Eli Keith

Welcome to the world baby Eli! Monday, April 23rd, changed my life forever. I have a love I have never felt before. This is a story of how that day went.

It all started around 12:45 am Sunday night or Monday morning, which ever way you would like to look at it. I started having contractions. I didn't want to assume they were the real deal or even really contraction so I just tried to go back to sleep. Well that didn't work so about an hour later I woke Brion to tell him. Bad idea, poor guy didn't get any sleep. I took some tylenol and 3 hours later was able to fall back asleep. I woke up the next morning exhausted from not sleeping well and the contractions were getting closer together. I told Brion that I was going to skip the first class, but come to the rest of the day. I also told him that I was going to have a baby that day and I really don't think he believed me. Or he was just in shock. So I rested some more, went to class, decided going back to class was a bad idea, came home, skyped with Marie (my bestie who is currently in Hong Kong) and figured I should start timing my contractions because they were getting a little more intense. Poor Marie, I totally freaked her out too. I was having contraction 5 minutes apart when I was on the phone with her.

Brion came home from class at noon and it was a good thing because I was starting to get very uncomfortable. Sometime within the next hour or two I called my mom, called our doula, called the midwives and started to prepare for our homebirth! By the time the midwife arrived, I was already 6cm dilated. I was super excited about that news because I didn't feel like I was really working that hard. The excitement soon faded when the contractions got worse and I was feeling a lot of pressure, like I already wanted to push. I got out of the birthing tub thing so she could check me again and I was still at 6! I wanted to cry. My water still hadn't broke by this point so my midwife broke it for me (super weird). After that it was 10 times worse. I wanted to push so bad, but she told me I had to fight that urge because I wasn't ready. When women have back labor, which is what I had, because of the positioning of the baby, it makes you feel like it's time to push when it's not. So we tried a couple of positions to try and move the baby and boy that was awful! I had to breath so hard just to keep my muscles from pushing that baby out. I would get super frustrated because I couldn't always help it so I would end up just letting my body push a little and then I would freak out that I was hurting my poor baby boy.

My midwife could see how frustrated I was getting and she checked me again. I was ready to go! (She told me after word that I probably was ready quite a bit earlier than she thought I was, so I was holding those pushes in for nothing. Oh well.) She then told me that baby boy had taken a poo in the womb, which is bad because they can inhale it and be in some trouble. Because of this, she called an ambulance so they would be here when the baby is born. Then she called her second (and third in my case) midwife who  come for the baby. While all this was going on, she told me I could push and I was not going to delay that any longer!

So I'm pushing away and my midwife starts to worry that the other midwives won't arrive in time. Soon after that the EMT's arrived and then the other two midwives arrived and boy we had a full house! All modesty out the window! After pushing for an hour, our son arrived! Oh my word, when they put this little boy on my chest I was in awe! God is so good. What a miracle. This little person was inside me and then before I knew it he was on my chest.

Luckily the EMT's were not needed, baby boy was just fine. They said their farewells and clean- up/check- up/snuggle time began. We had such an amazing homebirth. There is nothing more comforting than snuggling your baby right in your own bed the second he is born. Unfortunately we did have to make a trip to the hospital because I needed to get stitched up and it was more than the midwife felt comfortable doing. Now I am the kind of person that almost passes out when I get blood taken. Hospitals make me so sick, literally, so I was not looking forward to leaving our comfortable house and getting stitches for the first time in my life, but looking at Eli's face made it all worth it. I know that in the middle of that awful, no-pushing stage, I wondered why people have more than one child. Once he was in my arms, it all seemed like a piece of cake.

My little turtle :) (he really looks like a turtle!)

In the end we had a great hospital experience. Eli was a champ and slept the whole time. We didn't end up getting home until about 1:30 am and we were so exhausted, but all so worth it. For all you number people, I was in active labor for 5 and a half hours and pushed for an hour. Little Eli Keith was born at 8:30 p.m. This little man has changed us forever. We are so excited to watch him grow and explore his new world.