Our Four Babies

Cleo

Abram

Vivian

Oscar

New Big Brother

Abram has taken a special interest in his little sister.  He is the happiest new big brother!

Cleo Rose

10/1/13

The next most miraculous day of our lives got off to a rather ordinary beginning.  Rushing to get out of the house to get everyone where they are going is how I remember it starting.  It was a little crazy in the sense that Dallas had been having contractions from 2-4 a.m. the night before that morning….  But as mysteriously as they came, the stopped.  She tells me they were 10 minutes apart, she was kind enough to let me sleep, silently she labored..

Then throughout the day she was having spontaneous contractions, at work.  She didn’t think they were consistent enough to warrant leaving, so she finished the day out.  But she kept having contractions.

We decided it would be best to have her mom come and be with our little ones while we went to her regularly scheduled appointment with the mid-wife.  We went to her appointment at 6:15, there we learned that she was already at 6 cm….  Even as I type that it seems like a casual thing, like nothing soooo amazing, but that is her style, she makes the extraordinary seem routine.  At least we had confirmation that she was in labor, this was it, this was the night.

We decided to go grab a bite to eat.  I mean why not, right?  We would need fuel for the journey that lay before us her.

We got back to the hospital after 7 p.m.  While we had been at the mid-wife appointment we got everything arranged to have a delivery room with a whirlpool tub.  Given that this is our last labor Dallas thought she might want to try laboring in the tub.

But before I could join her, I had to wait in the reception area.  Apparently being her support partner didn’t mean I could go back with her immediately, I guess this was intended to be a perk of being the father… Maybe in the 50’s…  But that is for another story.

So we finally got joined back together in the room.  Got checked in.  All the while Dallas is doing it as only she can, silently, managing the pain with her toes and fingers…

And by doing it only the way she can I mean this: there was a time when she was having a thing inserted to make it easier to have an IV later if she needed it, well as they poke this thing in she was having a massive contraction.  The midwife asked her if she was having any pain, and she said yes, the poke hurt.  She didn’t even notice the contraction….  Her grace, poise, and strength are just out of this world.

After about twenty minutes they had all the baseline information that they needed, and Dallas was free to move about.  During this time we got the water ready in the tub.  In my mind I wasn’t sure how willing Dallas would be to give this a try.  But with a little encouragement she decided to get it.  And that is where she stayed until she was 10 cm, and ready to push.  She laid as if she were enjoying a long overdue trip to the spa throughout the entire labor.  Pausing only momentarily towards the end as the contractions were reaching their peak.  It was quite honestly for me the most amazing experience, I am humbled by her power.  I am so thankful to be able to share the journey of life with such an amazing woman.

They broke her bag of waters in the tub.  This was something that we had concerns about, as each of our other children had passed their meconium while in the womb.  This can be a rather inconvenient complication as it often means that the baby once born is taken off to get the meconium suctioned out of their airway.  We had always wanted the babies to come straight to her chest once they were born, but it had never worked out before.  This time when they broke the bag of waters, it was clear!  Giving us the all clear for our baby to come straight to the chest after being born.  We were shocked, especially since she was a couple days past her due date.  Everything was shaping up perfectly.   

Once the contractions were giving the indication that it was time to push, we decided to move to this thing called a birthing chair.  This was another new thing to try for us.  It is basically a seat that allowed her to be sitting up while delivering, instead of laying down.  The idea is to let gravity assist with the delivery.  She was leaning back against me; the midwife was in position to catch our baby.

After a couple contractions with pushing, we were holding our newborn miracle girl.  As she was placed on my wife’s chest she cried ever so slightly a couple of times, then she was quite.  It almost worried me, then the mid-wife said with a stress free delivery it is normal for babies to be very calm.  In those moments as we held her, it was a beautiful experience.  The kind that words weren't made for.  We were holding our next angel together, seconds after she was born….  We couldn't be happier.  Our blessings are many.

We welcomed Cleo Rose into this world at 10:10 p.m. on October the 1^st.