Beautiful friends and family. Our newest addition, Wilder, is two months old today! To celebrate this little milestone, I am planning on sharing his birth story, as well as the first close-up photos of him on my blog. Please read at your own discretion!

To recap:

My original due date was November 22, but after having my first ultrasound appointment, it was bumped up to November 16. If you followed my pregnancy journey, you will remember that it was filled with mostly ups and a few downs. As annoying (and sometimes worrisome) as it was having Braxton Hicks contractions all day long for months on end, we counted our blessings at the end of each day that I remained pregnant. This was our rainbow baby and I was going to fight my hardest to bring him/her safely into this world.

Nov. 9

My husband began his paternity leave nearing the end of my third trimester. His job takes him out of town and so we wanted him to start his leave early in the event that I should go into labour early. As the first week went by and my due date was coming closer, we wondered when baby would join us. Then during the long weekend of November, my dad and his girlfriend came to stay with us for 4 nights. My doctor was also on call that weekend, and was planning on being out of town from November 16-26. After speaking with him, we decided that it was a good time to strip my membranes in hopes that I would go into labour that weekend. So he did. At that time, I was 3 cm dilated.

Nov. 10-13

Over the next few days, everyone was on edge waiting for me to go into labour. Including myself. I was having intense contractions during that time, only to have them disappear after having a nap or waking up the following morning. I kept busy, ate pineapples and dates, consumed red raspberry leaf tea, and more. Nothing seemed to be working. My dad ended up leaving on the 13th, which only made me sad that he wouldn’t be able to see our child, nor would we have help if we needed him to watch Remy. My doctor was also leaving town in a few days, and so I was getting stressed out that he would not deliver our baby. (I was lucky enough to have him deliver Remy.)

Nov. 14

I made up my mind on the 14th to drink castor oil. I had been reading about its pros and cons for weeks up until that point, and had initially decided against it. However, after talking to my sister (who also safely drinks it to induce labour), I decided to take two very small doses. If it did something, great. If not, I would just let baby come on his/her own time. They recommend taking 1-2 tbsp first thing in the morning, and again in the afternoon if labour does not start. That morning I tried taking 1 tsp but ended up throwing most of it up. Frustrated, I took 1.5 tsp that afternoon. I waited and waited. Nothing. So I went to bed that night with a very sore back, and mentally preparing to be overdue and without a family doctor.

Nov. 15 2:30 am

A few hours after falling asleep, I woke up thinking that I had wet the bed. I rushed to the bathroom and immediately saw a bloody show. I thought, “oh no.” Knowing that my sister’s husband had gone to work that night, and she was alone and lives out of town with her 6 children, I texted her and let her know that I was probably going into labour soon. She responded that she would keep her phone on in case we needed to come and drop off Remy. I waited for 15 minutes until my first contraction appeared in my back. I knew that I was in labour. I went back into our bedroom and told Geoff what was happening. He wanted to get going, but I said to wait a few more minutes just to be sure. My next contraction came 5 minutes after that, and then 2 minutes later. “Ok, I think we should go,” I told him. I put on my pajamas and went downstairs while he woke up Remy and brought her down as well. We loaded everything up in the vehicle. By then my contractions were 1.5 minutes apart, and I was starting to get nervous. Geoff said that he would drop me off at the hospital, quickly drive out of town to take Remy to her aunt’s house, and then come back to the hospital to help me through labour. We assumed that it would take hours, but we were wrong.

3:25 am

I arrived at the hospital and made my way up to the 4th floor. By then, my contractions were 1 minute apart. I was asked why I was there and I said, “I think I’m in labour.” I handed the nurses my documents, but said that I couldn’t fill anything out at that point. They said that they would examine me to see if I was going to be admitted or not. By the time that I had walked into the room, I felt the baby coming so I sat down in a chair. The nurse looked worried and asked me if it felt like I needed to poop. I responded that I did, and she left the room. Confused and in pain, I breathed through a few more contractions until she returned. When she did, she told me to get on the bed. I said that I couldn’t because it felt like the baby was going to fall out. She told me to get on it immediately, and so I did. Then she checked me and said that I was fully dilated and we had to go now! A team of nurses rushed in just then and began pushing my bed into the delivery room. They were telling me over and over again not to push yet. One of the nurses called Geoff from her cellphone and told him to hurry. At that point, he hadn’t even dropped Remy off.

3:25-3:55 am

I was still wearing my pjs and boots by the time I arrived in the delivery room. I shuffled onto the next bed and the doctor told me to start pushing. My doctor was apparently on his way. I gave a few pushes and suddenly I couldn’t hear the baby’s heartbeat. I asked if he/she was OK, and they responded that the heart rate was dropping and to get the baby out now. So I pushed as hard as I could, and I think that is when the head came out. Just then my doctor came into the delivery room (though I wasn’t aware of it at the time). He apparently took over and grabbed the head, just as baby’s shoulders got stuck. I felt extreme pressure but wasn’t being told what to do, so I kept pushing and pushing until suddenly, our baby was born! That was at 3:55 am, 1 hour and 10 minutes after my first contraction.

3:55 am

They placed our beautiful child on my chest and began to scrub it down. Someone asked if I wanted to know the sex and I said that I did. They looked and told me that it was a boy. A boy!! I was so happy and in so much shock that I just began to cry. I couldn’t believe that I had a son, that my labour had happened so quickly, and that my husband had missed it all.

4:10 am

They let me cut the umbilical cord, and I delivered the placenta in one push. My husband ended up arriving about 15 minutes after the birth. I saw his shoes under the curtain and told him that I had had the baby, and that I was sorry that I couldn’t wait any longer. He was shocked. Then I said that it was a boy, and he came over and gave me a kiss.

Wilder Joseph was born at 3:55 am on November 15, 2018. He weighed 7 lb 15 oz and was 20″ long. All of the nurses said that he already was living up to his name with his birth alone.

We were both upset at first that Geoffrey wasn’t there for my labour. But in the end, I delivered a healthy baby and Remy was taken care of, so we couldn’t have asked for anything more. Wilder has brought so much joy into our lives and family. He truly is a rainbow after such stormy weather.

To read Remy’s birth story, click here.

Emory

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