Guest Blogger Gigi, Jessica’s mom
Yesterday afternoon we were at the pool between 4-5 for Aviana and Brielle’s BD party when Jessica had about 4 contractions that said, “This could be it!” We had spent all morning getting ready for the cookout, plus all the friends and family had showed up, plus, Jessica LOVES parties! So she wanted to go ahead with it.We called the midwife who said to just keep an eye on things, and we’ll check back in with her in an hour.But as we were getting everything set up, the contractions ramped up to about every 4-5 minutes. At 5:45, “something changed,” she said, and she wanted to go home. Kevin, Jessica and I encouraged everyone else “eat, drink and be merry,” open presents and take LOTS of pictures, since we were obviously going to miss the party! Everyone gathered round for a quick prayer for a safe, easy-as-possible labor, and we took off.
. We called the midwife again, who lives 1.5 hours away, and she left within 10 minutes of our call. As soon as we arrived home, Jessica laid down on the bathroom floor while Kevin struggled to get the birthing tub ready for our home birth. I stayed in there with her, helping her along as best I knew how, hoping against hope that the midwife would get here soon!.
. By 6, she was 3 minutes apart. By 6:50 she was pushing. She asked me, “Is he coming out?” I replied, “I don’t know! You’re on your side. You gotta roll over!” Kevin called the midwife and since I’d been in there with her the whole time as Kevin sweated over whatever problems he was having with the tub, she asked me for the status. I was so scared by then that we were going to deliver this baby with no outside help whatsoever that panic was only a breath away. I actually couldn’t talk to her at first, because my brain couldn’t form coherent sentences and anyway, I was actually and literally “scared spitless!” Not a drop!
. The midwife was very calming, however, and soon she had me back in the bathroom, repeating to Jessica and Kevin what she said to me. First thing she said was, “Get the nose aspirator out of the birthing kit.” OH! The birthing kit!!! How could we have forgotten? I was struggling along using old towels, rags, toilet paper and baby wipes. Those chux would have been so handy!!!
.She told us to have Jessica get up on her hands and knees and all of a sudden, we could see the top of his head! I knew for sure we were going all the way with it then!
Kevin got into place to catch the baby, and I reported, “There is his head!” One big push and out he came, right into his daddy’s arms! Cadrian Kevin was born at 7, and the midwife arrived at 7:10. He is strong and healthy and weighs 8.5 pounds, and is 20 inches long. He is a vigorous nurser!
Everyone is fine and doing well, including me, and if you know me at all and can believe this, I did not panic, throw up, or faint, during OR after!
God’s hand was upon us all, and answered the prayer we prayed in an unexpected way! WE had no idea how important that prayer was! We are grateful, if very surprised!
PS We never did get to use the birthing tub.
PSS They happened upon his name, Cadrian (rhymes with Adrian) a couple of weeks ago, liked it and changed their minds right then and there! So that’s why it’s not from the list. It was going to be Callister.
Here’s me and the baby. Notice I am still wearing my sparkly skirt and fancy earrings from the party. I’m the only one who managed to sidestep all the amniotic fluid and all the other gross stuff! But no, I am not planning on changing careers, I will not take Jessica up on her offer for business cards for “Kevin and Gigi’s Home Delivery Service Extraordinaire”. I much prefer Library Lady to midwifery.
Wow, Congratulations! You are so brave to have a home birth. I’m so glad it all turned out ok! Welcome Cadrian! He’s gorgeous!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Oh my goodness what a story! And what a wonderful birthday present, a baby brother!!
Praise the Lord that it all worked out so well. You look quite tired, and right fully so.
Great post Gigi!!
Jessica, rest up and enjoy your little man… I look forward to more pictures and updates.
Congratulations! Rejoicing with you!!
Dear Gigi, Jessica, Kevin & girls,
Congratulations on Baby C. So happy for you and glad all went okay even if the midwife didn't make it. Glad Mom was there with you.
I'm glad the party went on. The tier cake is gorgeous.
XOXO to you all,
Susan
I can’t believe I am the first to comment on THIS post. Wow, I am just in awe. First of all, I can’t believe you did this at home…and secondly, I can’t believe you did this without any pain meds…you are an amazing woman.
I just recently started following your pregnancy on your blog. (Aw, and I was so hoping you would deliver on my birthday which was your due date). My kids are older now, 17 and 10, but I can remember how I felt when they were born. Nothing like that first glance and that first touch.
Congratulations Jessica. He is beautiful!
Welcome to the world Cadrian! I guess you’re into big surprises, huh?
Hope all is well for you, Momma, Daddy, and your big sisters!
Congratulations!!!!
Hello from Indianapolis – just checking in here after being in Minnesota all last week, and read the good news – congratulations to all!
May God bless little Cadrian Kevin’s new life just begun!! His birth story gives me unbelievable shivers and tears. Great pictures – he is just adorable!
And from one grandma to another – way to go!!
AMAZING birth story! WOW! Congrats to the whole family! What a beautiful baby boy and I LOVE his name!
Congratulations! He’s beautiful. You all must be so thrilled. What an exciting birth story. I hope mom and baby are all doing well. You should have held out one more day Jessica and he could have shared a birthday with my husband ;). Hey it’s way better than 8/8/08 right? Congrats again!
I am just absolutely shocked!!! WOW!!! CONGRATULATIONS! When I heard all your prep for the party earlier I knew, since you had hubby’s permission and all, that he would come soon but I definitely didn’t know it’d be that same day!!!
WOW again! He’s SOOOOOOOOOOO cute and I love his name. It’s so unique and he won’t have a million other playmates with the same name! Post what it means when you can!
CONGRATULATIONS Jessica & family!!!
Cadrian is absolutely ADORABLE!!!!
Congrats dear Mama and welcome Cadrian! Whew, what a story you all will have to tell him when he gets older.
God is good!
Congratulations!!!
Oh man!! I am so excited for you guys and what a story to tell Cadrian one day!
Thank you Jesus for this little guy. Well done Jessica (and to your awesome team!!).
Lots of love
PS – so much for that chiropractor….!
Congratulations!!! He’s a cutie! =)
Oh, Jessica, I’m so happy for you!! Praise God for such an amazing and easy (please don’t throw something at me; you know what I mean!) birth. He’s such a beautiful little angel.
May God bless you and Kevin, the perfect parents for this baby, to teach him to grow and learn and love the Lord with all his heart. Many prayers for you, Jessica, on a quick and easy recovery. We look forward to ‘hearing’ from you soon.
many (((((hugs)))))
~Brea
Congratulations Jessica!! Wow! what a way to enter the world…exciting stuff.
Welcome Cadrian…I know you are going to make your mommy, daddy & sisters very happy.
God richest blessings on you all.
Hugs
Kim!
CONGRATULATIONS!! Girl! You never go half way, do ya! I am so proud of you – what an amazing and miraculous birth! I am in awe of you.
And of course, he’s one handsome little man! How could he not be with you and Kevin as his parents.
I am SO SO happy for you all! It’s time for celebrating!!!
Welcome, Cadrian! Kiss those sweet cheeks for me 🙂
-Andrea
Oh my!!! It makes me want to have another one! (please pinch me!) CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am so excited for you! Sounds so much like my delivery with Micah…so fast. Can’t wait to hear from you! He’s a cutie!
Adorable cake by the way!
Wow! What an amazing story!
Welcome Cadrian! Congrats Jessica (and your whole family)! He is absolutely gorgeous.
CONGRATULATIONS! I was wondering if Sunday was going to be it… He’s beautiful.
Wow, beautiful baby! I only wish I had the strength that you did to not only give birth naturally, but to do it at home–way to go!
Oh cluck cluck!! Congratulations! Welcome little Cadrian….well done on the home birth too!
Congratulations!!
So glad everyone is happy and healthy.
Love the name and he is just darling!!
Rest up and enjoy the newest member of your family. 🙂
Oh Jessica, I am so excited for you guys! I am in tear right now and can’t wait to see more pictures. I CAN NOT believe you delivered with out the midwife there 🙂 I hope mine comes that easy 🙂 and now that I read your story, I’m actually kind of scared that it might.
CONGRATULATIONS Jessica, Kevin, Aviana & Brielle!!
I am crying tears of joy for you as I read this post and write. I am so thrilled for you all! Cadrian is such a handsome little boy and I love how unique his name is. Simply beautiful.
And how very special that Aviana and Brielle received a real-life baby brother as a present for their birthdays. I have goose-bumps all over.
I am so glad you and Cadrian are healthy and well! Congrats again!
Wow! I’m first to comment! Congratulations!!!!! He is a beautiful baby. I can’t believe the story of how if happened. Amazing story to share.
Congrats! What a story. Glad mom and baby (and dad and grandma) are doing well. Love the name.
Oh My Goodness!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I'm so, so happy for you guys & he looks perfect!!! Jessica, you are amazing – doing it all by yourself (and so are your mom & Kevin!) Little did you know what kind of birthday party you were planning, huh? And Cadrian shares a birthday with my Lulu!!! What a blessed day! Again, blessings on your sweet family of five. Can't wait to hear more about the little man!
Congratulations Jessica and family! Cadrian is absolutely adorable and I love the name. You are one strong and amazing woman; I can’t even imagine a home birth. What a wonderful story to be able to tell him one day!
Congratulations! What a way to party!
Praying for Cadrian to grow up to be a mighty man of God,
Joanne
Congratulations on the baby! He’s beautiful!
And what a story! Oh my gosh, that could have been straight out of a movie or something. The girls got an awesome present for their birthdays this year!
Glad everyone is doing well. Cant wait to see more pictures of the happy family 🙂
congratulations! 🙂
Congratulations!! I love his name and love how all your kids have such unique names. He is so cute! Enjoy your new family of 5! Thanks, Gigi for guest blogging and letting us all know the great news so we can celebrate with you! Can’t wait to see more updates.
O yeah, and the cake was gorgeous! Major props! haha
Yahoo for a safe and healthy Baby C!!!! I am so excited for you guys and proud of you! Welcome Baby Cadrian!
Congratulations! I’m so happy you got to birth at home (even if it wasn’t quite how you thought it would go). You have a beautiful little guy there. Next year’s party will be amazing!
And way to go, Grandma!
What an amazing birth story! Congrats and I love the name.
What an AMAZING story! Man, when the babies want to come, they come…and often entirely unconcerned with all our pre-delivery planning! 😉
What a great story you all will have to tell — and Cadrian will love having such a fun tale of his arrival!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!
Welcome to the world Cadrian! What a wonderful birthstory. You are my idol! That is so awesome! and GO GIGI! AWESOME! AND KEVIN! WOW!
Congratulations on your new addition! You’re quite the trooper; I don’t think I could’ve done a home birth.
Jess,
So much for the labor foods!
Susan 🙂
Congratulations!
Just amazing, I know I couldn’t do a home birth.
Jessica, it just FIGURES that it happened during the party! LOL You called it!
CONGRATULATIONS! He is gorgeous and I love the name! Very original! (and fabulous) I am so happy for you!
I hope you are feeling well! Thinking of you and your family.
Happy Birthday Cadrian! Congratulations Jessica and Kevin! Job well done GiGi and Kevin; what an amazing experience for you all!
Congrats and welcome baby Cadrian. Trust that his first few weeks are easy and that the nursing goes well, that the sisters love and accept their new baby brother.
Jessica you are one amazing woman!! Wow. What a birthday!! I have been eagerly anticipating this birth and boy I never dreamed it would be so amazing. Congratulations to you all and Welcome little Cadrian-beautiful name-. Grandma and Dad you were were beyong awesome. I was in the delivery room with three of my daughter’s babies but if I had had to deliver one—OH MY! And both of you look so calm and cool! Hey save the birthing tub for the next one!! May God’s blsssings be on your wonderful family!
Judy
Congrat!!!! I’m so excited for you.
i am crying…what a beautiful story!
OH MY LAND! What a great story! Especially since the Lord blessed every step of the way! CONGRATS!
And Gigi, your post wat great. I was moved to tears. Just precious!
And for Dadddy to ‘catch’ his first son….too cool as well.
Blessings to your whole family. Enjoy, rest, and take lots of pics to share!
Well, I THOUGHT I was the first to comment on your post, but it appears that 3 others were posting at the same time regarding this exciting event and pushed the publish comment button before I did! ha.
Congrats again, though.
This was one of the last posts I read before I went to bed last night and I had a dream about having a baby. It was a really strange dream.
Congrats on little Baby C. He is so adorable. I’m glad everything went well.
What amazing news and such an amazing and incredible story!!! WOW – I’m so happy for you Jessica, congrats and welcome to baby Cadrian. He is adorable 🙂
Oh wow, congratulations Jessica and oh my goodness, a home birth.
You guys did awesome, I would have been scared spitless LOL
Welcome to the world baby Cadrian 🙂
He’s just gorgeous.
Congrats!!!!
Rest! You brave girl you!
baby A
Baby B
& now
Baby C
Will there be a Baby D??
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADRIAN!!
Coratulations Jessica & Family. He is Beautiful!
yay! congratulations! what an amazing story! too good to be true!
Megan
WOW YEA CONGRATULATIONS and everything else that is an AMAZING birth story. And I love love love the name. I am so happy for you all. I can’t wait to hear more about the baby and how Jessica is doing.
I started tearing up as I read the story of Cadrian’s birth…sweet story I am astonished how fast it all went, and you had quite a busy day! Thank you for sharing the photos (the beautiful birthday girls and blessing of a baby boy)! Tell Jessica I am so proud of her!!!
Welcome Cadrian! Talk about a fast delivery! I cannot believe how brave you are and what an amazing experience it must have been for you, your mom, and Kevin. And you look JUST like your mom! Glad to hear that all of you are doing well and healthy, and can’t wait to hear all about the girls and how they love their new baby brother!
BTW, what a gorgeous little guy Cadrian is!
Congratulations! It’s probably a good thing you weren’t planning a hospital birth- you wouldn’t have gotten there in time!
What an amazing, fast labor. Can’t wait to hear your story (though your mom’s was pretty good).
Congratulations! I have been a total lurker, but I wanted to say congratulations on your amazing birth story and BEAUTIFUL baby Boy. What an amazing experience for you, your husband and your mom :o)
CONGRATS!!! Wow – what an amazing birth story! I love the name and I absolutely love the picture of you on the floor next to the tub. If that doesn’t sum up the birthing process in a photo – I don’t know what would. Beautiful and EXHAUSTING all rolled up into one. So happy for you – and can’t wait to see pics of the girls with their new brother.
Wow!! what an AMAZING story!! Congrats to all of you, he is so beautiful!! Thank you for sharing your birth story, I love reading them!
Congrats!!! he is adorable! Way to go mom… sounds like you did an awesome job bring your little man into the world.
brittany
Congratulations to Kevin, Jessica, and girls. Your little man is so cute! Cadrian, love it!
God bless you & your 3 arrows!
~Abby
Yeah! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!
WOW, I would have been so scared! He’s absolutely beautiful….Congrats!
Congratulations, Jessica!! I am so happy for you. Boys are a breed all their own, holding a special place in their mama’s hearts. you will love it!
Can’t wait to hear more details!!
OH WOW!!!!!!!!
YOU ARE MY NEW HERO….ALL OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome Cadrian!
Congrats farmfresh clan!!
He’s darling.
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations on the new addition! He was definately in a hurry to get here wasn’t he?!
Congrats to you all! You did an awesome job. Home birth is GREAT!!
Loved your version, Gigi….now we need to hear from Jessica! 😉
Congratulations! I love the name too…
Congratulations!! How exciting!!
Truly amazing birth story and I love his name!!
Again, congratulations to all!!
WOW!! Congrats! What an amazing story to tell their son one day. That is fabulous. More of woman that I am. The Lord was definitely watching over you all. Many blessings coming to Cadrian.
Holy MOLY!!!!!!!!
I cannot believe what I just read….
Now THAT is a birth story!!!!
Congrats to the whole family…and welcome to the world Cadrian!
Wow! Great story! Congrats!
Wow, that’s a story for the books! Congratulations!
Oh my! I’ve been away from the computer for a few days and look what happens! You’ll have triple birthdays next year I guess, how close are all the kiddos’ b-days?
Great post, Jessica’s mom, loved the pics…and Cadrian is a beautiful name! He looks so grown up already for only 4 days old (referring to latest blog post!)
Best wishes for a great recovery, Jessica! He’s beautiful!
my friend has been telling me about this birth story (as a warning i think since we live so far from the hospital.) i’m glad i finally came over and read it.
Oh my goodness! I don't know how I got to this post, but it is amazing! You have to tell Gigi, she's amazing, too! My mom was present for the birth of my #2, in the hospital, and couldn't even hold the mirror for me to look in while I pushed! And your mom DELIVERED your baby!!! Crazy!