We would like to officially welcome the newest member of our family- Asher J Powell!!! Lexi started having surges during the middle of the night between Thursday and Friday. Since the baby wasn’t due until March, she reluctantly decided to take the day off from work to see how things would go. It was such a different experience as compared with Jordis’ birth (we were induced due to toxemia).During the day, the surges kept coming but varied from 10-20 minutes apart- not always being consistent. We used HypnoBirthing relaxation techniques that also made the experience unique as compared to last time. Surprisingly, the surges only lasted seconds- maybe 10 at the longest. The day went on and things continued without change so we weren’t sure what was up. We put Jordis to bed and at about 10pm, Lexi heard a ‘pop’ and jumped out of bed before her water broke all over. That is the point that we finally knew it was for real and we would be having a baby soon.
Tyler called his mom to come and stay with Jordis. Everything started accelerating at that point. With Jordis, it had taken 6 hours after the water was broken to deliver. The surges were getting so intense that Lexi thought she may need an epidural after all. Grandma arrived to take Jordis and we ran out to the car. As soon as she sat down, Lexi knew that the baby was starting to descend. Good thing the hospital is only a few minutes away– right?
We got there in record time, parked, and Lexi was off. She got as far as the hospital sidewalk and could go no farther because the baby was literally coming at that moment!! Tyler ran over and seemed to have trouble understanding what the hold-up was. Luckily, a hospital staff member was walking by at that moment and asked if everything was okay. When the situation was explained, he ran to call for help and suddenly people appeared from every direction. We could feel the baby’s head, which had already made its way out and as our towel and robe were thrown under Lexi, the baby was delivered right then and there by Lexi- who was supported in a semi-standing-reclined position by Tyler.
Luckily, the 20 people who had responded to the call, shielded us from indoor cafeteria bystanders. Yes- we birthed our baby just outside the hospital. We call it the sidewalk birth. You never think this kind of thing can happen to you……………….
We didn’t notice the cold because the baby was placed on Lexi’s tummy, cord was cut and we were all whisked away.
Asher was born 2/20/09 11:19ish pm- 6lb 2 oz and 17.5″ long. What a ride! All are doing exceptionally well. We figure- we wanted to see if a natural birth would work for us and how much more natural can you get? Even during all of the excitement, Lexi was calm and able to verbalize well. “The baby is coming–right this very second” “He is not stopping- we are having a baby NOW!”
We wouldn’t recommend the sidewalk birth to others but it all worked out for us! We are so excited to have Asher here with us- even if he couldn’t stand to wait just a few more weeks. He barely cried when he was delivered and seems to be a gentle soul. Don’t know why he needed to come 3 1/2 weeks early but it was an amazing experience for us and we are now convinced that HypnoBirthing (and having a henna rabbit tattoo) can indeed promote a calm, quick and effortless birth 🙂
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