First of all, I want to say a BIG thank you for all of your love and congratulations that you sent our way after we announced the arrival of Thea. Although I wish I could have responded to all of you, as you can imagine, life has been a little cray-cray lately. But please know that we appreciated how you were all celebrating her birth with us.
Being pregnant while also parenting two small kids definitely kept me on my feet. Most days I was feeling great, with the exception of some minor aches and pains (nothing a massage couldn't fix). The only symptom I found extremely challenging (emotionally speaking) was the acne I got. My whole chin area was covered, you may not have been able to notice from photos, I got pretty good at hiding it with makeup, but it was BAD. It was the worse I've had in my life, including when I was a teenager. I am still trying to heal the scaring that has resulted from it. But I will say, after having Thea, my skin is so MUCH better.
The Thursday before Thea was born, I had a midwife appointment. At this point I was 37 weeks pregnant, so still not expecting the baby to arrive for another 3 weeks (give or take). I remember my midwife specifically asking me if I was going far for Christmas, which was alarming since Thea wasn't due to arrive until January 6th. Although both Averie and Remi were 4/5 days early, I didn't expect this baby to be that much earlier.
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I was praying that I wouldn't have the baby in the midst of my Christmas celebrations. I didn't want them to have a Christmas birthday and have to get those birthday/christmas combo gifts, plus, I didn't want to miss out on all the parties and food. A selfish request I know, but COME ON, it happens once a year.
Sunday, December 23rd our church had a Christmas potluck and right after the service we all worked to turn the room into a banquet space. I chipped in by moving decor and chairs around the room. I'm not one who easily sits back while things need to be done, I like to keep busy. However, Jesse wasn't happy that I was moving furniture (even if it was just chairs) but despite his efforts to get me to sit down, I kept going.
I do have to say, with both the other kids, I went into labour immediately after some sort of social gathering. So there was a reason for Jesse's concern and a very real possibility it could induce labour.
That night, after both kids were in bed, around 11pm, I went to lie down and felt the same little twitch in my lower torso that I had felt when I went into labour the other two times. Then, 5 seconds later, it was followed by a gush of fluid. I managed to leap out of bed before any leaking happened in bed (gotta save the mattress). At the time, Jesse was downstairs playing video games, so I called his phone (didn't want to yell and wake the kids) and this is how that convo went:
Me: Guess what just happened?
Jesse: Your water broke?
Me: Yup.
Jesse: Are you kidding?
Me: No! Why would I joke about that?! Can you come up here and bring me a towel?!
Friend listening in gaming headphones: Did I just hear that correctly?
Even after 2 (now 3) pregnancies, he's still shocked every time my water breaks. Haha.
After cleaning myself up, and calling the midwife, my sister (who was going to come to the hospital) and dad (to watch the kids), in true procrastinator style, I raced around my room to finish packing my hospital bag. At this point, didn't even have the carseat or bassinet! My sister ended up bringing those over with her when she arrived that night.
Around 11:30pm the midwife showed up to check me and let me know that I was 2cm dilated and said to give her a call once things had progressed. I was still in shock that this was happening 2 WEEKS EARLY and that it meant we were going to have a Christmas Eve baby!
By 2am we left the house and headed for the hospital. I was super disappointed when we got to triage and my midwife told me that I was only 3cm dilated. I felt like I was in store for a long night and that freaked me out.
Although I wasn't that far along, she knew that my history showed my pregnancies usually progress quite quickly, so they admitted me anyways.
Once in the hospital room (3am), I asked my midwife for tips on speeding things along. I was already tired and eager to get the pushing done while I still had some energy. Haha. I did a lot of walking and bouncing on a yoga ball which I felt progressed things quicker than when I was just lying in bed in triage.
Around 4am I felt the baby drop significantly and told Jesse and my sister (who were in the room). My midwife had left the room at that moment to collect supplies for the birth. Once she came back in the room, I shouted that I could feel the baby coming and I needed to push. At this point, I was still fully clothed and leaning beside the bed. She wanted me to get on the bed but I said in a panic that I couldn't move and that someone was going to have to take my clothes off. They quickly undressed me and hoisted me onto the bed, with the next contraction I automatically started pushing. The MW was still waiting for her partner to arrive for the birth and asked me to stop pushing and instead just breathe through the contractions. Ya, you try not pushing through a contraction like that. At this point, my body was just doing what it had to to birth this baby and I felt like I had no control. I felt like it was impossible to just breathe through the contraction but I hyperventilated and yelled my way through it.
I heard the midwife call the front desk and request a nurse come to assist with the delivery IMMEDIATELY. It was clear that there wasn't going to be any time for the other MW to arrive. With the next push, Thea was here! They placed her on my chest but because she arrived so quickly, she swallowed a bunch of fluid, and her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, she had stopped breathing momentarily. I said a prayer for her as they wisked her away to clear her lungs. It all happened so fast that I forgot to check to see if the baby was a boy or girl. I yelled over to the nurse clearing Thea's lungs and she let us know that we had a healthy baby girl.
By 6am, all the paperwork had been completed, Thea was doing well, and we were told we could either stay or go home. Normally, I would've suggested we stay and sleep at the hospital - without two small kids running around, it's almost like a hotel stay. But the room we were in had nowhere for Jesse to sleep, so we opted to just head home and sleep in our comfy bed.
It's really crazy that you can pop out a baby, and end up at home all in the same day. But yet, here we are, adjusting life as a family of FIVE.
Thea Avonlea Schultz
December 24th, 2018 | 4:32am | 6lbs 2oz
