I never felt more relieved than when my mom came into the bathroom. I'm sure she thought she was walking into a barn with all the ooooo-ing and moooo-ing and aaaaah-ing going on. The time was about 12:30 am. It was a record for her I think, it took her less than half an hour to get to my house, and that includes a 7 mile drive! Her timing was perfect as I was running out of hot water. I don't know what I would have done if I had to get out of the shower and she hadn't been there. I probably would have just lost my mind and gone a little bit insane. The rest of the story is a bit fuzzy in my head. Everything was happening so fast and I was in a whirlwind of contractions. Sorry if things seem off, I'm doing my best to remember.
I got out of the shower, leaned against the sink and squatted over the side of the tub during contractions. I remember mom saying she thought we would have a baby soon. I replied, "I fricken hope so!" She asked if she should go wake up Joe and I told her not yet, obviously still in denial about how far along I was. Mom asked if I had called Rebekah (our midwife). I hadn't. She asked if I called Charlene (my stepmom). I hadn't done that either. Charlene had over an hours drive and Rebekah maybe 40 minutes. Joe's mom and grandma were also planning on being at the birth and they had an hour and half drive also. It hadn't crossed my mind at all to call any of them. It probably would have been a good job for my husband, but I had sent him back to bed, haha! She asked if she should call Rebekah and I said yes. I moved from the bathroom into the spare bedroom (thankfully a very short trip, about 5 steps away!) while she called everyone.
I tried a few things to get comfortable, laying on the floor (horrible idea) and eventually settled on leaning over a purple tote. I vocalized through the contractions until I started to push. I *think* I started pushing a little bit in the bathroom and after mom said she thought it was okay that I pushed (me being worried it was too early yet, but she figured I was complete so I started actively pushing). She said if it felt right and I felt like I needed to push that it was probably okay, so I did. **I should mention that my mom is a Doula and has attended many births, so we were comfortable pushing and potentially delivering a baby if we needed to.** I don't remember if I started actively pushing before my water broke or not...but regardless, my water broke All. Over. The. Floor. I had a birth kit with plastic liners and chux pads and everything, and did either of us think to lay anything on the carpeted floor? Nope. It briefly crossed my mind that my waters had just broke all over the new carpet, but I really didn't care. It felt good and there was a lot less pressure after. Mom laid some chux pads down and got the floor covered then said she had to go get Joe up. I remember saying NO! That she couldn't leave me! I felt almost hysterical, but she had to go wake Joe up because the baby was well on his way. She left me just for a minute and came back down, Joe and Joseph in tow. Joe didn't hesitate to help me, he came right in and was rubbing my back and telling me I was doing a good job. Joseph was there also (he woke up when Joe got up) and I remember him crying once because he wanted to come to me and Joe wouldn't let him, I assume he didn't want him disturbing me. My mom said it was fine, that he could be by me, and I remember him being fine after that. He was quiet, observant, not a bother at all. I wasn't vocalizing anymore since I was pushing so there were no scary or loud sounds to frighten him. He stayed by me for a while, and when Erin (a friend who came to take pictures) got there I think she took him to watch a movie for a bit, but I remember him being in the room with us mostly. 
Things progressed rather quickly after my water broke. I moved from leaning on the tote to leaning over the bed. Joe was sitting on the bed and I had my arms wrapped around his waist and used him to anchor myself during pushing. I can't believe he was able to stay still, that I didn't pull him right off the bed. I was pulling against him with all my strength during pushing and he never budged. He was wonderful, my skinny little husband, he was like a huge grounded oak tree, he was literally my rock <3. 
Eventually I could feel baby starting to come down. I think his head was crowning when Rebekah arrived. By record of the video, it was 11 minutes from when she walked into the room, to when baby was in my arms. She posted on Facebook the next day, "Another sweet baby boy entered the world this morning, 11 minutes after I turned down their long driveway. Did you know you can hit 50mph on a long driveway..." Rebekah is such a quiet and gentle presence. I don't remember her coming in at all, she was just all of a sudden there. It was about 1:35 am, about an hour after my mom had arrived and I had gotten out of the shower. She told mom to put on some gloves so she could catch baby.
Pushing went very slowly for me, especially actually delivering him. Eventually I could feel his head starting to come down. I would push his head out a little, and after the contraction ended I would stop and I could feel his head move back up. The push before he crowned I felt that. I pushed, stopped, and I could literally feel him move back up and inside. Weird. The next push his head stayed put. I pushed him out to his forehead, and stopped. The next contraction got his eyes out. The next, his nose, the next, his mouth, and finally his chin and entire head was born. He was literally born one feature at a time.
Once I got turned around
and sat down on the floor, I got to hold my baby... a beautiful, chubby, squishy baby boy. He was so beautiful. So alert. He was looking around, taking us all in. He didn't cry. Mom asked right away, "What's his name!?" She was convinced when we were pregnant that we already had a name picked out and that we just weren't sharing it. I smiled and said, exhausted, that we didn't know! It was funny because we really didn't have a name picked out yet! :)My mom sat behind me to help hold me up, Joseph (who was in the room the whole time and was so good and quiet) came over to meet his baby brother. I think he cried a little but he nursed and was happy. Joe was sitting beside me, we were in awe of our beautiful new son. I had my baby. I had my family. I was surrounded by people whom I love very much. I was in the comfort of my own home. I was floating on a cloud of hormones and love. It was heavenly.
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| Charlene cutting the cord |
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| Rebekah greeting Grandma |
Shortly after he was born, Charlene arrived. I felt so sad that she missed the birth, even to this day, and it was only by maybe 20 minutes. We asked her to cut the cord since she wasn't able to be there during the birth. :) It was lovely having her there after though, I was so glad she was able to come when she could and be a part of the magical time after when everything is so warm and fuzzy.
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| Noah and Baba Charlene |
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| Noah and Grandma Tamy |
Joe's family missed the birth too. They got there about an hour, maybe an hour a half hour after he was born. They weren't too disappointed though. Joe's grandma was at Joseph's birth and Tamy, Joe's mom, wasn't planning on being there during the birth anyways.
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| Noah and Great Grandma |
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| Noah and Grandma |
After the cord was cut and the placenta was born, I moved from the floor to the bed. Everyone had their chance to hold the baby while I was in the bathroom....forever. Peeing after you've just had a baby is the most difficult thing EVER.
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| Noah |
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| Noah and Daddy |
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| Mommy, Daddy and Noah |
After a little while we made the announcement, his name was Noah Edward Stephen. Edward is my paternal grandfathers middle name and also my great grandfathers first name. Stephen is my stepdad's middle name.
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| Noah and Rebekah |
We did the weight and height checks, Noah was 9lb 12 oz (Joseph was 9 lbs 13 oz.) and 21 1/2 inches long (Joseph was 21 inches). We nursed and tandem nursed for the first time, and Joseph went back to bed. He must have been tired from all the excitement, he slept just fine with daddy and without me. Noah and I (and my mom) slept in the spare bedroom.
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| Noah Edward Stephen |
Noah's labor and birth was wonderful and so very different than his big brother's. Both were home births, both boys were virtually the same size, but its true when they say every labor is different. Joseph's was slower, things didn't move as quickly, and Noah's was very fast and furious. People waited around for hours for Joseph to be born and they couldn't get there fast enough for Noah.
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| Noah and Erin |
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