Summer girl's Birth day story!

So I haven't been totally eager to write out this birth story...perhaps it is the lack of sleep and available time and arm space these days, or perhaps it is because of the stress and mental toll it took on me to wait for this baby, all to end up feeling a tad bit guilty once everything fell into place and worked out perfectly, and things could have gone quite wrong. You see, I had my dates wrong. I DID refuse an early ultra sound just for the fact that I didn't want to subject me or the baby to an annoying piece of radiation if I could help it AND it would be just another bill to pay. I was certain that my period date was September. However, it turns out, my date was off by an entire month...and it was completely my fault. As much as I could feel guilty over the possibility of having had a really really early baby because of the due date that was assigned, God {and my hubby's constant encouragement} showed me through this that He and our bodies do JUST what they need to, especially when given the time, nourishment and mental peace required for a healthy pregnancy.
The last four weeks of this pregnancy, I was having serious contractions, they would stop and go, stop and go, really freaking me out at first, and then driving me up the walls, once I had hit the "37 week" safe mark. As my 42 week over-due date approached, I grew more and more stressed, wondering what was wrong with my body. Even though hubby stoutly continued to tell me that I shouldn't worry, my body was doing what it needed. The only thing that kept me sane really, was knowing the baby was estimated to be no bigger than 7 lbs even at 41 weeks and 8 days!!! AH! So...the entire week past 41 I was having contractions everyday, that felt decently real, but would stop every time I would eat or sleep...same thing happend with Leenah. In fact, with Leenah, being 5 days "over due" I decided not to each lunch or dinner one day because I was pretty nauseous...and went into labor at midnight, lol. SO, midweek of 41 I did skip dinner just to see what would happen...NOTHING...I was super hungry though. Well, I went back to what the midwives kept telling me, eat if you are hungry. The days kept passing, and I would wake up each morning thinking, well...another day this babe decided to sleep through the night...just hope they want to sleep through the night this much on the outside!
June 24th came and the midwives sent me for a dreaded ultrasound, because the babe's heartbeat wasn't accelerating enough after measuring when they moved and turned. And the ultrasound was perfect, like it had been with Leenah when we did the same thing. With Leenah I was afraid she had switch positions one night and got an ultrasound days before she was born, that ultrasound also showed that everything was in it's place, lol. The only OTHER thing that kept me sane during this time was having my good friend Andrea, whose due date we 'thought' we had shared this entire time, of June 16th, and this is her first baby, was also just as late as me! She was going to be sent for an ultra sound that week too. Well, that night, Andrea texted me to say she was in labor and that the midwives were coming over. (yes, we were also sharing the same midwives) and the entire time of our pregnancies, my mommy intuition told me that we were going to go into labor either very close or at the same time. So as much as I wanted to be happy, I was actually quite sad...I think we all know why, lol.
Andrea had her baby girl, Charlotte, at 2:50am on June 25th.
That morning, June 25th, dawned a bit dreary for me...in fact, I actually had a complete melt down because I didn't want Beau to go to work. We were both SO drained from "hoping" I would go into labor so he wouldn't have to go to work, lol.
I begged/cried for him to just take a long morning and breakfast and not rush off to work. And I was having painful contractions once an hour since getting up at 6am that morning...but that HAD been the story of my life for the last 2 weeks, and being so upset that morning, I figured that my stress and flip out was just triggering the painful contractions. WELL, nothing spectacular happened to make him stay home after breakfast so he headed off to work as my mom headed over to "hang out" with me and Leenah and keep us company. She too had been hanging out and patiently waiting for the last week and a half for things to get going...all of this subconsciously put a HUGE stress on me, whether I tried to deny it or not...almost being 42 weeks is stressful anyways with the impending threat of being "induced" and taken to the hospital for "tests" anyhow...UGH.
Well, the midwives had set up an appointment for me to come in and get my membranes swiped that morning to once again try and get things rolling steadily...OH did I mention I had been 4 cm for about 8 days already? Yep, the midwives had come over the previous Monday, June 17th, due to constant contractions, checked me at 4 cm and left all their equipment because the contractions weren't consistent enough...just 20 minutes apart.
SO, yet another stress, as each of those 8 days passed, I became more frustrated. In fact halfway through the week I just flat out refused to go shopping because I was sooo tired of bumping into people who kept asking why I was still pregnant. UGH!!!
Well, after going to the midwives office and missing their call to tell me they were going to halt any increase to my labor, so they could rest from Andrea's birth, for at least 24 hours, I sat in the parking lot of their office and woke my poor midwife when I called her. All the while, sitting in the car with my mom, the contractions suddenly popped up to 5 minutes apart for half an hour. Dual reason to wake my midwife, right? Well, she said, sleepily, to call her back in half an hour once I was home, if they continued!
Got home, and they had relaxed back to about 15 minutes apart, but were painful and took a bit of concentration to get through. I was sure things were happening today! Then my mom and I decided that we should call Beau to come home for lunch, at least. He agreed. It was 10:30a at this point.
I can't even remember if I ate anything, I think I had my last dessert, and enjoyed it at this point (brownies and ice cream!).
After the ice cream, things really sped up. They jumped back up to 5 minutes apart. So I called the midwife, who was still trying to nap:![ and asked her to come over to check me...even though I didn't want to be checked (which was one of the joys of going so fast with Leenah, no one bothered me, lol). BUT I and my mom, and Beau, also didn't want them to miss another birth!!
The midwife said she would be over in half an hour so she could take a shower, but to call her if I thought things were dire and if she wouldn't have time to dry her hair,hehe. So my mom and I started prepping the tub...which had been sitting full of water since the 17th, and we had emptied and refilled this morning...and started to fill it the rest of the way with hot water, finally, I was so looking forward to that warm tub!
 Twenty minutes later the contractions were still 5 and now 3 minutes apart, mom and I kinda freaked out and called the midwife again and asked her to hurry. I knew this was going to be quick, we both did, and we did not want another solo birth, just for our peace of mind, and the midwives happiness to be present, lol.
Just then Beau got home, so we COULD have gone ahead and had the baby at any time, hehe.
The midwife got there a few minutes later and checked me...I was still only 4 cm. She decided to check the babies heart beat through the contractions...and then they slowed to 15 minutes apart, as we waited for 45 minutes to catch a heart beat through 3 contractions, UGH!
The second midwife showed up and they decided they were going to leave for awhile due to my inconsistent contractions again, but began to set up all their equipment in our room and bathroom. As they did that, which took them half an hour, my contractions went back up and stayed at 2 minutes apart the entire time they set up their equipment! It was official, and Beau and my mom were NOT going to let the midwives leave, in fact, Beau went ahead and set up an excel spreadsheet and "charted" my contractions as my mom timed them for me, as at this point, I was having to have Beau "hug" me and press my hips, as this was what gave me enough comfort to get through the 2 minute contractions lasting longer than a minute, as this point. It was 12 or 12:30 now. The midwives came out, Beau showed them the excel spread sheet and they decided to stay, and of course checked me and said I had a laboring cervix. Well, I already knew that...and At this point I knew it would NOT be long. In fact, it only seemed like minutes, before the contractions REALLY started to get intense, where I could feel them realllly low and knew exactly what they were doing. I decided it was time for the tub!! Strange thing was, with Leenah, I was able to lean over the ball and get relief with Beau pressing my hips, but with this labor, I couldn't sit or bend over, I had to stand through it all. Took me a minute to figure out how in the world I was going to labor comfortably and managably in the tub! I got on my knees and faced out, and had Beau lean down on the other side of the tub, where he didn't have to get in, and I hugged him while on my knees. Knowing what happened the last time I got into the tub, only having 3 pushes and Leenah was out, I knew it was going to go fast...in fact the next contraction that hit, I PRAYED I only would have a few more because it was so intense, I didn't know how much more I could take. Another one hit and I quietly mentioned to the midwives that I could feel the baby moving down, I was probably in transition!! They quickly got into position! The next 3 contractions I was pushing. Her head came out on the second contraction slash push and then the rest of her came! My butt was just enough under water that my midwife was comfortable catching her in my current position, which was still on my knees with Beau hugging me. The midwife guided the baby out and in between my legs and instantly onto my chest! And as much as I was surprised to see that she was a girl, I was also flabbergasted at how much she screamed. She screamed the moment she was out of the water. It was 2:34p on June 25th!
 She screamed for the next half hour! It scared me because Leenah hardly made a noise when she came out! But hey, she was breathing!!! After getting to the bed and having her rest on my chest, the placenta slowly came out. Then they set it beside me and let it pulse while little Summer calmed down. Thank goodness everyone was there, because my mom was with Leenah in the living room this entire time, in fact Leenah had fallen asleep until she heard her baby sister cry! When all was good, Leenah came in with Grandma and said hello to her new baby sister!!
After I got cleaned up a bit, started nursing within the hour and the midwives were happy with both of our recovery and progress, the cord was snipped after pulsing, daddy got to hold his brand new baby girl and mama had the strength to get up and go take a shower, with the midwives mindfully keeping an eye out to make sure I would be ok. WoW, I felt like I had done a 10 mile hike, but I felt GREAT! I knew it was the adrenaline, but I laid back in bed, nursed baby girl a bit more, ate a bit...got a little nauseas and threw up, but it was better than throwing up during labor! After that, I was good...probably the adrenaline, lol.
The midwives left us for the night and we actually had some good friends stop by to congratulate us! Let me tell you, I was NOT up for that with Leenah, I was so weak and tired, I didn't see anyone for the first week, or at least 3-4 days!
This birth was AMAZING!
My mind says to me, yeah, I could do that again! while the other half says...let's just wait five years, please!!! lol
I really do think all that raw milk, butter and bacon made this birth so healthy...of course chasing after my toddler also contributed to my overall "fitness" level, lol. AND, having done it once, it is amazing how the body takes over the second time and goes, yep, I know what we're doing, let's get it done.
AND every bit of "false" labor I had was worth it, I know it shortened the duration of real labor, even though it lengthened my impatience.
So very thankful for this experience.
Once Summer was in our arms, the midwives came over for the "baby check" the next day and confirmed their suspicions, after doing a few tests and checks on Summer's range of movements, they said that she was only 38 weeks!!! Yep...I wasn't almost 42, I was only 38 weeks. Oh relief and guilt washed over me...but I let it go, because once again, God had everything under control. Again and again He shows me every step of my life. I am going to do my best to show Him how grateful I am in living each day fully with my girls.
So blessed!
-Melissa