Well, if you ask Aaron... he'd say that I made it look so very easy this time. I take that as a compliment, almost like--- LADY YOU ROCK! ...because just like the last three labors I've encountered, it hurt like absolute [insert that word].
I woke up Friday the 25th feeling anxious enough to do some of the things that I had been trying to hold off doing, thinking that I was getting everything prepared entirely too early... I mean I was literally supposed to have 3 more weeks left! So I brought up the baby swing and the bassinet from the basement. I sanitized and cleaned them. I dusted off some other things while I was at it. I vacuumed every room in our house. I washed and changed the sheets in our room. I rearranged and organized many things. I threw away 'stuff'. I basically did in ONE day what I should've done in a couple, but I guess I'm glad I did. I was on my feet 'cleaning' aka 'nesting'all day, so that evening when Aaron and I laid down together to watch some TV, I knew I was done for. We were watching American Idol... the same episode that we had been trying to get through for several nights in a row without me falling asleep. Well my eyes got heavier and heavier and finallllly closed. At that instant, I felt and heard Aaron changing the channel. Fighting how tired I was, I quickly opened my eyes and told Aaron, "let's just finish it!" He said "nahhhh, we can just finish watching it tomorrow." So I thought okay... sounds good. That's when I looked at the clock and noticed it was a quarter to midnight. So I thought I'd put the dogs to bed and head to bed myself. So as I sat up from lying on the couch, my water broke, or more like EXPLODED! I looked at Aaron and said, "oh my gosh... my water just broke!" I had never gone into labor with my water breaking... so this was new to us. He immediately told me that I over-did it that day and I apologized and escorted myself to the shower! I just have to say that after my water broke, I instantly felt like a million bucks! I could move again!!!! It was fantastic, but what was to come... somewhat worried me! I got out of the shower and got dressed. Mean while Emma woke up and needed a drink and says her usual, "I can't sleep!" I gave her a drink and tucked her back in. I so badly wanted to tell her to go back to bed and that when she woke up she would be meeting her new baby brother. However I refrained, just incase that kind of excitement would realllllly keep her from falling back to sleep.
Aaron called our midwife, Nicole in pocatello (1 hr. from our home) and told her that my water broke, she told us to expect that I would start laboring within the next 4 hours and if not that it would be best to induce labor. It wasn't long after I got out of the shower that contractions started coming. I wasn't in too much pain at that point. Aaron tried to sleep in the recliner chair in our front room until I felt like it was time to go to Pocatello. About 2 to 2.5 hours later, Aaron called his Mom to come over to our house and stay with the kids while we headed to Pocatello. My contractions were getting stronger and were about 7 minutes apart. We had just had a very significant snow storm the previous night and the roads were terrible. I was thankful that I knew that we would make it to Pocatello with some time to spare. I still had a prayer in my heart that I wouldn't be giving birth to our son in the car. As we approached the exit to my parents house, I felt that we definitely had some time... so we headed there where Aaron put himself to sleep in the spare room and I walked around the island in their kitchen. After a while I got tired of the contractions hurting, still coming at about 5-7 minutes apart... so I laid down on the couch in the front room. Every time that their clock chimed (every 15 minutes) I would wake up enough to feel that painful contractions were still coming. At about 5:30 AM, Aaron came in and woke me and asked me how I was doing. He covered me up and went back to sleep. That's when I decided I'd get up to see what my body was ready to do. I went back in the kitchen and walked around the island for another 15 minutes. My contractions were now about 2-5 minutes apart! I used the restroom and my heart told me that the time was very near. So I woke Aaron up and we headed towards the hospital. When we got in the car I remember pouting thinking this realllllllly hurts. As we got on our way, Aaron told me that our midwife would meet us at her office and that I could labor there, like I had when I was laboring with Emma. I told Aaron to call her back and tell her to meet us in the delivery room, that our baby boy was on his way very soon!!!!
As we pulled up to the hospital and got out, Aaron asked me what I needed (bags, etc....?). I remember saying "At this point, NOTHING!" I think if he hadn't known already, he then knew that he was realllllly close to meeting his third son! We got to the hospital at 6:00 Am and as we were walking to the delivery floor there was this a woman that worked there who asked me if I would like a wheelchair. So nice of her, but COME ON.... who can sit in a wheel chair at that point? Seriously. She showed us the way and we went right into a room that our midwife had already prepared for us while we were driving in. I had mentally prepared for the monitoring... I knew that monitoring was going to be required the minute I walked in the room. So I laid on my side like a champ and tried to wait patiently for permission to finish laboring in the shower. They couldn't get an accurate reading because the contractions were coming so hard and fast, so my midwife was having a hard time letting me get in the shower. The monitors that attach to you while you walk or shower were out getting fixed, so there weren't any available for me to use. She suggested that I get on my hands and knees, which would help me to finish dilating/effacing. After being in this position for a few contractions, I mentioned that I knew if I 'got up' that things would happen for me. I always progress faster standing up. So she asked me if I'd like to go to the restroom. I told her yes and walked in with Aaron where I barely had enough time to sit down because his head was out after just one push. I told Aaron that he was coming. So I stood up and he and Nicole caught our son.
At this point I remember looking down and seeing him crying... and I was praying for him to pink up a bit. I hear Nicole tell me a couple times, "grab your baby, grab your baby!" I was in such awe that I found myself just staring at him. So I quickly grab him and pull him to my chest. After a minute or so, he remained a bit blue, so Aaron cut the cord and the nurse held some air under his nose. It was then that I laid back up on the bed and was handed our fourth child, a handsome and healthy son!
He was born at 6:40 AM. I remember just crying as Aaron and I laid there in absolute amazement. We were so in love. Our hearts were so grateful, and yet I know that part of our hearts ached for his little brother, that came into our just lives 18 months ago... to come rushing into that room along side all of his siblings and meet their precious bundle of joy. I truly hope and believe that Stephen helped send us this sweet little spirit. Emma would pray every night at the end of pregnancy that our new baby and Stephen could be friends. It always melted my heart because I knew that he and Stephen were friends.... they knew they would be brothers and they knew what joy awaited our family. Had Stephen lived, we would not have become pregnant 8 months later. We cannot get pregnant until I stop nursing, which is usually about 15-18 months from the time they are born. I feel so blessed that the gospel helps me to realize how truly blessed we reallllly truly are. Now that our 4th sweet little baby is here, I have found myself feeling overwhelmed by how much love my Heavenly Father has for our family and how much he has truly blessed us because I know that we now have Stephen and Isaiah for all of time and eternity. Both of them. Plus ...our other two adorable children. We have been truly blessed!
Our parents, kids, and siblings came to the hospital to meet their newest family member. It was truly one of the greatest days of my life, as were each of the days that our four children came into our lives. We were able to leave the hospital 6 hours later with our son.... and as you all know he did not yet have a name. Wesley had finally agreed that we didn't need to name his little brother Tristan. So Aaron and I were debating two names: Samuel Aaron and Isaiah Aaron. We ended up telling the hospital that we would call them when we had decided upon a name. It was a couple days later that we had all decided, kids included... that the perfect name for our son would be Isaiah Aaron Bowman. Our family was in need of some joy and Isaiah has truly been the answer to our prayers. Healthy. Healthy. Healthy. He looks exactly like all three of his older siblings. He is amazingly handsome, very blonde, and an all around good kid... so far. He likes to poop and then fall quickly to sleep. His tiny toes and hands are so very adorable and they just amaze me! He likes to be swaddled and cuddled up to my chest. He enjoys snuggling with Daddy. He loves when Emma rubs her nose against his and calls him 'Pumpkin' and 'Handsome'. He also loves when Wesley gets home from school and rushes over to see him. I think that all of us wish we could do nothing else but just stare at his cuteness all.day.long.
The moral of this story is:
We are all so grateful, so very very very grateful.
We love Isaiah.
.....and yes we were shocked, so very very very shocked.
weren't you?
