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| Evie and I did some shopping the day before JT was born. |
October 16th, my due date came and went, and so did my parents and josh's parents. I should have been prepared for the lengthening of daily task as I waited anxiously to go into labor and it didn't happen. Both my other children were born on their due dates so when the 16th came and went I was bewildered. Mom stayed and like the wonder woman she is helped me to take care of Judah and Evie. On Wednesday morning, I woke up to some contractions and decided to get up and see if they stuck around. After Evie's precipitous and accidental home birth, Josh was a little on edge, so he asked if I was having contractions. Before I got a chance to say, "Let's see if they stick around" he was showered, packed and had put air in the truck tires. They didn't stick, as soon as I walked around the contractions completely disappeared. The 4am wake up call just turned into an early start to the day.
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| Joshua Thomas 8lbs 2oz. 21.5 inces born at 2:45 am |
On Wednesday night, my poor husband was exhausted and ready for bed. He decided to head that way around 9 and I jokingly told him that I would see him in two hours. Sure enough, around 11:30 I woke to a huge contraction and got up to walk around. My mom woke up to check on me and after four contractions I knew it was time to go, so she went to wake up Josh while I focused on not giving birth in my kitchen. We rushed to the truck and thank the Lord, made it to the hospital. After a rather lengthy check in process, I went to triage where I was admitted and waited for the coveted "natural birthing suite" to get cleaned. When we got to the room my midwife and her student were waiting on us and I was able to get into the bathtub to help with labor pains. I was so relieved to have made it to the hospital and the quiet of the early morning hours made this one of the most peaceful experiences. The room was quiet except for Josh talking with the midwives and nurse about their families and some soft music playing. I spent about 10 minutes in the tub and the contractions were in high gear. I don't remember thinking about anything but meeting JT. I pushed twice and he was out! I had him on my hands and knees. I'm not sure why but this position has always been the easiest for handling contractions and with each baby I have found myself there. I turned around to see him and kicked my leg over the umbilical cord and grabbed JT (later, my midwife said that she had never seen that move before!). He was crying so loudly that I laughed and he had his little fist tucked under his chin and he put his hand on my face. This was the moment I had been dreaming about for 9 months. He was here and I was finally able to snuggle that sweet little boy!
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| Judah and Evie love their baby |
After getting out of the tub and dried off I got checked out by my midwife. Everything was fine and I was relieved to not have any tearing or problems with delivering the placenta. I struggled getting JT to nurse right away, but the student that my midwife had with her was amazing. She helped me get him to latch and put me at ease. I was so impressed with my midwife and her student and couldn't believe how peaceful and relaxed giving birth could be! (This does not mean that I didn't feel pain-it was certainly painful, but a pain so worth it). Earlier last year we changed our insurance and I was unable to go to the doctors that I had with Judah and Evie. This turned out to be a huge blessing. Having low risk pregnancies, I didn't think it was necessary to have as much "company" as I had at Judah's birth. There were 4 or 5 doctors and nurses at my feet with him and I was on information overload. With Evie, I was scared to death, because I was giving birth in my bathroom with no medical professionals. JT's birth was exactly what I wanted. At the hospital, peace and quiet, in the tub, quick, but not scary-fast.
JT's birth should have given me a clue that he was going to be as easy as his birth. Josh and I joke that he's our favorite, but really he is amazing. When we got home from the hospital he slept peacefully wherever and in whatever storm of toddlers was happening at the moment. At his first doctor's appointment, he had not only gotten back to his birth weight, but he had gained a couple of ounces. At six weeks he started sleeping through the night, which for me was the most amazing thing, because that did not happen with the first two. The Lord knows what you need!
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| Pictures by my sweet friend Angela Reed! I absolutely love this one. |
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| My mom being the amazing woman she is! |
At the beginning of 2017, I heard the Lord telling me that He was doing a new thing. I had no clue what this consisted of and honestly, we're still in the middle of it. Shortly after telling God that I would trust Him with this "new thing", I found out that I was pregnant. Talk about a new thing! Having three kids three and under is extremely challenging in many ways. And most days I don't do the best job of trusting God with this newness, but I am trying to appreciate it. I love this little boy so much and am amazed that my heart could stretch to love another baby so much, but it has. JT fits so perfectly into our family and I see that God's plans are so much better than my own.
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19
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