Kingston Zayn
September 16
6lbs 13oz
Early labor started at 5am on a Thursday morning. With my last two kids I had back labor so when I felt the contractions in my lower back I knew these were not Braxton Hicks. My husband’s alarm went off at 6:15 and while I stayed in bed, he promptly got himself and both kids dressed. He dropped one off at daycare and the other at the before school program, called his parents to ask them to pick the kids up from school and the school to let them know they will be picked up a bit early. During this time contractions had slowed down to about 1 every 20 mins. I showered, got dressed, started picking up around the house, changed our sheets and inflated the pool. My goal was to keep busy and prepare as early as we could. We went on two walks around the neighborhood and I sat and comfortably ate dinner in between contractions.
By 6pm the contractions started getting closer together, lasting about a minute and I was getting more and more bothered by them. At 8pm I called my doula and asked her to come to my house, spoke to Kelsey and updated her about how I was doing. By 9pm I was ready to get in the pool and I had called Kelsey and had asked her to send Ashley over (she was the closest since I’m in Kalamazoo). I really just wanted someone to check on my baby as he wasn’t really moving much and I’m so used to him being very active. Ashley promptly got to me within 30 mins and her being here was so calming. She asked me a bunch of questions, helped me get through a few contractions and told me that Jen and Kelsey were on their way. I got into the pool then and it was instant relief. I was kinda upset I didn’t get in sooner with how much better I felt. The water helped so much that I was able to eat some fruit and drink while I was in there and talk in between contractions.
By 10pm I was in full blown labor and was getting slammed with contractions that were about 3-4 mins apart.
Sometimes even closer. The pool made switching positions so much easier and I was able to get on my hands and knees which was the most comfortable for me. Jen had just arrived and her presence made me feel like I can finally give birth. I don’t know when I moved into transition but soon everybody was surrounding me, I heard Jens calm voice talking to me and supporting my bottom. I hit the point where I was on my hands and knees with my face buried in my husbands shirt as I held his hands and very loudly vocalized my discomfort. With every contraction I had the urge to bear down and push. Following my body’s urges, I pushed through about 8 contractions when I heard someone tell me to reach down. Looking down, I saw my baby under the water and I reached down to pull him up and on to my chest. I was then finally able to sit down and relax as I held my baby against me
He was perfect.
In that moment I became aware of my surroundings and noticed the other people in the room. Jen sat by the side of the pool with a smile and as calm as ever, Ashley checked on baby, Kelsey talked me through delivering the placenta and my husband got to cut the cord as soon as it stopped pulsating. I was so thankful for this team. I immediately felt so much better and was ready to get out of the pool and into my bed. With a little assistance, I was able to do just that as everyone jumped into cleaning and getting me a snack. My husband and I were left alone as I did skin to skin and Baby Kingston immediately latched and we were able to have our first breast feeding session. It was such a nice moment. By this point it was midnight and I was exhausted. After doing his assessment (I repeat, he was perfect) they all started heading out and left us to get our rest. I can honestly say, at no point did I miss the hospital, or all of the random people in and out of the room that I did not know. I am so happy with how my birth went and the Jens along with their team definitely lived up to their reputation and were all amazing.
