Monday, April 13, 2015

Scarlett's Birth

When we had Simon, we used a birth center because I wasn't sure I was ready to jump right to a home birth (living in a townhouse with neighbors that could hear through the walls etc. ;)).  This time around, my midwife had started her own practice so we went with a homebirth.  All day Friday I had contractions on and off and just felt a little different.  Simon and I met up with friends and then I was super tired so we crashed at naptime.  That night we had dinner at some friend's house and they told us that playing guitar hero had put them into labor so we figured we would try it.  I was still having some contractions and just not feeling my best but we had fun and then headed to bed.

Around 2 am I awoke to a partial water break.  10 minutes later contractions kicked in and I knew this was it.  I woke up Peter and he began to make preparations to blow up the birth tub in our room.  Simon's birth took so long that we figured we had plenty of time to set things up.  Peter realized that he needed an attachment for the hose so he headed out to Walmart to get it before things really got going.  At this point I was starting to have to breathe through my contractions and in communication with my midwife.  Peter called me to tell me that Walmart wasn't open so we contacted some friends to borrow their attachment.  By the time he got home with it (and some coffee from Starbucks) I was having stronger and closer contractions.  Peter began to blow up the tub and then once he was ready to hook up the hose, the attachment broke!  Little known to me (I was concentrating on getting through contractions), he began to haul a 5 gallon bucket of water back and forth to fill up the tub.  What a good man!

Adele, my midwife arrived around 5:45 am and told me that I was in transition (a surprise to me since it was going so much faster than with Simon). I began to labor in our regular tub since the birth tub still wasn't full of water and wow, did those contractions hurt!  I honestly wasn't sure I was going to make it since it was way more intense than my labor with Simon.  I definitely remember thinking to myself "why didn't I just schedule a c-section??"  =)  Sometime after that a second midwife arrived (to assist Adele) and Bronwyn (the photographer) arrived too.  I do remember thinking "I am not sure I want all these people here" but at that point I was too focused to do or say anything.  After seeing these amazing photos (and some video), I am so incredibly thankful that Bronwyn was there!

Around 7 am, Simon woke up and came into our room.  Peter quickly ran him downstairs and turned on a movie for him cause there was no way he was going to be able to be with us.  After that I moved into the birth tub.





Things were still progressing quickly and by 8:39 am she was born!







Pretty soon after she arrived, I moved into bed and Peter hopped into the shower.  Then we brought Simon in (who, at this point had finished his movie and was playing in his playroom but starting to look for us).  I was so excited to see his reaction and introduce him to his new sister.






He was a little unsure at this point because he hadn't been with us for a couple hours but he was very intrigued and curious about her.


Peter took Simon on a quick errand to grab some treats and when they got back it was time to weigh the baby and take down her stats.  





Scarlett Lola Harrington was born on April 4th 2015.  She came in at 8 pounds 4 oz, 19 & 1/4 inches long.  She is perfect and we are in love.  We are already enjoying being a family of four!

So far, she has been a really great baby.  Simon is really taken with his little sister and enjoys being a big brother.  We feel so blessed to be given this new gift.


Joy

2 comments:

  1. Joy I feel so proud of you. In fact I cried because you did such a good job. Having a baby at home is no small victory going against societal norms. Thank you for sharing your story with the world.

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    1. Aww, Jenna, thank you!! I really appreciate that. =) Miss you, girl!

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