Caleb Jeffrey March 13, 2015.

"Just remember to keep your face relaxed and loose" 

"He's here!"

"Welcome Son!" 

8 lbs 14 oz, 21 1/2 inches long. 

Newborn exam.

Inhaling the essence of you.

Caleb Jeffrey Drake
March 13th,
9:15 PM
8 lbs 14 oz.
21 1/2 inches.

Anytime I had a braxton-hick I heard, "Maybe you are in labor! Baby Caleb is on the way!" my kids would excitedly exclaim. Irritated, I would reply,"No, its not!. " "How do you know?" they demanded.
 Contractions started on the 11th, "This is it! I'm going to have my baby!"I thought.
 A walk strengthened the contractions bringing them closer together. "Am I going to make it home?" I wondered. Reaching the house, I crawled into a warm bath. Labor immediately stopped. "What????"
The next morning I begged my friends to pray for me. I was seething with anger at my body turning "lemon."

On March 13th ( 6 days late) his midwife, Shannon Bennett, decided eviction day had arrived. The kids and I cleaned like Tigger on steroids. Next, we stocked up on groceries at Costco. Rick met us at Shannon's house to pick up the kids. 
Shannon stripped my membranes a little after 4 (4 cm and 80% effaced) and started  a homeopathic about every 15 min for the next two hours. We supplemented this with some strong prep tea. Visiting over supper, we decided she would come on over and we'd do more stripping if necessary to get labor to kick in. 
I had been having contractions all day, but nothing hard or strong. While Shannon dropped her son off at a friends house I determinedly trudged up and down her stairs.  I noticed my belly looked lower. Upon examination I was now 90% effaced and 5 cm. Progress!!!
Throwing a birth kit in her car "just in case." We drove to pick up her birth assistant who  in turn drove my car with Shannon following me back home. 10 min out I felt labor was starting.
..
Arriving home at 7:10, I was at 7 cm! I called Amber to tell her to hurry. Awwww... relief as  I sank into the warm water of the tub. 

My water spontaneously, broke squirting oddly to the side. (Caleb was descending crookedly into the birth canal.) My body voluntarily began pushing. Shannon tried holding an anterior lip it out of the way while I pushed through the pain.  The Seering pain pushed me to the point of panic.Rick joined us at that time having put the kids into bed. He and Amber prayed, Shannon administered a homeopathic, I screwed my body into a cock-eyed angle and the pain dramatically improved.
The background birth affirmations cd's phrase, "I listen to my body and follow its lead." took on a whole new meaning.  My brain needed to get out of the way of my body so could do what was needed. 
 Caleb straightened around and was born within a half an hour.
The sheer size of this boy, made pushing seem to take a lot longer with a whole lot more effort. 3 pushes per contraction. No big heave or two to birth this big guy. The stretch/burn of his head emerging. Then another burn/stretch for his shoulder and body. In the past, I have only felt the stretch of my babies heads. His head and chest measured 36 cm. 
At 9:15 pm,"Rachel, reach down, I'm going to pass him through your legs and you can pick him up." stated Shannon. I reached down  pulling him up onto my chest  tears of relief and joy rolling down my cheeks, "Thank you Jesus! He's here! Thank you Jesus!" This poor little guy's short thick cord made it difficult to keep his face out of the water without pulling it. He cried from the discomfort of the pulling.
"Rick, would you go and see if the kids are awake so they can meet him?" I asked. They were asleep.
About 20 min or so later, the umbilical cord was cut and he was on his own! Daddy cuddled him close, while Shannon and I dealt with the placenta and blood loss. Wrapping up in a warm towel I was helped onto the bed. Daddy diapered him and I nursed him. Newborn check: His initial Apgar was 9 and 5 min was 10. Great tone. Great color. Great responsiveness. 
Daddy weighed him in at 8 lbs 14 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. What a big boy! I tried to dress him in the newborn outfit I'd picked out. Well....He was too big.  Daddy went out to the garage for the next size up in clothes. 
We had him to ourselves all night long. About 8 the next morning, the kids discovered him. What a wonderful Sabbath present.
. ( Thank you to Lucas for taking the pictures)

Proud big sisters.

She was so excited to be the diaper runner.