Our hearts are happy, our fridge and bellies are full and we feel overwhelmed with God's goodness! So let's start from the beginning. Thursday evening we walked around the mall thinking that it might get baby moving, and we were right! While I was sleeping I had a lot of contractions and about 3:45 am I got up because I just couldn't sleep through them anymore. They were about 5 minutes apart so I woke Cyril up get this whole process going. :)
I called the midwives and they decided to come (we all thought it might be a pretty fast labor) and Gianna woke up so we called Aunty Anne Marie to come get her. She was pretty thrilled to be awake getting her "shooos" on and watching Madeline!
My midwife checked me at 6 am and I was about 4-5 centimeters dilated....I thought "awesome!" this is going to be quick! Well, not exactly. The contractions were intense, just not getting a lot worse and they didn't break my water. We ate, watched "Young Victoria" and tried to move to get things going. At 2:30 pm my midwife checked me again and I was only 5-6 centimeters, but baby was much lower. I thought it was disappointing news but then my water broke and that's when the action started.
(Cyril is here praying me through a contraction, he was an awesome labor coach!)
I mean it really started! The contractions came fast and really hard. There were points where I really believed I couldn't do it. It was a LOT more intense than Gianna's labor and I did not expect that. I was in the tub for transition and right when it was time to push I felt like I needed to do something different so I got out and laid on the ground near the tub. I pushed him out in about 20 minutes and Cyril got to catch him. :) He was laid right on my chest and almost instantly I forgot what I just went through to get him out, it was SO beautiful to see our son. Cyril said, "It's a boy!" and im not to sure what I said...I was just so incredibly happy!!
The midwives then continued to cut his cord and I finished pushing the placenta out. The amazing part about all this is that he had a knot in his cord! When that happens the oxygen is usually cut off to the baby and you end up in an emergency C-section or worse. I truly believe it was ALL the prayers that were said for me that day, we had a lot of prayers coming! God is truly good to us, we not only gave birth to a very healthy baby boy, but he was also born at home...exactly where we wanted him! It was so peaceful and amazing to be in our own living room with just us and the midwives.
I got into our bed, nursed him and then the midwives did their newborn exam and weighed him. 8 pounds, 7 ounces...21 inches! Just the right size. :) He has a rather large head though, 14.5 cm....but im pretty sure that was to be expected. :)
The midwives then cleaned everything up and tidied the house while Cyril and I continued to fall in love with our baby boy! We snuggled with him in bed, nursed him again and changed his little meconium poops. :) Oh yes, and we also called a lot of people. :) Sia came over and brought us gluten and dairy free french toast and Cyril fried up some bacon, it was the best postpartum meal ever! Sia also brought some wild flowers for my bedside and some sweet baby boy clothes to get us through. We let Gianna stay the night with the Wise family and tried to get some sleep. He ate very well and actually slept so I felt pretty good in the morning. The next day was filled with naps and many wonderful visitors. We seriously have the greatest friends and family. It's only been two days and our fridge is full of meals, our home is filled with flowers and our hearts are full of love! ALL this, even with my many allergies...people are SO generous! We had Sia, Micah and Hazel come that evening. Then the next day Peter's godparents, Darren and Anna Cools stopped by with mimosas to celebrate. :) Charlie and Emily were also with them to see their new buddy. :)
John and Anne Marie then brought Gianna over....as we were anxious for her to come home to meet Peter. :) She didn't even notice me....she went right to Peter and was so happy! I bet she was thinking, "finally my own sibling!" as she sees so many babies these days. She couldn't stop kissing him and wanted to hold him forever.
Sometimes I still can't believe we have two children! It's so fun to see Gianna with Peter, and to think, God willing this will happen many times. :) The Wise boys, Matthew, Thomas, Paul and Mark also came to see the baby and take turns holding him. Gianna was pretty thrilled when they walked in the door. Later that evening Gabi, Charles, Jo Jo and Anna also came to bring beers and a wonderful meal. The next day, (Sunday) Cyril took Gianna to our usual 9 am mass where everyone congratulated us. Kari and Daisy came by later to see Peter and brought even more wonderful food. We are so blessed!!! I am still in awe over how generous and awesome our friends are, it's so humbling to me. Now we are getting plenty of rest and still enjoying our two beautiful children.
