Baby Robin made his appearance late Friday night. He was born on his due date under a gorgeous blue moon. Here’s a quick run down of his labour day and birth. After days of prodromal labour and very frustrating contractions, things couldn’t have gone smoother. I am currently a little fixated on the difference between pushing with Rebecca for over an hour and a half and pushing with Robin for 8 minutes.
10am – Head to bodyblitz for a spa day soaking in the waters with with my also-very-pregnant friend Catherine. Ignore all signs of labour as contractions have been steadyish for over a week.
1pm – Drive home through bumpy cemetery as Catherine told Ryan she’d bring me home in labour. It’s hardly nessarary at this point but quite funny.
2pm – Call my mother and midwife to warn them. Contractions never make a pattern of any sort so I’m pretty glad I knew to call. Ate some lunch while watching The Incredibles with Rebecca.
3:30pm – Rebecca heads to grammy’s for the night.
5pm – Order delicious Indian food from Udupi Palace. Eating my weight in samosas between contractions was surprisingly difficult yet I think this may have been one of the best meals of my life. Watched The Life Aquatic, really trying to laugh this baby out.
8pm -Ryan napped while I laid in bed and argued with my contractions. Attempts to meditate about apple trees are futile.
10pm – Gave up on sleeping and headed downstairs to watch Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life. My water broke durning the Meaning of Life. Which made me cry instead of laugh and I didn’t even get to the machine that goes ping. Woke Ryan up by screaming bloody murder.
10:15pm – Our primary midwife came which made my contraction more inconsistent than ever. Also confusing is that I can totally talk through contractions. Ryan set up the birth pool while I looked at Georgia O’Keefe Paintings.
11pm Headed to the dog park with Hazel to look at the blue moon. We set the timer for 10 minutes and I had 4 big contractions in the park so we headed home.
11:15pm had a round of antibiotics by iv and hopped in the birth pool.
11:50pm Delivered Robin half in the pool , half on the living room couch. There was an awesome ninja move where I apparently flew through the air from birth pool to couch after 4 pushes with him half out.
12am Backup midwife made it. Oops.
So to sum things up: Once in a blue moon, after 2 hours of active labour including a walk in the park and the meaning of life (without any machines that go ping), you can deliver a baby with barely a scratch. My birth declaration? “That was Awesome!” where as after I had Becca (also at home but an OP delivery) I said, “People do that more than once!?”.
He was 8 pounds 11 ounces and he’s dreamy. He eats like a champ, sucks his thumb and we love his little club feet. We’ll start on the adventure of treating them in a few weeks and are just going to enjoy them for the time being.
He’s lovely, and what a great birth. Good on you guys!
Thanks Marla! Come and squeeze him anytime.
Welcome to the world Robin. I was also born on my due date, in August, with a club foot.
So funny! It didn’t even occur to me that babies came on their due dates as Rebecca was so late
what a wonderful and inspiring birth story! so happy to hear it went so smoothly, and WHAT a beauty!! congrats!! xo
Amazing! Brought tears to my eyes… sooooo adorable! Congrats to your family!
Laura..congratulations!! Robin is beautiful, just perfect. You must all be thrilled, wonderful pictures…looking forward to seeing many more.
Now you’re encouraging me to have a second! Glad labor went so well, and congrats on the new little one!
oh look at those baby toes! so cute. Glad it was a smooth delivery and everyone is well. Enjoy every minute!
Caroline
Congratulations lovelies and welcome Robin!
(It must be a blue moon thing because another friend had her baby girl on Sunday- also her due date!)
Congrats, Laura! Great story, and he looks like a very sweet little boy.
Congratulations! What a wonderful birth story! This gives me hope, since I pushed for two hours with my daughter, and swore at the time that I would never do a natural birth again! haha
What a dream he is! Sounds like labor went smoothly (love the dry humor that is dripping from this post). My second came much quicker than my first, and my third came out like a shot. Hope you are recovering quickly! Congrats to you and your family!
What a fantastic story. Thank you for sharing it! I am amazed at all the walking you did. Even took a walk in the park. He looks adorable too.
Congrats! He’s absolutely gorgeous
Oh Laura he’s absolutely beautiful and I loved reading about your amazing delivery. <3 Congratulations!
Beautiful post, and lovely addition to your family. Congrats to all.
What a lovely post and he looks so sweet!
Congratulations! He’s beautiful! As an aside, my oldest son was overdue and my youngest was on time. They have maintained that same schedule for the last 20 and 17 years respectively. Good luck!
What a great birth story! He is just precious. Congratulations to all of you!
Congratulations! Loved reading your birth story.
AW! Congrats to you and Ryan and Rebecca! And little brother makes four. Great summary of the birth experience. I’m glad that it went so well. Hope the babymoon is great too.
congratulations to you, what a beautiful story, and a beautiful boy.
Congratulations and welcome to the world, Robin! Thank you for sharing your story and gorgeous pictures with us. Enjoy these days as a family.
Awe, congrats!! He is adorable!!
Big hugs and congratulations. Thank you for sharing this wonderful birth story!! Can’t wait to meet baby Robin. He’s one lucky little guy xo
Laura, this was the most wonderful and funny birthstory. i love that you were watching the Meaning of Life (love python and mol).
i REALLY love that you took a moment during it all to walk to the park and look at the blue moon.
robin is a lovely little man. congrats!
Such a wonderful story. Congrats, congrats. My second midwife also missed my last birth. That’s the way to do it!
I’m a little late, but I just wanted to give you my congratulations. Such a sweet baby! Love the story (sounds like you had a much better experience than when I delivered my daughter by about a million) and I agree with Pamela that the visit to the park to see the moon made it even more magical. PS, that photo at the top of Robin with the snuggly kitty is just adorable.