Finnley's birth story

March 7- 38 weeks (5 days to go...)

Wednesday was a rough day. Emotionally, I was at the end of my rope. I was just so, so ready to not be pregnant anymore. I wanted to meet my son so badly and was tired of waiting. That afternoon I had another appointment with my midwife who announced that I had dilated another centimeter since my last visit a week ago. 5 centimeters and still not in labor? How could this be?? On our way home Aaron and I decided that tomorrow we'd take matters into our own hands. The midwife had given us permission, and Mom said it wouldn't break her heart if she wasn't there for the birth.

Thursday morning Aaron stayed home from work and I finished getting things arranged around the house. I finished packing my labor bag and bags for the kids, just in case this worked. Around 10:30 we left for Eagle so Aaron could drop in at the corporate office for a bit. The kids and I waited in the parking lot and I had some pretty uncomfortable contractions. Not unusual, so no reason for me to get excited. Then we got some lunch- more contractions- then went to Wal-Mart to get a few things and walk. That was our first strategy for starting labor, since walking had been what I'd done the night my water broke with Pyper. I was still having some pretty strong contractions, but nothing consistent. Walking did seem to make them more frequent, but we could only do that for so long because the kids were getting tired, so we headed home.

I won't go into details, but there are plenty of other methods for starting labor on your own. One method in particular worked when my water broke with Hakan but labor didn't start on its own and walking had been ineffective. I decided to try that next and got sporadic results at first. After a couple of hours I was ready to give it up. Then the contractions kept coming. They were falling into a pattern and staying strong. It was 4:15. I timed them for about half an hour and decided that this was real. I gave Aaron the signal and he got the kids ready and all our stuff into the car. We called the midwife, then the neighbor who'd agreed to watch the kids and set off. Most of the neighborhood kids were outside playing a few houses down, so the Pyper and Hakan were more than happy to wave goodbye to us as we pulled away.

Next I called my Mom, who was making her way from Kanab to Salt Lake, and told her we were headed to The Baby Place. When I hung up I cried. I couldn't really understand why. I was excited, nervous, relieved, and scared, and experiencing all of those emotions at once made me just need to cry.

Laboring in the car was difficult. We'd probably driven that route a hundred times and I'd never noticed how stinking bumpy it is! Poor Aaron, he did his best to take corners gently and go slow over railroad tracks, but every tiny jolt feels like a speed bump when you're contracting.

We got to The Baby Place surprisingly quickly and found that we had the place to ourselves. I got the room I'd been hoping for and got myself situated. After Colleen checked me (7 cm, 90% effaced) I got into my bathing suit and into the tub. Ooooohhh, that was nice. I stayed in there for about an hour until things started getting really intense. Once I got out, dried off and changed she checked me again and I was at 9 cm. The end was in sight!

I couldn't resist adding photos of the beautiful room I got to use. It's the biggest, nicest and newest room of their 3 suites and I felt privileged to get to have my baby in it.

Laboring in the tub, still able to smile between contractions... but not for long.

After 40 minutes of serious labor on the birthing ball and standing, it was time to push. Suddenly there were 5 midwives surrounding us. Again, no need for details, but delivery was excruciating- waaay more difficult than my other two had been. I couldn't understand why I was having such a hard time coping. Ten minutes felt like forever, but finally at 7:15 our sweet boy came out- face up. No wonder it had been so hard! I was kind of glad there had been a reason for such a difficult delivery, but mostly just glad it was over. (I realized later that Aaron and I had both gotten our wishes with this birth. Aaron wanted the baby to come on a Thursday, and I wanted a 3 hour labor and delivery!)

Brand new, squish-faced Finnley.

Finnley cried heartily almost instantly and had a perfectly round head. He was bright pink in no time and was eating like a champ within ten minutes of birth. He was content to use me as a binky for the next hour. Aaron went home to get the kids and brought them back to meet their new brother. In the meantime I got some dinner and Finn got weighed, measured and dressed.





After a great visit, Aaron took Pyper and Hakan home and left Finn and I to spend our first night together. He slept great while I spent hours just staring at him, wondering what his name was going to be. We still hadn't decided on a name, so this poor kid spent his first 24 hours of life being called Baby.



Well, this has been quite a lengthy post so I guess I'll wrap it up. Finnley is a wonderful baby so far and his siblings love him to pieces. Both are sick right now so we're trying to keep them at a distance, but how do you tell a kid that they can't kiss their new brother? I'm still sore and moving at a snail's pace, but luckily I don't have much to do besides nurse the baby and take care of myself. Mom and Aaron do the rest. Thank goodness.

I'll do my best to keep the blog updated with photos and news as it comes, but for now we're all just hiding out at home, trying to get better.

Thanks for all the sweet comments and well wishes- we love you!!