Jax's Birth Story

My mommy and daddy thought that they had another 11 days until I was going to be born. In fact, Mommy was so sure that I would stay inside her until at least my due date, that she only half-packed her hospital bag. Of course, she also thought that labour and delivery would take an awful lot longer and therefore she would have a lot of time to finish packing the bag before she needed to go anywhere.

I'm just full of surprises! Friday, March 11th, 2005, started out as a normal day for Mommy and Daddy. Daddy went to work after getting my big brother Logan ready for the day. I should mention that the week before, on Friday, March 4th, Mommy tripped over one of Logan's toys and fractured the upper part of the humerus bone in her arm. This left her unable to do a whole lot with Logan, since he weighs a ton and Mommy didn't have the mobility to change Logan's diapers. So, Auntie Devil was called upon and she came every day to help Mommy out while Daddy was at work.

On March 11th, Auntie Devil came out to the house to play with Logan and keep Mommy company. I was still snuggled inside, chuckling to myself about the surprise I planned for later that day. I'm good at surprises - Mommy had a midwife appointment that morning and the midwife Christie even checked me and said that I was "low" in Mommy's pelvis, but not truly "engaged" yet, which I would have to be to be born. Christie even told Mommy that chances are she (Mommy) would go into labour before her water broke, since I'm her second baby. Mommy, Auntie Devil and Logan went home from the midwife appointment and decided to pick up Steve, Auntie Devil's boyfriend, and have the four of them go out for a yummy Chinese food lunch. Personally, I wasn't in the mood for Chinese food, so I decided that something needed to be done.

So, when Mommy and the rest stopped briefly at home before heading to the restaurant, right about 12:30pm, as Mommy stepped out of the car, I punched a hole in my amniotic sack. Needless to say, Mommy headed to the bathroom at a very quick pace.

Auntie Devil said that she hasn't seen Mommy move that fast in weeks! Once Mommy ensured that she wouldn't leak everywhere, she decided stubbornly that there was still lots of time before labour would start, and that lunch would go on as planned. After calling the midwife office to tease Christie about her water breaking already and calling her official midwife Anne to let her know that things might be starting, everyone piled into the car. When Mommy saw that there was going to be a wait at the restaurant, added to the fact that she'd had a couple of minor contractions already, PLUS she was leaking enough to soak two pads within half an hour, she changed her mind and everyone headed back to our home.

Inside, Mommy had another couple of contractions and they were starting to be uncomfortable. Knowing that this was definitely labour, Mommy called Daddy at work, telling him not to come home until he was done work, since labour had just started and it was sure to be quite awhile. It was now 1:30pm. At 2:00pm, Mommy had had more contractions - and more uncomfortable contractions - than she figured that she should be having this early, and therefore she called Daddy again to demand that he come home. Imagine her surprise when Daddy informed her that he was already on his way out the door! Apparently Daddy's bosses weren't too impressed with him up and leaving, but Daddy, with much foresight, had cleared everything with his immediate boss weeks before, so everything was fine.

Mommy crawled into a hot bath to labour a bit longer while Auntie Devil and Steve heroically ran around the house completing Mommy's hospital bag packing. Fortunately, Mommy had a list printed from the computer so Auntie Devil had an easier time following that then trying to think of what might be needed! Daddy arrived home within about 5 minutes and helped finish packing the bag and getting everything ready. He also loaned Mommy his watch and Mommy, to her surprise and slight shock, discovered that the contractions at 3:00pm were coming at about 3 to 4 minutes apart.

So, Mommy crawled out of the bathtub and called the midwife to let her know that they were off to the hospital. I was in no mood to hang around once I decided that I wanted out! Anne the midwife said that she and Wendy, the student midwife, would meet us at the hospital at quarter to four in the labour and delivery area. Mommy had more contractions on the way to the hospital and Daddy was driving like a mad man. He was quite disappointed that no police stopped us for speeding as he has always wanted to say, "Officer, I have to speed, my wife is in labour!" At the hospital, Mommy rang the bell to be let into the maternity ward. The nurse who came to the door, said, "May I help you?" and Mommy, in the middle of a contraction, managed to say, "Yes, I think I'll have a baby with you people today." Needless to say, they let her in and a nice nurse took her to a comfortable room. Mommy changed into a hospital gown to labour in, since she didn't want to get any blood, goo or muck on her own clothes and not long after, Anne and Wendy arrived.

Since Mommy is such a good sport, even in labour that by now was quite strong, she let Wendy the student do an internal to see how far she was dilated. Since a second internal would be done right after by Anne, this was a nice thing for Mommy to do. Wendy decided that Mommy was about 4 cm dilated. Anne checked and laughed - Mommy was 5 cm at least and stretched to 6 cm during a contraction! Since Mommy refused drugs, there was no IV or anything so Mommy went for a walk around the maternity ward to help with the contractions. Mommy also demanded the whirlpool labour tub, but it needed to be cleaned after the last occupant, so she had to wait quite awhile before she could use it.

The contractions were coming good and strong, at very close together intervals now - about 1 to 2 minutes maximum. Wendy stayed with Mommy the whole time, encouraging, complimenting and even back-rubbing during the contractions - she was the best labour helper Mommy could have asked for! Daddy had a migraine and wasn't feeling well, so although he did what he could, Mommy was very happy to have Wendy to help out so that Daddy could rest in the chair in the room.

At about 6:30pm, Mommy's contractions were really, really strong and she was having to really work to stay calm and breathe through them. She started feeling the urge to push but it wasn't as powerful as she thought that she remembered from last time, so Mommy figured it wasn't the real deal yet. Mommy decided to lie on the bed for a while, in much the same position as she had used when my big brother was born, except this time she kept her whole body on the bed instead of half off in Daddy's arms. Anne even commented on the fact that we must be getting close to delivery because Mommy was "assuming the position"! By this time, a second midwife Mylene had come to help out, as is standard with a normal midwifery birth - two registered midwives are always there. Mylene and Wendy were standing to one side, chatting about something that Mommy can't remember since she was a little busy working through contractions, and Anne was suggesting that it might be a good idea to check Mommy and see if she was ready to push. After a little bit of discussion about the pros and cons of checking, Anne looked down and said, "Whoops, never mind, get the tray, we're having a baby!" My head was coming out!! Mommy gave a good heroic push and I slithered a decent ways out, to the point where Anne had to tell Mommy to stop pushing! Mommy felt my head and couldn't believe how far out I was - I didn't hurt her as I moved into the world! Mommy pushed again and I came most of the way out - one more little push and Anne said, "Lynnda, reach down and take your baby!" Mommy took hold of me and brought me up to lie on her bare chest and stomach - it was 6:47pm, my birth time! I was wriggling immediately and made some noises just to let everyone know that I was perfectly fine. Mylene started wiping me off and I turned a healthy pink very quickly! Everyone commented on how beautiful I was and, since midwives let the parents find out for themselves, Mommy checked between my legs to confirm that I was, indeed, a little boy! She snuggled me close as Anne and Wendy took blood samples from the placenta and when it came time, Mommy cut the cord herself! Not many minutes later, Mommy gave a big push and out slithered the placenta, my inside home that I no longer needed. I heard Mommy say to Mylene that she had "no idea how good it felt to push that placenta out"! Needless to say, my Apgar scores were 9 and 9 and I was deemed to be absolutely perfect. I weighed in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 21" long. I didn't cry, except later when they kept me naked for longer than I wanted to be, and when Mommy offered me the best food in the world, I wanted to keep sucking away for longer than the hour and a half that she let me! Daddy took pictures of me and the midwives and right about 11pm on Friday, March 11th, I had my first car ride off to my home!