It's a boy!
Ezril Windsor Hendriksen
3 hr labor
Born at the comforts of home on Sunday 3-1-9
6:12 AM
8 lbs 11 oz
20 inches long
It's been 5 days since the birth and I've finally finished this blog post. My nose is almost back to normal (no longer hugely swollen) and Ezril's cord fell off today so he officially has a belly button! For those who just need a quick reference, I've posted the stats above. Anyone interested in the long birth story, read on! (Note the picture slideshow at the end.)
Ezril's Birth StorySaturday night Feb 28th I was irritable and anxious wondering when the baby would come. I felt like I was going to have a March baby (due date was March 6th) and March was soon approaching. We had dinner as a family (our classic garlic & oil pasta family staple) and after eating a little, I asked to be excused from the table since my back was hurting. I got on all fours and after 20 minutes felt better.
Since Oaklen's labor started while my friends Candace & Eli were here, I jokingly told Darrell that we should invite them over tonight. :) Well, the spirit must have prompted them because Candace called a little later and asked if she and Eli could stop by. I was more than willing to welcome them into our home. :)
We put the kids to bed and Candace & Eli arrived about 8:15 PM. We had a nice visit and had a few good laughs. They didn't stay too long and left our house before 10:00 PM. As they were leaving I jokingly said "We'll call you in a few hours when we have the baby!" (Little did we know what was going to happen.)
Darrell and I were asleep in bed by 10:45 PM, but just before we retired my back started hurting again. Throughout the next few hours my back seemed to still hurt no matter what I did. I didn't think it was labor since it was just a constant ache like I had been having with my hips for the past month. I got up to go to the bathroom at 3:11 AM and still was hurting. I finally started pacing my room and the walking seemed to help my back. I did this for about 5 minutes then laid back down in bed.
It was then that I felt the first real contractions. They were pretty low in the belly and I remember the contractions being a little higher in front with Oaklen's labor. I wasn't able to sleep; the contractions were coming pretty often so I rolled over to view the clock and started timing them. They were about 4-5 minutes apart. It was about 4:00 AM by then and I wondered what I should do first. Wake up Darrell? Call my midwife? Call my mom? I decided to wake up Darrell.
I gently nudged him and said "Darrell, I'm in labor." He calmly woke up and said "How do you know?" I told him that I was having regular contractions about 4-5 minutes apart. He then smiled and said that he remembered his dream! (He never remembers his dream so this was quite an occasion. He ended up not telling me his dream and later I asked him and he had already forgotten the dream.) Anyway...he got out of bed and turned off the alarm. I knew then that things were going to be happening since he wasn't planning on going to his Sunday morning meetings.
He asked me what I wanted him to do so I told him to start preparing the bed and to get the hose. (Hose? You're probably wondering...our midwife brought a blow-up birth pool/tub a few weeks prior for us to use if we wanted and so he needed to get the hose from our car trunk since I purchased a new hose.)
I started walking around and stopped when I had a contraction. I swayed back & forth and was dancing on my tip toes to help with the contractions. Darrell kept coming in and out of the room with more stuff and wanted to help me with the contractions but I just kept telling him to prepare everything. We got a plastic drop cloth and draped it over the bed and put another sheet on top. I helped with that between contractions and also managed to have Darrell snap a picture of me one last pregnant time.
Once the bed was ready I laid down and rested since I was getting tired. At 4:45 AM Darrell called Rebecca, our midwife. She woke up to answer the phone and asked if we wanted her to come now. I (always indecisive) wasn't sure so she talked to me on the phone to see if I could talk through a contraction. A minute later a contraction started and I wasn't able to talk since I needed to focus on breathing. That was all that she needed to know so I handed the phone back to Darrell and she said that she would be there soon, but wouldn't rush. If we felt like we needed her to rush then to call back and tell her.
We decided that getting out the tub/pool would take too long and might not be worth it. But just in case I felt like I really needed the water, I told Darrell to go rinse out the tub to ensure it was clean. After he washed the tub, he wanted to lay on the bed with me and hold my hand; for some reason I didn't want to move and wanted my hand where it had been for the past while. I'm sure he felt helpless but he was (and is always) a big help, and very calm.
By about 5:30 AM the contractions were quite strong and I had the urge to push. I was excited to get that urge since I knew "transition" was over and that it would somewhat be downhill from there. We called Rebecca to see where she was and she was 15 minutes away.
With each contraction I pushed slightly even though Darrell told me not to push since Rebecca wasn't here yet. I knew that it would take me a while and I felt relief pushing a little. I had Darrell get a warm wash cloth to put on me and he stroked my hair. He wanted to go downstairs to check to see if Rebecca was here but I told him that I needed him here with me instead. Rebecca rang the doorbell and we called her cell phone to tell her to come in and up the stairs. She brought in her gear (oxygen, necessary medical supplies, etc.) and scrubbed up.
We heard Oaklen awake. He must have awoken with the door bell although it wasn't uncommon for him to wake up at that hour on any other given night. Darrell went to greet him and instead of putting him back to bed, we let him play in his room quietly. Darrell called my mom to tell her that I was in labor and that we needed help with the kids.
I was still lying on my left side on our bed and Darrell and Rebecca had to lift me to make sure that I had the disposable bed pads underneath me. I didn't want to move, I made them move me.
I grunted with each contraction and Rebecca encouraged my low-pitched noises. Darrell continued to hold the warm wash cloth and stroke my hair. Slowly they could see something start to come out. Later I learned that it was part of the bag of water still in tact that first came out. His head came next and after his head was completely out, Rebecca unpeeled the sac off his face and Ezril took his first breath of air. Next came the shoulders and I had to move my leg up to help that part come out. I didn't want to move so Darrell and Rebecca basically did it for me and held up my leg. It was quite the burning sensation but I was told if it burnt too badly then to hold off a little on the pushing. I did a few mini-rocking pushes and finally Ezril was fully born a 6:12 AM. It was such a relieved feeling when I could feel his body slide out.
He was immediately place on my bare chest, skin to skin, and then Rebecca put a warm towel on the both of us. Darrell quickly left to get Oaklen and wake up Salem to meet their new brother. They came in and climbed up on the bed. The cord had finished pulsating and was ready to be cut. Prior to labor, I had thought about cutting the cord myself since Darrell got to do it last time but since the boys were with us, we gave Salem the opportunity to cut the cord. That was a pretty neat experience for him.
Ezril was very vocal and kept whimpering. We tried to nurse and he seemed not quite ready yet. His head and face looked perfect since he was cushioned being born in his sac. His coloring was a wonderful pink at the 5 minute mark. I delivered my placenta and all was well.
My mom came not too long after Ezril was born and the boys were quite excited to tell Grandma that they had a new brother. It was like Christmas for them since they woke up to a fun surprise.
Ezril laid on my chest for the next hour and we learned that he pooped on me twice! It’s not surprising since I pooped three times after birth before they weighed me and Darrell gave his Dad a nice squirt. :)
Darrell finally got to hold him, then he and Rebecca weighed and measured him: 8 lbs, 11 oz. (after pooping) and 20 inches long.
I got up to take a shower and felt great. Afterward, the family and I watched Rebecca do her exam on Ezril and he was a happy healthy boy. After a round of pictures and hugs, she packed up her things and left the house by about 9:00 AM.
The boys and Darrell sang Happy Birthday to Ezril; Oaklen looked at my belly at first to sing to it but then remembered that he was in Daddy’s arms now. :)
Darrell, the boys, and my mom went downstairs so Ezril and I could rest. We had many visitors later that afternoon and evening and throughout the next few days. Thank you to everyone for your visits, meals, gifts, friendship, and support!
Ezril remains to be happy, healthy, and nursing well! We love you Ezril, Happy Birthday!
Be frugal for rainy days...is your umbrella ready? - This frugal tip is one that really hit home for me and my family this month. Two days after Ezril was born, Darrell received a phone call from his employer (since he was on vacation leave) telling him that he was laid off due to company downsizing. This put a damper on our "new baby" vacation as we began our job search and wondered what was in store for us.
March was an interesting month for us.
