I went to my 39.5 week check up on Thursday Jan 2 and the midwife said I was 5 cm. 5! That's halfway. I'd been having contractions off and on for weeks and was relieved to learn they'd been doing something productive. She performed a "poor man's induction" and we expected I'd be in labor that night. It then snowed / iced 3-4 inches and I was so thankful to have avoided labor.
Fast forward to Saturday at 1 pm. The girls went down for nap and Matt said "Unless you can guarantee me a baby in the next 36 hours, I need to get a haircut" (he had a big meeting Monday). I refused to make any promises. But low and behold, I started tidying the house and contractions started and didn't stop. I texted my midwife who wanted me to get to the hospital pretty quickly based on Thursday's appointment and Cailin's quick arrival. I didn't want to go though since I could still walk / talk through them. We called our trusted babysitter...and then had Donald come over for the evening instead.
Matt and I ended up leaving around 3:30 for the hospital. I wasn't in extreme pain and was actually worried they'd send me home. But if it's your due date and you're 5 cm, you get to stay. The machine showed contractions every 3 min that I could feel but were still manageable. I did want the epidural (this ain't my first rodeo) so I got that a while later and then just relaxed. It felt like I was cheating. I labored for over a day with Charlotte before getting it and I got it too late with Cailin so it didn't work. This was pretty sweet. But weird.
The midwife entered the room around 8 pm and turned off the football game. Show time. It took (what felt like) forever to get this big headed, upside down facing baby out but he arrived safe and sound at 9:03pm on 1-4-14 (cool birthday huh!). He weighed 8 lbs 12 oz and was 21.5 in long. The midwife told me the next day he was "the biggest baby a body my size could've handled. Any bigger and we would've been in trouble." Thankfully she didn't let on to that at all during labor.
Thanks to the Advent Calendar Voting System, we knew his name would be Matthew. To prevent any confusion, he is Matthew. Matt is Matt. We considered many middle names and tried to find a virtue to parallel the girls' middle names but nothing fit. I had suggested Stephen, after my dad, early on and it just felt right.
Matthew Stephen appears to be sensitive to dairy, much like his sisters were. Once I cut out that, he started gaining weight and thriving. The girls arrived Sunday morning and were immediately in love. Charlotte tells everyone all about him and Cailin asks to hold him constantly. We are working to figure out our new normal. The biggest challenge seems to be getting all 3 kids out the door.
Matthew means "God's gift" and we couldn't be happier with this sweet present that we were blessed with this holiday season.
