It all began Tuesday morning around 6am. I woke up to what felt like mild cramping. I assumed it was either early labor or the Chicken and Cheese Queso so we had for the dinner the night before. They mildly came off and on for a couple of hours and then stopped. I decided today would the day I finished up the laundry and cleaned up the house, after all, I was 4 days past due! After my frantic cleaning, I felt nothing more till later that early evening. The weather for that night was looking grim, icy rain. Heather and my mom were to be traveling in from Paris, which was 3 hours away. I hated for them to travel in bad weather. Heather was going to photograph the birth and brought her daughter Kylie. I went ahead and gave them the ok to come down around 6pm. I had begun having more mild contractions but they were still random and irregular. This had to be labor, right???
I notified my midwife, Ann. She told me to just take it easy and let her know if they became regular. She had just finished up a birth and would be free. Heather, Kylie, and my mom arrived around 9pm. Contractions were still very mild but ranging from 6-8 minutes apart. I felt great but nervous. We all hung out and played the WII (cooking mama) for awhile. Seemed like anytime I sat down they completely went away. “Hope I didn’t jump the gun you guys!” After no increase in the contractions, we decided to try and go to bed. We laid down around midnight. Laying down made them stop as well.
I woke up around 4:30am to I believe a contraction. I knew walking around seemed to get them going so I did just that in my room for a few minutes. I had a couple more… I walked into the living room to find Heather already awake. So she and I decided to time them. They were stronger but still fairly mild. After 20 minutes of timing them, they were consistently 3 minutes apart! We decided to wake everyone up and call the midwife. Rodney was so asleep he actually asked for a few more minutes of sleep!!! He almost got a black eye! Haha So Ann, the Midwife, was called at 5:05am and was on her way.
During this time, the contractions were picking up in strength. I continued to walk around the house and pause during them, breathing them out. If I tried to sit or lay down they were 10x worse. I had to put my bathing suit top on, brush my teeth, apply mascara and lip gloss (couldn’t forget those! Haha ) in between my contractions. Rodney made up our bed the way the midwife had told us and we all got prepared. The house was dim and quiet (Fox 4 news on the TV) the kids fast asleep on a pallet in the living room. We were ready and nervous for what was about to happen. My mood was calm and in between my contractions I was talking and joking around. Just don’t try and speak to me during one! I was ready for this. I CAN DO THIS!!!!!
By 5:30ish I was beginning to feel “pressure”. I knew exactly what this meant but continued to stay focused. My contractions were approx. every minute or so. I continued to stand/walk around during the entire labor. “Come on Ann”……
She and her assistant arrived by 6am. I was in the middle of a contraction and when it was done I said “Rise and shine!” to her with a laugh. I asked her to go ahead and check my cervix. We had been wondering where I was….I assumed I was at least an 8 or a 9. I hopped up on my bed and she told me I was fully dilated, +2 station, and ready to go!!!! She was in total disbelief. No way could I still be standing, walking, and talking AND be fully dilated! Haha I asked Heather to wake the girls and off to the tub we went!...........
I had just got into the tub and felt about 2 inches of that wonderful warm water when she tried to find fetal heart tones with her Doppler. She was unable to find any. She had me roll onto my side and she checked again…heartbeat was at 60 (norm is 120-160). She said to her assistant “I need you to go get my oxygen!” I saw the look on her face and knew she was worried. She then told me we had to get this baby out and to push! My contractions had basically stopped (or they felt that way) so pushing at that point was not doing anything. It’s amazing how I knew this was a serious situation but my mind did not take me there and I did not worry. I simply allowed myself to follow her directions. She told me we had to get out of the tub and onto the bed. Darn, there goes the warm water! My heaven sent warm water I had been waiting for!
We got in the bed and on my side. This is when I began to feel the most pain. Rylie and Sydney were awake and on the bed beside me. Rodney was right to the left of me and I really needed him there. As soon as I felt a contraction, I began to push. I squeezed his forearm like crazy during each contraction, just like in the movies. Haha He didn’t seem to mind.  Being on our super thick pillow top mattress made pushing HARD. My body sunk into the bed. There was no time to worry about comfort though. This HAD to be done. Pushing was by far the hardest part of my labor. I almost lost control but somehow managed to keep it. I pushed through 2 cycles of contractions and felt like nothing was happening. I think I said “This hurts” or “I can’t do this!” a couple of times. Ann then told me “You have to push beyond what you think you can do!” and I somehow did just that. It was a supernatural feeling. I will never forget her telling me that. It is what got me going. I could feel my baby coming down and wanted nothing more than for this to be over! On the 3rd cycle of pushing out came his head AND his first cry! I closed my eyes, still in great pain, but knowing it was almost over. Rodney got down in front and then delivered the rest of our son. Once his little body was delivered, instant relief rushed through my body!!!!!! I HAD DONE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the worry I had over the past months of if I could do it was answered! My boy was here!!!!!! Pushing lasted only 10 minutes but felt like 45 to me. It was only 1.5 hours from the time we woke up that morning till he was born!
He came out perfect and healthy. He was instantly placed on my chest and he was perfectly calm. We all got to enjoy the moment. Rylie and Sydney were very calm and somewhat shocked by what happened. They had been prepped for this day and knew what was happening. I asked the girls to come closer and to see their baby brother. Still in the pjs with messy hair they looked on. The cord pulsed its last pulse and it was time to cut it. The girls helped daddy to cut the cord (mostly daddy though). After a few minutes time, the midwife and her assistants prepared our herbal bath. Brody and I took a wonderful warm “get to know you” bath (At least I got that hot water I had been wanting!). He was awake and looking around the entire time! In fact, he was awake a 1-1.5 hours after his birth! Calm and quiet the entire time. After our bath, his newborn assessment was done and he was given 2 thumbs up by all of us. Brody Maddox Gatlin was finally here and was delivered by his daddy in our bed, in our home.

Brody Maddox
Born: 12/10/08
6:27am
7lbs 19inches long

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