The arrival of Gavin Quint!!!!

Warning: Due to the graphic nature and adult content contained in this post reader discretion is advised!

( for you, Daddy!)




He arrived Thursday July 12, 2007 at 12:51 pm.

My water broke at 3 am early Thurs morning but I really didn't believe that's what it was. That's NEVER happened before. In fact, I've always had to have it broken at the end of labor right before I start pushing. But, labor went so fast that it went from nothing to everything within only a few hours this time. So, at 3 am after sitting on the toilet for 20 or so minutes I turned on the light and thought it might be my water but really seriously doubted it. Afterall, I thought for sure my water had broken with Garrett when it hadn't at all and we were sent home twice. So, at 3:30 I just went back to bed since I had no contractions or anything to indicate I was going into labor....or was in labor! I again woke up at 6:30 and after about 30 minutes I finally made up my mind it definitely was my water and I should consult Brad. Contractions were then about 20 minutes apart and, though they were hard, they were soooooooo far apart. I woke Brad up at 7 and told him what was going on and we started the ball rolling with getting on the road. I called Mother, who was getting ready for work, and she said she'd finish up getting ready and be on her way...just a 20 minute drive. I then called the midwife and told her what was going on. After telling her she said she really hoped I'd make it. I was shocked at the thought that we wouldn't since my contractions were, afterall, 20 minutes apart. I asked her why she thought we wouldn't make it and she said that you just never know what will happen once your water has broken. She asked why we hadn't started in at 3 am and I told her I really really didn't think it was my water at that point and it was just another crazy thing that tries to convince you that you're in labor but I was really another week or so away. She was a little concerned since we had waited so long but I really was nowhere near believing at 3 am that anything even remotely related to this would happen in this way. I think I just played out my labor so many times in my head and since this was the farthest thing from what I'd envisioned there was no way in the world this was the real thing.

So, I was slow about getting ready due to dealing with all of the water gushing issues and then trying to put on my makeup in the midst of it all. By 8 Mother was here and I had gotten the children up to go through their morning routines and feed all of the animals. Brad finished loading up the truck and by 8:30 reality seemed to hit that we were not going to make it. Though contractions were still very spread apart they were growing in intensity. At that point we were still trying to get to the truck and leave. Brad said we'd just have to risk it and he started collecting sheets, towels, a tarp, the OB kit and all of the stuff for the road. I couldn't seem to get away from the bathroom and so by the time the needed emergency delivery kit stuff was collected and I could stray from the bathroom it was now 9:30 and contractions were only 3 minutes apart. Mother had left with the children at 9 to take them all to her house. About the time she left we both knew there was no way in the world we'd ever make it to the birthing home so finally we made the call to just ride it out here. There was no way we could afford to stop at every bathroom between here and there for me and there was no way I'd ever make it without stopping. By 9:30 contractions were hard, 2-3 minutes apart and lasting for 90 seconds. We called the midwife to let her know we'd never make it there in time and were having to change plans in a major way.


So, at 10 I got in the tub and Brad just sat with me while I soaked. Contractions were very hard and getting harder but still manageable. I switched to the bigger tub and asked him to check me to see how far dilated I was. He said he didn't have a clue what to even feel for. I told him I'd talk him through it if he could just try. It was kind of cool because we just worked together so well. He checked and I told him where he was and when he motioned how far apart he could spread his fingers I told him that meant I was about 5 cm. So, I laid in the bathtub as he sat on the toilet lid and we just laughed and talked together of this whole ordeal. The weedeater across town buzzed and the birds chirped through the open bathroom window as I laid in the tub in very active labor. An hour later I had him check again. I was between a 7-8. I wasn't really as sure on that one but knew I had progressed and the distance between his fingers was wider. He freakin went and got his handy man tool tape measure..you know, the yellow hard one all construction workers have!!!....and measured the distance between his fingers! That was really funny and it hurt to laugh during a contraction! Somewhere around that point I couldn't get comfy in the tub anymore so I got out. Then it really hit and there was no turning back. I labored kneeling in the floor of our room hung over a chair while he watched some TV and did the bank account. I knew I was getting close when I couldn't get comfy at all and I was back and forth constantly between the toilet and the bedroom chair. The urge to push hit on the toilet and suddenly he appeared when he recognized that stage. He was pleading with me to get on the bed where he could see and kind of take charge but there was no way I could labor on my side or back at that point. So, I got in the bathroom floor on all 4's and told him he'd just have to deal with it. I pushed about 5 minutes total and he guided me through it. At one point concern took over since all he could see was white. I thought he was thinking the baby was breech but he thought it was the baby's cord on top of its head and being squeezed. While I was pushing I was telling him to tell me what he was seeing. He described it and I told him it was just the baby's head and it was normal. He was so completely chilled out and took over telling me to keep going and to push when I needed to. Gavin's shoulders got a little stuck so he turned him and once he rotated him a little he popped right out! Talk about feel better!!!! So, Brad caught him and suctioned and cut his cord and all of that. We had the OB kit from the station which had the cord clamps in it and a bulb syringe along with a myriad of other stuff that came in handy. I felt so much better and was so relieved that I just laid down on the bathroom floor while he took care of Gavin. I probably laid there for 20 or so minutes. The only time Brad ever went into paramedic mode was when it suddenly hit him I was laying on the floor and he had a baby to deal with. All he ever said in a panicked manner was "Oh sh**.....I've got 2 patients to deal with now." LOL! I started cramping again so bad I knew I had to do something to go ahead and deliver the placenta but I couldn't do it laying down. So, he ran some really hot shower water to help with the pain and I just delivered it in the shower. It was a much easier mess to clean up that way too! We both agreed how glad we were that it all ended up taking place on the bathroom tile. He laughed and said it looked like a crime scene in there but it was easily mopped up, towels thrown in the wash and the rest went in the trash. And the bed was clean and ready to go....despite the tarp that had been hastily put under the sheet once we realized we weren't going anywhere. LOL! After the shower I laid down and ate some lunch while Gavin nursed and then the 3 of us slept until 5pm, when the children returned home.



Weighing Baby Gavin was kind of comical since our scale only weighs in 1/2 pd increments and is a traditional bathroom scale. So, Brad got on and then got on with Gavin and we figured up the difference. The closest we could get was between 9-9.5 pds. By the time we got to Fort Worth yesterday afternoon to have us both checked over it was estimated he'd probably lost between 1/2 -1 pd, which is completely normal. She said since he'd already had 3 major poops and the fact he was 24 hrs old she estimated he'd lost about a full pd and he weighed in at the office at 8'6, which would've put his birth weight somewhere around 9'6.

Everything at the appt was completely wonderful. Both of us checked out wonderfully and the trip itself was not bad at all. In fact, it was fun just being able to spend the time with Brad despite the fact we weren't entirely alone since we had both girls and, of course, Gavin.

Oh.......all in all labor was only 3 hrs from start to finish. Contractions really kicked in at 9:30 or so am and he arrived at 12:51 pm. It was by far my fastest labor and with our biggest baby. I'm so so glad we didn't mess with it and try to start stuff up. I cannot imagine having had any other experience. It was unlike anything else in the world. I am so in love with Brad and so in awe of our life together....every unexpected thing that it holds. It's funny how experiences like this just make me fall so much more in love with him. I can't imagine life without him or spending it with anyone else in the world. I look at Gavin and I am just in awe and cannot believe we have been so blessed. The picture can never be fully painted of what I feel or the love that has so completely overtaken us.