When the pitocin kicked in the bleeding started to slow down. I think what made me the most scared at that moment was the look of concern on the midwives faces. They looked pretty panicky which made me a wee bit nervous. Once relief started to sweep their faces I was able to relax, kind of. My poor vag was in need of some attention. So Jon took Sawyer and I got my good old vag sewed up. Sawyer was kind to me surprisingly, I don't know how granted he was so large. I think maybe it's because I let my body do most of the work where as with Willow I was marathon pushing. I took a very long time to recover from my first birth, with Sawyer I felt fine a couple of days later.
I was finally able to just relax and cuddle in bed with my brand new babe. Sawyer didn't want to nurse right away so I was okay with just cuddling and adoring. I told Jon to call my parents and tell them to come over so they all could meet the newest family member. I was so excited to see sweet Willows face when she met her bro for the very first time.
Fifteen minutes later Willow and my parents came barrelling in. Willows face was actually the cutest and it is something I will never forget. She had the biggest smile and was just in awe, such a proud loving sister from the get go. My family all piled on the bed and just gazed lovingly at our little Sawyer.
After a few more checks, some cleaning and paperwork the midwives left. Than mom, dad and Willow left. And there was Jon, the new babe and I...all by ourselves. So the one thing you forget about when you have a home birth is just all of the work the nurses do in postpartum. They check on you throughout the night, they check the babes vitals, they help you to the bathroom, they clean, and they are there for your general well being. The midwives are on call and they tell you to call them if you have any concern at all and they will rush right over. We didn't have any immediate concern, I was just ready to get a little shut eye. While I did that Jon went around the cabin to make sure there wasn't any blood left on the floor. The place looked like a murder scene before the midwives cleaned, it was horrifying. After a couple of hours I had to go to the bathroom. Jon helped me slide over to the edge of the bed to stand, and when I stood blood gushed EVERYWHERE again. Yes I was wearing one of those pads that resemble a diaper and yes I was holding an incontinence pad underneath me. I waddled as fast as I could to the bathroom and I bled so much that Jon was ready to call an ambulance. The poor guy was terrified which again made me terrified. I remember bleeding a heck of a lot with Willow but this was way too much. I told Jon to just get me back to bed and see how it was then. It slowed down a bit, I think it just was all pooled in there from my hemorrhaging earlier and it just all gushed out when I stood. So poor Jon was up allll night long cleaning my blood. I think that's the only thing we didn't like about the home birth is not having a nurse around to help you in the middle of the night.
Nine a.m (Christmas morning) rolled around pretty fast and Cat came over to check on us. She checked both Sawyer and I and all was good. My parents and Willow came a couple hours after that. Jon was cuddling Sawyer in the living room and I was in bed when they arrived. Mom and Willow went to go and give Sawyer some cuddles and kisses and my Dad came right to me. That's something I will never forget. He wanted to come and check on his baby girl and although I didn't say anything my heart was bursting with love and gratitude for my old pops. What a gem! He then told me I stunk, haha typical dad move. I spent the afternoon in bed with Sawyer, bonding and nursing. Mom, Dad and Willow went up to ski hill for Christmas dinner. So Jon and I had a gourmet feast of spaghetti in bed and Sawyer feasted on milk, perfection.
An incredible birth story and the best Christmas gift you could have asked for!
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