Laboring at home with my kids all around (all my kids except Ian and Shane-they are still at camp) was just so natural. Evie and Fiona figured out pretty quick that if I was leaning on the wall, they should either take what I was carrying or wait to ask questions until I looked at them again. Lula just ran underneath me singing "London Bridge." I would have missed that cute moment in the hospital. Lula also had a spider crawl on her leg and bite her. I wouldn't have captured the spiders for Mark to ID while having a contraction if I were at a birth center. I would have missed snuggling Heidi during her last nap as the youngest baby in the house too.
All day, my contractions were not too painful and spaced far apart. I'm always convinced that they aren't doing any good and yesterday was no different. After lightly contracting most of the day, I had three bigger ones, one right after the other that caused Mark to say, "Please call the midwife and Jennifer now." That was around 7:00 PM. I finally got a hold of the midwife through her birth assistant around 8:00 PM. My midwife had already been up all night delivering another baby, so I wanted her to sleep as long as possibly before coming out to my seemingly unproductive labor. Jennifer got here around 8:30 and started filling the birth pool. My midwife decided to skip out of her class (I didn't know she also had classes last night) that wasn't out until 9:00 and just come straight over. She got here just after 9:00.
I remember looking the clock at 8:15 and deciding that the kids would be having a slumber party downstairs. I rushed them into blanket and pillow gathering and made sure they knew they couldn't come back to their rooms again. I told Lula and Daniel they were just going to fall asleep in front of a movie (and I didn't see Daniel again). It was pretty early for bedtime.
The midwife barely had time to unpack her supplies and get her computer set up before I realized this baby was coming and coming fast. An awesome part of having three kids in three years is that every birth sensation was familiar. I remember feeling a contraction and thinking, "I know you, Pain." There was no fear. No inhibition. It was a totally different experience than my other births.
And on the other side of the birth tub wall, there was Mark. As soon as I said, "I can't feel my arms!" he scooped me up and held me until Jason was born. I can't even describe how it feels to open my eyes and see that my soulmate was there holding me in my most vulnerable time.
Jason Mathuen was born at 9:47 PM, just ten minutes after Mark put Heidi down for bed. He was born in the water and in the caul! Evie, Fiona, and Lula came straight in to meet him.
He is fitting in nicely and things are still a little crazy with managing all the kids. We are taking pictures like crazy, but I'll post them in a few days as I'm down to one-handed typing...
