Willow Jeanetta Rose

Willow Jeanetta Rose

8 lbs. 7 oz, 21 1/2 in. long

born Nov. 2, 2010 @ 4:43 pm

delivered at home, by her Daddy…

“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.”

Is. 44:3-4 ESV

The Story

I can’t figure out why I haven’t already been on here posting about Willow’s birth–the only thing I can figure is that I am still on complete SHOCK over the whole thing!

Everything about this pregnancy has been so up and down–the spider bite (do I take the steroid or not, etc., etc.), her position (head down, head sideways, etc. etc.), my iron (up/down, up/down), should we just go to the hospital or have her at home (back & forth, back & forth)…I could not wait to have this baby in my arms just so I’d know she was okay!  I had some contractions Friday night that I just knew would turn into me holding a baby–they did not.  So when I started having the same type of contractions Tuesday morning, I didn’t think I would go into labor.  But I felt like I should go ahead and tell BJ because he was working an hour away and didn’t want to press the time more than we had to.  I told him he would have to decide if he wanted to come home from work because they were so similar to Friday nights (anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes a part–we’re talking eeeaarrrly labor, the kind you don’t usually keep track of!).  He decided to come on home considering I was due (I don’t say overdue because even though my “due date” was Oct. 26th, I wasn’t exactly sure on that date and according to our midwife Willow had no signs of an overdue baby).

He got home around 10:45 or 11:00 am.  My contractions stopped about noon.  Great–I was feeling horrible that I had even called him and told him anything!  So about 1:30pm, I decided to take a nap.  I woke up with a strong contraction but was able to go back to sleep.  Then 30 minutes later, the same thing happened.  Fell back to sleep again.  20 minutes later, again.  This time I decided to tell BJ.  It was probably around 3:00 pm this time.  I started walking around, I was feeling contractions and they were getting stronger but were very irregular.  At 3:30 BJ called our midwife Cheryl to say he was pretty sure I was really in labor and then called my Mom to have her come out.  He went down to blow up the pool for our water birth and I hollered for him at 3:40 to say they were really starting to hurt (where’s my pool, my only source of pain relief???–ha!).

He put the pool in our room and started filling it (takes way to long when you really need it!).  I honestly felt like I could feel the baby move down.  I got in the tub for about three contractions when I felt like I needed to push.  He called Cheryl to see where she was and tell her I needed to push (he never once freaked out, but bless his heart).  He mentioned something to her about him telling me to not push until she got here–I started to almost cry and said “Please don’t tell me not to push!” Thankfully Cheryl said to him, “BJ, your wife knows when she’s having a baby.  If she has to push, she has to push”  Bless her. The next thing she said to BJ was, “BJ, I am not going to make it to this birth in time.  You can either call 911 and have an ambulance come or you can deliver the baby.”  He made the choice to deliver (with Cheryl walking him through things on the phone when needed).

She also told him that if I was planning on doing a water birth again, we needed to know that once the baby’s head was out, the next contraction the baby had to be out and come up out of the water or he would have to get me out of the water no matter how much pain I was in, position, etc.  In my heart, I just knew God was telling me to get out of the water; no water birth this time.  Anyone who has ever had a water birth or used water as pain relief knows this is not normal.  But God was so good to speak so clearly to me that I climbed right out.  BJ was in total shock.  I leaned by the side of our bed.

BJ called my mom in from watching the kids and said we were about to have a baby.  She called my Dad & he came up and watched the kids.  Even up to this point, my contractions were so irregular.  The last contraction before I started pushing was six minutes before.  It was just so weird!  Not saying it wasn’t painful–it was!  But just very different than any other labor, almost as if there was no transition or something (no water breaking until pushing, either).

It was so surreal, the whole thing.  I started pushing, head came out.  Next contraction here would come baby…or not.  Basically, she was stuck ( a very mild case of shoulder dystocia).  It was the weirdest thing to be pushing with everything in me and nothing was happening.  BJ had Cheryl on the phone again (they had gotten disconnected after the head came out) and I she said to me on the phone, “Aubin you have got to push the baby out”.  I could tell by her voice and BJ’s & Mom’s seriousness this was a very big deal.  Finally, after one minute and a maneuver BJ made by lifting up on her head, she came out.  4:43 pm.  It seemed like an eternity (mom & BJ said later toward the end Willow was starting to turn purple–I cannot even imagine).  She cried a little, they laid her right on my tummy and Cheryl & Melanie (her assistant) showed up at 5:07 pm.  I was very nervous when she wasn’t crying the whole time, I guess because I finally had realized what danger she could have been in but she was perfect!

We had a planned home birth.  We did not plan to have BJ deliver our little girl!  However, because we had planned a home birth, we had her birth kit there, so after about ten minutes, Cheryl walked BJ through using the cord clamps and cutting the cord (picture Mom boiling the scissors on the stove!  The whole thing is so crazy that it really happened this way!).

There are two major things I have taken away from this whole experience.  The first is that my husband is the even more amazing and wonderful in my eyes than I already thought he was.  He never once panicked, he never once let on if he was scared.  He stepped in and did what had to be done and not only that–when there was a complication–he stepped up even higher.  I never felt any fear in him delivering Willow.  I am blown away by him.

The second thing is how at every turn of this pregnancy and birth, God guided us with His loving hand.  I believe we were supposed to have a homebirth–had we planned to go to the hospital, we would’ve gone wayyyyyyyy too late because I wasn’t convinced I was really in labor.  We would’ve been in the car and I don’t think BJ could’ve delivered her with her shoulders stuck.  Also, the coolest thing to me, is how God spoke so clearly for me to get out of the water.  Her body didn’t come out the next contraction after the head and had I still be in the water…well, I don’t really want to think about it except to just praise God for His goodness.

So there’s Willow’s story!  It’s a crazy wild one for sure.  We pray her life will be one that lives up to her entry–one that trusts God, does amazing things that go against the grain, and lives a life completely abandoned to Him, no matter what!  We are a very, very blessed family.

As for her name, taken from Is. 44:3- 4

(1) Because man of himself is as the dry and barren land, he promises to moisten him with the waters of his Holy Spirit

(2)) That is, your children and posterity will increase wonderfully after their deliverance from Babylon.

Her middle name, Jeanetta, is in honor of her Aunt Aimee and her Grandma GG.  Rose is in honor of her cousin, Micaiah Rose.

The kids are absolutely in love with her.  Even Judah, who had a little cry after realizing she wasn’t a boy, has embraced her.  They are such sweet, sweet kiddos.  I love them all so much my heart could burst!!  Very special to have my Mom be there and play such an active role.  And so cool that Dad could come right on up this birth instead of like last time when Olive was born.  God has been very good to us.