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| Benjamin Thaddeus Salls |
I woke up at 6:00 in the morning with cramps pulsing through my lower abdomen. Trying to block out the uncomfortable pain, I snuggled up to my softly snoring husband. He instinctively wrapped an arm around me and held me close, putting off the time when he would have to get ready for work.
We both had a big day ahead of us. I was five days overdue and The tension of waiting was high as we spent every waking moment preparing for the coming of our second baby boy. It was Friday, April 5th, and Ray was practically begging me to go into labor. Perhaps my body was just waiting for the weekend. I never understood before that women's bodies could choose when to go into labor, but there is not much doubt left in my mind. It is amazing to me how much control the mind has over the body. My mom joked lots that the baby was waiting for us to finish the kids' room before coming. The room was finally ready, thanks to all of my mother's hard work. She put two drawer cabinets and the bunk bed together with Tristan and even Elian's help. My mom still had a lot of shopping planned for today even and there were things I wanted to get done before I became incapacitated from the labor... so the baby was just gonna need to wait a little longer.
When I told Raymond that I was feeling crampy, he immediately became excited and repeatedly asked if it was finally time. His face fell when I assured him that it was not quite time and told him to go to work anyway. He told me several times to call him from work the moment labor started. Even getting half a day off of work would be nice, but he took a lunch with him, just in case. Right after he drove away, I was struck with a feeling of dreadful realization that I had no phone with which to call my mother in case I did go into labor. Just a couple days prior, my phone took a dip in the toilet and that was the end of it's life. I went about a few of the morning chores in a bit of a worry, and still quite crampy.
Luckily, a couple of hours later my mother arrived with all the kids in tow. We headed out the door and she was all excited after I told her about the pain. We drove up to Clermont and first went to Kohls. We walked around the store buying toys and shoes for all the kids (I got a really nice pair of slip on sneakers that I adore). While at the store, I began to have serious contractions and it was kind of fun to try to hide the fact from people we came across, like store clerks and very few other customers--I'm sure if anyone were made aware that I was about to have a baby, they would freak. This was especially tough because James was going a little wild at the store. There were a couple of employees who even approached me with "Is that your child? You need to keep him under more control." Hah! Love when that happens... How do you keep your two year old in line when all you can do is waddle after him like an engorged cow? Fortunately, the store was practically empty.
After we had finally gathered the kids and checked out, we decided to go to the Olive Garden across the street because it was lunch time and the kids were hungry. The whole ordeal was quite fun because it was a bunch of kids, my mom and myself running errands and timing my contractions while trying to be discreet about my being in labor. The food was delicious, as always, and we got a ton of stuff to go.
The contractions were steadily getting stronger, and when we finally got to my mom's rental home, around 4ish, Anna and Eric were waiting there with their kids, ready to watch all of ours during the delivery (that would be three of hers, one of mine, and three of my mother's, so seven in total... Thank you, Anna!).
My mother, Arwyn and I headed off to my cleaned apartment ready to begin setting up the tub. It was so nice to see my Raymond again after a day of crazy busyness. I lit my lavender and green sage candles and started my music. It was a lovely evening to have a baby. My mother took last minute pictures of my pregnant belly. After the pictures I had a little panic attack as I realized my wedding ring was missing. There was very little I or anyone else could do at the moment about it but it made me kinda sad. It was always loose on me and I had already lost it once in the ocean while at Hawaii, but it had been through so much with me and it was so beautiful and unique. I still miss it terribly. However, there was no putting off the labor and I pushed the thought of finding my ring out of my mind. Ray gobbled his to-go Olive Garden dinner after he and my mother set up the blow-up pool. I hopped in pretty much right away and just soaked the whole time. I loved the warm water...
Kelli Johnson, my Floridian midwife, arrived soon after I had gotten in. She set up her gear and relaxed in the beautiful new beige recliner my mother bought me a few days earlier. We were all set to go, and there was nothing to do but wait and talk. Kelli noticed the Olive Garden dinner and left to get some of her own a returned the same hour. We all chatted away and it was very fun. I asked Ray to play the Hair song and we all sang it really loudly together. I was very surprised/impressed that Kelli knew it word for word. Then I asked Ray to turn on Hatari!, starring John Wayne, and we watched that for the next three hours. My mom made a comment that that was the first time she had seen it and she really enjoyed it. John Wayne was not a familiar figure to me growing up but he has definitely become a love since I married Ray. I was having so much fun, but then the contractions got really bad... I remember that Ray sat on the couch and I leaned on the edge of the tub and held both his hands and wouldn't let him go. He was my anchor.
I don't remember any of the details or the facts of the birth itself. My mother or Kelli checked me once in a while to see how I was dilating, and Kelli and she both listened to the heartbeat of the baby often, but after dark fell all the mattered in the room was the man sitting before me, my hands grasping his, and the warmth of the water around me. The most beautiful thing about having a baby at home is the comfort and the familiarity. It turns a sometimes frightening and traumatic ordeal into an earthy, simple phenomenon. The memory of pain fades but the comfort remains. Though, clear in my mind is the feeling of my water breaking. I pushed and I remember feeling a pop, almost as if I was a balloon that was so compressed that it broke under the pressure. The time that passed was very slow for me. I remember one moment that Ray left to go to the bathroom or something like that and my mother sat to hold my hands in his place. I love my mother dearly but at that moment I knew I needed my husband there with me most of all. Such a different experience than James' birth, when I was calling out for my mother when the pain was the worst.
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| Everyone greeting the new baby |
Eventually Raymond got out with Benjamin and they snuggled, while I very tenderly got out of the tub. I believe that the placenta came out when I finally stood up. Of course, the stinging was the worst, but it wasn't as bad as it was after James was born. I lay on the couch and tried to nurse Ben but he didn't seem to want to. This was a new experience, since James was a little gobbler from the first moment. Ray held Ben and they both slept while my mother sewed me up quite successfully. After, we all took a nap together and when we awoke my mother brought the rest of the kids to see the baby and she took many beautiful pictures. The first time James saw Benjamin was a touching moment. James was so curious at first. He would try to touch Benjamin's eyes and nose and put his fingers inside Ben's mouth. It was so funny, but a little nerve-wracking because James would try to tackle Ben with a hug and newborn babies aren't really meant to be handled that way. It was a wonderful day and I felt very good and happy. My belly was very fragile, but I was feeling unusually energetic considering I had just had a baby. |
| Brothers meet for the first time |
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| Wearing the hat Midwife Kelli made |
Darling story! You are quite the trooper.
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