Greg, Erin, Car and Quincey

Well I have been holding off on posting this,  because I wasn't sure if I wanted it on here or not.  But since my sister in law took such amazing photos,  I figured I would share a few.  She is an amazing photographer.

There are no graphic pictures,  but this is a birth story,  so if that grosses you out,  STOP READING NOW.

The end of this pregnancy majorly dragged.  I think I had convinced myself that Owen was coming early,  plus I kept having painful contractions,  so every time that would happen,  and he wouldn't come,  it made it drag even more.  He did end up coming a week early, thank heavens.  And I suppose I was glad that he didn't show up on Halloween,  but still,  I was miserable...

The night before I had him,  I had consistent contractions that were about 10 minutes apart.  I slept through them though,  and they never really picked up which was a bummer.  The next day I felt yucky all day,  but I tried to keep the kids and I busy.   We went to the park with the cousins,  played at home, etc.  The dang contractions still weren't picking up.  That night I decided that I really needed this pizza in Park City,  so I packed the family up and made them go up with me.  Soon as week got there,  the contractions started coming closer and stronger.  I started getting nervous that I wasn't going to make it home in time for the baby to come.  We sort of rushed through dinner,  and then raced home.  A few people at the restaraunt commented on my belly,  and could tell that I was in pain,  when I told them I thought the baby was on his way,  they all wished us well.  Little did we know he would be here in less than a few hours.  When we got home, Greg put the kids to bed, and I got in the tub for a while and watched Friday Night Lights episodes,  while breathing through the contractions.  They were still five minutes apart.  At nine I called the midwife,  who told me to meet her at the birth center at ten.  As soon as I got off the phone,  the contractions picked up to 2-3 minutes,  and I really started getting scared that I wouldn't make it another hour.  (Quins labor did the same thing,  and she came QUICK).  Luckily I was able to get packed up,  my mom came,  and we made it to the birth center safe and sound,  baby intact.

Last shot before birth,  fake smile...

My  sister in law Tracie,  and the midwives were waiting when we got there.  They had me change,  and then checked me out.  I was dilated to a 6.  I wasn't sure how long the delivery would be,  so I just hung out and tried to get through the pain.

Between contractions,  obviously...

I hung out outside of the tub for a while,  when a contraction would come,  I would lean over, sway from side to side,  and have Greg push down on my hips.  This actually helped a lot,  and the contractions were bearable.  After about 30 minutes,  I had them fill up the tub,  and got in.

The water was SO nice,  and really helped with the pain.  This was one of the main reasons I wanted to do a birth center.

Soon after I got in,  they decided to break my water.  I was nervous about this because I knew there was no turning back,  but I knew it would speed things up,  so I had to do it.  About five minutes after,  my contractions started to get SERIOUS.  I had about 5 of those,  and then it was time to start pushing.

Everyone told me that the contractions were the hard part,  and pushing was the easier part.  I think it was the opposite.  The contractions did hurt,  but were manageable.  But as soon as it was time to push?  I thought I was really going to die.  My other babies came out easily and quickly,  so that is what I expected,  but Owen was a different story.  I found out after the fact,  that I had pushed for 30 minutes.  I think part of me was scared to push,  because I had heard so much about tearing if you push to fast,  and it definitely felt like I was tearing,  but also,  he was 8lbs 10 oz.  which seemed to make a big difference.  I couldn't get in a good position for pushing in the tub,  so they had me get out and sit on a birthing chair.   This helped a little,  but was still really hard.  I remember after him crowning for what seemed like FOREVER  (probably just 10 or so minutes)  I finally just decided he was coming out.  I pushed as hard as I could,  and he seriously shot right out.  The pain was immediately gone. 

They handed him to me,  but I was shaky,  and hurting,  and just wanted to lay down.  I loved him,  and was glad he was here,  but I was seriously worn out.  I had to post these pictures, because my head is down.  If you saw my face,  you would see a big scowl.  I was a little traumatized at this moment.

After they got me settled,  they gave baby to daddy,  and took me to the bed to stitch me up.

I immediately fell asleep,  and stayed like that for a while.

While I slept,  they measured and weighed the baby,  and made sure he was all right.

 

We stayed at the birth center for a few hours,  and then headed home.  We got home around 3:30 in the morning.  I think that was my favorite part of the whole thing.  

The kids woke up super excited to see the surprise, and meet their baby brother.  They had been waiting and counting the days for a LONG time.