Tarin's Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is my sweet Tarin's birthday! Enjoy his birth story! :) Pictures of his party will follow....after we have the party this afternoon!

Kellen was about 6 1/2 months old when I found out I was expecting another baby! Ethan was 3 so it was kinda overwhelming to realize I would have 3 kids under 3 years old. However, Josiah and I were very excited and felt quite blessed by the Lord for such a wonderful gift.

Tarin's pregnancy was....different than my others. First, I had no real due date. I had not had any cycle since before I had Kellen so there was little to go by in that respect. We declined an ultrasound because of the medical problems it can cause with the baby (another post for another day!)....so we decided to wing it altogether. The best we could determine....mid May.
Second............my two older boys both got purtussis (whopping cough) when I was about 12 weeks along with Tarin; so I was obviously concerned with passing it to the baby. The doc assured me that would not happen, but I was still wary. (the whopping cough was LOOOOONG gone by the time Tarin was born....so the doc was right!).

I nursed Kell through the pregnancy (I am a big extended nursing fan so I did not want Kell to miss out on the awesome benefits of nursing even if I was preg again). He did wean himself around month 7 of being pregnant....when he turned 1 year. I remember being at a friends home (Kerri!) at some point in May....chasing Kell around her house and watching Ethan play and thinking...."oh my gosh. HOW will I do this with a little newborn?!" Kell and the new baby would be about 15 months apart. Kell was barely walking, not potty trained and a wild little guy. :) Lord, help me!

The other funny thing about Tarin's pregnancy was that I was 100%....no....150% positive that the baby was a girl. No reason other than my intuition (which we all now know is...faulty). In fact, at his birth, all I had prepared was purple blankets and floral hats for the baby right after the birth. I was just certain "it" was a girl.

Mid may came..................and went. Nothing. Nada. LOTS of contractions.....none that progressed into labor.
Family and friends starting commenting on the massive size I had become. My belly measured 5 cm LARGER that I should have measured. Strangers asked if I was carrying twins. (and after I hit them I SAT on them)....just kidding. :)
I was beginning to feel that "I will be pregnant forever" feeling......and it lasted for 3 more weeks!
Had I been planning a hospital birth I would have been induced around middle of May, just based on my belly measurements alone. (had that happened I would have birthed a 3 week premature baby). Thankfully, my midwife has enough knowledge, experience and wisdom to monitor the baby and just wait and see.
My Grandparents drove over from Texas for the birth....stayed almost 2 weeks...and drove home! AH! This baby was never coming out!

Oh, but he waaaasssssss. God had a plan. He knit Tarin in my womb....He has numbered Tarins' days and knows EXACTLY when Tarin should be born.

My water staring a small leak in the night of the 6th (really, the morning of the 7th) about 2 a.m. As Tarin now says, "Yeah Baby! That's what I talkin about!" I got up and showered then tried to go back to bed. I knew I had a job to do and I wanted all the rest I could get. Later that morning my mom came over and got Ethan and Kellen. We set up the birth pool then Josiah and I went out.....to eat! Roadhouse Grill, baby! It is amazing the FAST service you get when the waitress knows your in labor and is afraid she will deliver that baby on the table. Ummm.....I had a delicious salad, chicken and some of their very high-fat bread....and a ton of water. After lunch we walked around Old Navy....looking at baby clothes (girl, of course). My contraction were sporadic and not intense at all. About 10 minutes apart and painless.
The rest of the day is kinda a blurrrrrr.....I think we went and ate at moms' house for dinner and then Josiah and I went back home. We had a few hours to ourselves before mom brought the boys home and put them to bed.....so we turned on Natalie Cole and danced in the living room. The candlelight and music made it so romantic! I really enjoyed that time I had with Josiah.
Around 11p.m. Claudia came by to se how things were going. My contractions had picked up a bit, but I knew I still had a while to go. Claudia listened to the baby...took vitals and then sat with us to chat. I ate an organic peach yogurt and remember thinking how delicious it was. I had to convince Claudia to go home and I would call when things got more serious. Heck, I was talking and laughing! I still had a while. Reluctantly, Claudia went home to get some sleep. I decided that I should lay down while I still could (I hate laying down in labor....but it was not to intense yet, so I could still be comfortable in bed). Josiah and I went upstairs and I got to sleep in between contractions. After a few hours I noticed that the contractions were getting much closer together and lasting over a minute. I was happy that things were finally picking up! I think it was around 2:30 a.m. or 3:00 a.m. that Josiah called Claudia to come back over. Debbie, her midwife partner, came with her. We also had invited my friend Tracy to video and Kerri to take pictures. My mom was there as well for the kids (who were sound asleep) and pool upkeep as well as moral support. I came downstairs and Claudia checked the baby and then me....I was 7 cm! Woo Hoo! I still felt like I had a while to go....for some reason I "knew" it would be a while longer before we saw this baby. I turned on 3rd Day Worship Album and settled into a pattern of labordancing, squatting, sitting on the birth ball and walking through contractions. I ate an entire apple (I needed the energy for stamina) and drank SO much water.

This went on for hours and hours and hours. The CD I had on repeated itself SO may times! I finally turned it off. My candles were burning out....and daylight was peaking through the windows. I had gotten in the pool at some point to get a little rest but I got out again a little while later. (the birthpool was in my living room floor).

At around 6:50 a.m. Claudia checked and I was still 7-8 cm. I was really tired and just wanted the kid OUT. Up till then labor had been enjoyable and fun, but now I was ready to call it a day and go to sleep! Claudia asked me if I was ready to birth. I said, OF COURSE I was. I could not pull the wool over her eyes...she knew I was mentally not "there" yet. I was stressed about many things....finances, 3 kids under 3 years, WHERE the baby would sleep....etc. I was holding onto "easiness" for as long as I could! I took a few minutes and decided that I was indeed ready to face life...and I was ready to have a new baby. About 2 contractions later I began pushing. At first I laid on the couch to push (why? no idea. I HATED it) and while I ate my banana I decided I wanted to jump in the pool. I got in the water and it was SOOOO nice. I relaxed and allowed my body to push my baby down. I remember that in between pushing contractions all I wanted was COLD water...and lots of it. At some point I drank all the water in my water bottle and it irritated me that "they" could not even keep my water bottle full! I was having a baby! How hard is it to keep water there for me?! I threw my water bottle across the room and demanded more NOW. Needless to say, the baby came very soon after that. :)

I pushed a total of 11 minutes. Josiah was not able to catch the baby this time because he had poison ivy all down his arms. :( He sat behind me, though, holding me up in a flowing/squat in the pool. I remember when Claudia said, "Tiff, the head is born." I was amazed! I reached down and felt his soft little head...his ears, his eyes, nose and mouth. Oh how sweet! Oh how precious! He was so soft! I also realized as I was touching his head that he did not rotate in the manner most babies rotate to allow the shoulders to be born. (by this time I had done over 100 births and knew what was going on). I mentioned this to Claudia (as if she did not already know!) and she told me that it was fine, just stay very loose on my next push and hold my squat. So, the next push, I stayed very loose and she reached a finger under his shoulder and he flew out!
(Remember, at this point I still think this is a girl).

I cried with thankfulness to the Lord and kept saying, "Thank you Jesus for my baby!" He was so very cute! He did not cry much....he just looked around at Josiah and I. I sat in the pool for several minutes talking to the baby before I thought to even look and see what kind of baby we had. I peaked under the towel and started laughing hysterically. "You will NOT believe what this child is!It is a boy!!!!!!!!!!" I was shocked and so surprised....it was a wonderful moment in my life that I will never forget. What a blessing! We now had 3 sons! Unfortunately, since I only had prepared baby girl clothes for the birth...Tarins' first few pictures show him wrapped in purple blankets with little flowers. Nice. Hopefully it will not warp him for life.


After a few hours just relaxing with our new son I decided I wanted some food and a shower. After that was accomplished Claudia and Debbie did the newborn exam. This baby was a chunk....10 pounds and 8 ounces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship we have with our Tarin Josiah.
Thank you Lord for blessing our family with such a sweet, sensitive, independent, funny, beautiful little boy :)

Did I mention that I felt so good the next day that I was up cleaning the bathroom? Yes, I got yelled at for that one :)