“We were blessed with the arrival of our first born son, Malik Tadeusz Iwanik, Tuesday, December 15th at 9:49 am! We, especially me, were nearly at our wits end, being 11 days post date. There were only a few days left for home birth to stay an option. After having already gotten my membranes swept twice, a weekend of lots of walking, squats, bouncing on the yoga ball, spicy food, skipping steps, and yes, even sex, it was time for more.
That Monday, we went to see our midwife Lynn, for yet another membrane sweep. After that, I received an hour of acupuncture at the clinic, then purchased an herbal tincture to help get my contractions going more regularly and stronger. For good measure, I had some spicy Thai food for dinner, followed by walking laps around our house.
Around 7:30 that evening, it definitely started to feel like I was starting early labor. And at 9:43pm exactly is when Robert started to time them. At that point, average was about 7-8 minutes apart. By 11:30, and closer and harder contractions, we knew this was going to be the night, and around 12:30am, Robert called Lynn. Robert got her up to speed, then she checked back with us less than hour later, and shortly after 2am, she arrived, followed by her assistant/student midwife.
Long story short, after about 12 hours of an increasing physically and emotionally intense labor, it was time to push. And I must have done something good in my life, as I was blessed to only have pushed for about 15 minutes until Malik (all 8lbs. 10oz., and 22″) was born and put into my arms!
Those were the most unforgettable hours of our lives. We were fortunate to have such an incredible support team, and Robert shined as my “coach”!”