Since I haven't posted since Baby Jude made his arrival, and we have been through so much since then, I will have to tell his story in several posts. I'll start with his Birth Story...
Psalms 139:13-14a "For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made"
Anyone who has welcomed a new baby into the family, whether your first or fifth, knows it takes a lot of energy and adjusting. Well we were no different. With all the planning I thought I could do to get ready and prepare helped, but didn't seem to make up for the lost sleep and energy.
We had an amazing homebirth attended by Carrie our wonderful midwife. The labor was only 4 1/2 hours from water break to delivery! I went from dilated to a 7 to Jude in my arms in a matter of 15 minutes! It didn't happen quite how I thought it would with soft music and candles. I thought I would be laboring and possibly birth in the kiddie pool. I searched and searched for that pool and finally bought it online. Jude decided to come so quick that there was no time to fill the pool....he was delivered on the living room floor! Not the cozy homebirth I imagined, but definitely unique non the less!
Those last few weeks before Jude was born was extremely tough. He was sitting so low, my body seemed to ache all over. I was miserable...it hurt to lay down, walk, sit, and breath! lol I know it sounds pathetic....but really I was a mess! I was soooo ready to get our boy out!
On Saturday October 12th, my sister and her almost fiance stayed over late playing board games with us. We were sitting on our living room floor and I was tracking the contractions. I had been having bouts of contractions come and go for about two weeks before then so I wasn't really thinking "it's time!". We went to bed late, around 1:30 am. At 3:30am I woke up to my water starting to break! I ran to the bathroom and told Scott my water had just broke. Usually, my hubby is a very sound sleeper. I literally have to shake him repeatedly to get him to wake up. Fortunately, he responded immediately. I have to say we both were so much more calm this time around. We even mentioned that it was nice to not have to rush around to get ready to leave for the hospital.
My first two labors started with my water breaking and then went on for 9 to 12 hours. So thinking we were in for a longer labor I told Scott we should try to rest before the contractions started. We had no time to rest...I had three intense contractions within the first five minutes!
I had already texted Carrie to give her a heads up and told her I'd keep her posted. So we just started timing the contractions. They were coming every 3-5 minutes and lasting for 40 sec to a minute by 4:30am. I texted Carrie an update and by this point the contractions were getting stronger and I was having to breath through them. At this point I remember having that panicked feeling during the contractions. I knew they were a lot stronger and that this labor was going to go faster.
After we texted Carrie that my pain was at an 8, she said she was packing and would be on the way over. As soon as I knew she was on the way I was able to calm down. I think the combination of being at home and having harder and faster contractions alone just scared me. When I am experiencing extreme pain it is very easy for me to feel out of control.
Going into this labor I really felt a lot more prepared and confidant then I did with my first two hospital births. I knew that my birth plan was going to be followed and I wasn't going to be forced or scared into anything. Having the comfort of home was a huge deal for me. I am a private person and would rather my birthing experience to be just between me and my husband and of course with our experienced midwife.
Throughout my pregnancy with Jude I read countless birth stories. I noticed that the women who went into labor with a positive "I can do this!" attitude usually ended up with a shorter and more pleasant experience.
With my first two labors I can remember getting to that point….you know the point where you start to wonder, "What in the world did I get myself into?"! At that point I can vividly remember saying (or really screaming!) to my poor husband, "I can't do this!". So I decided no matter how hard or painful it got I would not allow myself to give up or even think negative.
That positive, "I can do this" thought process really did make a difference! By the time Carrie arrived I was having contractions 3 minutes apart at about a minute long. I was having bad back pain just like my first 2 labors. Scott was having to rub my lower back really hard to help ease the pain during the intense part of the contractions.
Through all of this our big kids were sleeping. But around 6:15 Eli came out of his room and came up to me. I told him the baby was coming but he should go back to bed for a little bit longer. I had texted my sister, Aunt Reyna, at 5:00 and told her the baby was coming and asked her to come get the kids around 7:30am. Because the labor was going so quickly and that Eli had already made an appearance, I texted her back and
asked her to come as soon as she could. By 6:30 both kids were up and watching TV in our room.
So Carrie started to get her stuff together and then asked if I wanted her to check me. At the first check around 6:00am, I was dilated to a 5. I continued to labor while Carrie and her assistant started doing the paper work and getting everything ready. Poor Scott was trying to get the pool set up and the silly hose wasn't attaching to the sink the way that it should of. He was trying to rig it up with duck tape and help me! I would start to go into a contraction and start yelling for him to come. I seriously needed him to rub my back through the contractions. If I didn't have him rubbing my back and pushing in on my hips the pain was extremely intense.
Aunt Reyna got to our house just before 7 and started packing up the kids and changing carseats to her car.
I think it was somewhere around 7:30am and I told Scott to stop worrying about the pool that the baby was coming to fast. Carrie checked me again and I was at a 7. In the next 10 minutes I remember hitting that point where I normally would start freaking out and saying I can't do this. At this point, I remember holding myself up by leaning over the arm of the couch. Carrie was rubbing my back through the contraction and I just started saying, "I can do this, I can do this!". Carrie was telling me "yes, you can do this! God created your body to be able to do this!". I remember thinking at that moment how awesome it was to have her there telling me that! Between Scott and Carrie, I had the support I needed and was kept thinking positive.
Carrie had me get on my hands and knees and try a position to help turn Jude so I wouldn't have the bad back labor. This is when Reyna and the kids said bye and left for my brother's house. My brother and sister live about 20-25 minutes away. I was able to still talk between contractions and calmly told Reyna I was at a 7 and we talked about how much faster this labor was going. We said goodbye to the kids and told them when they came back baby Jude would be here!
Scott was moving the pool to the hall when the contractions hit the next level. Scott came over and was helping me through the contractions. At this point it had only been about 20 minutes since I was checked (about 10 from the kids leaving) and at a 7. I really felt like I needed to push but thought it couldn't be time yet. My next contraction I had that low growl type moan and Carrie rushed over and had me roll over. She went to check me and said his head was coming! Wow! I went through transition in like 15 minutes!
This was the crazy part! Carrie and her assistant were scrambling to get the birthing stool positioned by me and lay everything out. I started to push through the contractions as Scott was down next to me telling me "keep it up, I see his head. He is almost here!". In a few pushes Jude's head was out! His cord had got wrapped around his neck, so she had me stop pushing to remove the cord. One more push and he was out and on my chest in seconds! He was born at 8:03am the morning of October 13th.
I literally sat there stunned that labor was over! I even remember thinking "that wasn't too bad"!
We sat there cuddling our sweet boy waiting for the cord to stop pulsing. Once it did Scott got to cut the cord.
Carrie got me fixed up and then they had everything cleaned up pretty quick. I was able to get Jude to latch by the second attempt and nurse him for 30 minutes straight! I don't know if it was a combination of my experience and his strong suck, but it was the easiest baby to get nursing started! Probably the fact that there was virtually no stress helped a lot too. We watched as Carrie did the newborn exam and said everything looked great! He was 7.6lbs and 21 1/2 inches long! With an apgar score of a 9!
Carrie had everything ready to go and we were stable within a couple hours. She headed out around 10:30am. Scott and I sat on the couch holding Jude, completely amazed that labor was so short! There are no words for those first moments with your newborn. New life so fresh, so new! Wow, do we have an amazing creator!
The kiddos showed up around noon and were so excited to meet their new brother! It was the sweetest moments for me as a mom to watch my big kids in complete awe of their new baby. Brooklyn walked over to me and lifted my shirt and looked over at Jude. She was a bit confused! She said, "momma, the baby is not in your tummy. He came out!". Haha! It is so cute to watch their little minds work!
So there is Jude's birth story! The addition of our third born precious baby boy! Welcome to the world Jude Alan LaForte!
On Saturday October 12th, my sister and her almost fiance stayed over late playing board games with us. We were sitting on our living room floor and I was tracking the contractions. I had been having bouts of contractions come and go for about two weeks before then so I wasn't really thinking "it's time!". We went to bed late, around 1:30 am. At 3:30am I woke up to my water starting to break! I ran to the bathroom and told Scott my water had just broke. Usually, my hubby is a very sound sleeper. I literally have to shake him repeatedly to get him to wake up. Fortunately, he responded immediately. I have to say we both were so much more calm this time around. We even mentioned that it was nice to not have to rush around to get ready to leave for the hospital.
My first two labors started with my water breaking and then went on for 9 to 12 hours. So thinking we were in for a longer labor I told Scott we should try to rest before the contractions started. We had no time to rest...I had three intense contractions within the first five minutes!
I had already texted Carrie to give her a heads up and told her I'd keep her posted. So we just started timing the contractions. They were coming every 3-5 minutes and lasting for 40 sec to a minute by 4:30am. I texted Carrie an update and by this point the contractions were getting stronger and I was having to breath through them. At this point I remember having that panicked feeling during the contractions. I knew they were a lot stronger and that this labor was going to go faster.
After we texted Carrie that my pain was at an 8, she said she was packing and would be on the way over. As soon as I knew she was on the way I was able to calm down. I think the combination of being at home and having harder and faster contractions alone just scared me. When I am experiencing extreme pain it is very easy for me to feel out of control.
Going into this labor I really felt a lot more prepared and confidant then I did with my first two hospital births. I knew that my birth plan was going to be followed and I wasn't going to be forced or scared into anything. Having the comfort of home was a huge deal for me. I am a private person and would rather my birthing experience to be just between me and my husband and of course with our experienced midwife.
Throughout my pregnancy with Jude I read countless birth stories. I noticed that the women who went into labor with a positive "I can do this!" attitude usually ended up with a shorter and more pleasant experience.
With my first two labors I can remember getting to that point….you know the point where you start to wonder, "What in the world did I get myself into?"! At that point I can vividly remember saying (or really screaming!) to my poor husband, "I can't do this!". So I decided no matter how hard or painful it got I would not allow myself to give up or even think negative.
That positive, "I can do this" thought process really did make a difference! By the time Carrie arrived I was having contractions 3 minutes apart at about a minute long. I was having bad back pain just like my first 2 labors. Scott was having to rub my lower back really hard to help ease the pain during the intense part of the contractions.
Through all of this our big kids were sleeping. But around 6:15 Eli came out of his room and came up to me. I told him the baby was coming but he should go back to bed for a little bit longer. I had texted my sister, Aunt Reyna, at 5:00 and told her the baby was coming and asked her to come get the kids around 7:30am. Because the labor was going so quickly and that Eli had already made an appearance, I texted her back and
asked her to come as soon as she could. By 6:30 both kids were up and watching TV in our room.
So Carrie started to get her stuff together and then asked if I wanted her to check me. At the first check around 6:00am, I was dilated to a 5. I continued to labor while Carrie and her assistant started doing the paper work and getting everything ready. Poor Scott was trying to get the pool set up and the silly hose wasn't attaching to the sink the way that it should of. He was trying to rig it up with duck tape and help me! I would start to go into a contraction and start yelling for him to come. I seriously needed him to rub my back through the contractions. If I didn't have him rubbing my back and pushing in on my hips the pain was extremely intense.
Aunt Reyna got to our house just before 7 and started packing up the kids and changing carseats to her car.
I think it was somewhere around 7:30am and I told Scott to stop worrying about the pool that the baby was coming to fast. Carrie checked me again and I was at a 7. In the next 10 minutes I remember hitting that point where I normally would start freaking out and saying I can't do this. At this point, I remember holding myself up by leaning over the arm of the couch. Carrie was rubbing my back through the contraction and I just started saying, "I can do this, I can do this!". Carrie was telling me "yes, you can do this! God created your body to be able to do this!". I remember thinking at that moment how awesome it was to have her there telling me that! Between Scott and Carrie, I had the support I needed and was kept thinking positive.
Carrie had me get on my hands and knees and try a position to help turn Jude so I wouldn't have the bad back labor. This is when Reyna and the kids said bye and left for my brother's house. My brother and sister live about 20-25 minutes away. I was able to still talk between contractions and calmly told Reyna I was at a 7 and we talked about how much faster this labor was going. We said goodbye to the kids and told them when they came back baby Jude would be here!
Scott was moving the pool to the hall when the contractions hit the next level. Scott came over and was helping me through the contractions. At this point it had only been about 20 minutes since I was checked (about 10 from the kids leaving) and at a 7. I really felt like I needed to push but thought it couldn't be time yet. My next contraction I had that low growl type moan and Carrie rushed over and had me roll over. She went to check me and said his head was coming! Wow! I went through transition in like 15 minutes!
This was the crazy part! Carrie and her assistant were scrambling to get the birthing stool positioned by me and lay everything out. I started to push through the contractions as Scott was down next to me telling me "keep it up, I see his head. He is almost here!". In a few pushes Jude's head was out! His cord had got wrapped around his neck, so she had me stop pushing to remove the cord. One more push and he was out and on my chest in seconds! He was born at 8:03am the morning of October 13th.
I literally sat there stunned that labor was over! I even remember thinking "that wasn't too bad"!
We sat there cuddling our sweet boy waiting for the cord to stop pulsing. Once it did Scott got to cut the cord.
Carrie got me fixed up and then they had everything cleaned up pretty quick. I was able to get Jude to latch by the second attempt and nurse him for 30 minutes straight! I don't know if it was a combination of my experience and his strong suck, but it was the easiest baby to get nursing started! Probably the fact that there was virtually no stress helped a lot too. We watched as Carrie did the newborn exam and said everything looked great! He was 7.6lbs and 21 1/2 inches long! With an apgar score of a 9!
Carrie had everything ready to go and we were stable within a couple hours. She headed out around 10:30am. Scott and I sat on the couch holding Jude, completely amazed that labor was so short! There are no words for those first moments with your newborn. New life so fresh, so new! Wow, do we have an amazing creator!
The kiddos showed up around noon and were so excited to meet their new brother! It was the sweetest moments for me as a mom to watch my big kids in complete awe of their new baby. Brooklyn walked over to me and lifted my shirt and looked over at Jude. She was a bit confused! She said, "momma, the baby is not in your tummy. He came out!". Haha! It is so cute to watch their little minds work!
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