Sylas Josiah Duiker

Sylas Josiah Duiker

Roo is here and the entrance he made was nothing short of miraculous...and wild. I love a good Birth Story, as in I have been known to troll blogs and BabyCenter boards for them. Nothing is too graphic and the more details the better. It's a little odd, I know, but oh boy we now have a doozy of our own. Zoey's delivery was epic as well, since it brought us her. It was also painful and a whirlwind of emotions. I love her Birth Story because it taught me so much and shows me how well Henry and I communicate in high stress situations. It also set us up for Sylas delivery, cause guys, Sylas was born on the bathroom floor in our home.

I know, I never in a million years thought I would start the post of Roo's delivery that way.

It started on Friday, I had an appointment scheduled and I thought the activity might increase. I expected they may strip my membranes since I was overdue at that point. Zoey and I spent the morning snuggled on the couch and we watched her new favourite, Little Einsteins. My appointment was delayed by nearly 2 hours since my Dr had been called out for an emergency c section. Since I was overdue they asked if I minded coming back in an hour after he finished. I had a couple things I could do at the store so I headed out. Zoey and I thoroughly enjoyed taking our time strolling through Walmart and drinking the lemonade I got her at the Tim Hortons. In hindsight it was a wonderful way spend that afternoon together since things got hectic after that.

At my appointment we talked about the plan and how late we were comfortable going overdue. He said he thought it would happen soonish potentially but wanted me to go for a BioPhysical to make sure Baby was still alright hanging out in there. That sent things quickly in motion since I had to be there in give minutes and have someone to watch Zoey while I had the ultrasound and Non Stress Test. God was watching out for us even then as my sister was actually driving right by the hospital at that time and my dying cell phone had just enough charge to make the call to her. The Ultrasound is where Henry and I realized we were having a boy. They never revealed the gender but when they told me Baby was measuring at nearly 9 pounds! He wasn't quite that big but we both agree we were pretty sure Roo was a boy with that information. Everything looked good there and so I moved next to the Non Stress Test. While I was being monitored the nurse pointed out I was having some contractions. I had been running around so much until that point I didn't even notice. The nurse told me she was sure I would be coming back that night in full blown labor. I reviewed the signs to wait or look for as cues to come to the hospital. Even though I had done this before, we had been told when to go, so I felt a little unsure if I knew exactly when to make that call. After that they sent me home and I met Henry at home and I requested that we relax for the rest of the evening. So we made some nachos and snuggled in with Zoey to watch Madagascar 3, it was a lovely way to spend the early part of that night. After we tucked Zoey in, Henry and I went to bed with the goal to get some rest in case the nurse was right and we had a long night a head of us. Unfortunately rest never came our way and we indeed had a long night.

With Daddy at the hospital

I started tracking contractions and they were over time becoming increasingly close together, longer, and more intense. We were waiting for the contractions to become quite painful and about 4 - 5 minutes apart before we headed to the hospital per my instructions from the nurse. My sister came over before midnight so she could be here with Zoey if we needed to go suddenly. By 2 am rolled around we felt that we were indeed ready to head to the hospital. I had a goal to go without an epidural this time if I could manage, but by that point in my head I was trying to plan so that I would have the time to get one if things got unmanageable. Once we were at the hospital I was hooked up to the monitors for 30 minutes about and they tracked the contractions and tried to assess how far a long I was at that point. She checked my cervix and found I had only progress maybe a centimeter. The monitor showed the contractions were irregular and with the lack in change physically, the Dr on call and nurse said to go home, have a hot shower or bath and come back when we felt ready or if we were uncomfortable waiting at home. By the time we were at the Truck to head home the contractions were coming in waves and stopped me in my tracks. I told Henry that I had a feeling when they checked my cervix, things sped up. Still, home we went and I tried to mentally prepare for a very long night and day. I scrambled up our stairs once we were home as quickly as I could and laid in bed but that made me feel worse once the contractions hit me again and I told Henry I needed to be in the bath right away. Henry started to draw a hot bath and I jumped in before he had a chance to finish. It was incredible relief. I basked in the water and told Henry to go to bed and rest, assuming this process was going to take hours upon hours. However, within a half an hour I was having trouble staying on top of the contractions, breathing through them wasn't working much anymore and I started pouring more and more hot water into the tub desperate for relief. Henry came in to check on me and I was starting to doubt my ability to hang in there. We agreed to time the next couple contractions and then decide if it was time to head back. But that seemed impossible, we had only been home about 40 minutes. The last two contractions were nightmares that hung on for nearly two minutes a piece, the final one I jumped out of the tub feeling pressure that reminded me too much of the final minutes of labor with Zoey. I got out of the tub quickly thinking to myself it was too late and my water broke and then Henry and knew it was go time. Henry called the ambulance and told my sister to grab all the towels she could and let the paramedics in when they got there. When she asked what was happening, he just said, 'Ashley's having the baby upstairs'.

The pain at that point had really disappeared, I was more focused on the pushing and getting baby out effectively. I'm grateful that I had had the experience of labor and delivery once before since I was able to push and stay in control. While delivering in my bathroom was a new one, what it felt like to push and be in labor was familiar and that was in a way comforting. In perfect timing the paramedics arrived and very calmly sorted themselves out and one took over actually delivering Sylas. Henry was encouraging me the whole time as the shock of what was happening started to hit us. Suddenly I saw him and Henry told me it was a boy (I'm sure I also heard a hint of 'I was right' in there but he swears there wasn't). Henry cut the cord and they cleaned him up and gave him right back to Henry and I. When I got to hold him and look him over the first time it was amazing, I was exhausted but starting to feel normal again already and Sylas was so calm. I started to take in my surroundings and realized how many paramedics were in our house! There were 6 paramedics/firefighters and a stretcher packed in our bathroom and bedroom. I'm sure we'd be the talk of the neighborhood if it had all happened in the daylight. So our adventure started to wrap up as Sylas and I were loaded into the ambulance and our next one began as a family of four.

We were able to come home on Sunday and Henry has a week off so we can all get 'settled' together. Despite the zero sleep we're getting, we feel pretty amazing and are so in love with Sy. Zoey is smitten and loves to count his toes and fingers. She gives him little kisses and talks about Baby Sylas. She's had a few moments where I think she's felt frustrated with splitting our attention, but I think she's doing even better than we hoped!

So welcome precious Sy, it's already as if you've always been here. We love you so <3