The Birth of Finley Matthew

Oct. 8 2015 we were blessed by the birth of Finley Matthew Shesman! Here is his birth story:

It was around noon on 10-7 that i started having some very minor contractions....they didn't feel like anything special..they felt like what I'd been having for weeks so I thought nothing of it. However, I called Sam at work to see if maybe I should come get him ...I guess maybe my subconcious knew it was the real deal. We decided that I would go to target with Grace (about halfway to his work) and walk around for awhile and then decide from there how I felt. While in target, I had maybe two contractions but decided that I should go ahead and pick up Sam. 

It was about 2:30 when we all were heading home...at this point I was feeling totally normal and bummed/embarrassed because I thought things had stopped and that I made a big deal out of nothing. So I went to take a shower and a nap while Sam played with Grace.

That evening I had very little appetite for dinner, but again, I thought nothing of it. Pregnancy does all kinds of wild things..it seemed pretty typical. I was also having extremely sporratic contractions that were a bit more painful..but not wanting to get my hopes up - I ignored them. 

It was around 9:30 pm that I told Sam we should just go to bed. He'd wanted to cal the midwives and just give them a heads up...but I really did not think this was it. I figured we should just go to bed. 

My contractions were definitely picking up and getting painful..I was just annoyed at this point and wanted to sleep! So I did my best to sleep through them and pretend labor wasn't happening. 

1:30am I woke up to contractions that were NOT going to be ignored! I started pacing around the bed and I can remember not really knowing what to do with myself. I still didn't want to call the midwives (I was crazy enough to still think this wasn't it) so instead I got in the shower (YES for laboring at home and having that luxury). 

At 2:30am Sam said enough is enough and he called our midwife, Mary. She misheard him and thought he said my contractions were coming 10 min apart when they were actually coming 1 min apart...so she sent over her assistant, Nichole, to check on me.

When Nichole arrived, it was very clear that I was in transition and baby would be here soon! Mary arrived shortly after and attempted to get the pool set up...but we ended up not being able to get it ready on time for me to use. Serious Bummer :(...but definitely my fault. 

Around 3:05am my water broke as my body was starting to push. At this point the midwives encouraged me to move from the toilet to the bedroom, so I did. I ended up wanting to push on my knees while using the bed as support.. Wow I can still remember the intensity of my body pushing out Finley. The midwives were perfect...they stood back and only intervened when I wanted them to. They never tried to coach me to do anything that didn't feel right..I was able to listen to my body and at 3:21am Finley was born into my own hands. RELIEF! 

Having the privilege to homebirth is something I'll always be grateful for. The midwives cleaned up, did the dishes and laundry, did nessesary newborn screening such as weighing and then they left us to enjoy our brand new baby. They've come over to check on us on a weekly basis. The support has been worth every penny. 

Next time, I'm having my waterbirth!!!