It all began at 12:30pm on Wednesday, April 29th. I was sitting on the floor in the living room going through our honeymoon pictures, when all the sudden I felt a small gush. "hmm... was that my water breaking?" Another gush. "that's definitely my water breaking!" I called Matt at work to let him know was was going on. I was excited but very calm. I gave Kim Bauer (my midwife) a call and we decided that if labor didn't begin by 3:45pm she would head down to Seattle to teach her class. Matt came home around 2pm and labor had not yet begun. We decided to head into Lynden to go for a walk on the Jim Kaemingk Sr trail... hopefully this would get labor going. By 3:45 labor had not begun so Kim made "backup arrangements" with Christine at the birthing center just in case we needed it and headed down to teach her class in Seattle. I was sure these extra arrangements were completely unneccessary but figured it's better to be safe than sorry. We finished walking and got some yummy deli sandwiches at Safeway. Of course we had to run into Bob Johnson (a guy from Matt's work) while we were there. After getting our dinner, we headed to Berthusen Park to continue walking. At this point I was having some minor cramping about 4 times an hour (no regular contractions though).
After we got home, we put in the movie "Walk the Line" and sat back and relaxed. Matt's mom and brother stopped by to bring the motor home over so that my mom would have her own place to sleep while she visited. At about 8:45 I spoke with Kim on the phone and I still wasn't having any regular contractions. We discussed starting some "natural induction" methods in the morning (I was NOT thrilled about this at all). Sure enough, around 9:15pm, the contractions began. They began strong and hard and about 4-5 minutes apart. Matt gave Kim a call around 9:30 because I wasn't able to talk through the contractions. She was just leaving Seattle but we decided to plan to get to the birth center by 11pm and Christine would meet us there.
Matt kicked into gear and started packing the car. It seriously looked like we were going to be gone for a week with all the stuff we had! At this point the contractions were getting stronger and closer together and I definitely had to focus through each one. On the way to the birthing center, I was focusing through the contractions and even had to deal with a double-peaking contraction.
Arriving at the birth center was a relief. It was about 11pm and Christine was there waiting for us. As we got settled in, Christine started checking me out and found that I was already 5cm dilated. We wanted to slow the labor down a bit to be sure my mom and Kim could both get there in time for the birth. I got into the labor tub and tried to get relaxed and comfortable... this was not working. Kim arrived at about 11:30pm and helped me try some other laboring positions. I tried sitting backwards on the toilet, standing up leaning on Matt, these didn't work either. So, to the edge of the bed I went (the only position I found moderately comfortable). As the contractions picked up, Matt and I fell into a rhythm and he reminded me time and time again to relax and breath deeply (thanks to all our practice in our birthing class!). My mom arrived at about 12:30am and helped Matt coach me through the tougher contractions.
At around 1pm, Kim checked me a second time and I was 8cm dilated and starting to feel the urge to push. I still had a lip of cervix over the right side so we worked on rocking back and forth to get the rest dilated. I was well into transition and the contractions came one on top of another. I remembered the pain and exhaustion of training for soccer and this wasn't much different from that. I was tired and out of breath but Matt kept reminding me that each contraction brought us closer to meeting our baby.
Soon, I was being told to get up on my hands and knees... I thought this was just so I could get in a different laboring position, but hoping it was because the pushing stage was just around the corner. I got on my knees on the bed and leaned over a birthing ball. Sure enough, the contractions slowed slightly and I felt an “unavoidable urge to push” (just like we learned about in our class!). I began pushing with the contractions and within about 15 mins or so (about 3 or 4 contractions), the head was crowning. Kim took a couple steps away to put something in the laundry bin when someone exclaimed "the head is coming!" She rushed back just in time to deliver his head. One push later, his body was out and he was crying. It was an incredible rush of adrenaline and joy and I held my beautiful baby boy for the first time. Reuben Duane TeVelde was born on Thursday, April 30 at 2:16am.
Within minutes, he was comfortably nursing as we waiting for the cord to stop pulsing and the placenta to be delivered. Matt was able to cut the cord and shortly afterward the placenta was delivered. Reuben's first poo occurred shortly after birth all over my tummy... such a boy thing to do! Since Reuben was born with his right hand up by his face, I had a slight tear that needed to be stiched. The three of us relaxed for about 20 minutes and then had to get the midwives to check something. At this point they did the newborn exam and found the following:
Weight: 7lbs 12oz
Length: 20.5 inches
We left the birth center by 6:15am and drove home as the sun was rising on a beautiful spring day. It was a reminder of the beauty that God has created both in the sun rising over the majestic mountains and the amazing baby boy laying beside me.
