Due Date Baby!

Samuel Champney Andersen finally made his arrival, Saturday May 28th, 2011. We are so happy he is here and are all so in love with him, he is such a happy addition to our family.

Saturday morning I saw my midwife at 10am for a checkup. I was dilated 3 cm and was 70% thinned out. (If that doesn't make sense to you then  you've never had a baby and probably shouldn't ask too many questions until you do.) ;)
I got home about 10:45am and was having some cramping but that is normal after an internal check. No contractions or anything.
I ran over to my friend's house to buy a piece of pottery for a gift for my wonderful midwife. That was just about 11:00 because he was going to a funeral and his wife said he would only be at the studio until 11:15 at the latest. I came home, was still cramping a bit but nothing different than my contractions/cramping that I'd been having over the last month. Lars left to pick up his Mom to go to said funeral at about 11:45. After he left I put on a show that I had wanted to finish and lay down on my bed. I ended up dozing off and was awakened a few times by contractions, as well as kids. The contractions were a little different so I thought that MAYBE I was finally going into labor for real. (I had several false alarms throughout the preceding weeks so I didn't get too excited yet) Lilli came in at one point and wanted to watch a show on my computer. I put it on for her and went back to sleep for a few more minutes. That is when I noticed that my contractions were coming pretty regularly. This had to have been only about 12:45. I decided to get up and move around and see if they kept coming. They did and were actually fairly strong. I decided to take a warm bath and see if that stopped them (which it often does if it is false or pre-labor) or if they increased or strengthened. I told Lilli I'd be in the tub if she needed anything. Once in the tub the contractions really increased in strength and were only about 1-2 minutes apart. I thought for sure this was false labor because of how quickly they had gone from irregular to close, fast, strong contractions. I had been through this before. But they continued to grow in strength with each contraction. I felt like I should call my midwife and tell her to come as I thought I was at least starting real labor. I called her, according to my cell phone, at 1:34 and she said she'd get ready and head over. (She had been napping as she had assisted in a delivery the night before.) I called Lars and by this time my contractions were so close together that all I could say was "Come home right now, I'm having contractions!" No sooner had I hung up then I felt I needed to push. I thought "That isn't possible. I just started having contractions an hour ago, I can't be ready to push!" It was a relentless feeling though and my body took over and I started to push. My water broke and I needed to push again and his head crowned. One more urge to push and he was out! Less than four hours after seeing my midwife and being barely dilated I delivered my sweet boy by myself in the bathtub, at 1:51pm. (as close as we can tell from the phone calls. ;} )
He was perfect. I held him to my chest and rubbed his back and he started crying right away. I picked up my towel and covered him up and just stared in awe at my darling little baby. I couldn't believe it. I called my midwife and announced
"Ummmm, I have a baby!"
"What?! I'm just getting in my car now to drive over to your house!"
She asked a few questions to make sure we were stable and I got off the phone so I could focus on my sweet little boy. Lars arrived home at about that point and helped me to our room.
Now, to give a little other info to get a bigger picture of what was happening at my house during this time. While I was having a baby most of the kids were downstairs, as was Grandpa. Lilli, as I said, was watching a show in my room. At one point I heard her fighting with Oscar and Oscar knocked on the bathroom door to ask me something. I remember clearly saying "I can't talk right now go downstairs!" Must have been something in my voice because he listened ;)
Right about the moment the baby made his entrance into the world Lilli started knocking on the bathroom door. Then she heard the baby cry. "Hey Mom! How is the baby crying??" (We had discussed how babies can't cry inside mom's belly)
"Well, because he's out." I said.
"Let me in, let me see, let me in!" She kept saying over and over. Enter Lars and we are back to where I was a second ago.
My midwife arrived about 15 minutes later. She cut the cord etc., cleaned us up, and examined us. She stayed around for a few hours to make sure we were well and stable and then she left us to rest and get to know our sweet little baby.

So the million dollar question, or at least the one everyone is asking, was I scared? In short, no.
There was a moment in which I realized that this was really happening, I remember praying for things to slow down a little so Rebecca, my midwife, could make it to my house. A moment later I just knew that wasn't going to happen and I told myself over and over "I can do anything" I knew it would all be fine. I had been through this 4 other times at any rate.
It wasn't scary and it never entered my mind to call 911, which I'm told by most people that they would have. It wasn't a medical emergency and like I said, I just knew everything was going to work out just fine. I caught my baby myself and now I know I can do anything.  :) It was a wonderful and special moment in my life; unforgettable, unique, and private. I couldn't be happier. Lars says he is glad he wasn't there as he probably would've freaked out, I have more confidence in him though. I think he would have done just fine. Either way we are all happy with the end result, a happy and healthy baby and Mama.

The funniest thing is that once my midwife was there we told Lilli to go tell Grandpa that Sam was here. She did and we heard Henry scoff at her "Lilli, we all know Sam isn't here yet." She yelled at him that yes he is and that he is in mom's room. Henry came upstairs and as he walked by my room said "Pshhh, Lilli is trying to trick us that Sam is here." We all started laughing and told him to come look. He couldn't believe it and went to tell Grandpa that Sam really was here. :-) It is moments like this that make home-birth so amazing and wonderful.

I had envisioned a different birth. I had planned on hanging out at the house and watching Little Women with Rebecca (We had started to watch when I was in labor with Lilli) Then I was going to get in the birthing pool we had set up. I would labor there for awhile and have a calm water birth. Sam had other ideas. So, no, it wasn't quite as I planned but it turned out wonderful. The Lord knows us, he knows what experiences we can handle, and though I never thought that was something I could do, he was with me every moment, I was never really alone. We feel so blessed in our home right now. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways, and I am in awe at how well he knows each of us and how you really can feel "carried" when you need it most.
So nobody should be in awe of me, just our Father in Heaven and his love for us.  We are all capable of more than we think, and when we feel we are at the edge, he carries us.

Welcome to the world Sam, you have quite a story to tell already

Soon after being born
8 lbs 13 oz
22 1/2 in

Sweet Sam at 2 days old

An awake moment. I just love this little guy!