I’ve never shared my youngests birth story here before and since it is his birthday today I would like to share it. So here we go.

I woke up on Friday, May 30, 2008 at 7:08 a.m. and immediately started feeling contractions. I sat down at the computer and started timing them. Surprisingly they were all at 3 minutes apart. There were a couple that were 5 minutes apart and then they were back to 3 minutes and 2 minutes apart. I was in denial for the first half hour, okay more like an hour that this could be real labor.  I had woken up that morning with the intention of getting all my last minute stuff done before the babies arrival. But he had other plans. My friend Gena finally convinced me that I should call my midwife and this was more then likely real labor.

I contacted my Christy, my midwife around 8:00 and she was like your not in labor are you? I laughed and said actually I believe I am. So she said okay I will drop my kids off and grab my stuff and be on my way. She was coming from Whittier which is an hour and a half away so she rushed to get here. As soon as I hung up with her I called my husband and told him I think that he needed to come home. So he also left right then. I then called my mom and told her I needed her here to help me so she went and got my sister from school and came over. I took a shower to help me through the contractions and brought the kids in with me since it was just us at home. By the time my mom got here it was 9:10 a.m. I was bent over the side of my bed breathing through the contractions and the kids were still playing in the shower. My sister helped me with the kids and my friend Laura offered to called my mom and give her a list of things to buy for the birth. So she left and it was just me, the kids and my sister. My sister made them breakfast and kept them busy which I am very grateful for that.

By the time my mom got back which was around 9:45-10:00 it was a mad rush. They lined the bed with a shower curtain and lots of towels and then put one on the floor also in case I wanted to move. I “quickly” got onto the bed, on all fours with a pillow under my arms.  My husband walked in a couple minutes later. I was so happy he was finally home. He came over and held my hand the whole time. I told my mom I feel like I need to push because I was having pressure in my lower butt area. She then picked up the phone and immediately called Laura and was like what do I do!!!! She said it might help to put pressure on the sides of my hips, HOLY CRAP that did not help. Steve was like uh yeah no she does not like that.I have bad hips so I assume it’s from that.

About 5 minutes later my midwife Christy came running in. She quickly got gloves, grabbed her jar of olive oil, rubbed it on me and said okay whenever your ready Shana. I always told myself I would NEVER be a screamer, but man oh man did I scream. Christy told me that the screaming doesn’t help because it makes me tighten which pushes the baby back in (For all of you pregos out there, remember that bit of information for when you’re in labor).

Soooooo I tried my hardest to grunt/breath instead of screaming. I think I did pretty well, at least they told me I was. Finally after about 3-4 pushes the head was out. Christy said hello to the baby and giggled and said she always loves this part because it’s their first look at the new world. Everyone there was saying someone take a picture. My sister Tia (who was 17 at the time) was the only one right there with a camera but she was very hesitant so I said in my nicest during labor voice “Just take the fucking picture Tia”. Everyone got a good laugh out of that one. Two more pushes and we had a baby at 10:31 a.m.! He was 8 lbs. 8 oz. and 21 1/4 inches long and just absolutely beautiful. My oldest was the who announced that it was a boy 🙂 I was so excited and I KNEW it was a boy! Steve was in shock. He was totally convinced we were going to have a girl. 

It was an absolutely amazing birth experience. I enjoyed doing it all natural, being in my home, my own element. It was very comfortable and no one was telling me what to do or how to do it. It was all up to me. Example, when Christy said okay I’m ready Steve asked does she push now and her reply was “whenever Shana feels the need to. She is in control here, it’s her body and she will know what to do when the time is right”. I loved her look on birth. In a hospital it’s the Dr who delivers your baby but that’s not how she see’s it. It’s the mother who delivered the baby, the Dr, midwife, whoever is there to assist but the mom did all the work. Midwifes rock!

So that was how our beautiful bouncing, wild, crazy, full of energy, very curious, happy baby boy was born!

Happy third Birthday to my little man. I loved you as soon as I found out I was pregnant and that love has grown each and every day. You are by far my most challenging child but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I can’t wait to watch you continue to grow. You are my baby, today, tomorrow and forever <3