Geldan's birth story (the momma's attempt at a quick version)

so Geldan is now 3 weeks old.
i have been having the hardest time trying to write out his birth story.
i'm always wanting to chronicle every detail.
here goes . . .

?am - mark set off for a tuning day in lake geneva/williams bay

after breakfast and morning jobs done - turned family room into a fort for school and fun

normal stuff goin' on

3-4:15 - momma and 2 little milligans take a late afternoon nap

snacktime

4:50 - call grandma sara (she asked,but there was no baby news to report - nothing happening)

5:16 - i called mark to check on his day and estimated return home (first time i noticed that i was having some contractions)

suppertime - homemade frozen pizzas needing some doctoring up - owen helps with the toppings - the rest of the bunch is instructed to pick up the family fort room - the momma is annoyed at the kiddos not helping - the momma is annoyed by more persistent contractions keeping her sitting down every 10 mins or so and keeping her from getting supper done

6? - mark returns home - gets a cold, distracted welcome - the momma is crabby and grumpy and frazzled - the kiddos are still cleaning up and unhappy about the fort fun being done - mark takes over the supper stuff

6:16 - i begin keeping track of contractions - barking out orders for all between cntx 2-6-4-10-8 mins apart (strong, but irregular) - not yet willing to admit this is really labor (after 4 "false alarms" i really doubted my judgement) - not ready to call midwives or grandmas

suppertime

7? - finally give the midwives and grandma strub a call - in task mode and feeling guilty over grouchiness with everybody - busy cleaning up and attempting to get the house in order before baby arrives - really annoyed that after all this time of waiting, this baby is going to come and my house is not ready (my first due date of september 21 was off. we recalculated to a possible october 2nd?? or maybe 6th?????? so geldan was either 3 weeks overdue or right on time??)

8ish - midwives and grandma strub get here all around the same time - i'm needing to concentrate and breathe through cntx stronger, but still irregular - mark has been getting kids ready for bed

8:20 - decide i need to turn off the task mode and work on birthing a baby - head upstairs to our bedroom (where all the birth supplies have been set out since our sept 15 "preparatory labor" day 4 weeks before) - midwives check vitals on momma and baby - i lay down on our bed - cntx kick up a notch -really having to concentrate and breathe through cntx - staying calm and relaxed

8:47 - water breaks - cntx at full speed with no rest between - start moaning as the cntx increase in intensity - thoughts on children who were not yet asleep - hoping they were not scared hearing momma screaming - midwives announce "there's the head" - my body does it's work

8:55 - heard my baby cry for the first time and "kim, you have a beautiful baby boy!" - 8 mins after my water broke - less than 4 hours from the time i noticed i was having contractions - and i don't remember pushing at all - our biggest baby yet - no tears - surprized that all the things i was even slightly anxious over were never present - amazed at this unbelievable experience of birth

(time had stopped when i decided to go upstairs and enter baby mode, so i checked out the labor flow chart for timing details)


- that wonderful moment finally arrived when mark handed our son to me and i held this new child for the first time!

-we delivered the placenta - grandma strub got to cut the cord - we got cleaned up just enough so that the children could meet their new baby brother (it couldn't happen fast enough for me because i was still concerned over them hearing me in labor and my crabbiness of the evening) - hogan, owen, leannora, and able were still awake, so grandma strub got the curious children up - it was so sweet to see their excitement over their new baby brother


- when the children went to bed we did the baby check - 8# 15 oz!! & 21 in long - gestation right on time
9:42 - called grandma sara - shocked her with the news (things had happened so fast we hadn't called to update her)

10:36 - called grandpa strub (who was working out of town)

11:10 - midwives head home

cozy with baby, birth stuff cleaned up, ready for our first night with our seventh child who still needed a name (i did make the request that mark give our son his name before going to sleep for the night)

geldan erik milligan is named - meaning: to yield to the eternal ruler, surrendered to the sovereign one - the significance of his name is a whole story in itself - that will have to be saved for another day - but to say something simply . . . we are rejoicing over the opportunities God has been giving us to yield things to Him. it has been amazing to experience victories while resting in His work. what a blessing it is to learn to trust Him and wait on His timing. "be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him . . ." psalm 37:7 - in all things we praise the Lord!