I woke up on 2/4 around 7:45 am needing to go #2, which I didn’t think much about because that has been the case pretty much this whole pregnancy. However, that is how labor started in my last pregnancy…and apparently it did this time, too! I laid down in bed after, and pretty much right away had a couple of mild contractions, not much stronger than braxton hicks.

Got up, made my coffee. A few mild contractions, slightly crampy. Figured it was probably just false labor, I wasnt even 38 weeks. This was my 4th baby, and my first 3 were all born in week 39 or 40.

Went pee. Bloody show.

I was NOT ready. I had cleaned the bathrooms the day before (thank goodness, they were a hot mess) but I had been planning to mop that day! The floors were so gross. 😫

So I told my husband we were having a baby today…but he needed to watch the kids so I could get some stuff done after breakfast. He works from home, and was able to step away. I was determined to mop the living room and kitchen at least. I was having a home birth, so I started a pot of soup for my family and birth team, fed the kids breakfast, and cleaned the kitchen.

I picked up the house and started to sweep. Things were heating up. I started to need to stop between contractions….and realized I wasn’t going to get to mop, lol. It was around 11:00, and I told my husband he needed to set up the birth pool now. I set up the birth kit.

The children were running around and excited….but also making me tense so that the contractions hurt worse, so my husband took them across the street to the in-law’s so I could relax. He started filling the pool when he got back. The pool was ready around 12. This was my 4th home birth but first water birth, and man, it really does help. I recommend. 👌

Midwife team got there around 12:30…I think. My timeline is a little fuzzy. Things progressed quickly. I could tell the baby wasn’t in the best position, so I tried a lot of forward-leaning positions. Once I got to the pushing phase, I was leaning over the side of the tub, in a forward-leaning kind of squat. Baby was born just before 3:00pm. The head came out a little sideways, so I had a mild first-degree tear.

It was a BOY! So we now have two girls, and two boys. Girl, girl, boy, boy.

And he was huge, esp for almost 38 weeks. 7lbs 14 oz, 21 1/2 inches. My biggest until then was 7lbs. 3oz, at 39+3. My other two were in the 6lb range. This one will definitely take after my 6’3” tall husband. I am 5’0”. My dates weren’t off, and everything about him suggested his gestational age was correct. Pretty sure my body evicted him early cause it was like….yeah, this one is big enough now, lol! Out ya go!

And I am just sitting here with a baby in my lap still kind’ve in shock to not still be pregnant, lol.