Papa’s Birth Story: Ace

I shouldn’t have been that surprised Ace came early; the other three came early. I guess I was hoping for just a couple more days.

That morning, Mary and I visited the Cardston temple. We attended a session, ate dinner in the cafeteria, and headed back to Lethbridge. We arrived home about 16:30, got changed, and picked up the children from my mother-in-law’s.

We drove to Little Caesar’s to pick up six large pizzas for an elders quorum pizza party. We arrived at the church and set things up for the party, which started at 18:30. We had a good time visiting with everyone.

Things started dying down around 20:30, so we started cleaning up. We were the last ones to go, and by the time we got to our van, it was 20:45. As I closed the back door, Mary whispered to me that she thought she was in labour.

After we arrived home, we got the children ready for bed. Once they were all asleep, we cuddled in bed watching an episode of “My Name is Earl” on the laptop. Mary soaked in a hot bath after the show, and I tried to get some sleep afraid of when the baby would arrive.

About 23:30, Sinéad woke up to vomit all over their pillow and sheet. I went downstairs, got them out of bed to clean up and brush their teeth, and I stripped their bed, replacing their bedding with that from the bottom bunk. I put in a load of wash, and tried going back to sleep. For most people, this might not be a problem, but I don’t usually fall asleep quickly.

They got back into bed, but not more than 1.5 hours later, they were at it again. I got out of bed, sent them upstairs to clean up again, and put in a second load of wash. Mary told Sinéad to sleep on the chesterfield in the living room. Initially, I was apprehensive about this because I didn’t want to keep Sinéad up with Mary’s labour.

Again I attempted to sleep, but Mary awakened me about 03:00 Sunday morning to tell me she was transitioning.

She was in the washroom, labouring on the toilet. Every time she had a contraction, she leaned on me. I asked her a few times if she wanted to move to the bed, but she seemed content on staying there. That didn’t bother me too much since that meant I wouldn’t have third set of bedding to change that night.

As labour progressed, Mary switched to standing instead of sitting. It’s harder supporting a standing woman leaning on you than a sitting woman leaning on you. I kept trying to be encouraging by massaging her shoulders and telling her she was doing a great job.

It wasn’t long before the baby’s head started emerging, and within a few short moments, (at 03:38) xe came all the way out. Traditionally, Mary has been on all four when birthing, and I have been the one to catch the babies. With her kneeling, catching the baby was easier for Mary, so we both had our hands in there once Ace came out.

We both noticed ze weren’t a boy at the same time. We worked together to unwrap the cord, which had snaked its way around xyr arms and back like a backpack (like Sinéad’s). It was a short cord, just like Ash’s.

Sinéad had been awake during the labour and hadn’t said anything, but once they heard Ace crying, they poked their head into the washroom. We introduced them to xem, and they went to get Ash, who was stirring. After that little party was done, we went downstairs to get Regan.

Ace nursed wrapped in a towel while the rest of us crowded around to admire the baby who rounded out our family’s number. I phoned my parents to let them know xe had arrived, and Sinéad phoned Mary’s mum. I also posted on Twitter and Facebook announcing the arrival.

After the cord stopped pulsing, I clamped and cut it. I took Ace to the bedroom to put a diaper and sleeper on. Once I got xem to sleep, I took a photo of xem with all xyr siblings.

It was after 5 by the time we all went to bed. We would be up in 4 hours to get ready for church. I didn’t really get that much sleep. Ash was stirring a bit, and Ace was still catching on to this whole nursing thing.

I would’ve been tempted to stay home, but I was scheduled to teach elders quorum that day. Mary’s mum came over to help while we were gone. By the time I and the children arrived home from church, I was beat. I went to bed, where I slept for close to two hours. When I woke, it felt as if it were a brand new day.