A new addition to the Carter Clan

After weeks of waiting and feeling like I might end up being the only person in history that might actually stay pregnant and never give birth, it finally happened and our baby arrived.  Although I hadn't even reached my due date, I was more uncomfortable than I think I had ever been and was more than ready to move onto the next phase of our life and expand our family.  For weeks, our midwives had been saying that I was ready physically to have the baby but that until the baby was ready, I would just have to be patient and wait. And fortunately I was not meant to be eternally pregnant and our son decided he was ready to meet us.

At about 5:30pm on June 14th, as I was bathing Maya, my membranes ruptured.  What a shock for both me as well as Maya but after just getting home from an afternoon of errands I was thankful that it happened at home.  I promptly called Jason, who was on his way home from work, and Lorrie to come and pick up Maya.  Since I was home alone, my main focus was getting Maya out of the bath and packing up all her things for her sleepover at auntie Lorrie's.  So when Jason arrived home, having already called the midwives, asking if contractions had started, I wasn't able to tell him.  I certainly was uncomfortable but hadn't let my body take over until I knew Maya was safe and taken care of.  In that regard, I had no worries.  Maya happily went with auntie Lorrie with promises that mommy and daddy would be with her again soon and would have her new baby brother.  I don't think Lorrie will ever know how much deep gratitude we have to her for being so willing to care for and love our little girl.  We love and appreciate her and her family (our family now too) more than words can express. Knowing that Maya was happy and loved made all the difference in being able to relax and focus on having our baby. Thank you dear friend!!

So at this point, I could now let my body do what it needed to do.  Contractions had indeed begun but were fairly irregular and manageable and so upon the advice of our midwives, we had some dinner, gathered together our hospital bags and settled into bed to try and sleep as much as possible.  We had decided that we wanted to labor at home as long as possible rather than at the hospital so we checked in regularly with our midwives with the expectation that they would come to the house when things started to "pick up" and we would head over to the hospital together.  It was strongly recommended that we have a hospital delivery due to my previous c-section with Maya.  It was not my preference but I wanted the opportunity to do a natural delivery and so I took the compromise of not being allowed to stay at home.  Contractions became regular at around 10:00pm coming every 8 minutes and had certainly become strong enough that I had to breath through each one.  At midnight things started to change and the contractions became very intense and quickly moved to every 6 minutes.  Jason called the midwives and they said I could have a bath, which sounded like heaven to me, and call them when contractions progressed to less than 5 minutes apart.  However once I got in the bath contractions quickly went from every 5 minutes to every 4 and a half minutes to every 2 or 3 minutes.  Jay called the midwives again who said we likely didn't have time for them to come to the house and to meet them at the hospital.  It took every ounce of strength to muster up the courage to get out of the bath knowing the long, tiring, painful and incredibly uncomfortable journey to get dressed, get to the car and drive to the hospital.  And I was right.  I went into transition (the part of labor where contractions are on top of each other and is the hardest part of labor before you are ready to push) on the ride to the hospital.  Very, very not fun.  We arrived at the Peter Lougheed hospital at around 4:30am and just in time - Jason warned me that we will likely be getting a speeding or red light ticket (probably both) in the mail.  When we got to our room, as I suspected, I was fully dilated and ready to push.  I could not have imagined how quickly things would progress. The pushing part lasted one hour forty minutes and was the most exhausting and difficult part of the journey for me.  It was a marathon of intention, concentration, strength and endurance and my support group of midwives were so amazing as they encouraged me with every bit of progress.  But it was my incredible husband that kept reminding me I could do it, gave me his strength and was the most brilliant coach.  It was his love, guidance, calm in the midst of worry, and strength in the midst of weariness that kept pushing me on and I fell more in love with him that day than ever before.  It was because of him that I knew I could and would do it.  And once our little Benjamin arrived, it was worth every minute of work.  The exhilaration of having just brought forth this precious life was overwhelming.  Happiness and thankfulness abounded!!  Our beautiful son Benjamin Paul Carter was born at 6:31am weighing a healthy 9lbs 1oz and measuring 21 inches long.

I love this picture.  Benjamin was born just seconds previously and I felt such intense joy.  I think Jason captured it perfectly.

As you can see, Benjamin has caputured the hearts of our entire family!

This beautiful baby boy has blessed our hearts and our life beyond what we ever expected.  God has truly expanded our hearts as he has expanded our family. To see Maya grow to love Benjamin more with each day and to see the pride in Jason's eyes as he adoringly watches his wife and kids and to feel the immense joy and gratitude in being blessed with so much, words just can't express.  We just thank God every day for each miracle we experience in each other.  Thanks so much to all our friends and family for your love and support during this time.  We look forward to introducing Benjamin to you very soon.