"Rowan, I think my water broke"
"Your water bottle broke, Mama?"
It was Monday afternoon on 7/17. We had a handyman at the house fixing some leaky pipes in the basement. On his way out, he asked me how I was doing. Now usually, I'm a woman of tact, but I just look at him and say, "I'm feeling really bad." As a father of 6, he completely knew what I was talking about. And just reassured me that the baby would be coming soon. My water broke an hour later!
A month earlier, I woke up in the middle of the night with contractions a few minutes apart. My mom came around 4 or 5 in the morning and I went to the hospital, but I had yet to dilate, so they sent me home and the contractions slowed down. Later that night they picked up strong and fast and I had Kev stay home with the kids and I drove myself to the hospital. They did tests on the baby and me and we were healthy, but they put me on bedrest at home to try to keep the baby in until full term. My instructions were to, "Do whatever you can to keep your water from breaking."
It was the beginning of summer! Kevin runs his own business and I run my own business (which is impossible to keep going on constant contractions). How in the world was I supposed to do that?!
We had planned a family vacation for a few days after this went down at a Christian retreat, which my parents and Kev's mom were also attending. Kev planned to take the kids there, so I could rest and if the baby came, there would be family there to take over with the older kids so he could drive to me. Halfway through the week he came home for a few days and the kids stayed with family there because he could not bear the thought of me home alone in so much pain. The contractions were 8-12 minutes apart for what seemed like forever.
One of my best Mama friends put together a meal train which was such a saving grace during this time. Friends from all over blessed our family with meals, watered our garden, walked the dog, prayed with me, one friend even helped me plant a succulent garden! We felt so surrounded with love during these stressful weeks.
The day that the baby came was the least stressful part of the whole process.
My water broke when I went to go get Rowan from his nap, my dad came to watch the kids, and we went over to the hospital. For 5 hours or so we just hung out and laughed while I was hooked up to an IV and actually had an awesome time while we waited for the doctor to be ready to do our the c section. Contractions were few and far in between, but we knew we needed to do a c section because of my history with my other two labors and the position of the baby.
About 30 minutes before my c section, my water seemed to have broken a second time and I was thrown into heavy labor. They rushed me over and I could feel the baby pressing down. In the elevator, I exclaimed, "I'm going to have the baby in this elevator if we don't get there quick!" And I was right! The baby had descended and had actually got stuck in the pelvis and when they did the surgery, they had to pull his head out. It all happened just in the nick of time!
I had put together a music playlist and the doctors and nurses were singing along during the c section and while the baby was being born which was really sweet.
I had done all of my care with the midwives and had a midwife there with me to orchestrate a "gentle c". She was amazing! A nurse tried to keep me from having skin-to-skin with the baby because she said there wasn't enough room. The midwife told her off and brought the baby to me and we had the most wonderful first meeting! I came to find out that nurse had been there for 25 years and was just being lazy. Such a shame, but it makes me feel even more grateful to have had the midwife there to help give me the birth experience that I wanted.
Then they took me to the recovery room. I had Kev go with the baby while they did all the newborn checkups. So, I was waiting in this room for what seemed like an eternity (it was maybe an hour or two). I begged the nurses to let me go to Kev and the baby and they wouldn't let me until I could "feel my feet". I finally hatched a plan to escape. I borrowed one of their phones and faked crying about how they were keeping me hostage from my baby (knowing they were within earshot). They apologized and finally brought me to our room and all was well with the world. I'm still so confused about all of that. It was not my experience with my last c section. So strange.
Kev and I so enjoyed our 5 days together at the hospital to bond with the baby. My parents took the kids for the majority of the time and then Kevin's dad and Carolyn took them the last night. The morning after the c section, the whole family came to meet the baby and it was such a special time. The kids were obsessed with the baby right away. They couldn't wait to tickle his toes and touch his little fingers. Rowan was shocked that he had two eyes and two hands and two feet! He was so surprised that he even had a belly button. Lillian wanted to hold him like one of her dolls.
I was so grateful to have such a sweet first meeting with all the family around to celebrate!
This birth experience was truly a group effort. Thank you so much to our amazing families and my mom friends in the area for all of your love, prayers, encouragement and help during this challenging time. Welcome to the world Ev Charles ❤️
