The Fun Has Arrived!

10 points if you know what movie that's from :).

Here it is: Isaac's birth story.  It's not as exciting as Malachi's, but we liked it that way :).

I had an appointment at the birth center on Thursday, Oct 13.  I was 6 days past my due date.  The midwife and I agreed that she would come by the house the following afternoon to break my water and hopefully start labor.  I was already 5 cm dilated, so she was confidant that breaking my water would do the trick.  Friday morning she called me with the news that there was another woman in labor and since the backup midwife's husband was recovering from surgery, she didn't feel right about having to call her in so I could have my water broken, etc.  To say I was disappointed would have been an understatement.

Saturday morning, October 15th.  I woke up at 4 am with cramps.  At 5 I got in the bath, where the cramps turned into regular contractions.  Strong, but not very painful.  At 6, I got out of the bath, and when it was about halfway drained, I heard the toilet bubbling.  Experience taught me that bubbling toilets and non-draining bathtubs, along with the unmistakable smell of sulfur, means only one thing, our system was backed up.  No working toilets, no draining drains, we essentially had no access to running water in the master bathroom.  Not such a big deal, unless you are in active labor and are supposed to have a homebirth!  John called our landlord, who happened to be on vacation in New York, and told him what was up with the plumbing, along with the magic words "and my wife will be having the baby today".  The landlord promised to call the plumber at 7 am our time, and also gave John the plumber's number.  I then called the midwife, who said she would be right over.  I also called my SIL, Joyce, who came right down.  She didn't want to miss this one!

Midwife checking my vitals while the kids watch

By the time everyone had gathered and the plumber had come, cleared the lines, told John it was most likely a city issue, and left, my contractions were still 5 minutes apart and no stronger.  The midwife said I was dilated to a 6 and settled in to wait.  Joyce and I went walking, which made the contractions stronger and closer.  After the walk, the midwife and I decided to go ahead and have her break my water.  So she called the assistant, and while we waited for her to arrive, we sat around and talked about books and movies and other mundane stuff, which was great as it kept my mind off the fact that in a short time things were going to get very intense and not a little bit painful.  The assitant arrived, they got their stuff ready, and at 11 am, the midwife broke my water.  Things got going FAST at that point, and at 11:24 Isaac Gregory was born.  The boy had some big shoulders and was not easy to push out!  I asked the assistant how many pushes it took and she said "um, half?".  In reality, it was about 6.  Not too shabby!  Isaac surprised us with a weight of 10 lbs, 8 ozs, and a length of 21 1/4.  The only baby to break the 21 inch standard, and a full pound heavier than Malachi, 2 pounds heavier than Libby!  Dang!  all in all, it was a great labor and delivery, and I wouldn't have changed a thing about it.

Libby came in after the birth, said it smelled, and left.  Jaina came in, climbed up on the bed, and proceeded to inspect every inch of her new brother, exclaiming over just how small all his parts were and how cute he was.  Malachi just wanted to jump on the bed.  Here are some of the first pictures taken:

Jaina making sure he's ok

Sweet little baby, one tired mom!