Wow! After about ten minutes of pushing I asked how much longer and I got the typical "you're almost there. Not much longer." answer - which did NOT satisfy me. I begged for a number and when I threw out there "6 more pushes?" they agreed! It's funny now, I think. :) She asked if I wanted to feel his head coming out and my answer was the same as it was for the other two kids when I was asked this: "NO! Get him out and I'll feel his whole head!!!!" And I'm happy to report that he was out in just four more pushes. :)
Arriving at 8:31 am on January 13th, 2014 was our third born, beautiful baby boy, Severan Joseph Lyon. He weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds and 14 ounces (wow) and was 20.5 inches long.
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| I hope Severan always remembers that double chin I developed and endured for him. |
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| They let us do delayed cord clamping. David is clamping the cord after it had stopped pulsating. |
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| So glad it's over and he is finally here! |
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| He loved his first bath. |
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| Brother and Sister meet Sev for the first time. |
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| Mimi and her third grand-baby. |
We were discharged from the hospital on Wednesday morning and have been adjusting well at home.
A huge thank you to Ms.Ali and Aunt Sarah for:
A. Putting up with my "I think I'm in labor. Oh wait, just kidding." texts.
B. Taking care of our kids and making them feel comfortable and loved while we were gone.
C. Being awesome women that made my going to the hospital so much easier!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you did for us!
And to my baby's daddy :) David - you were the best support person in that room for me. Both the nurse and the midwife complemented on how awesome you were in there. Your calm, your words of encouragement, your strength (which helped relieve my back labor), and your believe in me got me through those difficult 12+ hours of labor and delivery. I love you so much. Thank you.
Welcome to our family, Severan. We're wild, we're crazy, we're fun and we LOVE you so much.
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