Pierce's birth story

Pierce was due September 26th, 2011. 


I was dilated to 3 cm at 36 weeks along, 4 cm at 38 weeks, 5-6 cm at 40 weeks... and wondering when on earth this baby was going to decide enough was enough.


October 1st I took castor oil and red raspberry tea. Planning a homebirth with a midwife, the midwife thinking baby was over 9 lbs and quite possibly approaching 10 lbs, it was time to try to get something started. Nothing was happening for 9 hours, and then... thanks to cell phone time stamps, I can document this all out. It was crazy.


I called the midwife at 5:33 pm and told her I had contractions but nothing different than I'd had for the last week and a half.


I decided I was in labor at 6:25 pm. Blaine called the midwife and told her to come. I got in the tub.


Blaine called the midwife back at 6:34 pm and told her my water had broken.


Sometime in the vicinity of 6:55 pm, baby was coming now. I stood up in the tub, fearful there wasn't enough water in our very-regular sized bathtub to keep baby submerged until it was completely born - and if it hit air and then water again... not good. Blaine caught Pierce, unwrapped the cord that was around his neck, suctioned him, handed him to me, then went for a towel. He even had the presence of mind to grab the dark-colored one! He covered Pierce and I, turned on the space heater, and we sat in the bathroom and waited for the midwife. She got there about 20 minutes after Pierce.


It was amazing. So not what we'd planned, but a half hour labor made all the laboring I'd done for weeks worth it. If we hadn't planned a homebirth, we'd have been in the car, dropping off the kids and heading to the hospital - and I'd have had Pierce in the car! So glad we were home, got to stay home afterward, the kids got to meet Pierce before the midwife even got there - and I'm glad that the midwife got there and could check everything out on Pierce, deliver the placenta, and tell us what to do from there. It was all a little scary in the moment, but I wouldn't change a thing. Except next time - if there is a next time - I'd hope and pray I have time to call the midwife soon enough. I'd planned a waterbirth in a big tub. The tub that Blaine managed to get into the house but not lined or filled before Pierce was born. My little bathroom bathtub wasn't quite the waterbirth I'd had in mind!


Watching my husband in action as he got what he needed, cared for me and our son, and then, when all was well, brought our other children in to meet their new brother... that was incredible. Watching Sterling's face change to pure joy as he was told he has a brother... that was incredible. Words cannot accurately describe the emotions of these moments. 
  
Pierce Allan was 9lbs 0 oz. and 22 1/4 inches long. Allan is my dad's name, so he's named after his Grandpa. If he had been a girl, he would have been Quincy Jane.