A Home Birth Story :: Henry Francis

Sunday, July 17th. It was a typical Sunday. We made it to church that morning, came home for some lunch, and then later that afternoon headed over to my in-laws for some swimming and dinner. I was feeling just fine, other than being a little more tired than normal. A friend texted me around 7:30pm asking if I was having any signs of labor and I said, "I'm doing well! No signs of baby coming, but I never do get any early signs of labor. I haven't really decided if that's a good thing or not!" My due date was on the 21st, and with my other babies being born 4 days late, 3 days late and then 3 days early it could happen any day!

We got the boys to bed once we were home, and then Dean and I settled into bed for the evening. I got a text from my midwife around 10pm saying that she had just been going through my charts and noticed that they had given me the due date of July 18th at my 20 week ultrasound based on his size. I said, "They never mentioned that. Haha. Oh well!"

I finally fell asleep around 11pm. I woke up around 1am feeling uncomfortable and having occasional light contractions, and for the next couple hours was in and out of sleep. At 3:15am I finally pulled out my phone to start timing them. For the next 1.5 hours I was having contractions every 4 to 7 minutes. I hadn't woken up Dean yet. Even though I wasn't able to sleep through them, they weren't unbearable, and I knew if I woke him up he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. At one point I looked on my weather app to see what time the sun was going to rise, because I really didn't want to have the baby while it was still dark. I also had grand plans of eventually getting up to fix my hair, put on makeup and help get the bed ready. Priorities man!

Around 5am I got up to use the bathroom. Contractions were around 5 minutes apart by this time, but the whole time I was up I had no contractions. I started thinking that maybe I just had to go pee this whole time! I have never had contractions go from being consistently 5 minutes apart and then just...not. I went back to bed and within a few minutes I had a toe curling contraction! I woke up Dean right then, and told him what was going on. He was a little upset that I didn't wake him earlier! I had two more intense contractions, and we immediately went into baby is coming mode! By 5:30am we had called everyone on my (long!) list, and told them to come asap. I told Dean I was going to get up to fix up my hair and put on makeup, and he quite sternly told me, "No way are you getting up!" Smart guy! I continued to lay in bed on my side until everyone had arrived.

By 6am everyone had arrived. I knew as soon as I got up that things would really speed up. It was the same way with both Sam and Charlie's births. I lay in bed until everyone is there, and then I get up and assume my position at the edge of my bed. No tub. No birthing ball. I feel like I should apologize to my photographer; I do not give much variety when it comes to different photo ops!

We woke the boys up once everyone had arrived, and they all had to get in their hugs. I loved having them there!
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I continued to labor at the side of my bed, but it didn't take very long before I got the urge to push!

This was my first birth having a doula, and I am so glad I did! As wonderful as Dean is as a birth partner, it was great having someone there who knew exactly what to say to keep me focused (and to remind me during every contraction to relax my face!)

Once I got the urge to push, I immediately got back into my bed onto my right side and started to push that baby out! My waters had not broken yet, and I pushed out his head with the sac completely intact! He was also posterior, and had his hand up on his face. It was by far the most intense birth I've had!

 Seeing my baby's head still in the sac! So crazy!

I think I very well could have had him completely en caul, but the cord was around his neck. My midwife had to break my water to unwrap the cord from his neck before I could push his body out. After about 15 minutes of pushing, Henry Francis Eaton was born at 6:52am!

 Big brother, Will, got to cut the cord

 7lbs. 6oz. 21 inches long!

Will's birth story
Sam's birth story
Charlie's birth story

Henry's Nursery

It has only taken me four kids and almost four year in our house to actually have a completed nursery! When it was Charlie's room I hung a couple things on the wall and called it a day. The walls used to be a minty green. They really weren't too awful, but I was ready for a change. A fresh coat of white paint later with lots of black and white accents and some pops of color. I love it! Even though Henry will still be in our room for a bit longer, it's so relaxing to sit in there for no particular reason.

Here are a few pictures!

Most of the prints were done super cheap using free downloads and then printed at Staples. I made the curtains using some acrylic paint I already had and a $5 twin sized flat sheet from Walmart. The awesome "I am a child of God" muslin swaddle is from Modern Burlap that I got super on sale since it was slightly misprinted. The geometric H (Hobby Lobby) and pillow (Target) were on clearance, and the feather garland I made myself!

Henry Francis :: One

Henry turned one month old yesterday! He is a great baby so far. He is sleeping well during the day, although the nighttime is still a little iffy. He is quite the little peanut. He has been a bit slow in gaining weight, but he had a good weight gain this past week! We are continuing to work hard to get in good feedings, and are keeping a close eye on his gains.

His big brothers all love him so much, and they are all such great helpers too!

Here is Henry at one month old!

Charlie at one month old.

Pregnancy Diary 3 || One Week Old

Henry was 1 week old 3 days ago, so I'm a little late in finally posting this!

It has been a very relaxing 1.5 weeks since he was born. I am so blessed to have such a great support system. Between an awesome husband holding down the fort, on top of still working, amazing friends blessing us with meals, and grandmas and papas willing to watch the 3 big boys I have been able to just stay in bed all day with Henry. I have always tried to do too much too soon after having a baby, and my body always pays for it. I'm sure all you mom's out there can relate to that! So, this 4th time around I was determined to make myself take it easy. I am feeling pretty well so far. My insides still ache and sleep doesn't come easy, but I am feeling great mentally. I just keep reminding myself that we've done this 3 times before, and we made it through. My body will heal. The sleep will come. My milk supply will be sufficient. Normal life will resume. But for now, we are doing lots of this...

Henry is doing great as well! Healthy as can be. Nursing all the time, as he should, and loves sleeping on mommy. Pretty much just all the newborn things. 

And to finish up this pregnancy diary, here is one last belly shot!

I can't wait share Henry's birth story with you all too! But for now, here is a sneak peak at Henry's newborn pictures:

One week PP with Sam.

One week PP with Charlie.