This is the story of how my 3rd born son came into this world. Read at your own risk of TMI. ;) I write this mostly to share with the world the amazing experience of home births but also so I don't forget a single thing about my baby boy coming into the world.
Maison Ryder
I was 42 weeks pregnant with my third son. Every night I went to bed praying it would be "the night" and the baby would come. So imagine my excitement when I started having some mild cramps on July 28th at 1:00am. I was thrilled! I tried going back to sleep but the cramps were getting stronger and coming every 12 minutes. I debated waking Justin up at this point but decided they were not strong enough to make us both lose sleep. I got up to go to the bathroom and noticed some faint blood in my underwear. All making me more excited that labor was actually starting! I got up around 3:30am, got dressed, and went to bounce on my birthing ball. It was soon after this that the contractions completely stopped. My heart sank and I cried! I prayed over and over asking The Lord to start them back up again. But He had a different plan for me. I went back to bed completely depressed. All throughout the day I would have the occasional contraction letting me know that labor was on it's way even though it wasn't officially starting yet and that got my hopes up again. But I had a feeling labor would not start until that evening once the boys were in bed. I was right.
Around 8:00pm Justin and I put Jaxon and Zander down to sleep. I told Jaxon that if everything goes well he was gonna meet Maison in the morning! He didn't really believe me cause I had said that a couple times before. lol But this time I was right! After the boys were taken care of I was desperate to get labor going for real. So I started going up and down the stairs over and over again (with Justin's help cause remember I'm hugely pregnant, lol) bouncing on my birthing ball, doing some pelvic tilts, and walking all around the house. I was so excited it seemed to be working cause contractions were getting closer together and a little more intense. Thank the Lord! I think it was around 8:45pm when Justin told me to text my midwife Brande that contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasting for over a minute. He was worried he might have to deliver the baby himself if it kept up! lol Brande and her assistant Malory arrived at the house around 9:15pm. I continued to do my exercises once they got here, I also took a hot shower. Like I said, I was desperate to keep contractions going! I wanted that baby OUT! lol It was after that shower when the contractions got that much more intense and I was officially in the zone knowing labor was not gonna stop at this point. I remember telling Justin that I hope he only wants 3 kids cause I don't wanna do this again. *laughing* It's funny cause even as I sit here writing this I want at least 2 more, Lord willing. :)
With each painful contraction I would wrap my arms around Justin's neck while he just held me. Reminding me to relax and breathe through the pain. He was my rock through the whole process and I could not have done it without him. He is the best doula anyone could ever have! He pushed me to keep moving but also watched and listened to me as each contraction hit. He did his best to make me as comfortable as possible. Goodness gracious, I love that man. <3
I think it was around 11:30ish when my water broke while I was coughing! It cracked us all up. lol It was just a tiny break, but it was also when transition happened. Contractions were coming faster and more painfully at this point so I finally decided to get into my birthing pool that Justin had worked hard to keep warm for me. That warm water was such a relief! But that relief didn't last long when all the sudden I had the urge to push! And by "urge" I mean the crazy-mind-blowing-nothing-can-stop-it-even-if-I-tired urge. It was only after a couple minutes and a couple pushes that he was crowning! At this point Justin started to cry for me. He says crowning is always the worst part for him to watch. Seeing the pain on my face but not being able to help me. But little does he know that seeing the deep love and pain written all over his face actually makes my heart go out to him distracting me from my own pain. <3
Brande saw that Maison was coming out with his arm up by his head. The stinker! Once she helped his arm out he came out much easier for me.
At 12:13am on July 29th 2019 Maison Ryder was in my arms!! Justin put his hand on Maison's head as we both got a good look at our 3rd born. He was absolutely perfect!
Except he wasn't making any sounds... his skin was so blue. I started talking to him and rubbing his back trying to coax him to breathe but it wasn't working. This part gets a little fuzzy for me because I was in panic mode and exhausted from giving birth. I also started to lose a lot of blood at this point. Justin was struggling to keep it together as he watched helplessly so he left the room making room for the midwife and unable to witness what was happening. All in the space of a few minutes Brande and Malory both took turns tipping Maison upside down a couple times to help whatever fluid was in his lungs get out, they used suction to clear out his airways, and used an ambu infant bag to force some air into his lungs. During all of this I got a shot of Pitocin and climbed out of the birth pool to sit on the birthing stool and I put Maison on my chest. After what felt like forever (but was probably closer to 2ish minutes) he started to consistently cry, praise the Lord!! But you could tell there was still gunk in his lungs. He didn't start to breath completely clearly until later that day when he finally coughed up the last of the fluid in his lungs. But we were thanking the Lord that he was okay in that moment as he started to turn pink instead of blue! While dealing with that I was still bleeding quite a bit and my placenta took forever to be delivered. Once Justin cut Maison's cord and my placenta finally came out, Justin took the baby for some skin to skin father-son bonding time. That's always my favorite part after the baby is born. Seeing them with their Daddy for the first time. <3 I slowly made it to my bed and laid down. Justin brought me a blueberry muffin to eat and I started to immediately feel better. Praise the Lord. I have to hand it to Brande and Malory. They stayed so calm and talked in soothing voices to all of us as Justin and I were freaking out over Maison not breathing on his own at first. I am SO very thankful for my birth team!! <3
Poor Maison's little face was so swollen and a little bruised from how quickly my body pushed him out. But he was FINALLY here and we were all so happy!! After checking our blood pressure and heart rates a couple times Brande and Malory looked Maison over with the after birth exam they do and Justin held the thingy while they weighed him. My mouth fell completely open when they said Maison weighed in at 11 POUNDS!!!! I thought they were kidding!! I didn't think he was that heavy when he was on the inside. He actually felt smaller to me in those last days than either of his older brothers did. But I guess that's what you get when you go 15 DAYS over your due date. *laughing*
Introducing Jaxon and Zander to their little brother was almost too much for our hearts! They were both so excited to meet Maison and both of them wanted to hold him right away. Maison was so calm in their arms and just stared up at them. It was so precious! <3 So far Jaxon has adjusted seamlessly to our newest arrival! Zander has had a some adjusting to do for sure... It took him about 2 days to wrap his head around the baby being here. He has never had anything but love for Maison, always giving him hugs and kisses. But he doesn't understand why I can't hold him unless I'm sitting down and why Daddy is doing everything Mommy normally does. Now that it's been 5 days I've seen a big difference in him for the better though! Thank the Lord! I figured he just needed some time and extra attention from me. <3
There you have it! The birth of Maison Ryder. It was quite the whirlwind and a little overwhelming there at the end but I wouldn't change a thing because now I have the cutest, sweetest, most laid back little dude ever who lets me sleep decently each night. At least for now. ;)
Thanks for reading!
Until next time!
~Melinda
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