Birth Story

I've done this home birth thing three times people. Three times. You would think by now I would just let it happen, trust God, and not get freaked out about the pain. But nope. I get myself in a panic each and every time and God always pulls through because that's how He is and what He does.

So I was two days past my due date and it was 12am. Jake had peed the bed again, so we were up changing his sheets. I was having braxton hicks, as usual, so I just went back to sleep. Around 2-3am something changed and they were starting to get annoying. I got up and took a bath and they didn't stop. Maybe this was the real deal. I was still in denial and told charlie what was going on and tried to lay down to get more sleep. Who knows if its going to be a 24 hour labor or a 2 hour labor. You have to just try and get rest when you can. Laying down was rough, but it was a weird sensation. I could feel the contractions getting closer so I started timing them. They would range from 2 min apart to 6 minutes apart. They were all over the place so I still wasnt sure if it was "it" since I've had this happen for a few hours and then it would all stop. At this point it was 5am and I just couldn't lay down any longer. Charlie and I both got up and he made some cereal while I ate toast.

As Charlie was eating his cereal I had a contraction and the next thing I know I saw this huge flash, and I looked up and Charlie was taking a picture of me. Mid-contraction I said 'What are you doing? I'm having contractions and your flashing a camera in my face. haha" Jokingly he said he didn't know the flash was on and that I'd be glad he had taken it. So I guess this would be my last pregnancy shot.

 

 It's so beautiful, isn't it? haha!

It was now 6am and Charlie talked me into giving Lisa a call to let her know what was up. She told me she could come over now, but I assured her that I wasn't sure yet, so I'd call her when I was. She said that she expects me to go fast, so make sure I do. The thing about my labors is that I chat it up. I'll be talking away, have a contraction, stop, and then start talking again once its gone. I'll do this right up until I'm pushing. During Jakes labor I starting singing in the shower during heavy transition. So yeah. Haha!

Anyway, back to business.... I was having contractions every 2-3 min and it was now 7am. I decided to give Charlies mom a call and ask her to come over and send someone for the kids. We fed them breakfast, and I helped get them dressed between contractions. I would have to stop and lean on things between them, but other than that I felt pretty good. They all showed up around 7:30am and if someone had told me I would be holding a baby in an hour and a half later I would not have believed them. I talked to my sister-in-laws for a bit and they left with the kids. Contractions were picking up and Charlie said "I think we should call Lisa". I told him I was fine and I didn't think it was time. I was starting to feel a little bit pushy, but I didn't really think he was there quite yet. After a couple more contractions with Charlie and my MIL gently telling me that we should call Lisa, I agreed. She showed up around 8:15am and immediately started putting things together. I was looking at them thinking they were CRAZY because I didn't feel like I was about to die yet. Thats when you know you're close. You feel like you're going to die and like your body is ripping apart. I didn't feel like that. I felt pushy so I made my way to the bedroom and sat on the bed. About 5-7 minutes went by and I was like, "Oh great. It stopped" I was started to feel annoyed so I got up and as I was leaning over the counter, I felt him descend and I yelled "I'M PUSHING!!" The midwife came running over and threw something underneath me. I waddled my way to the bedroom and sat on the bed. I felt another one come and got in a good position with Charlie holding me while I was facing Lisa and I pushed. She said "His head is RIGHT there!!" I started crying because I could not believe it. This was really happening. I kept on saying "Thank you Jesus" over and over again. I never once felt overwhelmed or like I couldn't do it, which happened with Emily and Jake. With Emily I told them to take me to the hospital because I was dying. This time I felt more in control and was able to handle it really well, thanks to God.

Anyway, I asked if she had the birth stool and she didn't. So they grabbed one of the kids chairs so I could sit on that and lean back into charlie. I could not get comfortable. I would feel a contraction coming and try to brace myself and I couldn't get into a good position. I was pushing and I said "Can you please break my water!!" I wasn't scared, I just wanted it over with haha! So she grabbed something, broke my water, and his head came out. I heard her mumble something like "See how fast he came out once your water broke..." I reached up for Charlies moms hand and (She is so amazing during my labors. She has been there for all four kids, prayed me through it, knows exactly where to rub your back, etc.) pushed as hard as I could and he was born at 8:59 am.

 I couldn't believe it. He was here and FAT! She put him up on my chest and we sat there for a bit while she looked everything over. He looked just like Jake. We clamped the cord and then moved onto the bed. This was my first labor where I didn't feel shaky after ward, and I didn't look pale like I normally do. It was so nice. The after-pains started fairly quickly and I didn't want to mess around so I took some ibuprofen. I just laid in bed and cuddled my little man while everyone sat around and talked for a bit. One of my favorite feelings. Cuddling a brand new baby, every one around me that helped bring him into the world, smiles, yummy food brought to you in bed, its just amazing. We were all so curious how much he weighed and every one took guesses. He outweighed them all at 9lbs 10oz. Only 3 oz less than his brother. Big boy! We are so blessed to add another guy to our family and I couldn't imagine life without him.

Our Story: Part two.

I thought it would be a fun idea for Charlie to write the second part so you could see it from his perspective. After some coaxing he agreed. He is the best guy!!
 
  Part two: His perspective.

 I was driving down the road looking for the turn that was on my GPS, and missed the bridge over the creek. I had to back my truck to get to the turn. I then drove up her driveway and saw her and Tracy sitting on her Mammaws front porch. I parked my truck under the tree in the front yard. As I got out of the truck I saw her coming down from the front porch
toward me. I had been somewhat scared up until that point that she may be some nasty dude, or possibly some crazy lady pretending to be Amber, but it was definitely Amber Lynn, the same girl I had been talking to. The only difference I could see was that she was twice as beautiful as she was in her pictures. As soon as I walked up to her we said "Hi" to each other and hugged. We then walked up on to her porch where she introduced me to her Fathers girlfriend Tracy. From there we walked down together to her uncle Tom's house where he, and her Dad were watching NASCAR. She introduced me to them, and Tom said "Hey there!" and her dad said "You like NASCAR?" Shortly after that Amber's sister, and brother-in-law showed up, and we decided to take a walk up the holler a little way to go see a truck that a couple drunks had apparently drove off the road and was laying upside down in the creek. On the way up the hill I grabbed her hand and we walked together holding hands for the first time.

The next few days are kind of a blur. I remember riding ATV's, sitting out and looking at the stars at night, and going to the county fair together. but most of all I remember feeling like the happiest man on earth, and knowing it was only a matter of time until I would ask her to be my wife.

Seriously, guys. Isn't he the sweetest? I'm so lucky!!

Okay, so let me tell you a little bit about the Martin County Fair experience:  Its a small fair and it only cost 5 bucks to get in which includes rides and everything. You have funnel cakes, lemonade, cheesy games, teenage guys checking out the girls,  teenage girls checking out the guys, screams of laughter can be heard and the background noise is a girl on stage singing "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson. Sounds like any normal fair experience right? Wrong. It gets better, or worse, depending on how you choose to look at it.

First off-- I was excited about taking him to the fair. If you know anything about small towns, you know that everybody knows everybody. Even when you don't know whats going on every one else does. So going into it I knew that everyone would be wondering who this smokin' hot guy was I walking around with. And boy was I proud. 

 We drove up in my 2003 Pontiac Sun-fire. It was one of those muggy nights where your hair stuck to your face, and you could hear the crickets singing in the background. We walked in, paid for our tickets, and ran into the sheriff. Now, the sheriff happens to be my distant cousin so he has known me and my family for years. He is a super friendly guy, but you know he means business if you cross him the wrong way. I introduced him to Charlie to which he replied, in a half-joking serious tone,  "You better be good to her, or I'll come after ya." Awesome. Death threats from the sheriff.  We are off to great start. After that we decided to ride the Farris Wheel. Ya know, start if off simple.  We stepped up on the plank to get into the ride and the carney guy took a good look at us and said "Wow, you guys are going to have tall, good looking kids". AWKWARD. Thanks for letting us know that ON.OUR.FIRST.DATE.EVER. I will give him this, though. He was right. Ha!

We got off the Farris Wheel and as we were walking around I saw this ride:
                                       
                                I found a picture on google so you can have a good visual of what I'm talking about.      
                              
   



Here's the thing: When it's your first date and you're at the fair with your girl, you are not going to mention that anything that goes into a circular motion is gonna make you feel like you're going to barf. I didn't know that rides like that made him sick (I found out just a few seconds into it) and I wanted to ride the Umbrellas. If your girl wants to ride a ride, even if it makes you sick, you're gonna suck it up and ride the ride. We got on it and Charlie sat on the inside and I sat on the outside. Baaaaaad idea. Not only was this ride going into a circular motion, but every time the ride dipped down, the engine that sits in the center would blow diesel smoke in your face. We started going around a second time and Charlie said "I feel sick". At that point I didn't know what to do. I know that I would die of embarrassment if I puked on my date, so i did the only thing I could do. I started yelling at the carney guy to stop the ride. So every time we dipped down to where he was standing I would yell "Can you stop the rrrrrriiiiiiiidddeee!!!" while waving my hands like a mad woman. I don't know if he didn't hear me or thought I was waving my hands in excitement but we would go back up again. He finally heard me and he stopped us. That was exciting.

After feeling like he would going to barf, Charlie thought it would be best to get something to drink and sit down under the tents for a little bit. He got me some lemonade and grabbed himself a bottle of water. As we sat down I looked up and saw that they were getting ready to start a wrestling match. I thought "Oh no, here we go....... "And I kid you not--they started the music and I looked up and saw a guy with a mullet wearing an American Flag speedo. He started yelling "MARTIN COUNTY SUCKS!!" to the competitor. This drunk lady (in the crowd) didn't like that anyone would talk about her beloved town, and started swearing back at the guy words that I shouldn't be typing here. It was the most awful, hilarious, redneck thing you could possibly ever see. I looked over and Charlie was laughing so hard. Good. He thinks its funny and doesn't want to run for the hills. #winning.

After that hilarious/awful fiasco, we took a walk behind where all the rides were and sat on a hill overlooking the four-lane. We sat there, held hands and talked for awhile. I don't remember what we talked about, but I just remember being the happiest girl in the world being with the man of my dreams!