I should probably start with a little background on our family. After Orie's experience and everything he learned at chiropractic school, we have become very much in favor of keeping birth as natural as it possibly can be. We feel like it's the right thing to do for our family. I also believe that every women needs to do what she feels is best for her birth.
Aiden, our first, was born with a midwife in a birthing center and was a great experience. We knew we wanted to use a midwife again and decided that for round two we would have a home birth. We also didn't really have another option if we wanted a midwife as there aren't any in Northwest Arkansas who deliver in hospitals and there are no birthing centers. So home birth it was.
We became pregnant with Spencer in February of last year and then about midsummer we started looking for a home to buy (we were renting at the time). We were really hoping to find a home and get moved in before Spencer came so he could be born in our own home, not a rental. We looked a ton, made an offer and it fell through right when we thought we had hit our deadline of "it's not going to happen before the birth". That same day it fell through, Orie found a beautiful home online. We both saw it that day, made an offer the next, had it accepted the next day and moved in 3 weeks later (after bumping up our close date a week). Really, it was that fast. And I was 38 weeks pregnant. Yikes. But with a ton of help from AMAZING friends we got into our home and within a week everything was unpacked and we just had pictures to hang on the wall. My mom is the one to thank for most of that. She is amazing. Beyond amazing.
So here is my big confession. As most women know who have been pregnant, your brain goes out the window. It seriously seems to stop functioning at times. Especially your memory. In the quick process of moving I forgot to do one VERY important thing. I forgot to switch the water over to our names.
And we were planning on having a water birth...a WATER birth.
Yep.
That bad.
So on November 19th I went to use the restroom (for about the 100th time) at about 5pm. I flushed. I turned on the sink to wash my hands and nothing came out. Nothing. Came. Out.
Panic. PANIC. PANIC!!!
I called the utilities and they had just closed. Oh no. I called Orie at work and burst into tears. I was freaking out that I would go in labor. He came home, we talked, we prayed, we decided it would be okay for the night for us to stay there (I was preparing to go stay at his parent's house, just in case). So we headed to dinner, since we had no water to cook anything, and then we're going to head to Walmart after to grab some gallons of water to get through the night till we could get the water on in the morning. I was all nerves. It's still making me nervous as I'm typing this.
We headed to Red Robin, had a nice dinner, headed to the car and as I climbed into the car I had a contraction. Here is where I would insert an expletive if I was a cursing person. But I'm not. I almost was at that moment. I sat there in total denial. Looked at the clock. 7:30pm So we headed to Walmart while I sat trying to convince myself that this was not really happening. False labor. For sure. We stopped at the gas station. Parked. Contraction. 7:36. 6 minutes. 6 MINUTES?!?!? We got gas, went and parked at Walmart. Contraction. 7:42. 6 minutes. And then I knew it was really happening. I completely broke down. I just knew we would have to go to his parents to have this baby. I mean, how can you have a baby without running water??? But seriously, who wants to have a baby at their in-laws?? I don't care how close you are. It's just not okay. But I wasn't seeing a way out of this one.
We headed home as quickly as possible with me still contracting every 6 minutes. And I'm being honest here, I had NOTHING leading up to that first contraction. It was the same way with my first. Absolutely no warning. We got inside and Orie quickly put Aiden to bed. What an angel. He went right to sleep without a peep. He slept through everything that followed. A tender mercy from the Lord. I called my mom and told her to hit the road and head down (she's 35 minutes north of us-too far to go to have the baby there, which would have been much more favorable, but close enough we wanted her to come to stay with Aiden while we headed to Orie's parents house). I balled as I told her that we had no running water but had bought some at the store to get her through the night with Aiden while we were gone. I then called my midwife and explained what was going on. Lucy is amazing. She didn't even hesitate, just went with it and said she was on her way. At this point I went and settled into our room to work through contractions while we waited for my mom to come. I was still every 6 minutes and expected to be laboring a while longer (my first birth was 4 1/2 hours). It was about 8:30 at this point.
I was kneeling by my bed, timing contractions, when I went from 6 minutes apart to 2. Yes. 2. I yelled to Orie. I knew at this point there was no way we were going to his parents. We weren't going anywhere.
We had no water.
Oh, remember that part where I said we were planning to have a water birth? Yep, you can laugh now.
So there was the birthing tub, blown up and leaning against the wall as I labored in our room. I know, I'm laughing too.
Orie called Lucy and told her we had just gone from 6 minutes apart to 2. She said she was on her way and would hurry and that we should just stay put. Come to find out later she did 90 all the way down the freeway to her house. Thank you Heavenly Father for keeping all the cops away from the road that night.
About 10 minutes later, with no one at our house yet, I suddenly felt the need to push. I mean really really push. I yelled to Orie, "grab a towel, you're going to catch this baby!"
And bless my amazing husband, without even a look of panic he just grabbed a towel and was ready to catch our little guy. I pushed a few times. He crowned.
And then Lucy came running through the door like an angel from Heaven. With a reassuring hand on my shoulder she checked where we were, and said, "you're doing great! Let's have a baby!"
So a little more pushing and at 9:00pm out came our dear little Spencer. Perfectly healthy, crying and adorable. Orie caught him and then into my arms and into our lives he came. It's amazing the love that fills the air when a little child is welcomed into the world. You almost feel like you can touch it. You sit there holding this perfect little person and knowing that he was just in the presence of our Heavenly Father before coming into your arms is a holy experience.
My midwife and her wonderful two apprentices, Dana and Kim, then jumped into action. Water was boiled to make a bath for baby and me, sheets were changed out, snacks and juice were brought for me, and I was soon snuggled up in a fresh bed with my fresh little baby.
I can't say enough how grateful I am for Lucy, Dana and Kim. They never said a word or made one single complaint about our water situation. They just made it work. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about how wonderful they were. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping that night be truly amazing and helping me forget about the extenuating circumstances. What a blessing you are to me.
By midnight the crew all headed home and Orie and I climbed into bed with our little Spencer, looking forward to the morning and introducing him to Aiden.
Morning came, Aiden came into our room and climbed into bed as usual. He found a big surprise this time!
And with kisses and hugs we became a family of four in that morning sunlight.
