I’ve had this post written and sitting in my notes on my phone for months now. If this doesn’t scream four kids, I don’t know what does. Life has been chaotic and busy with my crew of littles + I have every intention on sharing more here but until then, I wanted to have my sweet Douglas’ birth story documented here alongside his siblings. These stories are my absolute favourite + ones I will never, ever forget.
SO. Here we go…
Friday October 14th 2022, I had a midwife appointment + was given my first ever stretch and sweep as I was only 2cm dilated. I truly thought I was farther along than that which is why I opted for the sweep. For those of you who have never had one, it is quite uncomfy but it’s not as painful as I worried it might be.
Saturday was a day like any other despite my ever growing anticipation for the arrival of our little guy. I felt uncomfortable but nothing remarkable. I knew birth wasn’t far off. George had apple day with the Beaver Scouts so I made sure to roll up (read: drive + waddle!) to his location with a hot chocolate + a coffee for hubs. He did such a great job speaking to strangers and confidently asking for donations to Scouts Canada.
Sunday the two big kids went out with their Nonna and Tuna stayed back + hung out with Aaron. I did a lot of resting and bouncing on the yoga ball while I watched episode after episode of Friends and The Office (my pregnant go-tos!). I walked the neighbourhood (Aaron suggested it and I’m grateful that he did)—and that’s where it started to pick up. The walk was beautiful and crisp + the most perfect fall day. I waddled up and down the streets in the only clothes that fit (it was not the cutest of looks, ha) + would stop for contractions here and there. A lot of breathing and a lot of smiles from those walking by me—especially the older ladies. There were a surprisingly large amount of sweet older ladies walking my neighbourhood that day, ha. To be honest, it gave me a type of strength knowing that these women had an unspoken understanding of what I was experiencing. It was pretty amazing, honestly. I felt very calm and very much ready to meet our baby.
Contractions started getting even more intense that late afternoon and my biggest priority was getting all of the kids in bed so I could focus on having a baby! Because I was still nursing Thomas, I needed to get him into bed and sleeping quickly—and luckily he fell asleep quite fast. Anddd goodness, it was not a painless nurse session. It was uncomfortable and even just thinking about it makes me shudder.
Nursing while pregnant is it’s own experience and one that I found became more painful as I got progressively more pregnant (I’ve nursed through all my pregnancies but had three weeks between George and Eloise + five weeks between Eloise and Thomas!) but nursing when you’re in labour—not the most fun. Especially when you’re having more intense contractions. I was planning on having Thomas weaned before Douglas arrived but life had other plans + that’s a story for another day…
ANYWAY.
Breastfeeding also contributed to more contractions, which at this point, I was kind of happy to have as I hoped the stimulation of it would mean our baby would be here sooner. Contractions were intense. I had not experienced labour like this for my last three babies. Like, not even close. Here I was thinking it would be a breeze, ha. It humbled me.
If you’ve been here awhile and read Thomas’ birth story, you’ll know I had NO idea I was in labour until my midwives arrived at my house and I was 8cm. I kind of thought, this would be a similar story. Spoiler alert: this was not the case.
I was having painful contractions from around 6pm on—I was pacing the room + trying to keep a steady record of the timing. I had the most inconsistent but painful contractions that made NO sense. One minute I was five minutes apart, the next I was nine minutes apart. It was frustrating and made me worry—being my fourth pregnancy and another home birth, I knew it would be fast + furious. I really didn’t want to catch my own baby without the presence of my midwife if I didn’t have to. I called my midwife three times that evening. Truly just wanting to make sure everything was normal and that she would in fact, arrive on time. She assured me she would (ugh, I just really loved her!).
My friend Meagan sent me memes after memes throughout the night to keep my spirits high–I was so grateful for her to check in on me at all hours of the night. She allowed me to vent my grievances about the weird timing of my contractions + how much pain I was in. Anddd the memes were funny. I hopped into the bath around 1am to try +chill out a bit but I started to bleed around 1:30am/2am so I called my midwife and asked her to come + check me out.
I was (only!) 5cm. I was bleeding because of a very stretchy cervix— I was proud of this, ha. I had to very quickly remind myself to not be disappointed in my progress despite how much farther I thought I was given the pain of the contractions. It was a beautiful lesson in how each + every birth is different and not to compare them—they are all meant to be different experiences. And gosh, they’ve all taught me different lessons.
ANYWAY.
My midwife was willing to break my waters to help speed along the process + I was all in. I was nervous but I could feel myself growing strength knowing it was almost baby time. As we discussed our next steps, Thomas woke up and he was not into having Aaron resettle him. Story of his life.
I knew in my heart that in order for ME to have a calm + focused birth, I had to resettle Thomas. This meant, I went upstairs + nursed him back to sleep. Like, as in…I nursed him back to sleep while in active labour. I still can’t believe I did this! It was absolutely wild—painful to NO end but I figured the nursing would only help move the contractions along. And I really realllllly needed Thomas to sleep. I was determined. I was remaining positive.
Once he was resettled (phew!), my beautiful midwife broke my waters. I knew that it would be fast and furious + despite having experienced a homebirth before, I was nervous. What did fast and furious really mean!? Like, how fast + how furious are we talking about here!?
WELL.
Every contraction rocked me. To my core. I have never experienced anything like it before. I wish I could describe it accurately but I can’t. I’ve tried. It was next level.
The moment my waters broke, I was in for a very fast rollercoaster of intensity. ROLLER. COASTER.
It was 4:40am at this point. I was at 6/7cm. I dialed in and felt a sudden urge to push almost immediately—which frightened me because it felt so quick. BUT! I trusted my body. Unlike my past homebirth with Thomas, I KNEW I would survive this (ha!) and I could even just let go! Anyone who knows me knows, I have a hard time doing that with basically every aspect of my life but now was the time to do it. I decided to go ahead and do just that. LET GO. TRUST MY BODY. PUSH.
With the guidance of my midwife, I carefully + slowly delivered our baby into the world. I did in fact catch him myself! Douglas Boomer was born at 5:05am at a beautiful 7lbs 5 oz. While my house was quiet + the three big kids were blissfully sleeping, our sweet Douglas arrived as perfect as perfect comes.
He nursed almost immediately. I was elated. It felt like time stood still while I was being gently cared for in the early hours of the morning. In my home. I was in love. I felt strong, capable, and straight up amazing! He was the most perfect little guy–the most perfect addition to our family; the puzzle piece I didn’t know we were missing until he arrived. My third son. My fourth angel. How freaking lucky am I?!
From the moment I laid eyes on him, I felt like I knew him all my life. Almost like I was waiting for him, ya know?
Douglas Boomer Bowman, born on October 17, his late grandmother’s birthday with a middle name that honours her—Boomer; her nickname. It felt deeply special. Even now, writing this, it feels special + really magical. While we celebrate our sweet Douglas, we also have the gift of honouring my mother in law. Magic.
Oh, Douglas, we just adore you. You are a bright light and a true joy. Thank you for choosing me to be your mama, I am forever grateful for you my sweet baby boy.
XO
PS. If you want to read all the birth stories +how wildly different they were, check them out here: George’s birth story, Eloise’s birth story, and Thomas’ birth story.