I knew he'd be my little firecracker. With a July 4 due date, the little guy wiggled nonstop throughout the pregnancy and made his entrance into the world with a bang just a couple of days early.
After having our first son, Owen, at the Birth Center three years earlier, John and I knew early on that we wanted a homebirth with Aszani for our next baby. The only concern we had was that Eli was due on the 4th of July, and we lived only blocks from the largest fireworks display in the Midwest. If he decided to make his appearance on the night of Rhythm and Booms, Aszani was going to have a hard time getting through traffic to our house.
And to top it off, all of us were expecting this baby to come quickly. My labor with my first baby had only lasted six hours, and we all expected the second to come in half the time. Needless to say, I was instructed to call at the first sign of labor. And just for good measure, we threw the emergency childbirth instructions in with our birth supplies!
Sure enough, the night before Rhythm and Booms I went to bed strangely confident that I would be having a baby the next day. I got up that sunny Saturday morning and set about an incredibly active day. I took Owen for walks. I cleaned my house. I scrubbed my floors. In hindsight, I'd say I was nesting, because I am typically a very messy person.
All day I walked around alternating between leaning back into a waddle and doubling over with cramps. The baby felt really low, and even my neighbors were commenting that the baby looked like he didn't want to wait much longer.
The day felt electric. I don't know if it was the energy from the party down the street, the storm brewing in the air, or just the energy of a baby ripe for harvest; but I felt it. I called John to come home a little early from work. I remember really wanting him near.
I had been cramping all day, and we sensed that the baby would be coming that night. After I took a shower that evening, I had my first real contraction. I felt excited to think that it was starting. We decided to put Owen to bed upstairs so that he wouldn't awaken if things got a little noisy.
Once Owen was down for the night, John and I decided to call Aszani. I had been having mild, but undeniable, contractions every 15 or 20 minutes for the last couple of hours. A storm was rolling in, and the rain had started to fall lightly. Aszani told me to chill out with my husband and not to "stir the waters." Maybe things would stop if I lay down. She didn't want us to invite the opportunity for her to race the clock through traffic. We would time the contractions and call her in an hour.
We laid on the couch watching out the window as the storm rolled in and the people cleared out. Rhythm and Booms had been cancelled due to the weather, and just in time. As we laid there talking, we realized my contractions were more like 10 minutes apart. Or was it eight minutes? Wait…that last one was only six.
So we called Aszani. I told her we were fine and that we didn't need her now, but that we would probably be needing her later. She told me she was on her way.
I couldn't really believe that I was truly in labor. The contractions felt more like waves of intensity than cramps or pain. John and I would be talking, and as I felt each wave rolling in I would close my eyes and breathe deeply. When it had washed over me and faded away, I would open my eyes and we would keep talking. But at around 10:30, I got up to use the bathroom, and I had the first contraction that reminded me what labor really feels like.
Just then, Aszani arrived. She checked me, and I was dilated to three. I figured we had a long night ahead of us. Little did I know that in only two hours I would be holding my baby in my arms.
The next two hours went quickly. Aszani, John and I chatted while we got the bedroom ready for the birth. John filled up the birth tub, and Aszani organized her supplies. As the contractions came on, I leaned over pillows or the birth ball to breathe through them. I told Aszani, "I just can't seem to find a comfortable position to work through these." She smiled and said, "That's a good sign."
After about an hour, I figured I should probably try to use the bathroom. I sat down on the toilet, and I did not want to get up. Aszani's nurse Shannon had arrived, and I told her that this labor was so different than my first. I felt so present, so able to carry on a conversation.
And then it snuck up on me. Transition. My whole body grew warm and I felt myself slipping into my own world. I was completely in my body. I found myself hanging my head and slowly swinging it from side to side. I heard myself moaning lowly. I didn't have to explain anything. John had seen this before, and he knew what was happening. He sat down in front of me on a stool and held my hands. He offered strong and quiet support as I got down to work.
And then a pop and a gush snapped us back into the room. My water broke right there on the toilet! Aszani told me, "If that was your water, then you better get in the tub!" I couldn't believe that I could possibly be that far into labor already. It was only midnight! It was only about an hour ago that I was dilated to three! But I knew I was in transition, and there was no mistaking that my water broke.
I didn't want to think too hard about what was happening. I just wanted to be in the moment, so I let go of the calculations and expectations. Aszani and John helped me sink into the glorious tub, but at this point, there was no time for relaxation.
I was full on into transition and this baby was moving down, down, down. I knelt in the tub facing John who knelt on the floor outside the tub. We gripped each others hands and let my body and our baby do their work.
It was crazy how distinctly I could feel the baby moving through my body. I knew just where he was. When I started pushing, I could feel that he was bigger than my first baby.
Once his head was out, Aszani helped me sit back in the tub. I reached down into the water and I felt his soft, silky hair. John reached in and felt his little head, too. My baby! How I wanted to meet my baby. I will never forget how I felt as I sat in that tub in my bedroom, stroking my baby's hair underwater while his body was still inside mine.
And then I pushed for the last time. "Help me bring him up," Aszani invited. I reached down again, and this time my hands firmly grasped a wet, warm little body. Together, Aszani and I lifted Eli Johan out of the water, and I cradled him to my chest.
I cooed at my little boy, fresh from the womb, and held him close as he cried softly with his eyes closed. It was the cry of a sweet, sleepy baby who didn't know what in the world had just happened. But I was already this little child's mother. I held him to my breast and said, there you are! I've been waiting for you! Shhh baby, its ok…Mama's here. We sat in the tub for another 10 minutes until the placenta came. Then . . .
John cut the cord and proclaimed "You're free!" to our little baby boy. They helped me out of the tub and into bed. We snuggled in for our first nursing; and with perfect timing, our 2 ˝ year old, Owen, came in to join us. It was one in the morning, but he had woken up; and our dear friend and babysitter brought him down to meet his new baby brother. It was a beautiful moment. The four of us snuggled into bed as Eli latched on for the first time. It felt just right to have our little family safe and sound, comfy cozy in the big bed in our bedroom in our home.
And everyone got their fireworks after all -- they were rescheduled for the following night. As I laid in bed with my 20 hour old baby, feeling the house shake with the booms and watching the fireworks out the window, I felt grateful for how smooth and peaceful the labor and birth had been. And I felt very grateful for the previous night's rain.
I knew he'd be my little firecracker. With a July 4 due date, the little guy wiggled nonstop throughout the pregnancy and made his entrance into the world with a bang just a couple of days early.
The day felt electric. I don't know if it was the energy from the party down the street, the storm brewing in the air, or just the energy of a baby ripe for harvest; but I felt it. I called John to come home a little early from work. I remember really wanting him near.
I couldn't really believe that I was truly in labor. The contractions felt more like waves of intensity than cramps or pain. John and I would be talking, and as I felt each wave rolling in I would close my eyes and breathe deeply. When it had washed over me and faded away, I would open my eyes and we would keep talking. But at around 10:30, I got up to use the bathroom, and I had the first contraction that reminded me what labor really feels like.
After about an hour, I figured I should probably try to use the bathroom. I sat down on the toilet, and I did not want to get up. Aszani's nurse Shannon had arrived, and I told her that this labor was so different than my first. I felt so present, so able to carry on a conversation.
And then a pop and a gush snapped us back into the room. My water broke right there on the toilet! Aszani told me, "If that was your water, then you better get in the tub!" I couldn't believe that I could possibly be that far into labor already. It was only midnight! It was only about an hour ago that I was dilated to three! But I knew I was in transition, and there was no mistaking that my water broke.
John cut the cord and proclaimed "You're free!" to our little baby boy. They helped me out of the tub and into bed. We snuggled in for our first nursing; and with perfect timing, our 2 ˝ year old, Owen, came in to join us. It was one in the morning, but he had woken up; and our dear friend and babysitter brought him down to meet his new baby brother. It was a beautiful moment. The four of us snuggled into bed as Eli latched on for the first time. It felt just right to have our little family safe and sound, comfy cozy in the big bed in our bedroom in our home.
