Lumpy’s Birth Story (for all those birth junkies out there)

(This was written days after Lumpy was born. Forgive any typos, I was/am sleep deprived.)

With Loopy, I started labor 5 days before my due date, so I was expecting to have Lumpy a couple days before my due date; April 26th. Well that didn’t happen. But in the wee hours of the morning on his due date, I did start to have a yucky low back ache. I knew it could be a sign of pending labor, but didn’t want to get my hopes up so I tried to sleep without much success. But by about 5 am, the pain had lessened and I went about my morning. By late morning, I was feeling the back ache again so I decided to take a warm bath. Felt good and was pretty sure I wasn’t in labor. But when I got out of the tub around 11:30 I decided to lay down and see if I could count contractions/peaks in back ache pain. The contractions were more obvious to me as I laid there and were about 7 minutes apart. I decided to call Andy and tell him that today MIGHT be the day and he should be ready to come home from work if I called. At 12:45, I called the midwife to let her know I was having contractions between 7 and 4 minutes apart. We decided that they weren’t very consistent and since I had no bloody show, that’d I’d call back in an hour to see how things were progressing. Called Andy after that and asked him to come home because I was finally sure I was in labor and I wanted his support. I got up to use the restroom and things changed rapidly. The contractions were intense and super close. I tried to time them but I just couldn’t keep up because I was mostly by myself trying to bare each contraction. (My mother-in-law was with Loopy, trying to get him to nap as well as gather our things.)

At this point I am thinking “Julie you are such an idiot for trying this natural childbirth thing again! You’re clearly not cut out for it. I can’t believe you are going to have to pay for a birth center AND a hospital birth out of pocket AGAIN!” Thankfully, somewhere in my logical brain I remembered that self-doubt was a classic sign of transition (late labor right before pushing). I asked my mother-in-law to call Andy and see how far away he was. Reply: 20-25 mins. I immediately said, “meet us there.” So we woke up Loopy. He of course had a poopy diaper that needed changing. (My one and only expletive and let’s just say it fit the situation.) I had two contractions leaning against the car, while Loopy was getting buckled. We got in the car for the 7 minute drive to the birth center. I kept thinking, “might as well just take me to the hospital, I can’t stand this pain for even one more hour!!!” I had FOUR contractions during that ride. One in the parking lot. I left everything and shuffled as fast as I could into the center.
I busted into the back room, looking for the midwife. They were all smiles and asking me which room I wanted, “The Barcelona”, “The Zen”… I just mumbled something and kept booking it toward the closest room. I dropped on all fours, had a contraction. The sweet nursing assistant said, “Oh those seem strong.” Um yeah lady. The midwife wanted me to get on the bed so they could get my pants off and check my progression. I almost said no. Not sure what my plan was. Andy walked in the room. The sight of him was SUCH a relief to me. I had felt completely out of control with this labor and he had been my rock during Loopy’s outrageous labor. He’s such a great partner. I had a contraction while they were checking me and my water broke. First sign of blood. They asked if I wanted to know how far along I was. Well yeah, duh. I’m expecting them to say 5-6 cm. Nope, eight! Ok, great news, but I had hung out at an 8 with Loopy for many hours and I knew I couldn’t take that again. As they’re telling me this, I pushed a little, not sure why, except that I thought I had to fart or something. LOL.  The midwife was like “oh do you want to push? try it!” Then I hear, “Wow, it’s time to have this baby.” Then I panic. I start yelling I can’t do this, I don’t want to, blah blah. They told me I have no choice, the baby was coming soon. I know that pushing can sometimes take four hours so I ask, “how soon, like an hour?” They all laughed and said, “Ten minutes tops.” WHAT! I’m in total disbelief. The urge to push was intense. I was definitely one of those vocal ladies. I was yelling at the top of my lungs. I didn’t feel different contractions, I just kept pushing. I was gripping one of the wooden bars on the bed frame and felt it start to give way. The beginning couple pushes hurt more than the crowning. The midwife totally rocked. She eased Lumpy through with only a tiny little tear. I didn’t realize his head was out. When they told me I freaked because I hadn’t heard anything and I knew he was still inside me. They were all calm though and said they we suctioning his nose or something. Then they told me to give it everything I had and he was out, on my chest. I was still totally in awe. I kept thinking, “really that’s it? It’s over?” I was so happy. Lumpy looked so much like Loopy and I loved being able to feel present and alert for his arrival. I’ll never forget the weight of him on my chest. Oh, did I mention he weighed in at 9lbs 4 oz? 🙂
The afterbirth was not nearly as traumatic as with Loopy. Everything went smoothly. We ate cinnamon rolls and Jimmy John’s subs. Loopy was there and was super adorable meeting his little brother. It was seriously perfect.

I arrived at the birth center at 1:55pm and Lumpy was born at 2:08pm. We were home that evening by 8 pm, feeling great! Will I attempt a natural birth should we have a third? Heck yes!