"Josiah surprised us, Darren convinced all of us it was a girl :o), but he is the best loved little boy in the world at this moment! He is absolutely perfect, and we are so delighted to have him--I'm delighted he's "on the other side!" :o)
My sis and I went snorkeling and for a long swim, probably close to half a mile, on Wednesday afternoon, the 14th. It was great exercise, and I think responsible for getting my contrax started at 41 weeks. My sis and I chatted until 2:30 in the morning, while contrax were about 10 minutes apart, and then I was able to rest well until about 8 the next morning. I spent the day in my recliner, chatting, reading, playing games in between contrax, and fading into oblivion during! My sis was astounded that I acted like I was asleep--all of her labors she fought her contrax. Needless to say, she was more than ready to stop after 3 babies! By her own words, she said she could see having 20 babies if it were so easy! Yeah right, easy, I thought. :o) But it did continue that way all the way up to the pushing stage. I was very apprehensive, and really not wanting to be in my skin at all, but as none would trade with me, I prayed all the way and did my best to relax and manage each contrax as it came.
An interesting note, my sis had brought her iPod with praise and worship music, and I spent much time listening to that. I was astounded to find myself crying like a baby, and realized this was something I've been sorely missing in my life! I'm looking forward to the joy that praise can bring again.
Anyway, my hubby, sis and I retired to my bedroom where the bed & birth pool were set up for labor at about 6pm, and we had a wonderful time of fellowship in there between contrax. I must say the kids were exceptional all day! It did help that we let them sit in front of dvds all day, but they were very quiet and respectful. They even had to brave the pushing stage alone, as Eva, who'd been with them all day, was sitting in the pool with me! They all crowded in shortly after the birth, and were happy to kiss mommy and baby.
I never did have really clear signs of transition like I usually do, other than burping after contrax. I never started shaking, and other than the same apprehension never felt out of control, but my dear husband managed to know exactly what I needed, and insisted I get into the pool at about 8pm. Of course this slowed things a bit, but after about 10-15 minutes they returned in full force. Actually, there were only one or two before pushing began. I felt for baby, and could feel the bag of waters still unbroken against baby's head--what an amazing thing! My sis videoed the birth from that point, and we always laugh at my first "bug-eyed" expression when baby begins to move through the birth canal!
I was squatting against the edge of the pool, and Eva was behind me pushing on my lower back with all her might! I think he was born with one or both hands against his cheeks. The head and what I assumed to be shoulders were quite hard, and I hardly felt the body slip out as I usually do. But when his head was about half way out, there was a lull in the contrax, and he was so fat I couldn't quite tell what was what! Hubby looked with the flashlight and could see the ears, and I do remember his head rotating a bit in my hand. And then he was out--ah, such relief!! The cord was wrapped around him and over his head in such a way that I couldn't pull him up, and in trying to slip the cord over his head he actually slipped out under my leg and went floating and spinning off under water! It was so funny, but I think I was the only one who wasn't alarmed. :o) There was LOTS of vernix all over him, and chunks floating in the water--he was a slippery guy to hold on to! Once I had him again unwound and under my leg, I lifted him and and checked to see exactly who we had. "SHE'S a BOY!" I shouted! Well, that set us to scrambling for a name, between checking his apgar, ha! Though somewhat purple--as nearly all my babies have been--he was absolutely perfect, and cried within 20 seconds of clearing the water--and boy can he cry! :o)
Passing the placenta was a little harder--not the passing, but the cramping! It seems the placenta was in front of the womb, just under my skin, and it really hurt to massage and work it down. I bled ALOT after passing it, and think it was partly due to my prematurely taking some afterbirth tincture, hoping it would help with the cramping. It may have, but I also think it relaxed my womb too much, and perhaps my tummy wasn't able to clamp down like it should have. I'm quite sure the placenta was complete, though it came with a large blood clot--at least I knew I was clotting well! But in the shower after I got out of the pool and in bed I bled alot for the first hour or two. We nearly decided to leave for the hospital, but kept an eye on my blood pressure and how I was feeling looking. Other than normal after-birth weariness I felt fine, and my blood pressure didn't drop below 101/63, and my normal reading is about 105, so we stayed put. We are so thankful to the Lord for His sustaining Hand! The wise counsel of a dear friend and midwife was to keep me in bed for two or three days at least--though I must admit I did insist on getting up to use the restroom, sorry Barbara! :o) Things seem to be normal now, and I'm still leaning heavily on my family as I rest and try to get my bones to knit back together.
I cannot say what a tremendous blessing my husband was, as he has been for every birth, and am so thankful he is so patient as to sit next to me an entire day as I appear to be sleeping! His presence and encouragement are vital. And the presence of my sister was absolutely wonderful. Her first comment after baby's head was out of the water was "You are such a brave woman!" Well, I don't know that I was feeling that brave, but her encouragement was tremendous. She did a great job tracking the contrax, taking video/photos, and marking the apgar scores etc.
So the birth stats are:
Josiah Evan Romero
born March 15, 2007, at 8:25pm (this is, by the way, our only child born on the same date both in Fiji and the U.S! It would've been 1:25am US time March 15)
6.7 lbs, 20 inches long, head 14.25"
We had planned on naming a girl after my hubby's grandmothers and my handmaiden, Eva, so had to think about that. In the end it worked out fine. Evan is for Darren's maternal grandmother, Evelyn, and my handmaiden Eva, and Romero is his Paternal grandmother's maiden name. Josiah means "God saves," and Evan means "God is gracious," and God did both for me, and I trust He will for little Josiah as well!
I thought he would be attached permanently to me the first couple of days he was so hungry! If not sucking he was crying all but about 4-5 hours of the first two days. Now that my milk has come in, he's sleeping loonnngg stretches, and I'm having to wake him! Last night he slept the best yet, and while he woke a few times to eat, he went back to sleep right away and didn't insist on staying attached! He is a beautiful, sweet, content baby, and we could not be more delighted."
-Jane, mother of:
