On October 30, 2006 I learned that I was pregnant with child #3...how exciting!   I immediately sought the care of the midwives in Alexandria at Birthcare so that I could plan for another homebirth.   The pregnancy progressed smoothly and the due date was estimated at July 9, 2007.  

Carson and Hayden are a lot of work on their own so I took on the offers of anyone willing to help!   The last month of the pregnancy started to get especially tough on me physically between the added difficulty of getting around and busy busy growing toddlers!   Luckily we have the swimming pool out back so I could really relax in there.    Carson quickly became a great swimmer (with the help of water wings) and Hayden was usually content to just play around the deck with his toys and sandbox.

At 37 weeks the midwives became concerned that the baby was possibly breech so I went in for an ultrasound...sure enough...Frank Breech!   This certainly put a wrench in my plans!   I tried everything.   I followed all the advice I could get such as laying on the floor with my feet on the couch, doing some weird maneuver on the edge of the bed, standing on my head in the swimming pool, putting a hot compress on my pelvis and an ice pack under my ribs, playing classical music to the baby to move him/her down toward my pelvis and doing lots of talking to convince baby to turn around!  

My mom arrived on Sunday June 24 to help with child care and to await the pending birth.   At 38 weeks Justin and I drove to Arlington, VA where we had an appointment with the one Obstetrician in the area willing to deliver a breech baby.   The first step was to undergo a procedure called an External Version where the OB turns the baby.   I heard it was very painful and was definitely not looking forward to it.   But my other options were drive all the way to Arlington, VA while in labor for a breech delivery or undergo a C-section at the local hospital...so I was definitely willing to try it.   When we arrived at the hospital 1.5 hrs away we were told that they were just about to call us to tell us not to come in because they didn't have any more available rooms since they had so many women unexpectedly delivering that day.   But we decided to wait, so we were escorted to a makeshift waiting area where about 5 other pregnant women with their families waited in the hallway for their turn to deliver.   Since they were out of chairs, Justin and I were given wheelchairs to sit in.   Three hours later we were escorted to a room where the OB first did an ultrasound to confirm the position of the baby.   Lo and behold he was head down and engaged!   HOORAY!   So 10 minutes later we were in the car and heading into DC for a celebratory dinner.   Quite an ordeal with all of that travel and waiting but baby was in the correct position so all was right with the world...

Saturday June 30 was Carson's 3 rd birthday.   We had a small party with a few friends and he couldn't have been happier.   He had a birthday cake with sailboats and cookies and ice cream and presents and friends and dancing and balloons...He was floating on cloud nine and I was so proud and full of joy at seeing my sweet little boy enjoying his special day so much.   I wasn't feeling 100% as I knew that labor was just around the corner, but seeing the happiness in my little boy's face was all I needed.

Over the next few days Justin and my mother did a great job of creating a soothing environment for me.   Justin bought lots of pretty potted plants and created a beautiful little flower garden outside of my bedroom window.   I bought new paintings for the walls in my bedroom to brighten it up (knowing that I would be in bed with a little nursling very soon) and Justin put up bright white closet doors to bring more light into the bedroom.

My 39 week appointment was on Thursday July 5.   On the way to the appointment I started having mild contractions that went on every 15 minutes for the next 24 hours.   In the evening I took a shower and noticed some bloody show.   I called the midwife and birth assistant so they were aware of the progress and went to sleep.

When I woke up on Friday July 6 I looked out my bedroom window to see a new bud starting to open on the mandevilla plant.   This was another sign to me that that baby was coming very soon so I decided to do some last minute shopping and hoped that by walking I would help to progress labor.   It sure worked!   When I got home, I fed the boys their lunch and put them down for their naps.   As I put on my bathing suit I noticed that the mandevilla bud was opening just a little bit more...baby was coming!   I immediately went into the pool and found that the contractions were starting to come on stronger and more regularly...I was out of prelabor at this point and contractions were 2-3 minutes apart.   It still wasn't full-blown hard labor but I pretty much knew it was the beginning of the big event.  

I labored in the pool for 2.5 hours while the Midwife (Erin Fullham) and Birth Assistant (Lori Stillwagon) arrived.   They checked my blood pressure and the baby's heart rate periodically and Justin helped me through contractions.   I didn't see much of Hayden throughout the entire labor as he was perfectly content to play in the playroom with Carson and my mother.   But at one point while I was in the pool I heard a knock on the window and looked up to see Carson waving at me.   It was very sweet because it was as if he was telling me that he loved me but was going to be a good boy and leave me to myself.  

By 4:30 the sun was going down and I was starting to get a chill so I came inside to a hot hot shower and washed with my favorite shampoo, soaps and scrubs.   My mandevilla blossom was halfway open!   I continued to labor by walking around and squatting on a birthing ball.   Between the contractions I felt perfectly fine so I made some hummus and carrot sticks for our guests and enjoyed chatting with Erin and Lori.

After a while I took another hot shower and leaned over on the birthing ball in the tub.   During the shower I could hear a bunch of screaming from Carson, but when I came out I learned it was because of the arrival of my dad...."POPS IS HERE!!!   HI POPS!   LOOK!   POPS IS HERE!   HI POPS!!!".   Very cute.    Justin was a great support and made a really nice dinner for our attendants and houseguests with sautéed broccoli and garlic, bread with seasoned olive oil, salad, eggplant parmesan and vegetable lasagna.   Everyone LOVED it.

A very tender moment was when I was laboring in the room and Carson came in to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and say a little bedtime prayer then ended by saying "I love you Mommy".   He gave me a hug and a kiss and it just meant so much to me.

By 7:30 the contractions were getting a lot stronger and I was looking forward to the end...unfortunately a small lip of the cervix was still over the baby's head preventing him from coming down into the birth canal.   I burned lavender and neroli oils to help me relax and inhaling the scent was very soothing.   I continued to alternate between walking and squatting to help ease him down but was getting weary.   At 9:50 my water broke during a   contraction and I started having pushing urges so I laid down on the bed.   The Midwife helped to lift the lip of cervix over the baby's head and I pushed for 39 minutes.  

One of the most interesting parts of the experience was when his head came out and the contraction ended.   They held a mirror up so that I could see and it was the craziest image!   All I could see was this face just perfectly content with eyes closed, wet dark hair, a serene look on his face and a beautiful little mouth. ...hard to describe but an image I will never forget.   With the next contraction I pushed him out the rest of the way and they immediately put him on my belly.   At that point I was so excited to have this healthy baby that I didn't even care what the gender was so it took a minute for me to remember to pick him up and look!   It's a boy!   So exciting!

Postpartum was fairly painful.   We didn't want to cut the cord until it stopped pulsating and the placenta didn't come out for 12 more minutes so I still had a lot of back pain from the weight and pressure.   On top of that, the Midwife told me that his hand was up in front of his face so that was the reason for a lot of the extra back pain, hip pain and perinneal stretching.   Fortunately I didn't tear but there was a lot of burning and achiness.  

Hayden went to bed around 8:30, but Carson was so wound up that he was literally jumping on couches and running in tight little circles.   He came in soon after the baby was born and was SO excited.   He climbed right up on the bed and said "Where's new baby, Mommy, where's new baby?".   When I showed him the baby he said "I love that tiny new baby, Mommy".   I told him that now he had 2 little brothers and he looked around the bed and said "Where'd other new baby go, Mommy?"...thinking that I meant there were 2 of them and forgetting about Hayden!   He was so wound up that he couldn't settle down so he ran out the hall to get my dad and dragged him in by the hand saying "Pops!   Come see new baby!".   After the thrill of seeing the new baby he finally crashed and went to be at 11pm.

After they did everything they could to help me get cleaned up and more comfortable they did the new baby exam.   When she found that his head circumference was 14 inches she said that it was average but on the larger side so between that and the hand up it really explains why the pushing was so extra painful.   He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 19.5 inches long.   The fun thing about his weight is that I was my own mother's 3 rd child and weighed 8 lbs 4 oz, so it's really neat that my 3 rd child weighed the same as I did! During the rest of the exam I fell asleep and that 30 minute nap did its magic on me.   I felt a million times better afterward. I think it was mainly the relief from finally relaxing all of my muscles after that super hard workout.

The attendants left around 1:30am and Justin and I briefly reflected on the evening.   I looked out my window to see a brand new beautiful mandevilla flower that had slowly been opening all day.   Justin fed me a little bit and helped me get settled for the night...Mommy, Daddy and Logan all snuggled in bed.   What a perfect way to bring a sweet little baby into the world.

—Dawn Olesky