He's Here!!!!

Welcome Remy Gray!!!!

It's still sort of surreal, that our last child is finally here. He is just the sweetest thing!

My intuition was right, and I went over due with this little guy. I was due on the 15th.

Me on my due date

I went three days over, just like with Gwen. I noticed a pattern with my kids. Zoe and Leo were both born 39 weeks and 1 day. And both Gwen and Remy were born 40 weeks and 3 days. And the pattern of kids goes boy, girl, boy, boy, boy, girl, boy. I'm sure that if we were to have more, I would have another boy and he would be nearly a week over due. lol!

***Warning, TMI! If you want to just see the pictures, that's fine. But you have been warned!***

Ok, so the birth story. I wasn't having a lot of contractions. I would have a few episodes of some strong ones, but they would go away. I saw my midwife on Monday, the 13th, and she said that I would probably have a baby by the end of the week. She was right. I was a very stretchy 2 on the outside of my cervix and a firm 2 on the inside. Whatever that means.

So I tried really hard not to get upset as my due date came and went with nothing happening. At least this time, I wasn't having false labor like with Gwen.

Friday night we went to our monthly board game night. Ate too much junk food and one spicy thing that I prayed wouldn't keep me up all night.

Woke up Saturday morning, the 18th, with plans to go grocery shopping, take the kids to the pumpkin patch, and to Value Village to get Halloween costumes. We took our time getting ready, and as I was getting out of the shower, my water broke.

Yup, the girl that never has her water break, it broke as I was getting out of the shower. Thanks, Remy. We later found out it was just a portion of the bags of water. He was so big, that he sectioned off parts of the water bag, so only a little bit was leaking out. Good times.

That was at 8:30 in the morning. So, we called the midwife and she said that we should just stay home, watch to make sure the water doesn't turn green, and call when we are ready to come in. She would call the hospital and make sure the water birth room would be waiting for me.

Since my contractions weren't happening yet, and when I did have one, they were not intense, we decided to do the next week's shopping. Walking would help speed things along, so might was well kill two birds with one stone.

Steve and I made our weekly shopping trip to three different stores. Steve was making sure that we walked the whole store before leaving. Around 9:30 my contractions starting coming regularly.

After all our shopping, we got home around 11ish. Steve put the food away, and I had lunch. I was super tired from staying up so late the night before, and the kids were really bugging me. Every time I would have a contraction, Jake would freak out and ask if everything was ok. I know he meant well, but it was bugging me.

So Steve and I headed upstairs to lay down and try to rest before we headed into the hospital. We chatted for bit, watched food porn, and I drifted off to sleep. Only to wake up about half an hour later with intense back labor. I don't handle that kind of labor well, so I thought we could head in, and I could use that big tub to relax in while in labor.

We had called Steve's mom after the midwife in the morning, so she knew what was going on and was on her way down. We told my mom that we were heading in and that Marilu would pick her up when she got here. I just wanted a few hours to myself to relax and not have a bunch of people just staring at me while I labored.

Off we went to the hospital, after calling Donna, the midwife. She would be with us again for this delivery. We walked in and got a few Ebola questions. lol! Then they took me to the water birth room and got me hooked up for some motoring. Where the charge nurse argued with me about getting an IV, they didn't have my water birth consent form and wasn't going to let me get in until Donna brought it, and weren't going to check me because my water had broken, until Donna said it was ok.

Donna wasn't in the hospital yet, she was still at the office. Which is just a few blocks away. So, after they chatted with Donna via phone, and my actual nurse was in the room, I was checked, I was at 7 cm at 1:30, I was allowed to not have an IV (got a huge lecture about this) and got the tub filling up so I could get in.

We called our moms to let them know. Because the last time I was at a 7 and got in the water, I went to complete in 45 minutes. We called a friend to bring my mom in, because Marilu thought she wouldn't have time to get my mom and back to the hospital before I had the baby.

So, our mom's showed up about 5 minutes apart from each other around 2:30, I think. (My timeline is probably off, I really wasn't watching the clock.) I was just sitting in the tub, happy as can be. I love the tub!

In the tub!

Donna had come by then and we chatted for a bit. I was getting restless in the tub, so I got out and we walked the halls for a bit. I just felt like things weren't going as fast as they should be. After my walk, I was checked again, I was at a 9, but still had a lot of cervix in the way. I got a birthing ball and sat on that for a bit. They refilled the tub with hot water, so it would be the right temp when I finally got back in.

I wasn't on the ball for long, the back labor hurt a lot. So in the tub I went. It was in there that I broke down. I could feel that it was getting close to pushing time, and I was so scared. I cried. Broke down and cried. Express my fear and reluctance to do another natural birth.

Steve took me to the bathroom and gave me a blessing. It helped, but I just didn't feel right. I got back in the tub and felt the urge to push. I pushed a bit, but didn't feel right. I got out of the tub and tried standing and pushing. Like how I had Gwen. That got the room all buzzing and a bunch of people came in. 

Standing wasn't working, so I squatted down and pushed. Nothing. By then it was 6, and I got a new nurse.

I also just knew that nothing was working. I as in a lot of pain and pushing wasn't doing anything. I got on my bed (where Donna suggested she break my water, again. Which I let her, hoping that would do something because nothing was working) and then got on all fours so Donna could apply counter pressure on my back, and I begged for an epidural. So they got an IV started (getting an IV at 9 cm, with horrible back labor, while on all fours, not fun, btw) and then given some drug to help take the edge off. Yeah, it didn't work. Once the IV was in, I switched to a buddha pose, and my contractions went away. Donna was concerned that I would need pit as well.

And so I waited like that, for an hour, while the anesthesiologist finished up with a c-section (I was begging for him to hurry up, that they called in the stand-by guy to deal with me). Which took FOR.EV.ER! By then, the contractions had started again and were piling up on each other. And they hurt. I wasn't relaxing. I as holding that baby in until I could get the happy juice!

The anesthesiologist finally came around 7:30 pm. Took his sweet time going over stuff and getting prepped. Meanwhile, I was shaking so bad from the pain and labor. After it was all said and done, and it started working, I was on cloud nine. It was great to finally be able to relax and not feel the pain in my back anymore.

We called our mom's back in. It was getting late, so we offered for them to get some dinner. At around 8:30 I was checked, and I was almost a 10. Just one little bit of cervix left, which was typical of me. Donna asked I turn to my right to help get pressure on that side so I would go to complete. I rolled too far, and Remy didn't like that, so I rolled back a bit and within 10 seconds needed to push now!

So we got everything going, and I started pushing. This time, I could push right and get him coming out. Only, every time I pushed, my cervix would close up. Donna said I would be at a 10 while not pushing or contracting, but as soon as I pushed with a contraction, I could close back up. She'd never seen that before. So she placed her hand inside and would keep me open while I pushed. As he moved down and I pushed him out, I also pushed her hand out. 

After about 20 minutes or so of pushing, Remy Gray was born at 9:07 pm. He was 9 lbs 9 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. With a 14 1/4 inch head.

So even though I didn't get a water birth, I'm glad I was able to use the tub. It really helped with the back labor. But I think I've always known that I would not have a water birth. Which, on that day, the Spirit confirmed that to me during that blessing. I just knew that there was something off, and I wouldn't be able to birth him without the help of an epidural. My contractions, once I was on the epidural were extremely intense and just kept piling on top of each other, and lasted for a long time. I know that I felt everyone of those, I wouldn't able to do it. Something was off, and I was glad I listened to my body and the Spirit, and got the epidural. I'm happy with that. I tired everything to try and relieve the pain, I moved around and listen to the suggestions of both my midwife and mother-in-law and nothing worked. So, I'm happy with how his birth happened.

Due to some minor complications after birth for both Remy and me, we were held in the hospital till Monday. We finally went home Monday afternoon, and came home to just Grandma. My parents left that morning, the four older kids were at school, and Dexter and Gwen were taking naps. It was so weird to come home to a quiet house.

The kids came home before the other two woke up. So they all got to meet and hold Remy first.

Dexter woke up while Grandma and Steve were away, so no pictures. But he was so happy to see me. Then he saw Remy and was just beaming. He sat on the edge of my chair and gazed at Remy, touched him, and gave him a kiss on the head. It was so sweet!

Gwen had about the same reaction. She saw me and ran right to me, and gave me a big hug. Then just stared at Remy, not sure what to do. Steve got her and Remy and held them. She wouldn't look at him for anything. lol!

We finally got a picture of her looking at him, but that was it. She has taken a few days to warm up to him, but she hasn't been acting jealous at all. And she gets her loves in while he is sleeping, so all is well.

It feels wonderful to have our family complete now. It's nice knowing that this is the last one. I'm trying to soak it all in and remember everything. It's still weird to think we are the parents of SEVEN children. I love them all so much!

Our first family photo at a pumpkin patch, the next Saturday after Remy was born.