hal's birth story

It's been almost six weeks since baby Hal joined our family. His birth was a wonderfully, exciting, painful, amazing experience. Do you want to hear about it? Ok. WARNING: This is a story about childbirth. If you don't want to read a story about childbirth, please don't read. I'll try to keep the details and photos family-friendly.

Before we get to the super exciting part of this story, I must share about the moderately exciting days that preceded. Hal was born on a Friday. The Monday before that Friday, I visited the midwife for my 40 week checkup. I had been having frustrating start/stop labor pains for weeks. She took a good long (and slightly invasive) look. This look determined that the baby was in a posterior position... meaning that his face was looking at my belly instead of my back. Babies can only be born naturally if they are looking at your back. She ordered me to lean forward... 24 hours a day... all day... until the baby flipped over. No leaning back on the sofa. So that's what I did. I leaned forward and read every single word of the spinning babies website. Was it comfortable? no. Did it work? yes.

I also spent hours upon hours praying and reading scripture. All of my birth experiences have been very different. Stella Belle's (the most recent... 4 years ago) was very long and emotionally draining. (She was also posterior... but no one bothered to tell me that at the hospital... until after 3 days of labor.) I knew I must be prepared with scripture to fight my desire to sink into despair. I kept writing the words "LOVE, REST, PEACE," in my journal and on the inside of my hand. I begged the Lord to use the birth of our fourth baby to show me the depth of His love while flooding my mind with His restful peace that surpasses all understanding.

On Thursday afternoon, my contractions were starting to feel "real," but I didn't get too excited. I asked my mother in law to take the kids for a while so I could go for a walk and pray and get a few things ready. Charlie picked up the kids on the way home from work, we ate dinner, put the kids to bed... usual things. Contractions were getting closer together and a little stronger. Around 10pm, I told Charlie to go to bed. I tried to lay on the couch and watch a movie, but my contractions were becoming stronger and very distracting. Then I had some bleeding and knew that this was probably the real thing. I walked around, cleaned, packed, got presents ready for the other three kids... stopping every 5 minutes for contractions.

At 4am I took a shower and decided to wait until 6am to wake Charlie up. At this point the contractions were hurting so badly. It took all my concentration and relaxation techniques to keep from crying through each one. 6am finally came. I woke Charlie and told him to call his parents so they could get the kids. I sent a text to my mom telling her to start the 9 hour drive from Mississippi. Then we got in the car and headed to the birthing center.

The birthing center is in Savannah (one hour from our house). I was trying to lean forward in the car and work through the contractions (and by "work through" I mean "scream"). Charlie hadn't had breakfast and knew it would be a long day so naturally he stopped by the McDonald's drive thru... disgusting. He got me a plain biscuit that I took 2 bites of and then almost threw up because of the waxy film it left on the roof of my mouth. Anyhoo, we made it to the birthing center. The midwife checked me and said I was between 7 and 8cm dilated. I just burst out in laughter and said, "that is such good news! Thank you!" Then back to contracting and screaming.

The rooms at the birthing center are beautiful... very cozy. My room had a huge whirlpool tub in the corner. Like, a huge hot tub with jets and warm water. After a few contractions on the bed I said I wanted to get in the tub. So I did. The water did not help with the pain of the contractions, but it was very relaxing for the in between time. After about an hour, my midwife wanted me to get out of the tub so she could check my progress. While she was checking me my water broke. Then she told me to go to the bathroom and have a few contractions standing up. I used the bathroom with Charlie helping me keep my balance and the midwife rubbing my back. I buried my face in my midwife's shirt and said (and by "said" I mean "screamed") "I can't do this!" She calmly replied, "yes you can." To which I replied, "but I don't want to!" She calmly replied, "you have to." I got back in the tub and had a HUGE contraction. After that I asked the midwife to (and I quote), "get a needle and give me something." She handed me what looked like a shot glass filled with some brown liquid and I drank it down. I think it was whisky. Don't know, don't care. Another HUGE contraction. Screaming. Lots of pressure. I informed everyone (and by "everyone" I mean everyone in the room... and in the city of Savannah) that I would be pushing on the next contraction. The nurse told Charlie to get into the tub with me. Charlie had a mild heart attack then stripped down into his boxer briefs and got in the tub.

The next contraction came, I pushed, and out came baby's head! I took a deep breath, pushed again, let out a big tribal woman scream and baby was out! A chubby little boy! I hugged him and cried and fell in love for the 6th time ever in my life (Jesus is my first love, Charlie is my second, Dean, Millie, Stella Belle and now baby Hal). The nurse told me to look at the clock. Only 8 minutes from the time my water broke until I was holding my baby. Unbelievable.

They got me out of the tub covered me with blankets, sewed me up, gave me some herbal tea and something to help with the pain. I kept saying, "I cannot believe that just happened." I nursed Hal then cuddled him while I took the best nap of my life. Charlie went to Target to buy some new underwear and brought back a bag full of my favorite things to eat and drink. I love him.

After my nap I got up and took a shower. The midwife came to make sure everything was o.k. then cleared us to go home. 4 hours after Hal was born we were headed home. My parents met us there with our kids and Charlie's parents. We grilled hamburgers and had a little welcome home party. It was a perfect day... wild... but perfect.

Baby Hal is. the. sweetest. thing. He's everything we ever wanted. Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus!

one month old

it's a boy!

Meet our newest addition. His name is Hal. He came into this world very quickly and melted all of our hearts into a puddle of sweetness. We're busy looking at him and recovering. Many more details to come this week about Hal's birth and his name and his perfection. Thanks for all the twitter and facebook love! Follow me on instagram (melsmithturner) for daily pics of Hal's cuteness.

Quattro is coming!

Follow me on twitter (@melsmithturner) for frequent updates by Charlie.

40 weeks

Baby Quattro has been growing in my belly for 40 weeks. That's FOURTY weeks... incase you missed it the first time. The past week has been the teeniest bit frustrating with contractions that start and stop and other slow labor starting/stopping things. Anyway, we are very close. Keep checking back! Happy Tuesday.

thirty- seven weeks

Still pregnant! Nothing exciting to report about Baby Quattro's arrival. I do feel very "prepared" (if you can ever really feel "prepared" for a fourth child) at this point. The house is in order, the nursery is almost finished, our bags are packed and I cannot stop doing laundry... I cannot stop. Stay tuned! This could be happening very soon.

belly

Week 36! I cannot believe how quickly this pregnancy is flying by. My midwife kindly informed me at my last checkup that the Birthing Center doesn't consider me as "full term" until 37 weeks. So in just a few days Baby Quattro will be fully cooked and ready to enter the world... but it probably won't happen for a few more weeks. Not too many early labor signs yet. Charlie had a week off from work last week so we tackled some huge house projects that needed to be done. Each finished project helps me relax a little more. Please enjoy this little recap of my belly pics and have a fantastic weekend...

so close

Hello! Baby Quattro has been growing in my belly for 33 weeks. Baby Quattro is big. I am happy to announce that I am not wearing a stitch of maternity clothing in this picture. I would like to thank my morning walks, my strange obsession with salsa and black tea, my other three children who never let me sit down for one second, and the beach for working together to make this my healthiest pregnancy yet! We put the crib together this week and checked several other decorative things off the list. Happy to be carrying a little sweetie in my belly this week!

big

I cannot believe I am pregnant. I know I may be a little far along and a little bit enormous to be saying things like that, but I really can't believe it. I appreciate this pregnancy. I am honored to be given the responsibility of a fourth baby. I am very excited. My other three children were all born in less than three years. Those pregnancies seem a little blurry and under-appreciated. Baby Quattro is coming four and a half years later. I think my body finally stopped freaking out from the other three and I can really love the wonderfulness of our new little friend. So week THIRTY is here. Major growth happening (just within the last few days) and major third trimester exhaustion is setting in. Still walking around the neighborhood daily, still eating salsa daily, still have heartburn daily. Thirty weeks down... ten (or eight or twelve) to go!

hello quattro

Hello third trimester! And HELLO Baby Quattro! Good gracious! I still feel like the end of this pregnancy is very far away, but it's really not. I've finally narrowed down my "before the baby comes" project list to a reasonable size, and I still have lots of energy for painting and sewing and moving and cleaning. I feel great, my belly button is still IN, I've gained 8 pounds, and I am so excited to meet this baby.

belly

Let's hear a holla for non-maternity jeans still fitting! Holla! Week twenty-four brings the, "I'm a little past the half way point yet still so very far from the end" feeling. I'm walking two or three miles about 4 days a week and I do P90X Yoga once or twice a week. I also count painting bedrooms, pressure washing the side of our house, planting rose bushes and rearranging furniture as exercise. I'm in the middle of tons of projects.  Loving Baby Quattro! Loving, loving, loving.

if it still buttons, you should wear it

Pregnancy styling tip alert! (pretending like am qualified to give styling tips) If you have a purple striped Ralph Lauren button up and it is your favorite... you should keep wearing it. Even if you are two weeks away from your third trimester of your fourth pregnancy. Do it. And do it with white linen shorts and silver glitter Toms. Happy buttoning!

belly

Yogurt, almonds, gluten-free raisin bread, bananas, Luna protein bars, milk shakes, lemonade. These are the things that I love these days. Serious love. I'm trying to make the most of this large amount of energy in my body. Almost positive I haven't had this much energy since 2004. It's so much fun to see all the things I can accomplish in one day. I know the tired days are coming soon, so I'll try and get all my projects finished before then. Loving baby Quattro so, so much!

whoa we're half way there

Hello Baby Quattro! I've resorted to wearing dresses and/or leggings every day. Maternity clothes are still a little big, but regular clothes are starting to bring me physical pain... glorious stage of pregnancy. Other than picking out clothes, I am feeling wonderful. Rearranging furniture, painting artwork for Quattro, and eating spoonfulls of almond butter. Four months to go!

pretty city, pretty day

We buckled the kids into the car this morning at 8:30am and rolled north to Savannah. We had our second appointment at the midwife center. Today was ultrasound day, and we thought it would be fun for the kids to actually see Baby Quattro. As soon as the lady squirted the ice cold jelly stuff onto my belly, Stella Belle declared, "EW! I'm never going to the doctor when I grow up." And Dean kept making sure with the lady that this was NOT the kind of jelly that people eat. Other than that, it was a beautiful experience and I cried tears of joy at the sight of this little life.

Other highlights of the day included: coffee shop full of art and cool people, Mellow Mushroom, perfect weather, tears of joy, hugging.

snap shots

Happy Sunday! It's cold and rainy in Georgia today. We've been finishing projects and starting new ones to make way for Baby Quattro. Why don't you take a look at Baby Quattro. Take a good long look.

I snapped a few pics with my not iPhone phone while I was getting dressed and Stella Belle was begging me for lipstick. I don't remember what getting dressed was like without people begging me for lipstick. Hope you all had a refreshing weekend!

belly

Baby Quattro is growing! I'm feeling lots of kicks and movement. I'm also rearranging everything in our whole house. Call it nesting... call it what you want, but if I don't get some new knobs on the cabinets in our laundry room I'm going to loose it! O.k. maybe I've already lost it. Anyway, pregnancy is fun this week and very exciting. Happy Thursday!

week sixteen

Baby Quattro is growing! I'm feeling much MUCH better than I felt a few weeks ago. My "bump" is starting to look like a "belly." All I want to eat is baked potatoes.

hello out there

Hi friends! We drove about an hour north of where we live to Savannah, Georgia yesterday. We embrace any excuse to visit this dazzling little city. We are planning to deliver Baby Quattro at a Birthing Center in Savannah with the cutest little Midwife that we ever did see. We'll be visiting often for my check ups and birth preparations.

We stopped at a hip and cool coffee house before heading back home. The kids sat so still and quiet at the birthing center, so we promised them a huge iced chocolate milk. They totally earned it.

O.K. happy Thursday!

four crying out loud

Hello! I have a little news to share on this second Wednesday of two thousand and twelve. I'M PREGNANT! That's right, friends! Baby number FOUR is on the way! We are very, very excited about this little/huge addition to our family. Here are four facts about my pregnancy so far...

1. I'm not sure exactly how far along I am... somewhere around 13 to 16 weeks. I'll have an ultrasound at the end of this month to get exact numbers.
2. This is my first time being REALLY super sick during pregnancy.
3. I'm not showing yet, but I haven't done ab ripper x in about 2 weeks so we can just call the "flab" a "bump" until it becomes a real bump... or until i do a sit up and make it go away.
4. We are planning on NOT finding out the gender of the little sweetie until it is birthed. Until then, we will call the baby "Baby Quattro." OK? Now we all know that Baby Quattro is not the baby's real name... it's just what the baby will be called while he/she is in the oven.

Stay tuned for lots of pregnancy blogging!