And so it begins...

I'm actually starting this blog officially, 18 days late, but I will continue as if I started on the day I intended to, which was the day of the birth of my first son, Martyn Lyle.

He was born on January 20, 2011 at 4:40 in the morning. It was a pretty crazy, awesome, wonderful whirlwind of an experience, since my labor only last about 4 hours and 40 min from start to finish (including early labor).

I should preface this story a bit though.

Martyn is my first child. We did not find out what the sex of the baby was and for the time being, I had started calling the baby "Zeltyn"...which was a combination of the boy and girl names we had picked out. Martyn for a boy, Zelda for a girl. Zeltyn for both until birth. A lot of people thought we should have stuck with the name Zeltyn when the baby was born...ha!

I had been feeling for a couple weeks before my due date, that I would be likely to go over. I don't know why I thought that, I guess it was just a feeling I had, or thought I had convinced myself of...though deep down, I really didn't believe it would happen that way.

My whole pregnancy had been just amazing and wonderful. I had absolutely no complications what soever, I didn't even have morning sickness. I had felt great through out the pregnancy, both physically and emotionally...though my husband would say otherwise about the emotionally part.

The last week I was at work, I just could not focus on anything. I kept thinking how I could change my start date of maternity leave, and I wouldn't have to come in and deal with any of the work I had stacked up on my desk, though I was concerned for whoever was going to be my temporary replacement. I decided I would do just that. I called my midwife and asked for a "get out of work early note"...she was very happy to give me one. She faxed it right over to my HR department, and that was that. I would start my maternity leave at the end of the week. Originally I was going to wait until my due date (Jan 20).

I'm so glad I changed the date. It was only three days earlier, but I was able to rest up for those three days, and I think that really made a huge difference in my labor outcome.

Wednesday, January 19th I knew there was going to be a full moon that night. I was feeling a little antsy and all day had been utterly craving chicken enchiladas. More than just craving the actual enchiladas, I felt totally compelled to make them. It wasn't just "I really want enchiladas"...no, it was more like "I HAVE to MAKE enchiladas TODAY!" (I think that was nesting maybe?) So I went to the store and got ingredients to make some chicken enchiladas.

I had also been feeling slightly crampy. I mean, very slightly. Barely anything at all. I talked to my sister on the phone while I was making enchiladas that evening, informing her on how I was feeling, just letting her know she may be receiving a call in the middle of the night from me, telling her it was time to head north so she could make it to the birth.

Apparently after that conversation, she made up her mind that if I did go into labor that night, that she wasn't going to make it because it would go to fast. She told me "Beth, as soon as you start feeling anything, call me so I have time to get there."

Oh whatever Rachel, don't worry...I'll give you plenty of warning. I'm going to labor at home for as long as I can stand anyway, you'll have plenty of time to make it to the Birth Center....that's what I told her.

I also had Eli call his mom that evening, just to give her a heads up that "tonight may be the night"...she and my sister both had about an hour drive to Portland from their homes. We just wanted them to be ready for a middle of the night call...just in case. It was a full moon you know.

We had enchiladas for dinner, and I had made an extra dish for later. They were REALLY good! Probably the best enchiladas I think I've ever made.

Eli had worked a 12 hour shift on Wednesday, and was very glad to come home to enchiladas for dinner. We went to bed around 9:30pm as usual and I fell asleep quickly.

I woke up at midnight to go pee...right on schedule. When I came back to bed, I noticed I was feeling a little crampy in my belly. Again, it was very very slight, but definitely not Braxton Hicks contractions. (I had grown accustomed to how those felt, since I'd been having them for months, though they had been much stronger in the last several weeks.) I thought, this is a little different...maybe I'll stay awake for a bit and see if they go away.

They didn't go away, but indeed started getting a little stronger every time. Also, the baby (Zeltyn at the time) was moving around more than ever before at that time of night. Usually Zeltyn had been fairly active at night, but never enough to keep me awake...and never like this. It felt like Zeltyn was swimming like a frog, down into the birth canal. I took note of that as being different as well.

I started feeling the contractions move around to my lower back. Still not intense or even mildly intense at all. Again, I took note that these most likely were early labor contractions, but I wanted to be sure. They were building in intensity, but still were very mild. I got up and layed back down in bed, with my feet at the head on my pillow, and my head at the foot on my knee pillow, so I could easily look at my clock without craning my neck.

Eli was totally asleep.

I started timing my contractions at 1:45am. By 2 o'clock, they were consistently 5 min apart. I was wide awake. I decided to just get up, there was no going back to sleep at that point, I was too excited. I got up, walked around the living room and kitchen in a slight daze, and decided I would make some tea. When I got my tea, I decided to sit in the recliner for a bit. The contractions were growing with intensity still, and were noticeable now, but still nothing to be too concerned with (I thought anyway). In the recliner, I could push my back against the back of the chair when I had a contraction, and that was some what soothing. I switched on the lamp, and got my laptop out, and got on facebook, since I'm a facebook junkie it seemed the appropriate thing to do. I sipped my tea, and had a little chat with my cousin who was online. Also, I got a notebook out and started writing down my contraction times.

At 2:45 I decided to wake up Eli. I crawled back into bed, and gently woke him. He said sleepily and semi-jokingly "is it baby time?" (he had been saying this to me every chance he got for the last three weeks) I said yeah it is...he kind of woke up more and said "really?" I told him he didn't need to get up yet, I thought we still had plenty of time before we needed to go, but I just wanted to let him know that I was having contractions consistently 5 min apart, and with building intensity and had been for the last hour. He said ok, and I went back out to the living room and continued to write down contractions.

Eli came out 15 min later in his pj's. He said he couldn't go back to sleep after that, so he decided to just get up.

We both were feeling really excited I think, and we both totally underestimated what was actually going on. My contractions were still steadily growing in strength, but to me they didn't feel any worse than really strong menstrual cramps I had had in the past...in fact, the only difference was that I was feeling them in my back rather than in my belly at all. I could tell they were getting stronger, but they just didn't feel to me, like what I was expecting them to be like at that point. They were still totally manageable.

I decided I was kind of hungry and wanted a bowl of cereal. So I made myself one, and sat down at the table to eat. I had my notebook and stop watch, and still was writing my contractions down. I got about 5 bites into my cereal, when I had a pretty strong contraction. In the middle of it, I felt this very strong pressure in my belly, and then a little pop all of a sudden. It felt like a sharp gas bubble. I also felt a warm trickle, and thought I had peed my pants a little. I thought maybe I need to go to the bathroom, and when I stood up, I had a huge gush of fluid. It kind of startled me and I said "oh, I think my water just broke."

Eli, who was sitting at his computer, looked over at me and said while rubbing his hands together, "alright! Things are picking up!" That was 3:31 am.

I went to the bathroom to clean up, and Eli called his mom to get her up. I called my sister, and then we called my midwife Tracy.

We have terrible cell phone reception in our house, so Eli had to sit at the top of the stairs and talk to her while I was in the bathroom at the bottom of the stairs, cleaning myself up. She asked him a few questions about how I was doing and feeling, like if I felt like I could talk through my contractions. I said I could easily. We decided we would call again when things started picking up more, but for the time being, we were in no hurry to get down to the birth center.

At 3:45 my contractions had picked up tremendously. There had not been any 'in between' stage of labor, like I had imagined. My contractions before my water broke had built in intensity gradually, but were still very much manageable. After my water broke, they sky rocketed in intensity. I'd say on a scale of 1-10, 1 being a slight belly ache and 10 being passing a kidney stone, before my water broke the contractions had only reached about a 4 maybe 5. After the water broke, they shot up to 15 and I felt like I had to push.

We called Tracy back and told her we better start planning to come to the birth center. She said "ok, we usually make a plan to meet there in about an hour from now, can we do that?" At that point, I had not had a 15 on the scale of contractions yet, but they had gone from 5 to 10 easy. I said perhaps sooner than an hour would be better, but I thought we could do that. I think I must have been in transition when my water broke.

At 4:00 is when we called her back for the third time and I was on the toilet just trying to deal with the intensity and urge to push. I was resisting as much as I could and it was so hard! Eli mentioned to Tracy that I said I felt like I needed to push. She said she would call another midwife to meet us at the birth center because she wasn't going to make it in 15 min. (that's how far away we live from the birth center, and she lives 35 min away) and that she had called Lindsey her apprentice to go ahead and start getting the room set up for me. She said don't push, come down to the birth center right away.

Eli hung up the phone and started flying around the house getting stuff. I don't remember this exactly, but apparently I was giving orders as he was doing things....in the middle of sitting on the toilet and dealing with the contractions. He was very patient and just let me do that. He's a wonderful husband! At one point, he came in the bathroom and said to me, "do you want me to call the midwife and tell her to come here?" I considered it. The thought of getting up off the toilet, and into the car, and riding in the car, was almost enough to make me cry. Then I thought about someone trying to find our house in the dark, for the first time....and decided I'd chance the car and having the baby en route to waiting at home, with out anyone but just Eli and I to deliver the baby.

When my water had broken, I had taken my pj pants off. While I was sitting on the toilet Eli had brought me a pair of socks to put on, and my shoes. I think he asked if I wanted my pants and I vehemently replied "NO"....haha! I left the house wearing only a sweat shirt, undies, socks and slip on shoes...no pants. I did manage to at least grab my pants on the way out though.

We left the house at about 4:15, and I was in bad shape.

There are three big speed bumps between our house and the freeway. The first one is just down the street from our house. When we turned onto that street, we were still a little ways from the speed bump and I was squirming in the car, and said "slow down slow down slow down! Don't hit that speed bump so fast!" Poor Eli.

He did great. I think part of him doing so well was that he did not fully understand the urgency of the situation. He did not realize, and I did not say to him, that there was a very real possibility the baby was going to born in the car on the way. I had focused all my energy on resisting the urge to push when it came, which it did twice on the way to the birth center.

I had positioned myself in the passenger seat, so that I could totally brace on every available space of skin I had. I did not recline the seat. I had my feet pressed hard against the floor, my right hand gripping the passenger door arm rest/handle, my left hand pressed against the center console, and my forehead pressed firmly against the door post. Every time I had a contraction, I stretched and pressed hard on those 4 points of contact, my forehead especially. I fogged up the window from breathing so hard, and moaning. I cried out several times, "God help me!" And after every contraction I said, "that's one less contraction I'll have to deal with..." That thought really did help me, though I was still afraid my child was going to just come out in the car, on Highway 26 while the car was still moving!

We made it to the birth center. Just before we got there, I had been afraid no one else would be there and the baby would still be born in the car. We pulled up, after making a wrong turn and having to drive around the block, and I saw a car in the parking lot. Someone was there! I relaxed. Got out of the car, pants in hand, and walked up the stairs. I laughed when I got to the door, realizing what I probably looked like, with no pants on. Ha!

The other midwife, Kerri, got there at the same time as we did.

I had in my birth plan, my preference of rooms if available when I got there. By the time we arrived however, I was going to get myself into what ever tub was open, I didn't care what room it was in. My first choice room was not available, but my second choice was and that's where Lindsey the apprentice had started setting up.

Later when I had talked to her, Lindsey told me I was displaying all the signs of being "actually in labor"...which was funny to me because there was no question in my mind what so ever, that baby was coming in a matter of minutes no matter what anyone said. I kept thinking, 'if I can just get into the tub, everything will be ok.'

I had to go to the bathroom when we got there. I threw off my clothes the minute I walked into the room, and dashed (if you want to call it that, it was more like a quick waddle) into the bathroom. I couldn't stand up straight during contractions. Before I went to the bathroom, I was having a contraction and had to lean over the back of the chair right next too the door. Kerri took that opportunity to listen to the baby's heart tones with the Doppler, and Zeltyn sounded great. She said "sounds like a happy baby!"

When I went to the bathroom, I felt the urge to push again, and I said so. Kerri said "if you feel like you need to push, it's ok, you just go right ahead and push." So I did, a little...and pooped in the toilet. That relieved a great deal of pressure, which surprised me, but I felt relieved. I still had a lot of fluid and a little blood leaking all over. With seeing that, I felt like I HAD to just get into the tub. It was still filling up. Lindsey had also lit some candles, and the room just felt very secure and cozy...very safe and calm. I went out to get into the tub and had a contraction, so I had to wait...I couldn't swing my leg over the side.

Once I got into the tub, my whole body just relaxed. I felt the water support me, and boost my body. I rolled over and draped my right arm over the side of the tub and just relaxed. Lindsey turned the faucet off, and we all just waited for a couple minutes.

I have no idea how far apart my contractions were at that point, I'm going to guess they were about 2 min apart, and lasted about a minute. I had another contraction in the tub, and it was intense, but the water surrounding me and supporting my body gave me the mobility and comfort to get through it.

Then it was over and I relaxed for a couple minutes.

The next contraction came and I felt again like I needed to push, so I did. I started a little tentatively, trying not to just push with all my might, but let my body and the contraction do the work it knew how to do. But I felt the baby's head jolt down and I knew it was coming out. I said, (or yelled rather) "the baby's head is coming out!" And continued to push. There was no gradual crowning, like you normally see in birth videos, or hear people talk about. The baby's head just popped out in one quick motion. Kerri said to me "do you want to put your hand down and catch the baby?" I had my eyes shut, it was the only way I could deal with it all. In my minds eye I could literally see the baby's head pop out like it did. I shouted back in response, "NO!" and kept pushing. This all happened very fast, it was still only the first real push. With this same push, once the head was out the rest of the baby just shot out of me, and shot across the tub. Had I been further down in the tub, the baby would have smacked into the other end of the tub. Eli said Zeltyn went from my pelvis, to mid calf with lightening speed!

Also, in my original birth plan, Eli was going to catch the baby. He was standing next to the tub with Kerri and was about to say, "I'm supposed to catch the baby, is there anything I need to do right now?" Before he could ask, the baby just shot out like a rocket....no one caught him, just the water. He even had a little rip cord affect from the umbilical cord....ha! It was his first time bungee jumping!

He sort of floated to the top of the water, and both Eli and Kerri scooped him up and layed him on my chest right away. The second his skin touched mine he started wailing, which was music to my ears. He was very pink, and flailing his arms all about....also wonderful sights. Totally perfect. I just cradled him, in shock of the whole thing...and the thought occurred to me to look and see what sex the baby was. I lifted up the umbilical cord and saw it was a boy. I proclaimed in a totally astonished and loud voice, "it's a boy!" Eli, who was leaning right over the tub with his arms around me and the baby, said in a tearfully joyful voice, "Hello Martyn! We have a boy!" I didn't cry at that point, mostly because I was so shocked by how fast the whole thing went.

Martyn was born at 4:40 am, Thursday, Jan 20 2011. He weighed 7lbs, 12 oz and was 20.5 inches long.

Kerri said, "I guess we should call Tracy and tell her she can stop running red lights now." Tracy actually walked in the door just a few minutes after that. Both my sister and my mother in law didn't make it. Though Rachel showed up about 30 minutes after Martyn was born...Eli's mom hadn't even left the house yet.

I had forgotten to call my sister in law Song altogether. She was staying in Gresham and was the only one who would have been close enough to possibly make it on time had I remembered to call her. We called her just after the birth, and her phone was on silent so it wouldn't have mattered. With the exception of the apprentice Lindsey, no one I had originally planned on having there, including my midwife Tracy, made it to the birth. (Eli was there, I had planned on him being there, but that's a given.)

After Tracy got there, I birthed the placenta and they put it in a bowl and just let it float in the tub with me and the baby for a little while until we were ready to cut the cord. Eli got to cut the cord which was kind of cool. I had already put Martyn to the breast, before the cord was even cut...I think before I had birthed the placenta. It was all so surreal to me. He was so small and so beautiful...he looked just like Eli, which I knew he would.

Once we got the cord cut, I handed Martyn off to Eli so I could get out of the tub and get into bed. I was still just utterly shocked. My second apprentice, Nicole had made it there by then, and bother her and Lindsey, and Tracy all dried me off once I got out of the tub. It struck me odd how much I didn't care that I was standing there butt naked, and these three wonderful, lovely ladies were drying me off....caring for me, and really when you think about, just loving on me. I was trembling. Not so much because I was cold, though I was chilled a bit. But my body was in a little shock as well...I couldn't help it. I asked if that was normal and they all said it was.

They gave me these little mesh underwear that were really comfy, and could easily hold a giant soaking pad for the bleeding. Nicole called them 'fancy pants', which just cracked me up. I said "Hey there fancy pants!" (that's kind of a big inside joke between Eli and I, and he totally laughed right along with me). I was tired, but not exhausted. That's about the time my sister got there.

The whole experience was just amazing, and beautiful. I would not change a thing about the way it went, other than I wish my midwife Tracy had been able to make it. Nothing went wrong, and Kerri didn't deliver the baby, and Tracy wouldn't have delivered him either, I just would have liked to have her there....I really like her! But it was ok in the long run and that's the important part.

Martyn Lyle, was born on his due date. Without the aid of any hospital, drug, or physical assistance. Without any medical augmentation or induction. He did not receive eye drops, vitiman K, or antibiotics....which was important because I had tested positive for Group B strep. Had he been born in the hospital, and they had known I was GBS positive, they would have tried to require that I be hooked to an IV for antibiotics. Martyn did not leave the room once, until we went home later that evening. Except for the couple times I got up to go to the bathroom, he wasn't out of my sight. I decided who held him, who even touched him. I was in control of when he was weighed and measured, and before we left when and how his heal was pricked for a blood test. The entire environment of Andaluz Water Birth center, was of total peace. The post pardum midwives took care of me and Eli and even my visitors all day. They cooked us breakfast, made us smoothies, brought us tea and juice...and left us alone to enjoy the baby and rest.

They gave us several 'handouts' of information for caring for a newborn, but didn't over do it. They made sure that I was totally aware that I could call with any questions or concerns, both for me and the boy. I was a little sad to go, they took such wonderful care of me and my family while we were there.

When we left the Birth Center, we needed to get gas. We had to drive across the Ross Island bridge to get to the nearest gas station, and the car battery died. Eli had to go to the mechanic shop next door to the gas station, and ask them for a jump. They brought a jump box over and gave the car a jump, and tried to sell him a battery, while Martyn and I sat and waited patiently in the car.

Finally we got on the road and made it home.

We only had about 20 minutes to ourselves, and to introduce Martyn to our dog Sheba for the first time, before family started showing up. Eli's brother Robin, and his wife Miriam had driven all the way up from Eugene just to see Martyn, still on his first day out of the womb. Eli's parents also went and got him a cheeseburger from 5 guys, and brought it over. I was so glad I had made two pans of chicken enchiladas!

Finally everyone left, and here we were...our little family, home all together at last.

The start of a wonderful, amazing, kinda crazy, but ultimately the best adventure I could ever imagine!

The start of parenthood.