Our Caul Baby Birth Story

Just thought I would share a little bit about Wyatt's birth. Things were slowing starting to happen Tuesday night. We had the signs that finally our little guy would be coming soon. We had a good night's sleep and Wednesday did final preps for the upcoming event. By Wednesday late afternoon the contractions were starting to feel serious. As usual there was no rhyme or reason to their spacing or duration. They were just all over but that isn't what we go off of to decide when to go to the hospital. Allie was SO excited and not to happy that we forced her to lay down and sleep. I labored in the tub for awhile. Rachel stayed with me next to the tub, playing with a cup in the water and scrubbing my back with a wash cloth (and soaking her pajamas in process). Finally by 11pm-ish, we got Allie up and loaded the car. In between contractions I felt excited, happy, and totally myself. I was teasing my dad about interrupting his news watching with my contraction groans. He said I wasn't bothering him so I promised to moan even louder. :)

Allie rode with us in the truck. Her job was to time the contractions with the app we had downloaded. Grandma Jackson drove a separate vehicle so they could go home later. We got to the hospital about 11:30pm or so got checked in and into our labor and delivery room. I used a birthing ball which I really liked to be able to roll back and forth on while Jason did counter pressure during contractions. I finally began to feel the urge to push. A midwife came in to join us but she was happy to allow Jason to actually catch our baby. He washed up, they got the squatting bar in place and then in one (just blessedly ONE) loooong push, out came our baby boy into his father's hands- and still in the amniotic sac! A Caul Baby! He was actually an "en-caul" baby (caul babies have part of the sac covering the heads or faces or some variation. They sometimes say they are born in the veil). There are different legends about Caul babies but it is thought to be a sign of good luck. They say they will never drown and there was a time when sailors would even purchase the caul for that reason as they would save the sac or caul in the event of such a birth. Well we feel lucky blessed to have him. Allie did great (we had talked about it and prepared her for the event as best we could). She said she didn't feel scared and that it wasn't as loud (as in I wasn't as loud/screaming) as she thought. She even got to cut the cord.  Wyatt was 8 lbs 12.7oz and 21inches long.

AND then (this is gory)... the bleeding wouldn't stop. And the pain and the light headedness and the nausea and vomiting and 4 different medications (through IV and shots into muscle and internally) and 4 or 5 manual sweeps (which felt like giving birth in reverse and sooooo painful ) and the pushing again on my stomach... well hemorrhaging is NOT fun. Grandma and Allie left as things started going down hill. We felt like we were in good hands though. It was not quite so scary this time and much less dramatic but more painful than the time before. I really do not recommend hemorrhaging. Just skip that part.

So now, we are home, my parents are gone (Thank You again SO much for all the help), and we are settling in to a new routine.  Wyatt is getting lots of love!

Wesley trying to help Rachel give Wyatt a kiss.

 Can you hear Rachel cracking her head on the swing in the picture above?

 Mom and Dad stepped in to help her.