Quillan has been an active boy right from the start. I felt him earlier than any of the others and he literally hasn’t stopped since. Most especially around 11pm every night. Yes, every night. Let’s see how his first time out of the womb proceeds in that regard!

I really wanted our baby to be born as close to May as possible. Preferably in May. But this little guy had a different plan. First, on Saturday, we were at the temple and I have to wonder if this pushed him to come sooner rather than later. I know, not necessarily so, but with Aoibheann, it was similar. I went into labour with her the night after we were at the temple. I don’t know if it is wise for me to go to the temple so close to my due date! These babies get excited about coming asap, or something!

Sunday was a long day. I am in the stake primary and we had a ward conference. So I was there for the first three hours and then went to our ward. It was fine. I was a bit tired, but no more than usual. About an hour after church ended, I felt my first sensation. I wondered if I might be mistaken, but I know what it feels like and that gave me the first indication things might happen that night. I did have a prayer asking Heavenly Father to please hold it off for another few days or more, but no, baby wasn’t listening to any of that and as we know, babies are the ones who decide when to be born. I think he has a very determined little mind and knows what he wants. It’s just a feeling I get from him.

The next several hours I had intermittent sensations, nothing very strong, but I had an urgency to get some last minute things done, even though it was Sunday. We put the children to work, making sure things were cleaned and tidied and laundry was switched. Kim made supper, and for dessert they had ice cream with whipping cream and pineapple and I purloined a few of those pineapple slices. Pineapple is great for labour. Or can be!

I ran myself a bath and relaxed in the tub, ate some food Kim made for me. He was getting excited, me, I was just resigned, at first. Yes, I do know about going with the flow, even with timing!

Labour was honestly not hard at all, although I could feel things happening, baby was moving down. Although I had to breathe slowly as time progressed, it wasn’t so intense that I could figure out how close birth was.

Either way, we got the kitchen cleaned up (well, they did, not me) and I got out birth supplies, and the car seat (yet to be taken out of the box). Kim waited to install it after the children were in bed.

I quietly told Sinéad that I was in labour, just to kind of prepare her. I wasn’t telling the others though because they wouldn’t be able to sleep. Into bed they went and I continued doing things to get ready. Yes, that included email and facebook.

It was still pretty intermittent as midnight came close. Thinking about Aoibheann’s labour, I wondered if this baby would arrive before midnight. That would have been special since yesterday was Earth Day. The sensations did start to increase and I didn’t even attempt to sleep. Kim had a lesson to prepare and I expected, or rather, told him, to get some rest, but he didn’t want to, since last time I was not sure I would be able to rouse him since Sinéad had been upstairs sleeping on the couch and I didn’t want to holler for him. So he wanted to stay up.

I spent most of the time in the bathroom, once more. Sitting on the toilet really helped and well, as many mothers can attest too, sometimes it’s just handy. I had had bloody show earlier, and that was continuing. Along with other things happening! At one point (and I know I was in transition), I felt the need to get in the shower. I was wishing I had been more proactive in getting birthing pool. Next time, for sure. The shower really helped. I breathed through the sensations, and as they got stronger, I could feel myself shaking, knowing I was in transition. Kim gave me a shoulder massage and let me lean on him. I got out and laboured on the toilet some more and then towards the end, felt the need to get back into the shower. This was well after midnight at this point. Kim came in with me, since I did promise him he could catch this time. Last time I got to, even though he did catch the first three! However, he came into the shower, I leaned on him, as the sensations started increasing, one barely finished before the next one started. I had earlier taken some extra calcium and more Polly Block formula (didn’t see the need to stint on it since I was about to birth this baby!).

It was after 1 am on Monday morning and though the head was getting much lower, it hadn’t crowned quite yet. A few more intense sensations, that I moaned and breathed through, then I had a strong urge to push. Initially I felt I should hold back, but I really felt the need to birth this baby, and with a strong but careful push, he was born quite quickly. Kim was sitting cross-legged in the tub and he caught him as he came out. The cord was around his next, but looped easily and we had to just flip him around (gently, of course) especially since it was again, another short cord! He cried right away; I don’t think he liked that turn of events! Kim saw that we had our Quillan! I took a few moments and  got out of the tub to sit on the toilet. I was feeling quite good, not weak at all, in spite of the blood. Floradix is awesome.

I sat on the toilet, Kim handed me a towel to cover Quillan with (Good thing. He doesn’t like being uncovered). Kim woke up the children and let them know they had a new baby brother. All were extremely thrilled with that, mostly Regan, who has been wanting a brother for awhile. Quillan nursed within a few minutes and was very alert. All my others went to sleep right after birth.

Another 45 minutes or so and the placenta was born with the cord still attached. About 50 minutes after the birth, Kim tied and cut the cord, although I was fine with waiting longer. He took Quillan to weigh and measure him and take some pictures and I cleaned myself up a bit. The children phoned their grandparents to let them know. I took some shepherd’s purse in tincture form with water, to help with the bleeding while I was awaiting the birth of the placenta. It’s certainly helped.

Now, this is our fifth planned unassisted birth and I am 41 years old. I know that many would put me as ‘high risk’ because of my age. This birth was easier than any of the others, although it was still hard work and there was intensity. I did exercise and ate pretty well, taking care of my health. However, I want to emphasise that age doesn’t have to be a deterrent to a beautiful, intervention-free birth. I am so blessed and my experience was made more enjoyable because of the wonderful support of my amazing husband. He gave me a blessing early in labour and promised me an enjoyable labour and birth. Or rather, the Lord did. It was pretty enjoyable. I can’t complain. Using the hypnobirthing techniques I have learned (to a degree), working with the process and taking the needed supplements during pregnancy also contributed to a good experience.

Read Kim’s version.

I’m starting to think going to the temple is a labour inducer.

The day Mary went into labour with Aoibheann, she and I had gone to the temple. With Quillan, who was born early yesterday morning, we had gone to the temple the day before (actually, one of the things we did there was have the marriage of my great great grandparents sealed for time and all eternity; they had immigrated to Canada from Austria).

Shortly after I started supper, Mary came to me with a feeling she might be going into labour soon. A few minutes later, she came back to confirm it. After supper, we had the children clean up the house a bit (do dishes, sweep, put away laundry, etc), then we sent them to bed. I knew I was teaching seminary the next morning, so I prepared my lesson after they went to bed. I wanted to get that finished early.

Labour progressed fairly slowly and it was less uncomfortable for Mary than the other labours. Around 23:00, Mary started spending more time in the washroom. She would have a hot bath, walk around some, and so forth. Within the hour, labour started to pick up more, and she knew it would be a standing birth (like Aoibheann).

Mary leaned on me for support as she switched from standing to squatting, but then eventually moved into the tub for a hot shower. About 01:00 or so, she asked me to join her in the shower, and I did. She leaned on me, and I massaged her back and shoulders. As she felt the baby descending, I sat on the tub floor to catch. It is very uncomfortable to sit in a tub while another person is in it trying to stand with legs apart to birth a baby, but we somehow managed our impromptu game of Twister.

About 01:35, Mary felt a sudden urge to push. One moment, I see no sign of him, and the next moment, opps, there he is. I placed one hand behind his neck and shoulders, and the other under his bum. I felt a bump in the latter hand, and I had a sudden thought that he could be a boy (our last two were girls, and we had only one boy). I turned him and confirmed he was a boy.

He was healthy, pink, and screaming. He had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, so I simply lifted it over his head, and handed him to Mary.

She sat with him on the toilet while she waited for the placenta to come out and nursed him almost immediately. He was our earliest nurser. I dried off, got dressed, and woke up the other children to come see their baby brother. They were all pretty excited.

After the placenta came out, we cut and clamped the umbilical cord, and I took him to the bedroom to clean him up (he had already passed meconium), and get him dressed. After the excited settled down a bit, we sent everyone back to bed, and I got a couple of hours sleep before having to get up to go teach.

Quillan is a healthy baby boy, and we are happy to have him in our lives.

Read Mary’s version.

Quillan Max Lamoni Siever was born at 01:35 on 23 April 2012. He weighed 3.03 kg and measured 47 cm long. His head was 33 cm.

Well, it has been an eventful year for us and in a good way, at least as the future approaches.

Earlier this year, Kim finally decided he couldn’t stay at H & R Transport. As much as he enjoyed working with his drivers, it was difficult in other areas, not least of which was the inability to attend church each Sunday. You don’t realise what a privilege it is to worship on the Sabbath day until that is taken from you. Viewing General Conference in April of this past year really emphasised the fact that he needed to leave and do something else. After some soul searching, he realised the first step was to finish his degree at the university. Well, to make a long story short, that is exactly what he is doing, finishing is Bachelor of Arts. After that, he will continue on to doing his master’s degree. In total, this will take 3 years. He is a fourth-year student and by the end of 2012 (or maybe the spring of 2013) should officially be able to have his degree!

He worked part time during the summer for someone in our ward, in her immigration company (helping to process immigration applications), Frontera, but got a job with a company he had applied to several months ago, doing exactly what he loves doing: communications. The company is Truehope Nutritional Support and that makes me happier than anything. This company sells a nutritional supplement that has helped so many people who struggle with mental issues. He feels blessed he is in an industry that really helps people and I am happy he is able to do it in an ethical way that I agree with since nutrition is so important to me. The company itself is so wonderful too, very supportive of its employees as well as its customers. You couldn’t ask for a better employer. His direct boss is just amazing too. I don’t say that lightly.

Kim continues as the ward executive secretary, but he also got a stake calling as a substitute seminary teacher. Pretty much every week so far he has taught a class. There are many here in Lethbridge and they are all early morning classes and even though Kim is not in any way, shape or form a morning person, he loves teaching the classes and doesn’t complain about getting up that early. Hopefully he is making some small difference for some students.

Sinéad turned 12 last January 12 and became a young woman. Well, she was already one, but she became an official Young Woman and though at first she thought she didn’t want to leave Primary, she was excited to start her newest journey. Setting goals and participating with the other young women has been a real joy for her. She is in grade 8 and yes, still homeschooling and doing really well in her studies. She has quite the head for math as she starts algebra more vociferously, has started to develop a better interest in writing as she does more of it and of course is the avid reader she has always been. She can’t wait to be 13 in a couple of weeks. She is still playing the violin and has gone back to sewing lessons. She would like to pursue gymnastics more seriously and has taken steps to continue that interest too. She is teaching herself how to play the piano.

Regan had his 10th birthday on April 9 and continues to develop his interests and skills. He plays the guitar quite well and is in grade 5. He still loves Cubs and has his wonderful Akela to thank for making it such an awesome learning experience. He is full of energy and enthusiasm and has developed a strong interest in cartooning, mainly with the Manga model (I learned something new, too). He loves the library and I would like to say that it was because of the books but it’s mainly because he can have more computer time than he gets at home. That said, he still gets lots of books out and though he would rather read graphic novels, he does read other books with not so many pictures and finds he enjoys them quite well, even classics.
He just has to be directed in that way.

Aisling turned 6 this year, September 29, and she is a busy, intelligent little girl. She started grade 1 officially and is a whiz at all her school work. She loves to print and do math and though reading so far isn’t her favourite thing, she is learning it well and I anticipate that once she feels completely adept at it, she will take off with it. She is learning it very well anyway and is advancing in all her learning. She started learning Spanish with a lovely woman from Mexico (who has lived here in Lethbridge for the last several years, I have known her since Sinéad was a baby) who teaches the children in a fun and innovative way. Aisling is in her element. She also started back with piano lessons, and along with the other two she goes to the YMCA for sports and swimming classes. She’s a little fish in the water. She is in ballet each week and is a terrific big sister to her little sister and very patient and loving with her which is helpful to me. Another favourite activity is playing lego with her brother (and younger sister).

Aoibheann turned 2 on March 1. Her birthday party turned out to be a bit of an event as, due to her love of ducks, I thought it would be cute to get duck candles I saw at Bulk Barn. In theory, that was a good idea; in reality, it was a different story. The problem with it was that the candles had to be lit. This rather traumatised Aoibheann and she wouldn’t have anything to do with them as the flaming candles made their way to her on the cake. I wish I had a video camera to have filmed it. Other than that she excitedly turned 2, loves nursery at church (talks about it regularly during the week) and speaks so well for her age. She has quite the understanding too, adores her big sister Aisling and wants to do everything she does, right down to taking over her school work (which necessitates me keeping her busy with her own ‘school’ right beside her sister). She is excited to turn 3 in a couple of months and looks forward to starting swimming lessons when she does so. She still loves ducks, but also loves her dolls. Both she and Aisling often play pretend with their dress up clothes.

Now as for me, it’s the same old. We have our homeschool supply business that is chugging along, no not making us any money, but hopefully one day it will. In the meantime I enjoy providing homeschool supplies more locally for people. I also love homeschooling my children and excitedly look forward to the coming year. I continue to run and probably will start training for a half marathon in the next year or so. In the meantime we are expecting number 5 in mid- spring and so my pregnancy forestalls any planning for a major race. Kim and Regan REALLY want a boy as they feel outnumbered, but either way we will be happy with whoever comes, Quillan or Siobhán.

We have had family visit us a few times this year, Kim’s parents a couple of times and most recently for Christmas. My dad stayed a couple of days when my brother Sam moved back to Lethbridge. Always wonderful!

The wish from our family to yours is that you had a very Merry Christmas and that 2012 is all you want it to be!

Love, the Sievers: Kim, Mary, Sinéad, Regan, Aisling, Aoibheann, and active belly baby.

We finished up filming today. I am glad that’s done, but I enjoyed it. I look forward to the final projects.