Our beautiful son, Raymond Russell Teising, was born Saturday, January 14, 2012 (his due date!) at 1:32am weighing 8 pounds and measuring 21 inches long. If you've been following my blog, you know that Rich and I opted for a natural home birth experience with The Farm Midwives and this is the play by play of how our son came into the world.
My last prenatal appointment was Wednesday the 11th and I was dilated about 1/2 cm. Over the next couple of days, things started changing and I just felt different. Contractions started in the wee hours on Friday and by noon we were at our birthing house in Hampshire, TN in the care of our midwife, Joanne Santata. Upon arriving, I got checked and was only 1 cm dilated. Sigh. We were encouraged to settle into our birthing house, walk, and rest. By 9pm, I was only 3 cm dilated. This was after hours of contractions and I was incredibly frustrated (active labor begins at 4cm). Joanne encouraged us to try and get some sleep because contractions often let up during the night.
After she left, the contractions did not slow down. In fact, they were increasing in intensity and I thought, "How in the hell do people sleep through this?!" By 10:30pm, I was in desperate need for our doula to be with us, so Rich called Jolynn Lewis and she arrived a little before 11:30pm. Joanne checked me again and I was at 4 cm. Really?! I was still fighting the contractions and through Jolynn's gentle coaching and my sweet husband letting me grab him in places that were extremely uncomfortable for him, I decided to really let go...just to embrace the process-- all the messiness, pain, discomfort, and raw animal behavior that was coming out of me. From then on, I felt like Rocky. I was bound and determined to get this baby out of me!
At 12:45pm, I was checked again and was at 8cm! YES! (I actually did a fist pump.) From there, I quickly felt the overwhelming urge to push and with less than 30 minutes of pushing, Raymond was born and I felt an overwhelming sense of release. He came out wailing like a good boy and the first thing I noticed was how long his fingernails were. Seriously. They grow 'em long in utero!
The midwives attended to me and then to Raymond. Once we got settled in, we called our good friend Stephanie Maas who we asked to play the role of our postpartum doula in taking care of us in the first few days of Raymond's life. Once she arrived, Jolynn left and we were in fantastic care. The days that followed were incredibly precious and we are so thankful for the opportunity to get to know our son in a sweet environment of our own creation.
On Tuesday, we left to come home and create our nest here with Raymond in it. Although we've had some rough nights, we are soaking in every moment with him.
I have to give a huge shout out to my husband. Rich was an incredible partner during the labor and delivery process and seeing him become a Dad has been one the greatest things I've ever witnessed. He's a natural with children and has quickly bonded with Ray. I am more in love with him now than I've ever been and with each passing day, I remain thankful that we found each other and created this amazing human being.
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