Arlo Pip's Birth Story
Monday April 8th started out like any ordinary day. I was 36 weeks and 6 days pregnant; the heartburn was real and I slept like garbage the night before. I took Kenneth on a date to Purple Door and the swing park and then we went home and I got her ready for bed. It was around 8:30 and I was laying in bed nursing her to sleep when my water suddenly broke. There was no question about what had just happened - there was a pop and I was suddenly soaked. In total shock I jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom. I called my midwife to let her know what happened; she told me to try to get some rest and let her know if/when contractions started up. Dustin was in line at Cousin Subs picking us up dinner; when I called he thought I was either calling to change my order or request a very specific drink that he would have to go to 3 different gas stations to find. Much to his surprise it was neither and he was in shock when I told him my water had broken. I ended up getting back in bed with Kenneth and nursing her to sleep.
I went downstairs and suddenly realized I was not really prepared to have a baby. The home visit with our midwife was schedule for Thursday and I had planned on getting the last of our supplies before then. I had absolutely nothing for postpartum care and I also hadn't set up my dream birth space. Well, thanks to Target pickup I was able to get one of those things checked off the list. I sent Dustin to Target and then to Sonic to get that *good* ice. If you've ever had ice from Sonic you know what I'm talking about. The dream space didn't end up happening, but I guess having my dream birth experience makes up for that.
About an hour passed after my water broke and the contractions started. They were pretty mild at first - just minor cramping. I was able to get diapers stuffed and folded, started a load of laundry, basically did the exact opposite of trying to get some rest. But at that point my adrenaline had kicked in and there was no way I could rest. By 10:00 contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and my midwife planned to head towards us that night. Because I was induced with Kenneth we had no real idea how long I would labor for - could be hours or an entire day. Around 11:00 I sent the "come please" text to my doula - contractions were getting strong enough to where I couldn't easily talk through them anymore. She arrived and shortly after I called our birth photographer.
They both arrived right around midnight and by that point the only thing I could focus on was riding out each contraction and trying to rest in between them. And as Murphy's Law would have it, this is exactly the time that Kenneth woke up. Dustin went upstairs in an attempt to get her back to sleep, but his efforts were futile. He brought her downstairs and while she was concerned for me, she still just wanted Mama snuggles. I spent some time laying with her on the floor and reassuring her that I was okay. Dustin ended up taking her to the basement where she enjoyed her first ever movie. I labored quickly and intensely; relying on counter pressure and words of encouragement from our doulas and midwife to get me through each contraction. It's honestly all a bit fuzzy, but I remember giving myself and baby a pep talk in between contractions towards the end. There was a scary few minutes when there were concerns about baby's heart rate dropping and a hospital transfer was mentioned; but thankfully it wasn't necessary. I was laboring mostly on my hands and knees and around 1:10am I felt a ton of pressure; about 10 minutes later after 5 powerful pushes I brought our sweet baby boy into the world and up to my chest. I was in such awe of what I had just accomplished that I didn't even look right away to see whether baby was a boy or girl. It wasn't until a few moments later when Dustin & Kenneth came upstairs that I even thought to look. |
| Dustin's reaction when he heard "it's a boy!" |
After over an hour of skin to skin bonding, breastfeeding and admiring Arlo, Dustin cut his umbilical cord and the midwife started checking him out. He weighed in at a whopping 6lbs 12oz and was 20in long. Another teeny tiny peanut! Kenneth was 6lbs 2oz when she was born; I guess I just make itty bitty babies. After we determined that he was absolutely perfect we got ready to get us all tucked into bed. I snuggled into bed with my brand new (still nameless) baby, Kenneth and Dustin. The birds were starting to chirp outside as I nursed Kenneth to sleep and we all drifted off. The next morning, after getting way less sleep than any of us needed, we decided on a name. Dustin and I both love the name Arlo, but couldn't think of a middle name that we both agreed on. I half jokingly asked Kenneth what baby's middle name should be and she responded with "PIP!!!" who happens to be her favorite character from her current literary fave; the toddler version of Great Expectations. I told Dustin that it was actually kind of adorable and he said he loved it, so Arlo Pip it was.
8 days postpartum and we are all adjusting to being a family of 4. Tandem nursing, bedtimes, meltdowns and all. But that's a blog post for a different day. In the meantime, go checkout the websites of everyone who helped make my birth the incredibly experience that it was.
Jessica Siczkow of 7 Birds Miwdifery
Heather Nischke of Heather Nischke Birth Services
Tori Freund of VLF Doula Services
Chelsea Blank of Chelsea & Brian
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