On Monday, September 12, I woke up 41 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I had never been pregnant this long. Tanner came at 39 weeks + 3 days and Brody came at 40 weeks + 3 days. I had been soaking up what I assumed were my final days of pregnancy for the past couple weeks, anticipating when the day would come. I loved the little thrill of not knowing when our lives would change dramatically for the third time. We were finally to the point where we felt "ready" (can you ever truly be ready?) to meet our baby girl. The house was clean, the birth supplies were laid out in our bedroom (including the essential bowl of dark chocolates for our birth team), and my toes were painted. Eventually the house had to be cleaned again and my toes had to be painted again. I had gotten pampered with pedicures and pressure point massages. I had eaten eggplant parmesean. I had even gotten a slight tan from unexpected mornings at the pool since the boys' preschool had started back the week before. I was soaking up every second of my last pregnancy while also feeling ready to meet my baby girl. I know and fully believe that babies come when they are ready, so I was patiently (as patiently as possible) waiting.
Two nights before that Monday, I hadn't gotten much sleep due to contractions that woke me up every 10 to 30 minutes. Sunday was the 11th and since both boys were born the 11th of their respective months, we assumed Keelie was waiting for the 11th as well. I lost my mucus plug when I woke up on the 11th, but the rest of the day was "boring" as far as labor was concerned. Apparently the 11th was not her goal after all ;)
I woke up Monday morning with - still - no excitement. I had some patients on my work schedule that morning, the last day I actually had patients scheduled (because surely I would have a baby soon... right?!). Tyler didn't think it was wise for me to work, but I couldn't imagine staying home if I wasn't in active labor. I love my job, my office is five minutes from our house, and I had patients who needed to be seen... I was going to work :) I took the boys to preschool on the way to work and we made up a song in the car line to encourage baby sister to join us earthside.
Spoiler alert. The video worked.
After dropping off the boys, I had just enough time to grab some breakfast before it was time to be at the office. I figured if I did go into labor that day I would want protein in my system, so I grabbed an egg white grill from CFA (my pregnancy breakfast obsession!) and headed in. I had a couple mild contractions as I adjusted patients, but I wasn't getting too excited.
After work, I swung by home to pick up my mom and we headed to Moe's (my other pregnancy food obsession) to pick up lunch before it was time to get the boys from school. My mom? Yes! She normally comes down from Ohio a few days after our babies are born and stays for a couple weeks (and is the biggest help EVER). This time around, she needed to be back by a certain date, so she booked her flight ahead of time. We assumed I would have a baby by the time she got in since I would be one day shy of 41 weeks and I'd never gone that long... but obviously she arrived and I was still pregnant! We didn't realize what a blessing it would be to have her here during the birth to watch the boys, but I think God knew exactly what He was doing when she she booked that flight.
My mom and I picked up the boys from school and I remember having a stronger contraction as I walked into the building... but I could still walk through it, so again I wasn't too excited. We got home, ate our Moe's, and I had a couple more contractions as I put the boys down for naps. The contractions were still super spread out, but they were getting slightly intense. It was long before I was fairly confident it was THE day. The day we were going to meet our baby girl. I even told Tanner his baby sister was probably coming that day... which led to him getting out of bed during his nap twice to "check" to see if baby sister was here yet.
I took a shower after the boys were down (super pregnant coupled with Georgia heat and humidity equals multiple showers in a day). After three contractions within 20 minutes I text Tyler to let him know that he may need to come home soon. I told him I had decided if I had a couple more strong contractions, he should come home. He was so excited, I could tell by the running man emoji he sent me through text. I had a couple more intense contractions right after that, so I sent him the long awaited "I think you should come home now" text. I hoped I wasn't jumping the gun, but I was confident we would be meeting our baby girl that day.
Tyler got home shortly after 2 pm. Contractions were 8 minutes apart, but they were getting to the point where I couldn't talk through them, so I knew it was officially "go time." I started prepping the birth room AKA our bedroom. I changed my clothes, turned the diffuser on (it was already filled with peace and calming essential oil), and started my labor music (thanks to my awesome due date twin from my last pregnancy for creating it then and not deleting it... it's gotten a lot of use). Tyler started filling the birth tub and I took one final belly pic to remember the moment.
I had text my midwife, Charlotte, to let her know that contractions were 8 minutes apart and getting intense. She called me soon after and, knowing I had a fast labor with Brody, told me she was canceling her appointments for the day and heading up to our house. She only lives 30 minutes away, but if she waited much longer she could get into rush hour traffic (which would make her trip well over an hour) and she wanted to avoid that. She also told me she was bringing her backup midwife, Jackie, with her. Two midwives sounded great to me. I was happy to know she was on her way and hoped things would progress quickly, so they wouldn't get too bored :)
And so the party had started. The labor party, that is.
By the time Charlotte and Jackie arrived, contractions were 6-7 minutes apart and Tyler was helping me through them by squeezing my hips (which helped tremendously) or putting counter pressure on my sacrum. I wanted to keep labor progressing, so Tyler suggested walking throughout the house. Good idea. We would have walked outside if it wasn't nearly 90 degrees that day, but the house worked just as well. We walked up and down the stairs and all throughout the house, stopping for contractions as needed. I would usually choose to bend over and put weight on a counter or table when one would hit, but sometimes I just leaned into Tyler and used him for support. It was such a cool experience because this was my house, my house that I walk through every single day without any thought. But this day I was walking through our house in labor... about to add another member to our family. I remember feeling that adrenaline of how much life was about to change. I'm a nerd, I know.
Brody was still asleep at this point (it probably 3:30ish), but Tanner was awake, so Tyler suggested we visit him in the basement, where he and Grandma were hanging out (side note: it was so nice having a finished basement this time around, especially with a home birth!). Tanner was excited to see us and we talked about how "baby sister" was coming soon. He remembered contractions from my labor with Brody, so it didn't freak him out in the slightest, he just sweetly asked me if they hurt. Tyler asked Tanner to pray with us, and he had Tanner put his hands on my belly and pray for me and his baby sister. It was such a sweet moment. Kudos to Grandma for documenting.
We walked back to the main level of our house and continued to walk throughout the house for a bit longer. By the time we made it back up the bedroom, contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. Things were moving right along.
Part two (the good stuff) to come...