Number 4! My sweetie pie!!! He is my brown hair boy!! He has been her 3 months and I am IN LOVE!!!! Couldn’t picture my life without him! What a joy he has brought to my family!
The last birth story in memory lane! Enjoy! And again here is the story the day after the big event:
Jesse’s Birth Story:
It all started on July 17th of 2017, Marissa was meeting some friends at Edgefield (to eat Cajun tots) to try to induce labor. This was around 7:00 pm, she started having mild contractions/pre-labor every 20 min or so, these were still easy to talk through so she carried on with her friends and walking around Edgefield. After about three hours she got home and continued to have pre-labor until around 11:00pm. Darren at this time didn’t feel that things were going to progress quickly so he suggested trying to sleep. Contractions were about 30 min apart all night so some decent rest was obtained. In the morning David and Donna as well as Kathy came between 6:00 and 6:30 am, in order to play with and take care of the older kids. We hung out in our bedroom waiting for contractions to speed up and get more intense. During these morning hours the contractions were about 10-20 min apart and lasting 50-70 seconds. We hung out and watched a movie as well as several cooking shows, ate some food and Marissa spent some time reading. Waiting and waiting for things to pick up and become more serious, these contractions were rarely intense enough that Marissa had to focus on relaxing through them. Darren maintained contact with the midwife team and they planned to stop by between 2:30 and 3:00pm to see how things were progressing. Katherine showed up around 3:00 pm and when she arrived contractions started to come together much nicer, with average length in-between contractions coming down to 4 min or so. We felt at this time that the labor was maybe starting to pick up and progress. She checked Marissa at this time and said that she was about 4cm dilated and 70% effaced or so. This was great as it meant that all the pre-labor had been working without being too intense. The midwife team set up the birthing tub and their supplies since they knew that one Marissa really started getting serious Jesse had the potential to come very quickly. Labor progressed steadily through the next 2.5 hours with times in and out of the tub and bed, it was intense but Marissa never felt that contractions were stacking on top of each other or unbearable. The grandparents took the kids over to play at their house to play in the kiddie pool around 3:30 so the house became much quieter and more focused around this time. Shannon came by around 5:00pm and stood by to help with any things needed. She also took some pictures during this stage of labor. Around 5:45 we asked that Katherine check Marissa again as we were trying to decide if the kids should come home for dinner and bed or if that would slow things down to much. Katherine said Marissa was 9cm dilated and 90% effaced, she suggested doing a few contractions standing with Marissa’s left leg up on a stool in order to help Jesse turn slightly to align with the pelvis. We decided to have the kids stay and David and Donna’s house until after Jesse was born since it would be soon, and we also said the moms could come over soon if they wanted to be there for the birth. Trisha Jones was also on her way in order to take over for the grandparents and help with bedtime. Shannon then called the moms again and suggested they come quickly because she really thought the baby would come soon. After the first contraction with a leg up on the stool Marissa commented, “I wish there was just a number, so I knew how many contractions left before he comes”. During the second contraction with her leg up on the stool Marissa’s water broke, it scared her and all she could think or say was “What do I do now?” This was the first time that her water had broke outside of a pool or the midwifes breaking it for her during labor. She kept asking what to do and of course Katherine said as always, “do whatever you want to do.” J So Marissa wanted to lay down on the bed, but when she got there she couldn’t lay down and decided she wanted to sit on the birthing stool. Both Donna and Kathy walked in about this time with Trisha right behind them. We got situated and there was some joking conversation about the white chair in our room as well as the birthing stool both being used in all the births. Katherine stepped into the other room to see how long Marissa had taken to push the last babies out in the chart, and as soon as she walked out Lauren the Student yelled to Katherine during Marissa’s first push “I see his head” this was at 6:05 Katherine rushed over putting on gloves quickly just in time to catch him as he came out with his left hand up by his head (He arrived a minute later: 6:06pm). He let out a cry immediately and was brought up for Marissa and Darren to hold him, he had one of the most remarkable umbilical cords the midwives had ever seen. After the time was spent nursing and snuggling sweet Jesse, the team weighed and measured him. He was 9lbs, 21 inches long, head was 35.25cm around, and chest was 38cm. Born at 6:06 pm 7/18/17.
