This is the story of how my 4th born son was born into my arms at home. Read at your own risk of TMI. ;)
I was 12 days overdue and absolutely miserable. I had this crazy thought that maybe, MAYBE my fourth child would decide to come on time or even early. It's my own fault for getting my hopes up. I should not have been depressed about it but honestly I was just done. So done with being pregnant.
So imagine my excitement when I lost my mucus plug on June 3rd. Which has always been a sign that labor is about to start for me. So I went through my day with a grin on my face knowing this baby would finally be out today or tomorrow. I was wrong again. Haha! But at least it gave me hope. I am one of those pregnant women who have the insane thought that the baby will never come. Knowing full well they have to come out eventually. It doesn't make sense, even to me, but it's how my mind works.
On the night of June 4th I was FINALLY having contractions every 20-30 minutes. They were not super painful but they were enough to wake me up throughout the night. The excitement I felt was unreal and made it easier to stay up almost all night. Only getting cat naps in between contractions. Come morning time my contractions slowed way down again. Aggravating. But my amazing midwife Brande Ruskusky gave me some exercises to do. She told me my labor had probably stalled due to the baby not being fully engaged. A couples hours later, after doing all the exercises, labor started back up again. Justin arranged for his parents to pick up the boys on their way home from church while I continued to labor. Some mom's relax when their kids leave and are able to focus on laboring. I am the opposite. I like to have my babies close, not necessarily in the same room, but at least under the same roof. So while my labor continued steadily, I knew I wasn't going to be able to fully relax until the boys came back home. At 5:30ish I could no longer speak during a contraction. I had to give my whole focus to my body, relaxing my muscles, and breathing deeply. My midwife arrived at 6pm. ;) I was having contractions every 2-5 minutes. They were still intense enough that I couldn't talk through them but not so much that I thought the time was close for the baby to be born.
7:30pm my boys were dropped off back at home. I gave them hugs and told their little bewildered faces that mommy was in labor, little Kyler was coming tonight, and they would get to meet him when they woke up. They went straight to bed with no issues and I could finally relax and focus on getting this baby out.
Contractions were getting more painful so Justin suggested I get into my birth pool he had been faithfully filling and heating up for me. The warm water was an instant relief. (Side note: I have officially had water-births with all my boys and it has been THE best experience.) Once in the water and only a couple contractions later I felt the urge to push. I still remember the surprise on my midwife and her birth assistant's face when I said I could feel Kyler's head. They both were shocked that one second I am talking and smiling and the next his head is almost out. Haha! With my last two babies I felt like I was not in control during crowning. I felt as though I got no breaks between pushing and them coming out too fast. Maison's birth was so quick he didn't get his lungs cleared out in the birth canal like God intended which made afterbirth a little traumatic. I didn't want that this time around so I asked Brande to coach me through pushing. She reminded me to breathe, relax, drop my shoulders, and try to mentally stop my body from continually pushing. All things I should have known already but in that moment wasn't thinking of. Thank the Lord for answering my prayers and Kyler's crowning took a few more contractions. Then he was born into my arms at 8:43pm on June 5, 2022 absolutely perfect.
I held his tiny body to my chest and looked at his precious little face. He was squished, beautiful, and crying! I was praising the Lord in my heart and grinning at Justin who had tears streaming down his cheeks. I love Justin more than words can say. He is the best labor partner, always holding me during contractions. Jumping to grab me anything I may need all while filling the birth pool, arranging child care, putting the boys to bed, and holding my hand. My favorite memory, one that I will always keep with me from Kyler's birth is Justin cradling my face with his strong hands and looking at me with so much love mixed with a touch of sadness. He hates seeing me in any pain, he feels helpless, so labor is not his favorite. But little does he know he helps in a way words cannot describe just by being there with me. He is my rock I need while my body goes through the miracle of birth. I could not do it without him.
After holding Kyler for a few minutes I get my shot of Pitocin in my thigh and decide to sit back down in the water. Normally this is about the time my body decides to bleed like crazy and freaks everyone out. But not this time as the water was still clear. Another praise!
I got out of the birth pool and my placenta took only a few minutes to deliver. Thank goodness. So I was cleaned up and laying in my freshly made, comfy bed in only 15 minutes after giving birth. I ate some yummy snacks while my midwife did the whole infant health check on Kyler. Finally it was time to weigh him which is one of my favorite parts! He was 21 inches long, 11 pounds and 2 ounces... wait, what!?!? How? How did he fit and how did my body do that? No wonder I was absolutely miserable carrying him around while pregnant. Haha! God designed the female bodies to do absolutely incredible things!
After the midwife was done and gone, Justin and I snuggled into bed with our fourth born son and life was perfect.
The next morning the boys were thrilled to meet their new little brother! It was precious to see their smiles and hear them begging to hold him over and over again. Eventually they moved on to go play but would always come back to my room to check on me and the baby in the following days. It was beautiful.
Now that Kyler is 3+ months old, I would say we have officially come out of survival mode and have entered "every day life" mode. As I sit here writing this Kyler is playing in his bouncy seat being the happiest most chill and wonderful baby anyone could ever ask for. He does not even know just how loved he is. The boys still fight over holding him throughout each day and now that he is smiling and laughing the boys spend so much time getting those belly laughs from Kyler. I love these amazing kiddos!
I hope you enjoyed reading my fourth birth story. :)
God has been so good to my little family and we feel so blessed to have these four amazing boys to raise for His Kingdom!
