Ezra's birth story

*Okay, seriously, this post is TMI. Don't read any further if you don't want to hear gross details.*

Since Eliza's labor was such an anomaly, I was warned from my first OB appointment with Ezra that his labor would probably be even faster. Several times our midwives told us that the usual rules about when to call didn't apply to us and that, when I thought I was in labor, I should go to the hospital immediately, even if that meant throwing Eliza in the car and bringing her with us. This made for a sort of tense last month of pregnancy for me. I kept thinking of all the different scenarios and wishing that I could control things. What if S got stuck in traffic and I had to drive myself? Should we really bring Eliza? I obsessed. Plus, I started getting regular contractions much earlier the second time around. I actually had 2 full blown false alarms with Ezra.

The first time I drove Eliza and I to the hospital as soon as the contractions started to get painful. I knew they would only get worse and I wanted to drive while I was able. When the contractions got closer together, I called Scott and he left to meet me there (Did I mention he has 5 days off for the whole YEAR? So I really didn't want him wasting his time off for false alarms.) I called Eli and he agreed to hang out with Eliza in the OB waiting room while they monitored me. False alarm, but at least it was cheap.

The 2nd false alarm was around 11pm. I called Eli again so he could come to our house and watch Eliza. I was sure this was it; the contractions were 5 minutes apart and quite painful. The doctor on call said to go straight to the hospital. Once we got there, the contractions stopped. That was a more expensive false alarm.

By the time I was 38 1/2 weeks pregnant, I was so over the false labor. I was getting contractions constantly. The midwife gave S instructions for delivering the baby on the side of the road, just in case. On May 29th at 4am I woke up with a contraction again. I rolled my eyes and went back to sleep. Seven minutes later I woke up again, frustrated. When it happened again, it was more painful. I woke S up and told him this might be it. He rolled over and went back to sleep, unconvinced. The fourth time I was certain. I called my parents so that they could stay at our house while Eliza slept. They started getting ready. Eli was out of town for a wedding, so our closest family was an hour away. I wasn't sure this baby was waiting that long, and I really didn't want to wake up a cranky Eliza and have her be all upset while I was in pain. The contractions got worse. I remembered that Zac and Julia were in Austin for her 10 year reunion. I called Zac up and he answered by saying, "Is this it? We're on our way." S got up and said, "Did you really already call your parents and Zac and Jules? What if this isn't really it?"

I told him this was definitely it and went to find some clothes to wear. Turns out I had one clean outfit that covered my belly- a blue dress my friend Michelle had handed down to me the month prior. Note that Michelle had purchased the dress to wear to a wedding. So, I looked a little goofy wearing this dress and my flip flops at 4am. True to his word, Zac and Jules were at our house within 10 minutes and we quickly left for the hospital while Eliza slept. On the way there, we heard the song Clementine. I think of Ezra every time I hear it now. I quickly remembered how uncomfortable contractions are when you're strapped into a car. We got to the front desk of the hospital and the nurse was saying I wasn't in the computer. I felt like such a number, and told her we had been there less than a week ago and I was definitely in the system. Right then Liane the midwife walked up with a big smile on her face and said, "you're having a baby today! I know it will go quickly so we've got everything set up and ready to go." She gave me a big hug. I immediately felt better about the situation.

Luckily when she checked me, I was already at an 8, so I knew I really didn't have to suffer that much longer (and I also knew that, once again, there would be no time for an epidural). The good news was that since I had a crunchy midwife this time around, I wasn't strapped flat on my back like with Eliza. I moved around, changed positions, sat on the birthing ball a bit, etc. Liane kept a heating pad on my back and was so very supportive and calm. I was still in a lot of pain, of course, and Liane recommended I try sitting backward on the toilet, as that's helpful for a lot of women. She had even put a pillow on the flusher, so I could rest on it. Then she left for maybe 2 minutes, the only 2 minutes she wasn't by my side. As soon as I sat down on the toilet, I felt a lot of pressure and said so. S was like, "Get up! You're going to have the baby on the toilet! He told the nurse, Kat, to page Liane. I tried to waddle back to the bed. Halfway there, I felt a huge gush and realized the pressure was my water breaking all over the floor. Liane ran back in and, without the bag of water, I immediately felt like pushing.

I tried a few different pushing positions and Liane just kept saying to listen to my body and do what my body was telling me. She also kept saying it would be much easier this time and "like butter." I think I pushed for a total of 15 minutes. I remember yelling a lot. Ezra was born at 6:32 a.m. He weighed 8 pounds and 4 ounces, even though he wasn't due for another 10 days. When they wrapped him up and handed him to me, I just remember saying over and over, "Hi, Ezra, hi. You're so gooey and wonderful!" I remember Liane saying to S, "Are you a cord-cuttin' kind of guy?!" and he was. That was 6 months ago today. Ez is such a sweet, smiley baby. This weekend we picked out his Christmas stocking, and somehow that felt like an official welcome to the family. We are very blessed.