Theodore, I adore

This is my family... well except for Jones.  But he was the one taking the photo... maybe.  I can't recall.  Anyway, we are a happy little bunch.  I just wanted to type out a short version of the birth story while I had a second, and I'll make sure to post some pictures sometime berry berry soon.  Because our little Fyodor sure is a handsome little nugget!

As many of you know, I planned on a natural birth.  I had many reasons for wanting such, and all of those reasons involved a healthier mother and baby.  I did a LOT of reading on the matter.  I wanted all the stats.  And at the end of the day, I just wanted to trust my body to do what it knew how to do... and I'm glad I did.  It ended up being one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  If you are a lady who plans on having a baby, I HIGHLY encourage you to do a little research on the matter.  You are in charge of your body and should be informed.  Mmmmk?

So I had been having contractions FOR DAYS.  And for once, I'm not exaggerating.  They were keeping me up at night and driving me crazy.  Thus, when my actual labor started, I was caught off guard and didn't know what to think.  I'd been watching Downton Abbey and suffering through the regular contractions when suddenly the thought hit me that they were regular.  And I knew it was the real thing.  So I did what anyone would do... I ran upstairs and started reviewing my birthing books as though I was cramming for the SAT's, while sobbing uncontrollably.  My only thought was that I had never had a baby before, so why had I been so confident that I could do it drug free?  Why had a told so many people about my natural birth plan when I was TOTALLY going to end up chickening out?!?  ACK?!?!  Anyway, Hippy was lucky enough to come home from class around this time... and he knew what was up.  He reassured me that it didn't matter how our baby came into this world, because he was going to be loved regardless.  He also reminded me that I had options, and I would know what I needed when it was time.

I labored at home for about 5 hours.  I didn't want to get to the hospital too early... and by the time we left, I mostly just didn't want to have to get in the car for the 25 minute drive to the U.  By the time we got there, I was dilated to a 6 and fully effaced.  Easy peasy.  Okay, so thats a lie... it was hard work.  Contractions suck.  But I knew that they were doing a job and helping me progress, so it was a very manageable pain.  Just sayin'.  My biggest obstacle was getting over the FEAR of the pain... not the actual pain itself.  My body only threw at me as much as I needed to progress.  And I could handle that.  I kept waiting for the moment when I would need an epidural, but that moment never came.  In fact, the idea of a needle in my back seemed WAY worse to me than my contractions, at the time.

I did most of my hard labor in a tub at the hospital, with a midwife standing nearby, giving me encouragement.  The tub really took a lot of the pressure of gravity off of everything, which felt awesome.  I also had Hippy squeezing my hips with each contraction, because the counter pressure really seemed to help open me up and took some of the pain away.  I had my little team of cheerleaders which consisted of Hippy, my mom, his mom, and my midwife.  Besides their cheering, I really was left to myself to labor.  It was perfect.  Anyway, after about 3-4 hours, I told my midwife that I needed to poop.  She told me I was probably ready to push.  I told her I didn't want to accidentally poop in the tub.  Then another contraction hit and I knew she was right.  I was ready to poop my baby!!  I practically ran to the labor bed, and lo and behold, the pushing began.  I laid on my side with Hippy holding me up.  My mom was on the other side of me, holding my leg up for me.  And Lora, Hippy's mom, was at the bottom of the bed, calling Fyodor's name.  It was awesome.  I relied on my contractions to give me the power to push this baby out of me, and they pulled through.  Honestly, I was so tired at that point (it was nearly 5am) that I don't know if I could have summoned the energy otherwise.  Also, as a side note... I'd heard that the worst part is the crowning.  I'd heard it described as "the ring of fire."  Just so you know, I didn't experience this.  It simply felt like I was pushing a baby out of me.  No more, no less.  And after about 20 minutes of pushing, OUT HE CAME!  I could feel his little body slip out of mine as he gave a hearty cry.  They placed him directly onto my chest and covered us in warm blankets.  He was perfect.  Still is.

And thats that!  I thought I was going to keep this short, but I couldn't.  I just can't believe what an amazing experience it ended up being.  It wasn't easy, but it was amazing.  I had my mom write out her version of the birth story for me, and she mentions that she kept praying that angels would surround me and comfort me.  As I type out this version of the story... its so clear to me that I was very lucky to have angels with me the whole time... in the form of my family, who held me and cheered me on the whole way.  I really couldn't have asked for a better way to welcome little Fodie into the world.

And yes, we still call him Fyodor.  Yeah, we might always call him some variation of it.  But he'll get over the embarrassment of it all someday.  Perhaps.   <3