Clayton's Birth

I can't believe my little baby will be a week old tomorrow! Even though the last week felt like a year it still went to fast. We had Sue here until friday and it was so wonderful. I don't know what I would have done without her. Sue I just can't thank you enough for all of your help, I've got the best mother in law ever. Aaron was able to take half the week off and the boys loved having him here to play with.
So lots of people keep asking me about how his birth went but I've had no energy to really write about it yet so here's the story if you want to hear it.

I wasn't too fond of going past my due date, even if average gestation is 42 weeks. 40 was enough for me. So sunday night around 7 I broke out the castor oil, mixed it with some OJ and chugged it. Sounds good huh. It actually wasn't that bad, and it didn't make me sick to my stomach either so that was nice. I went to bed around midnight, but around then I could tell the castor oil was starting to have some effect and so I didn't ever really get to go to sleep. Around 1:30 I decided the pains I was having were actually contractions and not just stomach cramps and realized they were already about 4 mins apart. So I called Richelle my midwife and Jillynn my doula around 2 and asked them to come over. Then I woke up Aaron. He'd taken a sleeping pill so it took a bit to really get him alert, but he came around.
Richelle got here around 2:30 and checked on me and the baby and then started getting all her stuff out and set up for the birth. Jillynn got there soon after and immediately went to work massaging me and helping me be comfortable. Clayton was sitting posterior (facing forward) so Richelle had me labor on my hands and knees for awhile in hopes that we could get him to turn around. During this time we let Aaron go lay down for a little bit longer so he could be a little more awake when the labor got harder and I really needed him. Richelle's assistant Kim got there too sometime around then.
Let me just say that I have never felt so taken care of. Everyone was right there waiting on me, getting me drinks and snacks and helping me relax and be comfortable. The contractions were uncomfortable, but I had so many people helping me that it made it a lot easier to focus on relaxing and not get overwhelmed.
Around 4 Richelle check me and even though I was only at a 4 the baby had turned the way we wanted him to so I was able to go get in the birthing pool. That was fabulous! The pool really was just like a kids blow up swimming pool, but it was super comfortable and the warm water felt so good. It was nice to float in the water and be able to move around so easily. The contractions increased in intensity quite a bit while I was in there, but the water really helped the really intense part feel like it was shorter. Aaron came in a sat behind me and talked to me and helped me with our hypnobirthing scripts and I realized we should have woken him up long before because it was so nice to have him right there with me. He helped me relax a lot and stay focused. Just when it started to feel like I didn't think I could do much longer I could tell Clayton was moving down and ready to be born any time. I needed to use the bathroom so I got out of the tub and as soon as I sat down on the toilet the pressure got really intense. Aaron and Jillynn rushed over to help me stand up and Richelle ran over and next thing I knew Clayton was born! It was not exactly the area of the house that I had planned on birthing but at that point I was just so happy that he was there I didn't even care that he was almost born on the toilet lol.
My midwife was here for about 3-4 hours after the birth, taking care of my stitches and bleeding. While they were attending to me Aaron got to take Clayton out to meet Grandma Sue and his big brothers for the first time. Then we got to weigh him and Richelle went over the newborn check and all that. After everyone was taken care of I got to snuggle up in my own bed with my sweet little baby with nobody bothering me. Aaron and I slept most of the rest of the day and got to take it easy while Grandma took care of the bigger boys.
I wouldn't change anything about the way it went. I was surprised by how normal it seemed to be at home. I'm so glad that I stuck with my decision for a home birth and wish I had been able to have such a great experience with the other boys births. I loved how it all went and the wonderful women that attended me during the whole thing. I never thought I would be able to look back at a birth experience and say that I loved it, after all labor isn't supposed to be fun right? But I really did love it and would recommend it to anyone.
So there you have it :) Our camera died that night so I haven't taken many pictures over the last week, but I'll try to get some new ones up soon. If you've seen my facebook you've already seen these pictures so sorry.