making an entrance

titus is here!

and of course, he could not have made a more dramatic entrance. i should have known that as a third boy, he would probably feel the need to make a name for himself and to distinguish himself from the other two. so, to clear the air and lend some understanding to a very confusing series of events, here it is: the terribly dramatic, incredibly surprising story of titus's birth. (and if you don't want any gory details, stop reading now because there may be a few.)

{thursday, april 21}

my appointment with the midwife was encouraging. i went in and found out that i was 3cm dilated. i had my membranes stripped (which for both gabe and ezra was all it took to put me into labor) and headed home. for the rest of the day, i had contractions. they were about every 5 to 7 minutes, but not terribly painful. that night, we went to sleep expecting very little.

{friday, april 22}

i woke up surprised to still be having contractions. since they were still coming about every 5 minutes, and since steve had the day off, we headed to meet some friends at the splash park at the beach. throughout the morning, the contractions worsened. by the evening, they were coming every 3 to 4 minutes and were decently strong. i figured we still had plenty of time (since it took hours and hours and hours to reach active labor with both gabe and ezra), so we headed downtown for coquina's good friday service. at this point, things seemed to be playing out in the usual way and we thought we would be going to the hospital in the middle of the night. my mom headed over so that she could stay with the boys, but by 1am, it was clear that it would be longer than we expected and we all went to bed.

{saturday, april 23}

we woke up to almost no contractions at all. obviously, this was a disappointment, but we made the best of it and spent the day enjoying having my mom around and hoping that the contractions would come back on their own. we took the boys to the fort and went to luli''s for cupcakes. after dinner, my mom headed home and we went to sleep exhausted and a bit discouraged.

{sunday, april 24}

easter sunday and titus' due date. i woke up with no contractions. we celebrated easter with the boys and prepared to have a normal week with no baby.

{monday, april 25}

i went to the midwife in the afternoon. i was about 4cm dilated and had my membranes stripped again.

{tuesday, april 26 and wednesday, april 27}

no progress.

{thursday, april 28}

i had an early morning appointment with the midwife to check on the baby's heart rate and make plans for induction on friday. baby looked great and i was almost 5cm dilated. we made a plan to induce in the morning and did one more stripping of the membranes just for good measure.

i headed home and the boys and i ate lunch and napped. i had a few contractions here and there, maybe one every 10 or 15 minutes. obviously, i just ignored these, and when steve got home, we headed to a potluck birthday party.

we got to the party around 7:30. our friends were all a little surprised to see us, as most people figured we would have had the baby already. we hung out for a while, got some food and sat down to eat. as i made gabe a plate, i began to notice that i was having more contractions and that they were getting stronger. a few minutes later, i decided it would be smart to time a few to see how quickly they were coming. they started getting stronger and i started having trouble tolerating them with a smile. after timing five or six, it was clear that i was in labor. i suggested to steve that we should get ready to leave, thinking that we would take the boys home, secure someone to sit with them and head to the hospital later in the evening.

at this point, steve is thinking that i am being dramatic and would rather i left him alone so that he can eat his fried chicken in peace. i persisted, though, and by 8:00, we headed out the door. as we walked down the street, however, i realized that they contractions were a little too crazy. i told steve that we would need to have a friend take the boys home (thanks crystal!) so that we could go straight to the hospital.

at 8:05, i called missy (our midwife) from the car as we drove to the hospital. steve parked illegally in the ER drop-off zone and wheeled me upstairs to labor and delivery. they began to check me in and the contractions steadily worsened. missy arrived a short time later and checked me. i was 8cm, fully effaced and at a zero station. my water had not yet broken and because she is so sweet, missy presented me with my options. she told me that i could wait for the anesthesiologist to get there and attempt an epidural (which may or may not work this late in the game) or she could break my water and he would likely arrive within the half hour. i panicked. i let everyone know that i wanted to stop now and that i was tired of being in pain. after a moment to consider, i timidly told them to go ahead and break the water and get it all over with.

right away, missy broke my water and i was immediately ready to push. five pushes and steve laid him on my chest.

titus john sivyer was born at 9:05 PM (less than two hours after my labor began) and was perfect and small (only 8 pounds, 19.5 inches; by far our smallest newborn) and angry. he had a right to be angry, though, after all of that drama.

definitely one of the most incredible, stressful, painful, beautiful experiences of my life. i would never have expected titus to make such a crazy entrance, and have definitely spent the last three days wondering how on earth that happened to me and how on earth i managed to survive it.

one other thing i should mention: steve is amazing! he managed to keep me relatively calm and as comfortable as possible. and he didn't take it personally when i yelled and he didn't get frustrated when i said things like, "hold my hand. don't hold my hand. no, hold my hand." he delivered titus almost entirely on his own and handled the whole thing incredibly. i am so blessed to have a husband who can step up and handle a crisis!

so now, we have a gorgeous baby boy and i got away relatively unscathed again (no stitches whatsoever!! woo hoo!) and we are well on our way to settling into our new life as a family of five!