Happy Birth Day Levi Dale Clarkson

Levi Dale Clarkson
Born: 05-05-2009
At: 10:10 am
Weighing in at: 9 lbs. 5 oz
Length: 20 3/4 inches long

Natural birth without complications. Mom and baby doing great! Here he is! Less than 2 hours old!
Here is his first smile! (okay, I know it was gas, but I like to think it was because he was so happy to see his mommy!)

Levi was so quiet and alert for 2 hours after he was born! He was just looking around at everybody and he is super strong! He only cried once, right when he was born, and then not again until the middle of last night when he decided he didn't like having a dirty diaper.
Proud Papa! Tim actually delivered the baby and cut the umbilical cord! So, so cool!

Tired, but happy, mom. I am just sooooo glad to not be pregnant! Woo-hoo! I slept on my stomach last night, and it felt awesome! Also, Levi is great at nursing already, and I love nursing, so I got to snuggle him and nurse last night. Ahhhh, life is sweet.

Above is the birth team that brought Levi into this world. From the left is Lisa, a R.N. who works in the NICU here in St. George. She was the birth assistant who was in charge of the baby once he was born and assisting the midwife. And she took some great pics. Next is Tim, who was Superman in doing everything I asked and being the perfect husband, as always. He delivered the baby, moved furniture that was in the way, rubbed my back, got me drinks of water and food to eat afterward, told me how awesome I am, etc, etc. What a great best friend. Next is me, who delivered the baby. :) And then Levi, who turned to exactly the right position at the last minute. We were afraid he was going to be delivered posterior, but he turned and made labor much easier for his momma. On the far right is Cyndi who is the midwife. She is so amazing! She is a certified midwife (CNM) and RN who has delivered over 1000 babies and knew just what to do to make this delivery the best ever for me. What a great team!


So, here are some more details about the birth:

The day before, Monday, my midwife called me and asked if I wanted her to "stretch and sweep" my membranes that day, instead of waiting until Thursday (the day of my 41 week appointment). Of course I said "YES"!! So, she came right over, we had the appointment and all the rest of that day I felt pretty crappy. I had chores I needed to do, but just wanted to lie down and rest all day. So, I did. Tuesday morning, I woke up around 2 in the morning, so tired of being pregnant, and I couldn't get back to sleep. So I took a hot shower, felt much better, went back to bed and suddenly had a contraction! After 2-3 of them, I started timing them, and they became much more regular and stronger. I hurried and cleaned the bathroom and did a few other things, then at 5:30 I woke Tim up and told him to call his mom to come get the kids because it was "time". I also wrote him a list of things to run to the store and get (I was supposed to go grocery shopping on Monday, but felt too tired, so we didn't have any food). I called the midwife and she said to keep timing and call her back in an hour.
Tim and I got the room ready for the delivery (the kids were still sleeping), he ran to the store, and at 7:30am, Tim's mom arrived from Kanab to pick up the kids and watch them for the day. By this time, the Midwife arrived, I was starting to feel more intense contractions, Tim got back with the groceries, we said good-bye to the kids and labor really started.

When the midwife arrived, I was kneeling beside my bed, as that was the most comfortable position during contractions. She started filling out some paperwork, taking my blood pressure, listening to the baby's heart beat, etc. She also set up the room, set out supplies we'd need, and so on. But, the cool thing about her was that each time a contraction would start, she would stop what she was doing and put pressure on my hips or rub down my back to relieve the pain of the contraction!! It was the coolest thing ever, because what would have been painful contractions turned into painless contractions! It was so cool, and I was thinking, "Why has no one ever done this for me before??" I labored like that for probably an hour, and then my legs were getting tired of kneeling. I thought "maybe I should move to the bed and get some rest in between contractions." Tim was Mr. Incredible with his super strength and moved me to the bed, only to have the pain super intensified as I was lying on my back now. I rolled to my side, but it's like I could feel the labor slowing down. So, after about a half an hour of lots of pain (I was trying to rest - yeah, that plan backfired), I stood by the side of the bed and ended up kneeling again. At 9:45, I got the urge to push (Woo-hoo! My favorite part of labor because I can do something instead of just sit around and try to relax during a contraction) and at 10:10 Levi was born! :) Tim really did deliver him, head, shoulders and all, even though the midwife was right there. The baby had the cord wrapped once around his neck, but his heart rate never went down, so that's good. Tim cut the cord and I got to nurse him right away. He was born with a perfectly shaped head and in perfect health and I feel really happy that all went so well. Total labor time was counted from 6:30am-10:10am, so 3 hours and 40 minutes!

I really had a great experience and feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to have this baby at home. Everything exceeded my expectations! I even enjoy the hospital (I actually like the hospital food and people checking in on me to see if I'm doing okay), but having the baby at home was 10 times better. I was never cold, my king-size bed is WAY more comfy than the narrow hospital beds, Tim didn't have to sleep in a chair, I slept so good (no beeps or strange lights or janitors coming in to change the trash), no I.V., no suitcase or forgetting something, I could go on and on. Everything was so great - I actually feel like I'm on vacation!

Here is Levi with his Grandma Clarkson, only a few hours old. We owe a lot to Tim's mom, Patsy, who took our kids away during the labor and after, so we could nap and rest. The kids came to see the baby and they were all super excited and soooo cute! Then Patsy took our boys to Kanab for 2 days so Tim, Levi and I could rest. I love my big boys, but it has been heaven having some alone time with this baby (and my awesome hubby).

I'm recovering well and feel really happy. I know this "high" will end once I get back into real life, but I'm enjoying every moment of the next few days.