We did close on our house November 12th. Uncle Paul and Aunt Nancy visited from Virginia and helped us pick stuff out for the new house before we moved in. We purchased furniture for the upstairs and downstairs family rooms, master bedroom and guest room, dressers for the kids' rooms and dishes for the kitchen. Things were looking great by the 20th. Crib was set up. Baby clothes were sorted. Car seat was purchased. "Go" bag was packed. We were ready to welcome a new baby home!
Contractions started the afternoon of the 21st. We were in Columbia visiting Santa Claus (Grandpa) at Bass Pro Shops. I started timing contractions every 10-15 minutes. Justin and Brock had a Boy Scout campout that night. Justin (scoutmaster) wondered whether or not he should cancel. I told him to go ahead and go, and I'd call him if the contractions got stronger or more frequent.
I was up most of the night. I double checked my "go" bag, packed some snacks to take along to the midwife's house, and had the car seat ready by the door. I listened to my "hypnobirthing" tracks to help me relax through the contractions. I eventually got a little sleep, and was ready to have a baby Saturday morning!
Saturday morning dawned glorious and sunny warm. I put Pandora on in my ear buds and went for a power hike around the new property to help move labor along. I called the midwife and told her this could be the day! She said she was in Sedalia (an hour away) and wondered if she needed to rush back home. I told her I'd let her know when I thought it was time. After that, I sort of melted down.
Justin still wasn't back from his campout. The midwife was in another town. I had no idea if the baby was coming in 30 minutes or 30 hours. I was tired from being up most of the night and was primed for an emotional moment. I cussed and cried for a bit, and then found relief when Justin came home. He got out the tractor and took Kade for a ride. We all went outside and enjoyed the beautiful day. The contractions slowed and eventually stopped. It wasn't baby day after all.
The 24th was due day. It came and went. The 25th did too. No sign of baby. Justin's birthday was Wednesday, the 26th. I hoped maybe the baby would share a birthday with his dad. He didn't. Thanksgiving arrived on the 27th. The Johnsons, Ormes and Chappells came over to feast. We ate all afternoon and evening. By the end of the day, I was still pregnant and exhausted. Friday, the 28th, my book club planned to go see "Mockingjay Part 1" at the movie theater. I joked that I'd go if I was still pregnant. I was, so I went.
The 24th was due day. It came and went. The 25th did too. No sign of baby. Justin's birthday was Wednesday, the 26th. I hoped maybe the baby would share a birthday with his dad. He didn't. Thanksgiving arrived on the 27th. The Johnsons, Ormes and Chappells came over to feast. We ate all afternoon and evening. By the end of the day, I was still pregnant and exhausted. Friday, the 28th, my book club planned to go see "Mockingjay Part 1" at the movie theater. I joked that I'd go if I was still pregnant. I was, so I went.
Saturday, the 29th, was another warm, beautiful day. I started having contractions that morning. I timed them throughout the day. Like the Friday of the previous week, they were coming every 10-15 minutes. They weren't getting stronger or more frequent. I tried not to get my hopes up. Justin took the kids with him to clean some stuff up at the old house. I stayed behind and cleaned the new house.
That afternoon, the Hueys stopped by on their way home from Nicholas' wedding in Utah. They toured the new house, tried out the new home theater we had installed in the basement, and stayed for dinner and a movie/football game (dads watched the game downstairs; women and kids watched the movie upstairs). I went to bed early. The contractions stopped.
About 10:00pm, I got out of bed. I was frustrated and fed up. This baby was six days overdue. I had had two full days of false labor over the course of the past week. I was feeling very discouraged. I watched TV with Justin for a bit and then went back to bed. Then the real contractions began...
They were still coming every 10-15 minutes, but they were ten times stronger than they had been all day. I was extremely uncomfortable, and knew it had to be time for this baby to be born. Still, I worried about another false alarm, and waited as long as possible to wake Justin.
By 2am, I could wait no longer. I woke Justin up and texted Susan, the midwife. She had already delivered one baby that night and was helping another mother labor when I got there. Susan checked my cervix and I was at an 8. The baby was still too high, so she had me do some squatting and pushing during my contractions to get him moved down into position. She also had me labor on a yoga ball while she massaged my back. That was wonderful.
About an hour after we got there, the baby had moved low enough for Susan to break my water sack, so she did. I was interested in trying a water birth, so I lowered myself into the nice, hot bath water to finish laboring. Susan said I could push whenever I felt like it, so I joked that I'd just go ahead and push the baby out on the next contraction. The next contraction came. I pushed. And the baby was out. Susan placed my baby boy in my arms, exclaiming, "Here's your baby!" It was 4:10am on November 30, 2014. It was absolutely unbelievable.
I rested in the tub for a few minutes after that. Justin cut the umbilical cord. Then I got out and dried off. Justin, the baby and I rested in the bed for a while. Susan's Mennonite assistant fixed us something to eat. Eventually, the baby was weighed: a whopping 9lbs. 2oz. When we were ready, we dressed in our own clothes, and were back home before 8:00am. The entire trip lasted less than 6 hours. The kids hadn't even noticed we had been gone!
You would think that with an extra six days to plan for his arrival, our fifth son would have a name by now. But he doesn't. So, I present to you our nameless baby boy. We call him "adorable".
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