Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Rub-a-dub-dub Boston was born in the tub!

We are so humbled and blessed to introduce to you all the 2nd biggest miracle the Lord has Blessed our lives with...
BOSTON SEAN SMITH!!!

Meeting my 2nd little man-of course LOVE at first site!
Wendi wiping off Boston
Daddy 1st getting to hold him

Daddy showing MiMi

Resting-lol-FYI people I have a bathing suit on
Poppy letting Trey peak in at the action
Trey pointing to the tub--he wanted to get in with me lol--he loves bath time
Meeting his new best friend

Wendi looking him over
getting weighed


Trey Wondering what all the screaming is



Still getting examined and his vitamin K shot



*This is for people who have asked millions of questions about a home birth so if you are a guy or not into labor stories DO NOT read this!
This is a experience I will NEVER forget!!! Today around 11 in the morning I started having random crampy pains in my back-nothing serious so I was going t0 go and meet my mom and sister at a store. Then as they got closer to the store I knew I was going to back out of going just out of being uncomfortable and laziness-lol. (Home goods is literally on the corner of my intersection like I could walk there so it was laziness) So when they were done they brought lunch to me and Trey. (keep in mind I have had contractions since 18 weeks so I never think its the real deal) So we randomly started counting them (mainly because my sister has a IPHONE and there is a APP. to count contractions-lol)and they were 6 minutes apart. Mark is still at work at this point because I hadn't said to come home yet because what if this wasn't it? I really didn't want to be that girl who cried labor every other day. After 1 hour and a half my mother made me tell the midwife what was going on even though I said it was nothing right now. So she came and stopped by to make sure heart rate was good, set up everything in case there was a baby later, and to see if I had progressed since my app. the day before...I had NOT so I was now annoyed-lol. So Mark got home right after she told me I was a 4 1/2 cms. still so I said lets go on a walk. So we walked and walked and cars would drive by and I'm sure they were thinking what is this chick doing? But I payed no attention to them-- actually to anyone because all I wanted was to be left alone. (I kept pondering the thought that I am in pain but not active labor so can I do this?) So we returned home--the midwife had waited so she could check me again--NO DILATION-so I am pissed-so she leaves and I tell my mom and sister to go too since nothing was happening like I said earlier so I could be alone. Well pretty much not 10 minutes after I send everyone away my contractions move to 2 mins apart and I HAVE to get in the tub for some relief. So Mark calls the midwife back to the house and they tell me I am now a 5 and they think it will be 2 hours--What??? I am thinking 30 mins ago we were saying sometime tonight maybe and now it was 5:00ish and now they thought 2 hours! So Mark called the moms and said they could head over. (also another side note- I forgot I had told someone off Craigs List they could come look at these old speakers between 5:30-6:00pm so they showed up too lol right at the beginning of my hardcore contractions) So maybe 45 mins later if I remember correctly they checked me and I am now 9 1/2 cm. Now this is the time I am pretty sure I started making noises that I didn't know I was capable of. Imagine a 600lb grizzly bear grunting and yelling--no joke! It just felt better to make these noises- which is why I didn't really love knowing that there were people in the house but I was in so much pain I had to let the embarrassment go and not tell them to leave even though at 1st it was all I could think about but soon the pain got so bad it slipped my mind and a screamin I went. PAIN--the pain was like nothing I have ever felt in my life-lol-but I would absolutely do it again this way at home vs. the hospital. The massive pain when I wanted to die was when I had to hold his head and let myself stretch so I didn't tear. I can not even tell you about the pressure-it felt like I was going to poop out a bowling ball. This was when I said all of my (repeatedly)"I want to die, I cant do this anymore, and Can you please just pull him out" Mark, Wendi, and Jennifer (my midwives) were SOOOO amazing! They were all so positive and kept telling me I was doing great, and I could not have done it without the 3 of them. Mark actually had to partake in this delivery vs. Trey's. He sat on the edge of the tub for the entire 3 hours and let me squeeze his hands. He would put the cold rag on my head and give me water all while I was probably not the nicest person. It was such an amazing thing to experience and feel once I pushed Boston out! I felt NOTHING with Trey so this was all new--to actually feel him moving down and then the relief of pushing his head thru and the rest of his body was unreal. *A side note--my water never broke, it literally broke like 15 minutes before Boston was born. I almost got excited because I thought it was his head lol but it wasn't!
So immediately after Boston came out they placed him on my belly and let us lay there for about 25 minutes. Then Mark got to cut the cord and Mark got to hold him while I did the placenta thing. Then I was able to go from my tub to the shower--something I had to wait all day to do with Trey because I was numb for 12 hours after and has such a awful episiotomy I could not walk. So I showered and got into my own PJ's and into bed. Then Mark, Trey, Boston and I layed in our bed alone for 20 mins which was so nice! Then the midwifes came back in and brought out the scale and weighed him and did the other tests and his vitamin k shot.
So now we get to the PLACENTA-- she asked if I wanted to see it-lol-I immediately said yes --why not its only been inside me for 9 months. Then they proceeded to tell me how much good nutrients, vitamins, and hormones that were in placenta for a quick healing and less bleeding and asked if I wanted to eat a couple pieces. Now I never thought I would do this and I still didn't just eat it--I had my dad blend it up in a ONEBODE CRAVE mix smoothie and I couldn't taste a thing. I figured if God designed the placenta to have all that nutrients in it for women after birth why wouldn't I--after all HE does everything for a reason, and if the women in biblical times could naturally birth tons of children and then get up and go about their day like nothing happened obviously they were doing something right. Which brings me to my recovery just 15 hours later--I feel AMAZING! Of course I am sore but I have no swelling and can walk and overall just feel pretty normal. There were no stitches & no glue which was one of my main goals. So a million thanks to Mark who was awesome at handling me and to Wendi and Jennifer who made me feel so at peace--never once did I worry something was wrong...just if I could handle the pain! After experiencing both hospital and home I would absolutely 100% do it at home again. I am sure I am forgetting things already but that's pretty much the way it went.
*And yes I wore my bikini in the tub the whole time-lol-that is a popular question I have been getting-- because otherwise these pics would not be on here people! I am actually shocked I am posting these as it is--but Jackie did such a awesome job and I know people are very intrigued about this whole situation.
*The day before I went into labor I was talking to my AMAZING photographer and she had brought up if I was comfortable with the idea and it worked out timing wise she would love to come shoot the birth-after talking with Mark of course we loved this idea because she just takes awesome pictures and we knew we could trust her because we have used her so much before--so anybody that is out there that wants "Labor of Love pics" in a hospital or home she did great as you can see!
All these pics are by Jackie Lindfors http://jackielindforsphoto.com/blog/

7 comments:

Littell Family said...

well I was going to update my blog (finally!) but decided to read yours instead! You had me laughing, I described my screaming as a wild amazon woman, but yes, I VERY much relate to the scary sounds you can make when you loose control and let your body take over! Thanks for the great details, I am so glad it went well for you. I agree, once you do it natural and realize how great you feel afterwards, it is addicting! We cannot wait to meet this beautiful boy and LOVE LOVE the pictures Jackie did, she is soo talented!

Stillman Family said...

Love it. You described it all so well!!

The Griegers said...

Amazing story Shannon...well all but the placenta eating part, oy I never would have thought of that lol! So glad it worked so well for you and that Boston is here safe and sound! Can't wait to meet him!

~Miller Family~ said...

Your birth story is soooo inspiring!!! Thank you for sharing!!! I can't imagine how peaceful it must be to birth at home. Congrats!!! Loved the pics too!!!

The Fraley Family said...

haha you go girl! U had me laughing out loud so many times :) Thank you so much for sharing. I am always so interested in home births but dont think i could do it myself....Boston is so precious and i love all the pics. what a way to capture and amazing experience!

SplendidlyImperfect said...

OMG... you are AMAZING!!! There is no way I could do all that! I think everytime I see you from now on I will regard you with a bit of awe.

Congratulations on your new little one. He's beautiful!

Anonymous said...

I am still in shock-thought I was just going to check out swimming lessons photos. But then I was sucked into the title-Rub a dub dun Boston was born in a tub! What a great story-you're a champ! My c-section is scheduled for early morning on 8/23!

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