These two scriptures were my theme and focus throughout my pregnancy and labor.
They kept me centered and focused on the Lord and His strength.
"I will boast of my God, for in His strength I can do all things" Alma 26:12
"For charity suffereth long and is kind..." Moroni 7:45
Wren was due to be born on Valentines Day. With my past 3 experiences of due dates, Charlie was 2 weeks early, Grant was 2 weeks late, and Olive was 5 days late. SO....I just expected to have a baby sometime in February and left it at that. February 1st was a supermoon and caused me to have contractions for 3 hours! The labor stopped and life continued as normal. This pregnancy I was sick a lot. Specifically with stomach and GI issues. They came on sporadically and when they were present it wiped me out physically. I couldn't imagine going into labor during an episode so I prayed and prayed I could be good and healthy when the time came to labor.
Monday February 5 was a good day! I had a sick spell the weekend before, so this healthy feeling was joyful. I kept thinking how this was a good time to have a baby. I was loving my children, fixing meals, singing songs, reading books, keeping the house tidy- all signs that I felt good. We had a fun family home evening about love that night and tucked the kids into bed. The next morning at 4:30am I woke up to leaking. I went to the bathroom to discover the very clear liquid. My water... this was new. In all my previous labors my water broke once labor began or never broke at all. It was exciting but I worried because I wasn't feeling any contractions. I messaged Rebecca, my midwife. She told me to rest and that the contractions would come.
Rest I did! But I couldn't sleep. I felt the very mild contractions begin and leaked more fluid every time they came. By 6:30am I told Andy what was happening and that today we would probably have a baby. The contractions stayed very mild but picked up a tad by 8am which is when I told Rebecca that the labor was progressing. My mom had previously planned to come stay with us this week and was already on her way. She arrived at 9am and Rebecca arrived at 10am. I always love the excitement of early labor. It was heavenly to have my mom arrive ready to help. The kids were excited as well and I loved that they were awake and nearby. They gave me sweet encouraging hugs before they were off playing again. I have two cousins I am close to, Jessie and Meghan, who came to be a part of the birth. We have babies 3 months apart. Jessie's was born in October and the next one is due in May! They were there to take pictures and video and otherwise just be apart of the experience. Lastly, Andy's mom arrived, and she was a great support to all of us!
The full party had arrived and that made me happy but unfortunately my contractions were getting farther apart, like every 15 minutes. They had increased more in strength which was good. I was starting to worry that we might be hanging out all day waiting for things to progress. Both with Charlie's birth and Grants, Rebecca had given me an herbal drink to help labor progress. She asked if would like some of that and after considering, I decided to take it. She gave it to me at 11:38am. She said that it would start working in 15-30 minutes. So we sat around chatting as a group and sure sure enough around 15 minutes later I felt a very strong contraction. Strong enough I wanted to leave the group and birth on the ball in my room. I had another very strong contraction there. Breathing through them and remembering I would meet Wren soon kept me focused and calm. After a trip to the bathroom Rebecca said I could get into the tub. It was there things became very real very quickly. I had a couple more strong contractions. I tried to hold back my vocal sounds at first but felt I needed to let go and let my breath and sounds do some work. As I became vocal I heard reassurance from Rebecca that these were good sounds. I started to get carried away and Rebecca brought me back to slow more steady sounds and breathing. I kept thinking to myself, "Wren we can do this!" I felt like she and I were a team and working together. During this short time I felt the comfort of water being poured down my back and hands holding my head. I heard so many reassuring words from everyone around me.
Entering into the fog I was in, Rebecca told me to reach down and feel her head. Her head! How did that happen! I had just barely got into the tub and I could feel Wren's head! With the next contraction I pushed her head out. It all seemed too easy. I relaxed for a moment in awe that she was almost here. I waited for the next contraction eager to finish and once it came I pushed and it startled me into a standing position. Rebecca got Wren and handed her to me. It was only 12:18pm. I immediately asked for the kids to come in. They came in with wide curious eyes. I was so happy to share this experience with all of them.
And that's how we welcomed Wren into our family.
The kids love her so much. They have been saying things like, "Wren is so sweet", "Wren is a perfect name for her", "Can I hold Wren?" that last phrase is the one said the most by all 3! This all happened during Grants nap. When he joined the party his first reaction was very unsure. But it didn't take long for him to love her just as much as we all do.
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