Sebastian is one month old. How the heck did that happen?

This is how it happened…

Saturday February 14, 2009

4:00pm – The call
Emily and I were downtown with a few friends enjoying a high-flying rusty circus performance and chocolate lollipop-making expo (I know!) in a sunny little plaza in the Gothic quarter. Jan called a few times just to let us know she was OK. I should have known then that something funny was underfoot. After a filling buffet lunch and impromptu game of restaurant-hide-and-seek, Emily and I decided to head home. Just then, Jan called one more time to earnestly suggest that we head home. We headed home.

5:00pm – TV time
Jan was having “mild contractions” when we got home. She was totally relaxed but had an air about her that suggested that she would have had her bags packed and waiting by the door if we were planning a trip to the hospital. We were not. This boy was to be born here at home. So instead, Jan had started preparing the house. She suggested I begin by inflating the birthing pool. The pump didn’t work. We placed an emergency call to Ed (who was on standby) and he delivered a brand new foot pump within the hour. We put Emily down for her afternoon nap and, with the house nice and quiet, we sat in the living room and watched some TV. We finally caught up on our backlog of 30 Rock and Flight of the Conchords episodes while I foot-pumped the pool.

6:30pm – Reinforcements arrive
Sonia, our midwife’s assistant, arrived at about 6:30 – just as Emily was waking up from her nap. Emily and I played in the (empty) pool while Sonia attended to Jan in the bedroom. I have no idea what they did in there. Some sort of pregnancy stuff probably.

8:30pm – The bedroom
After rushing back into town upon hearing of the current state of events, Juls finally came to the rescue by inviting Emily to her house for a sleepover party. Labor seemed to pause with the hectic atmosphere created by so many people in the house. But once we were all alone, Jan and I moved into the bedroom for a little peace and quiet. Jan relaxed, put on some meditation recordings, and practiced her hypnobirthing exercises while I gently caressed her arm, scratched her head, a did a sneaky sudoku on the bedside table while she had her eyes closed.

9:30pm – Labor begins(?)
How long was the labor? That’s a difficult question to answer. The end is pretty clear, but when do you start counting? At this point in the proceedings, Jan was dilated 2-3 cm and the contractions were coming at regular intervals. Still too early to get in the pool or even hop in a bath, we had some more relaxing to do. The garden hose we bought to fill the pool from the kitchen sink wouldn’t connect to the tap so I started to fill the pool bucket by bucket.

Sunday February 15

12:00am – Into the pool
Midnight arrived and Sonia said that Jan could finally get into a bath while I topped up the pool. She wasn’t in there for more than 30 minutes before we transferred her into the warm and welcoming birthing pool standing proudly in the living room. The room was dimly lit with a few candles and the house was snuggly warm. The calming scent of essential oils and elixirs was in the air. Both her surroundings and Jan herself were very serene. I spent most of the time leaning over the side of the pool, holding Jan’s hand, performing breathing exercises with her, and making bad jokes.

3:30am – The nitty gritty
Our midwife, Ariana, arrived just in time for the fun to begin. The contractions were getting more intense and Jan, who had previously been breathing calmly through each contraction, was now performing some sort of ancient toning ritual with every surge. It’s a good thing the pool had handles on the inside because, right about now, Jan was making full use of them. As the moment grew closer, Jan started to experience what I can only describe as electrical shivers. Ariana and Sonia were quietly observing from a distance, making full use of the pool’s transparent sides and a tiny flashlight to monitor the situation. Sonia told us that the little boy, at this point still without a name, would be joining us very shortly.

4:45am – Sebastian is born
Ariana told Jan to reach down and feel the head that was now peeking out and staring me in the face with its cold purple gaze. Just a moment later, the beautiful little boy popped out and gracefully swam to freedom. Sebastian was a caulbearer. In medieval times the appearance of a caul on a newborn baby was seen as a sign of good luck. It was considered an omen that the child was destined for greatness. Or it meant he was a vampire. In any event, our great new boy snuggled into Jan’s arms in the warm early-morning candlelight while Ray Lamontagne played softly in the background. Mommy and baby were gently toweled off and left to rest on the couch while Sonia and Ariana quietly put the house back in order.

6:00am – We’re already home
Maybe the nicest part of having a home birth was the fact that, once it was all over, we were already at home! No long hospital stay with nurses coming in every hour to test this or monitor that. Once the cord was cut and the placenta dutifully delivered, we were free to snuggle up in our own bed and bask in the magic. We were all sound asleep by 7:30am.

Monday February 16

4:00pm – I’m home!
The front door opened and a not-so-little voice asked, “Where’s my brother?”. Emily was filled with excitement, anxiety, pride, and pleasure. But mostly excitement. She stroked Sebastian’s head, tweaked his nose, smiled an enormous grin, and enthusiastically ran around the house collecting clothes, dolls, blankets, milk bottles, and diapers that her new little brother would undoubtedly be needing. Our little family was a little bit bigger.