Tuesday, April 30
Sharayah had been telling me for a couple weeks she thought Sebastian might come early. She kept saying the phrase "early labor" kept playing in her mind. Technically we were already full-term, but not yet at the due-date (May 3). Sharayah had tricked me into thinking it was time to go at least twice in the past week or so.
I was done with work for the spring semester except for one last thing. I had to go to the graduation ceremony that night at 6. I know graduation is a special thing and all, but I had been hoping she would start labor before I left so I wouldn't have to go. I didn't even want to sit through my own graduation. They're just so long. At any rate, we hadn't noticed any signs of anything happening, so it looked like I would be going. I got all suited up (faculty wear our graduation regalia as well, so I had my full doctoral robes) and headed out. The arena is about 25 minutes away from home. We figured nothing would be going on, but I kept my phone in my hand so I'd feel it vibrate if Sharayah called.
About 20 minutes in, during a prayer, I felt my phone vibrating. I couldn't answer, so I texted to see if I needed to leave. She said she had some bleeding and couldn't feel the baby move [kp edit: I said I wasn't sure when he last moved, which was completely normal to me since he'd been chilling in there the past couple of weeks with the more subtle movements, and so I was going to try to feel him move, as a reassurance. Clearly, this part of my message did not reassure him. {luB edit: You're right, the phrase "I don't know when he last moved" did not reassure me.}]. Not exactly the way I wanted to get out of graduation. I headed out, hoping not to create too much of a distraction though I was in the third row, and started home. There was torrential rain, so I couldn't call and talk to anyone at home to see what was going on. All I knew was that she had called the midwife, Jessica, and something might be wrong. It was a long 25 minutes.
When I got home, it seemed like things were calmer. Jessica was on her way to check on things, but Sharayah thought everything was ok. She had felt movement and none of the more serious warning signs that could accompany bleeding were there. Our awesome midwife drove to our house to check on Sharayah since it was night and she knew we had kids in bed. She said everything was fine, but labor would probably start soon. We packed our bag (I've mentioned before that we always wait to do this to get the babies to come sooner) and settled in to try to get some sleep. That very stressful hour was probably not worth missing graduation.
Wednesday, May 1
I woke up the next morning and Sharayah had this really serene look on her face. I asked if it was the day, and she gave a calm nod. Apparently her contractions had started between 4 or 5. This would probably be the day. They were only "pansy" contractions (her words, not mine) so far. We went about our day semi-normally. We started trying to prepare the boys for us to miss nap/quiet time (about 1pm). My parents were in town to watch the kids, so we talked the kids through doing their nap or quiet time with them instead of us. Things progressed very slowly. Contractions never seemed to settle into any kind of regular rhythm, and they were still not strong. We went for a walk and she had them every two minutes for about 40 minutes, but they were only 30 seconds long. At other times they were a minute long and 4 to 5 minutes apart. Sometimes they seemed to escalate, but other times they tapered off.
This went on all day and we actually were home to put Finley down for his nap and put Lucas in quiet time. Then we played a board game with my parents to continue waiting. After Lucas came out (around 2:30) but before Finley woke up, the contractions finally seemed to intensify. Sharayah actually had trouble concentrating on the game during contractions. We finally decided to go to the birth center around 3:30. So we didn't miss nap time, but we would miss the boys' bed time.
It's a 5- to 10-minute drive depending on traffic, but from the time we got in the car until we arrived, there were no contractions. It was very puzzling. We waited in the car for a while and still had none. I think Sharayah was getting annoyed by now [kp edit: I WAS VERY ANNOYED]. Was there a baby coming or not? We finally went in and went to the birth room (same one as when Finley was born). I guess she finally had another little contraction. One of the nurses remarked that as we had come in, Sharayah had "seemed awfully happy" to actually be in labor. We got ourselves emotionally prepared to be sent back home to wait for things to pick up again.
They told us we might as well wait a little while to see if contractions started back up. Our midwife, Kari, saw a few other patients (for regular check-ups, we were the only birth happening at the moment) and contractions seemed to pick back up to the lackluster, not at all intense contractions from before [kp edit: a direct quote from Kari's notes at this time - "She does not need to frown or breathe through contractions. She is chatting and playing a game on her phone." I know it sounds ridiculous to be annoyed by it, BUT THIS DID NOT SEEM LIKE LABOR.] A little after 5 pm, Kari thought she might send us home, but just to be sure she checked Sharayah's dilation. She was at 8 cm, which was a complete surprise to us and Kari. Apparently she was just having a stealthy labor so far [kp edit: ninja baby!]. Things weren't moving fast, but evidently they were moving.
Over the next couple hours, the intense contractions finally returned. After such a long day of uncertainty and myriad versions of contractions, the strong ones came on and started to wear on Sharayah [kp edit: "Bring on the real contractions for Pete's sake! Oh. Huh. These are more work. Dislike."]. She got in the tub for a while, and had a lot of tough contractions without feeling like it was pushing time yet. She started getting really tired and just wanting to get on with it. Even after all this time, her water still hadn't broken. There were no concerns about safety, but it did seem like it could be a lot more time of these intense contractions until the water broke. Kari checked on things and said as soon as the water broke it would probably be a matter of minutes until the baby came.
If you know Sharayah, you know she doesn't like medical things and she likes to give birth without any interventions. After many more of these really hard contractions and no water breaking, Sharayah wasn't sure how long she could go without any end in sight. So finally at 7:14 pm, she decided to let them break the water. We had to get out of the tub for that, so we went to the bed and tried to make Sharayah comfortable.
As soon as the water broke, contractions became super intense and it was time to push right away. I could tell Sharayah was worn out, but I kept trying to encourage her that we were almost there. Her little baby was almost out, and she'd get to hold him soon. She was an awesome pusher [kp edit: I need a t-shirt that says this, thanks]. Soon, only 19 minutes after the water broke, Sebastian was born. I thought Sharayah might cry [kp edit: You are correct, sir. But emphasize the might. I am not a crier. My streak stands.]. We were so happy to see our new little guy after wondering all day whether things would ever get moving. It was 7:33 pm.
So, approximately 15 hours after the first contraction [kp edit: such a deceptive number since the first 13 hours were basically normal life annoyingly interrupted by indigestion...], water finally breaking followed immediately by less than a half hour of pushing, we had miracle number three. It was a night and day of uncertainty, but we got our little guy, safe and sound.
Lucas and Finley have handled the transition really well. Lucas has pretty much gone about his business as if nothing has changed. Finley, on the other hand, immediately decided he was a big boy and could do everything on his own. Instantly he doesn't want to be carried or hold hands when walking. Anytime we ask if he wants us to help him with something, he shouts "Me, me!" and does it on his own. He is, however, completely enamored with Sebastian. He loves to look at him, tickle him (his version of tickling is just to very calmly, gently wiggle his chubby fingers on or near the baby and say "tick-a, tick-a" in a tiny little voice), try to hold him, or just say "hi" to him 20 times a day. Lucas and Finley have been playing together almost constantly without too much need for breaking up disagreements. My parents went back home and left us outnumbered, but so far it's actually been easier than when we switched from one kid to two.
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| Our newest creation. |
Thanks for joining us. You've made things a lot more interesting around here. You and your brothers now outnumber us, so one of us is always watching at least two of you. It's really fun so far to see how you are like Lucas, how you are like Finley, and how you are completely different. We hope you'll all be best buds. I've told your brothers, and I'll tell you, being your dad is the best job I've ever had. The hours are long, the pay is terrible, but my coworker (your mom) is the best and my customers (that's you guys) are adorable. I love you more than life, and sleep, and eating without having to make sure no babies are crying.
Love,
Dad
PS. Please stop poopin' on me.
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| Sebi's skinny feet next to Finley's chunky ones |
