Blogging Tradition

When a blogger has a baby it is their duty to introduce their baby to the blogging world thru birth story sharing. I'm pretty sure this is written in Google's "terms of agreement".

Jared Ardis on his Birthday

How do you find words for an experience that pairs the most physical intensity with the most emotional intensity you will ever experience? It took 11 pages of my journal to express my thoughts and feelings of Jared's birth.

So I've decided we're going to do fulfill this duty FAQ style. It's easy- conversations post baby are all the same. My answers have been rehearsed a million times.

How did labor go? This the most common FAQ but also the most difficult. I don't know how to respond. All the answers I come up with are inadequate to describe an experience like labor and delivery. Lets go with... "good? normal? intense? amazing?" My midwife says it was "boring" and "easy" because it was so "completely textbook". Her words. Definitely not mine.

How long was labor? 8 hours if you do not count the completely irregular contractions I had the whole day before labor actually started. Which I don't. 8 hours- starting at 7:00 pm and ending at 3:00 am.

Did everything go okay having him at home? Just as planned! The midwife and her assistant showed up about 4.5 hours into labor. Three and a half hours later Jared was here. And within three hours from that point the midwives had cleaned the house and were gone.

Did you have a water birth? No. But I did labor in water. I knew I wouldn't deliver in the water. Water births gross me out. I hope at some point I can get over my unwillingness to sit in water that is filled with "delivery fluids". I've had a baby on a bed, a baby on a birthing stool, and it seems like a birthing tub is the next natural place... segway to next question.

Then where did you have him? Sitting on a birthing stool in my living room. This is the type of birthstool I sat on. Doesn't look comfortable but when you're in labor the oddest things are comfortable. It was actually like heaven! But it's easy to be in heaven when you've just experienced labor and get to enjoy the relief of pushing.

How long did you push? 15 minutes. May this child be blessed.

How big was he? 9 pounds 21.5 inches

Best moments of labor/delivery? No one's ever asked this but they should, even though it's obvious.... Meeting my son. I saw him come out, the midwife and I grabbed him at the same time, I stood up, took him to my bed and cradled him for 2 hours before the midwives started checking him out. He never made a peep, just quietly looked around, looked at me, looked at his Dad, nursed like a champ. I had been given an angel!

The best part about meeting him though was that all my anxiety about having two kids was relieved as soon as I saw him. (You read my previous post?) About 3 hours into labor my Mom and Parker left to go to my sister's house and when they walked out the door I started crying. I was telling Mark that I wanted Parker to come back, I missed him and I didn't want things to change, things will never be the same, maybe we should've waited longer to have another, etc. etc. etc. Mark was very smart about handling this... listened and gave a priesthood blessing.

But when I saw Jared it was instantaneous- I knew he was our little brother and he was supposed to join our family right now. I knew him already, and I had the very distinct impression that he and Parker knew each other too. (How can anyone who's had a baby deny the Plan of Salvation?) I just kept saying, "It's you. It's you." I was so happy to know my baby and to be reminded that Heavenly Father's plan is a great plan, and it was unfolding just as it should. He really is aware of us. I needed this moment.



The second best moment of my labor was when the midwife walked into our bathroom and said, "Whoa Christy you really have been nesting." Music to my ears! When she walked out, "That bathroom is like spotless". It felt really good to have some acknowledgment and praise. You know how everyone cleans their house before having a baby? Imagine if you're actually having a baby IN your house. Yeah, you're fanatical.

Labor and delivery "out-takes": I was in that period of transition, sat up out of the water, looked at Mark and said, "I'm worried. I'm not having any fun." Mark looked so confused, "I don't think you're supposed to be having fun."

And we also laugh about how I angrily kept telling the midwife to "hush" and "stop it" when she would try to coach me thru those last few contractions. And how I dramatically asked her to "Get a knife and cut this baby out." Thankfully, at that point, it was time to push and we avoided that.

Three hours postpartum- Midwives from Sunrise Midwifery as they were about to leave.

By the way... Jared's precision is amazing. Born on his exact due date, at exactly 3:00 am, weighing exactly 9 pounds... we're expecting GREAT things from him.