"Welcome baby welcome
all the world is new
and all the world is waiting
to be introduced to you"
~ Barbara Reid
After being so surprised that we had indeed gone over our due date, September 21st, each night before going to bed, Tim and I would say to eachother, tonight could be the night. When the 24th (a Saturday) rolled around, I had no idea that we would have a new little one on the 25th. In fact, I even said to Tim that night that I did not think this was the night. Little did we know that in the morning our sweet little peanut would be joining our family.
At approximately 2 in the morning. I had a slightly uncomfortable contraction. Not uncommon when you are 41 weeks pregnant, but I just knew that this was different and I waited expectedly for the next one to happen in the next 8-10 minutes. Sure enough, another surge came and came again. This was it.
My first birth, with Isaac, was 10 hours. My second birth, with Micah, was 7 hours. Not long, but they certainly were the most intense hours of my life. I was anticipating and hoping for it to be shorter. But, my midwife had warned me that the third is a wild card. After about an hour of some slight and some strong surges, I decided to wake Tim up and call my mid-wife to confirm, once again, that this is probably it. As for Tim, he was an amazing support. As for the mid-wife, she suggested that this time I don't take the CalMag for relief as it seemed to have slowed things down last time. But, to rest if at all possible. Of course, we were giddy and decided to review our plans once more. His mom and step dad were aware that they were on call, that they may be receiving a call in the middle of the night. We decided we would wait until about 5am, and ask them to come over for 6:30 am to watch over the boys as the boys tend to get up around this time. We may or may not be done the labouring by then, but this way we would have someone else available to watch over them, as Tim and I would be in no shape to meet their early morning demands. I've come across many birth stories where children are there and experiencing the labour and delivery as well. The idea of it is lovely. I was open to having the boys there. But, at age 4 and not even 2, they can be quite demanding in the morning. And, a back up plan for them was necessary.
Surges were getting stronger and closer together. At about 4:30 am, I called the mid-wife to come and she promptly arrived to our home by 5. At this point, Tim had sent a quick email to some of our friends about cancelling Isaac's birthday party. He also had drawn a bath for me as water was a key soother for my previous birth experiences. I decided I would hold off on getting in the bath as I wanted to walk through some of the surges and let gravity do a bit of the work. When asked how things were going by our mid-wife, I was in the middle of a contraction which I could hardly speak through. This is when she knew that baby was coming soon. She quickly began setting up our room for baby and checking our vitals. My blood pressure was great and baby's heart rate was great. By 5:30 the second mid-wife and second birthing attendant, a nurse, had arrived. And, they arrived to see me breathing hard through some painful and close together contractions. At this point I felt the bath would have been a comfort, but there was no way I was getting up to move to the bathroom. My focus was on my breathing and staying in my bed was the best place to be. at 6:15 a.m. after a few contractions where I felt the urge to push, we welcomed our beautiful baby to the world. Announcing with much joy and pride, my Tim said "It's a girl!" And, was given the opportunity to cut the umbilical cord. Again, we were surprised and thrilled that we had a little girl. We love surprises, and we never have had the gender revealed through ultrasound with any of our children. For some reason, we were so convinced that we were having another boy. No matter, the gender we would have been thrilled and blessed. Another surprise was her birth weight. A great start at 8 lb 13 oz. When the mid-wives announced her weight, we were truly surprised as both of our boys weighed closer to 6 lbs. I must have enjoyed a few too many cheeseburgers this time around.
Through those last few contractions I could hear Micah's little voice in his bedroom waking up for the day. He wasn't crying, just asking for momma to come get him. Shortly after our daughter was born Tim went to get Micah and brought him in to see me and his new little sister. He was immediately quite enamored with her. Another big surprise, as I thought this little, now, middle child would have a difficult time adjusting.
At 6:30 a.m. my mother and father in law arrived to watch over the boys. They gave them breakfast and kept them busy downstairs while me and babe spent some precious skin to skin time. Our little girl latched on and began to nurse right away. All three of my children seem to be pros at figuring out this nursing thing right away. She suckled away for quite a while and fell into a sleepy dreamland. We snuggled skin to skin for a while and my amazing mid-wife team began preparing a breakfast for me to get some nourishment and energy before getting up to have a bath. I enjoyed a relaxing herbal bath of shepherd's purse, comfrey, witch hazel, and sea salts. While I was getting cleaned up, my little girl was getting bundled up in her first outfit.
Grandma and Grandpa along with the boys who were active downstairs and even outside (see video above) came up to our bedroom to say hello. And, the moment was absolutely precious. The memory of my boys meeting our little girl is something I want to hold on to and treasure forever. Both of them were enamoured and in love. Micah wanted to give her "knuckles and high fives." Isaac was smiling ear to ear. After awhile, it was time for us to rest up, make some phone calls, and figure out a name for this sweet girl. The boys went to spend the day at Grandma and Grandpas. I was told that while Isaac was at the park with Grandma and Auntie Danielle, he was telling everyone there that he had a new baby sister at home, and her name was Lucy. He had been telling Tim and I for months that he wanted a sister and that her name should be Lucy. A lovely name, but not the one we settled on.
Evelyn Isabelle Wubs was the name. For a few weeks, Isaac asked if he could pretend her name was Lucy. Eventually, "Evie" (pronounce Eve-y) grew on all of us. And she is our little Evie now.
Birth. It's the most incredible experience. Those first couple days, when my sweet newborn babe barely leaves my arms if only to be held by another adoring family member and I barely creep out of my bedroom, feel like pure bliss. I imagine it is a little taste of heaven here on earth. It's exhaustion, mixed with euphoria. And, there is nothing like it. We've had our sweet little Evie for a few months now. And, we still can't get enough of her.
So, yes, life is busy. But, these are precious times. Life is rich with beautiful moments and not so beautiful ones. In the grunge of every day, I often think to myself I wish I had more time to write and record these moments that make life sweet. I never thought I'd be so happy to be so tired. Like soo soo tired, but sooo sooo sooo happy. I've missed writing and we've already reached some bittersweet milestones that make me just want to snuggle her all day long. But,children grow, and it's so special to see them learn and discover.
Some of those milestones include:
- Smiling (for real, not the gas grins or sleepy ones). Baby smiles are the best. And I'll never forget the words from my first midwife with Isaac "if it's not followed by a fart, it's real."
- Kicking in the bouncy chair to the point where, yup, we need to buckle her in or she could bouce herself right out
- Moving the 0-3 month clothing into diaper boxes for storage, and getting out the 6 month stuff. This one is oh so bittersweet as a mama. Slow down girl, you're only just 3 months.
- Holding her little body now in my arms and seeing that her chubby little thighs are resting in my arms a little farther than they used to reach. She's already grown so much.
- Bath time is now enjoyed in the big bath tub as she has already outgrown the baby tub. We use the Angelcare baby bath support for her. And, often all three of our kids fit in the tub.
- Rolling and getting more on the move are just around the corner. And, I don't know if I'm ready for that yet.
~ Barbara Reid
I'm often stopped by people who say "Oh, you have your hands full" when we are out and about. And, it's true. Our hands may be full. But, so are our hearts. Our happy family of 4 has grown into a happy family of 5. On September 25, 2016 we welcomed a healthy, beautiful baby girl. Evelyn Isabelle Wubs was born safely at home weighing 8 lb and 13 oz. Of course big brothers, Isaac and Micah are pleased as punch with their new little sister. As with all of my babies, I'm writing her birth story. It's so that I can treasure the memory of it and so that I can share something special with anyone (if there is anyone other than my mother) who stops by this little (neglected) corner of the web of mine. Because, life is full of sweet little moments, and maybe you'll be blessed by them too.
It's a relatively unremarkable story. But, it's full of delights and surprises. So, so many surprises along the way. Thankfully, I had a very nice couple of months off work before Evie came along. Something I did not have the luxury of before with Isaac and Micah. In teaching, I am fortunate enough to have Summer holidays. However, in the past, I've often had to work throughout the Summer. This year, I was able to stay home with my boys. Which allowed us to make wonderful memories together before our new addition arrived.
First of all, reaching September 25th for Evie's delivery was a surprise in itself. My due date was September 21st (the same as Isaac's due date). I had been told throughout my pregnancy, especially nearing full term, that I likely wouldn't go over my due date. Isaac was born 2 days over his due date. Micah was born 10 days early. I was quite uncomfortable near the end. My midwife, told me I likely wouldn't go over, my birthing attendant told me this, the other midwives at the clinic all felt the same way. And, I told myself that I must be farther along and therefore, I'm going to go into labour a bit early. Well, I didn't. And, each day that went by past my due date was a surprise.
Labour officially started on the 25th. But something happened on Tuesday September 20th. Now, this is a full 5 days before Evie was actually born. And, one day before my due date. I wasn't in real labour for that long (praise the Lord for that!) But, I did experience some contractions that night. I hadn't been sleeping well for many weeks anyway. I'd often get up to go to the washroom, or get something to eat, or walk off some foot cramps. Oh the joys of being pregnant at 40 weeks. That night starting at about 3 a.m. I had contractions that woke me up and consistently came every 8 to 10 minutes. We called the midwife at about 4:30 a.m. She reassured me that it sounded like things were progressing and that she would be ready to come to our home as soon as I made the next phone call to her. She encouraged me to just try to stay in bed and rest. I took some Cal Mag and went to bed. At about 6 a.m those contractions had completely stopped. I called her to say, that nothing was happening. But, I would let her know if anything changed. She reminded me, that this is still early labour. And, any contraction is a sign that baby is getting ready to be in the world. I felt so encouraged by this as I was getting anxious to meet this little one. The 21st would not be the day.
Isaac's birthday, September 23, was coming up on Friday. We had already postponed birthday party plans for him as he was sick the week before. I thought perhaps, if baby was not going to come, that we would have a little birthday shindig for him on Sunday, the 25th. But, baby had different plans.
Our plan was always to deliver at home. And, thankfully, we were able to have all of our babes at home with a wonderful team of midwifes. With Isaac and Micah's births I had little worry and fortunately very uneventful births. This time around, we planned a home birth and had no complications during pregnancy. But, lately I've found myself worrying about things that shouldn't matter. And, once those uninvited negative thoughts creep in, they grow and breed more negativity. Why would I have another successful home birth experience? Why would everything go as planned? How would I get through the pain without interventions? Why would we have a third healthy child? I'm not quite ready for our family of four to become a family of five. There is no end to a mother's worry. But, I prayed so much for this child and for the labour to go smoothly. And, all went well. It's amazing how quickly you can forget the all about the pain once you hold your child. I continue now to repeat mantras to my spirit. Reminders that build me up, edify my soul. So that the power of words and thoughts will create a different reality for me. Sure enough, I now say I'd relive the whole experience of pregnancy and labour all over again. It is incredible what our bodies can do.
It's a relatively unremarkable story. But, it's full of delights and surprises. So, so many surprises along the way. Thankfully, I had a very nice couple of months off work before Evie came along. Something I did not have the luxury of before with Isaac and Micah. In teaching, I am fortunate enough to have Summer holidays. However, in the past, I've often had to work throughout the Summer. This year, I was able to stay home with my boys. Which allowed us to make wonderful memories together before our new addition arrived.
First of all, reaching September 25th for Evie's delivery was a surprise in itself. My due date was September 21st (the same as Isaac's due date). I had been told throughout my pregnancy, especially nearing full term, that I likely wouldn't go over my due date. Isaac was born 2 days over his due date. Micah was born 10 days early. I was quite uncomfortable near the end. My midwife, told me I likely wouldn't go over, my birthing attendant told me this, the other midwives at the clinic all felt the same way. And, I told myself that I must be farther along and therefore, I'm going to go into labour a bit early. Well, I didn't. And, each day that went by past my due date was a surprise.
Labour officially started on the 25th. But something happened on Tuesday September 20th. Now, this is a full 5 days before Evie was actually born. And, one day before my due date. I wasn't in real labour for that long (praise the Lord for that!) But, I did experience some contractions that night. I hadn't been sleeping well for many weeks anyway. I'd often get up to go to the washroom, or get something to eat, or walk off some foot cramps. Oh the joys of being pregnant at 40 weeks. That night starting at about 3 a.m. I had contractions that woke me up and consistently came every 8 to 10 minutes. We called the midwife at about 4:30 a.m. She reassured me that it sounded like things were progressing and that she would be ready to come to our home as soon as I made the next phone call to her. She encouraged me to just try to stay in bed and rest. I took some Cal Mag and went to bed. At about 6 a.m those contractions had completely stopped. I called her to say, that nothing was happening. But, I would let her know if anything changed. She reminded me, that this is still early labour. And, any contraction is a sign that baby is getting ready to be in the world. I felt so encouraged by this as I was getting anxious to meet this little one. The 21st would not be the day.
Isaac's birthday, September 23, was coming up on Friday. We had already postponed birthday party plans for him as he was sick the week before. I thought perhaps, if baby was not going to come, that we would have a little birthday shindig for him on Sunday, the 25th. But, baby had different plans.
Our plan was always to deliver at home. And, thankfully, we were able to have all of our babes at home with a wonderful team of midwifes. With Isaac and Micah's births I had little worry and fortunately very uneventful births. This time around, we planned a home birth and had no complications during pregnancy. But, lately I've found myself worrying about things that shouldn't matter. And, once those uninvited negative thoughts creep in, they grow and breed more negativity. Why would I have another successful home birth experience? Why would everything go as planned? How would I get through the pain without interventions? Why would we have a third healthy child? I'm not quite ready for our family of four to become a family of five. There is no end to a mother's worry. But, I prayed so much for this child and for the labour to go smoothly. And, all went well. It's amazing how quickly you can forget the all about the pain once you hold your child. I continue now to repeat mantras to my spirit. Reminders that build me up, edify my soul. So that the power of words and thoughts will create a different reality for me. Sure enough, I now say I'd relive the whole experience of pregnancy and labour all over again. It is incredible what our bodies can do.
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
Romans 12:12
 |
| Gorgeous photos captured at 3 weeks old by Lakeview Photography |
At approximately 2 in the morning. I had a slightly uncomfortable contraction. Not uncommon when you are 41 weeks pregnant, but I just knew that this was different and I waited expectedly for the next one to happen in the next 8-10 minutes. Sure enough, another surge came and came again. This was it.
My first birth, with Isaac, was 10 hours. My second birth, with Micah, was 7 hours. Not long, but they certainly were the most intense hours of my life. I was anticipating and hoping for it to be shorter. But, my midwife had warned me that the third is a wild card. After about an hour of some slight and some strong surges, I decided to wake Tim up and call my mid-wife to confirm, once again, that this is probably it. As for Tim, he was an amazing support. As for the mid-wife, she suggested that this time I don't take the CalMag for relief as it seemed to have slowed things down last time. But, to rest if at all possible. Of course, we were giddy and decided to review our plans once more. His mom and step dad were aware that they were on call, that they may be receiving a call in the middle of the night. We decided we would wait until about 5am, and ask them to come over for 6:30 am to watch over the boys as the boys tend to get up around this time. We may or may not be done the labouring by then, but this way we would have someone else available to watch over them, as Tim and I would be in no shape to meet their early morning demands. I've come across many birth stories where children are there and experiencing the labour and delivery as well. The idea of it is lovely. I was open to having the boys there. But, at age 4 and not even 2, they can be quite demanding in the morning. And, a back up plan for them was necessary.
Surges were getting stronger and closer together. At about 4:30 am, I called the mid-wife to come and she promptly arrived to our home by 5. At this point, Tim had sent a quick email to some of our friends about cancelling Isaac's birthday party. He also had drawn a bath for me as water was a key soother for my previous birth experiences. I decided I would hold off on getting in the bath as I wanted to walk through some of the surges and let gravity do a bit of the work. When asked how things were going by our mid-wife, I was in the middle of a contraction which I could hardly speak through. This is when she knew that baby was coming soon. She quickly began setting up our room for baby and checking our vitals. My blood pressure was great and baby's heart rate was great. By 5:30 the second mid-wife and second birthing attendant, a nurse, had arrived. And, they arrived to see me breathing hard through some painful and close together contractions. At this point I felt the bath would have been a comfort, but there was no way I was getting up to move to the bathroom. My focus was on my breathing and staying in my bed was the best place to be. at 6:15 a.m. after a few contractions where I felt the urge to push, we welcomed our beautiful baby to the world. Announcing with much joy and pride, my Tim said "It's a girl!" And, was given the opportunity to cut the umbilical cord. Again, we were surprised and thrilled that we had a little girl. We love surprises, and we never have had the gender revealed through ultrasound with any of our children. For some reason, we were so convinced that we were having another boy. No matter, the gender we would have been thrilled and blessed. Another surprise was her birth weight. A great start at 8 lb 13 oz. When the mid-wives announced her weight, we were truly surprised as both of our boys weighed closer to 6 lbs. I must have enjoyed a few too many cheeseburgers this time around.
Through those last few contractions I could hear Micah's little voice in his bedroom waking up for the day. He wasn't crying, just asking for momma to come get him. Shortly after our daughter was born Tim went to get Micah and brought him in to see me and his new little sister. He was immediately quite enamored with her. Another big surprise, as I thought this little, now, middle child would have a difficult time adjusting.
At 6:30 a.m. my mother and father in law arrived to watch over the boys. They gave them breakfast and kept them busy downstairs while me and babe spent some precious skin to skin time. Our little girl latched on and began to nurse right away. All three of my children seem to be pros at figuring out this nursing thing right away. She suckled away for quite a while and fell into a sleepy dreamland. We snuggled skin to skin for a while and my amazing mid-wife team began preparing a breakfast for me to get some nourishment and energy before getting up to have a bath. I enjoyed a relaxing herbal bath of shepherd's purse, comfrey, witch hazel, and sea salts. While I was getting cleaned up, my little girl was getting bundled up in her first outfit.
Grandma and Grandpa along with the boys who were active downstairs and even outside (see video above) came up to our bedroom to say hello. And, the moment was absolutely precious. The memory of my boys meeting our little girl is something I want to hold on to and treasure forever. Both of them were enamoured and in love. Micah wanted to give her "knuckles and high fives." Isaac was smiling ear to ear. After awhile, it was time for us to rest up, make some phone calls, and figure out a name for this sweet girl. The boys went to spend the day at Grandma and Grandpas. I was told that while Isaac was at the park with Grandma and Auntie Danielle, he was telling everyone there that he had a new baby sister at home, and her name was Lucy. He had been telling Tim and I for months that he wanted a sister and that her name should be Lucy. A lovely name, but not the one we settled on.
Evelyn Isabelle Wubs was the name. For a few weeks, Isaac asked if he could pretend her name was Lucy. Eventually, "Evie" (pronounce Eve-y) grew on all of us. And she is our little Evie now.
Birth. It's the most incredible experience. Those first couple days, when my sweet newborn babe barely leaves my arms if only to be held by another adoring family member and I barely creep out of my bedroom, feel like pure bliss. I imagine it is a little taste of heaven here on earth. It's exhaustion, mixed with euphoria. And, there is nothing like it. We've had our sweet little Evie for a few months now. And, we still can't get enough of her.
So, yes, life is busy. But, these are precious times. Life is rich with beautiful moments and not so beautiful ones. In the grunge of every day, I often think to myself I wish I had more time to write and record these moments that make life sweet. I never thought I'd be so happy to be so tired. Like soo soo tired, but sooo sooo sooo happy. I've missed writing and we've already reached some bittersweet milestones that make me just want to snuggle her all day long. But,children grow, and it's so special to see them learn and discover.
Some of those milestones include:
- Smiling (for real, not the gas grins or sleepy ones). Baby smiles are the best. And I'll never forget the words from my first midwife with Isaac "if it's not followed by a fart, it's real."
- Kicking in the bouncy chair to the point where, yup, we need to buckle her in or she could bouce herself right out
- Moving the 0-3 month clothing into diaper boxes for storage, and getting out the 6 month stuff. This one is oh so bittersweet as a mama. Slow down girl, you're only just 3 months.
- Holding her little body now in my arms and seeing that her chubby little thighs are resting in my arms a little farther than they used to reach. She's already grown so much.
- Bath time is now enjoyed in the big bath tub as she has already outgrown the baby tub. We use the Angelcare baby bath support for her. And, often all three of our kids fit in the tub.
- Rolling and getting more on the move are just around the corner. And, I don't know if I'm ready for that yet.
 |
| Meeting her brothers. A pictures speaks a thousand words. |
 |
| They are so in love with her. |
 |
| Sunday best. This is the best we could get. |
 |
| 4 weeks goes by incredibly fast. |
 |
| Tired momma. But, feeling so blessed. Zoom into the background to check out Isaac's smushy face. |
 |
| Mr. Hoots, A Roaring Dino, and A Sweet Dalmation Puppy for Halloween |
 |
| 2 Months old and be careful, she might clobber ya! |
No comments:
Post a Comment