It's a boy! Basil Kruse Oct. 26th 2012

I know many of my readers and customers have been waiting for this post. Here it is, finally! I have been busy with our new baby, but I am getting adjusted to our new schedule so I can get into blogging again.

I had a great pregnancy with much love and support from friends, family and all my customers. Thank you so much!

We were blessed with our baby boy on October 26th. He arrived a few days late, but he was well worth the wait.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to share such an intimate experience with the online world, but since I am a natural birth and home birth advocate, I wanted to let everyone know how beautiful and enjoyable the labor process can be. I experienced another wonderful, natural labor at home. It was my 3rd home birth with the same midwife.
I didn't go into all the details, but here is my short version of my labor story with baby #4.

During a mild contraction, my water broke with a "pop" at about 3:30 am on the 26th. I was half asleep, so at first didn't think anything of it. I thought it was just the baby kicking. (He was a crazy kicker while in my belly) When I finally woke up a bit more, I realized it was something more than that. I raced to the bathroom, while yelling to my hubby "my water just broke!" Kind of like what you see on the movies. He woke up, well half way, and thought I said something about a robber in the house or something. He has never been a good morning person so it took him a while to get going, while I was pumped up, telling him everything that had to be done.
I called my midwife, she told me to lay down, relax and wait for the contractions to begin. I was so excited to meet my baby this was hard to do. I finally settled down and focused on my breath. All I could do was wait for the ctx to start. About 30 minutes later, they arrived. Before they got to intense, I was able to walk around and help John a bit with preparations. But that didn't last long. They became more intense so I got into a comfortable labor position and just breathed with them. After a bit, my  2 daughters came down from their room, on their own. My 6 year old had a bad cold and was crying about that. That bothered me, just like any little thing can during labor, if you let it. My mind shifted from calm and collected to "oh crap, I can't have the kids here" But I knew better. I had prepared for this day and knew that that mind set would do nothing for me but make the process longer and more painful. I quickly shifted back to peaceful thoughts and my breath. I must have sent peaceful vibes throughout the house because the girls calmed down and realized what was going on. We had prepared for this day a lot by watching labor videos, looking at pictures, and talking about the baby A LOT! They were so thrilled to meet this little guy, they were ready to help us out. And they did! They rubbed my back, got a cooler more comfortable outfit for me to wear, helped me keep a smile on my face, told me "I love you" and much more.
Soon my my midwife (lives in Northfield) and her apprentice (lives in Mankato) arrived. I just kept focused while everyone else, including my 2 daughters age 4 and 6, were preparing for the new life to arrive. My hubby was filling the birth pool (this ended up being a bigger task then we thought) my girls were fetching supplies for the midwife and rubbing my back. I was ready to push so it was then time to move into the tub. The tub felt great and instantly relaxed my body. After changing positions and pushing, ( I don't remember how long) my baby boy was soon born @ 6:05am. A couple minutes later, my 2.5 year old son, came down from his room, on his own. It is like the kids sensed what was going on and wanted to be a part of it. He was thrilled to see that he had a little brother! About 10 minutes later, I delivered my placenta and was ready to get out of the tub and cuddle on the couch with my new bundle of joy. I felt great, he nursed right away, everything about him was perfect. After the midwives cleaned up, (you would never know a baby was just delivered in my living room) we weighed and measured him: 9 lbs 4 oz. Much bigger than we had expected! That proves that someone as small as me : 4ft 9in can deliver a big baby naturally!
I would say this labor was close to perfect. I was surrounded by wonderful and caring people, my daughters were my little doulas, I was given lots of love and support, it was short (3:30-6am) and had no complications.

Even though this was my 4th baby, each time I still read and prepare for labor. You never know what you will experience. I wanted to share with you the books I read and would definitely recommend:
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body, and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond by Nancy Bardacke