Benjamin Knox

I guess I haven't been so good at keeping up with blogging! Only a year and a half since my last post...I guess that's what happens with the arrival of more children. So from one birth story to the next we go! Here is how it went down with Benjamin Knox's arrival (warning, it may be too graphic for some!):

I had probably been asleep for about an hour when Maisy wandered into our bed in the early hours of February 6 (normal for her, but not normal for me to wake up when this happens) and of course, of all the nights, I couldn't fall back asleep. So I went into the big event on little sleep. Around 2:30, I had a couple of fairly decent contractions, which made me wonder if this was it. I sat up, and felt/almost heard a sort of "thunk" in my pelvis and a few seconds later confirmed that my water had broken. I'm pretty sure the big thunk was Benji crashing into my pelvis, as evidenced by the speed of my labour and the big bruise on his forehead that he was born with. I turned and woke Ryan up, then got up to go to the bathroom and wow - gush of water like crazy. I've had my water break before, but not like this. This was the type in the movies, where my pj pants were completely soaked and I made a trail to the bathroom. It was crazy. And I immediately began having hard contractions, a minute or so apart. Ryan called my brother and sister-in-law, so that one of them could come over and stay with the kids. The moment she showed up, we left. It didn't take very long for the contractions to be pretty much on top of each other, and we were just past Osler when I told Ryan we should probably call 911 and have an ambulance meet us. (For those that don't know, Osler is about 7 minutes from our house and about 10 minutes from the city. Less when you are driving as fast as we were!) I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it to the hospital. Dispatch wanted us to pull over and wait for the ambulance, and she would get first responders from Warman (the last little city before Saskatoon and the place we were just past at that point) to help us until then. But there was no way I was stopping and waiting. I told her no thanks, we were going to keep going until we met that ambulance. She said that was our choice and to put our four-way flashers on so the ambulance would know which vehicle was ours. We were just on the outskirts of the city, when I thought, this is it, I have to push. So I voiced that, and the dispatch told us to pull over and started giving us directions. The first thing she told me to do was see if I could feel the baby's head. Yep, I most definitely could, right there, about to emerge. She told us to get blankets (um, we are in a truck - not a lot of those around) to wrap the baby in and fold down the seat for me to lay back on. Ryan whipped around to my side of the truck and took off his jacket and two shirts in lieu of blankets (keep in mind it was about -20 degrees outside) and I prepared to use my pants for the same purpose. I started pushing, with dispatch in the background, sort of coaching me. (But I'd done this before, so she was sort of just background noise.) I had pushed maybe two times when the paramedics arrived. They waited until that contraction was over and then covered me in blankets, loaded me onto the stretcher and got me into the ambulance - that was a relief! To be out of the truck, with the door wide open, snow whipping all around us! There was a little chair at my head that Ryan sat on and then the one paramedic helped coach me through the delivery. I was in the ambulance for maybe five minutes (I'm thinking it was probably more like two or three, but I wasn't really focused on time at that point!) when Benjamin was born. The guy was so awesome. He knew when to tell me to slow down my pushing and when to wait a second, etc. Benji came out quite blue and not very responsive, probably due to the speed of everything. So they worked on him right there, rubbing him and giving him oxygen. They didn't cut the cord right away, which I was so thankful for. Not sure if it was because they were just concerned about him and didn't think of it or if they purposefully left it alone, but I'm sure it was a good thing. During this time, Ryan whispered in my ear "It's a boy!" It was so nice that he was able to see that and tell me. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a minute or two, they got Benji crying and his heart rate, etc up. Then they clamped the cord and Ryan was able to cut it. They moved him to the little bench beside me and continued to rub him, etc. When they were satisfied, I was able to have him. They did some paper work and we were just about to go to the hospital (Ryan was already heading towards the truck) when I heard the three paramedics talking amongst themselves that there was a car pulling up behind the truck and who was that, etc. Turns out that my Dad and step-Mom were on there way to our house so that my sister-in-law could go back home, and they saw the ambulance and recognized Ryan's truck! So in my Dad's typical style, they pulled over and got to come into the ambulance to see Benji right there! That was wonderful and yet so surreal! They stayed for a couple of minutes and then left for our house and we headed to the hospital. I was wheeled on the stretcher through the ER up to labor and delivery, where everyone had heard about me! I was put into a L & D room. Ryan got a picture of the paramedics holding Benji, which I was so glad he thought to do! Then they left and Benji and I were monitored the same way we would have been had I delivered in hospital. After about an hour, I was moved up to post partum, where again, everyone had heard about me!
So from the two contractions before my water breaking at about 2:30am until Benjamin was born at 3:22am...my labor was less than an hour. It's still so crazy and surreal to think about it. Benji's place of birth is the just off of Wanuskewin Road on 71st Street. I mean, really?! I'm THAT woman who not only didn't make it to the hospital, but almost delivered in her vehicle. In a freaking mini snow-storm. I'm just so thankful it was so windy, so that the snow just blew across the highway, making it dry and safe to drive fast on! And even though he was in a bit rough shape right after delivery, it didn't take long for him to perk up and he's happy and healthy. And 7 pounds, 14 ounces. Which isn't the teeniest baby ever (and not my smallest - Ayda  and Eva were both smaller), but he certainly is small and was nice to deliver.
So that's it. And literally, that's it. That's my last birth story. And it's a good one! Super fun to tell, now that everything turned out. And I always knew I married an awesome man, but this is just another instance where that was reinforced. Ryan was prepared to deliver our baby and just went with it, calmly and ready. Although I'm sure he was even more relieved than I was when the paramedics showed up!
I'm pretty sure the telling is a little "rough", as I've been interrupted a few times as I write this, so forgive that. We are still in the hospital, as Benji has a lovely case of jaundice. His big bruise probably contributed to that. Praying an extra night here, under the billi lights will cure that and we can go home tomorrow.