Homebirth videos

A couple weeks before the birth I took this video of our bedroom prep...


at 10:15 my water broke.. after a good 16 hours of contractions every 10-15 mins.  Apparently Patty thought I was further along than I was because she told me to lay down and wait until she got there.


Around 1am (Patty checked me, found me at only 3cm, then asked if she could take a nap on our couch:) we decided to double make the bed, check on the pool, and start covering the room with plastic.  Joel was a little paranoid about the potential mess.


4am. Contractions more intense, but not that frequent. Only every 7 minutes.  However, strange things are happening in the Penton household... other than a homebirth, of course.. .


1pm. About an hour and a half after the birth. Mommy nursing Luther, Joel and Patty just finishing some clean up.


The boys say 'hi' to their new brother...

Homebirth of Luther Joseph Penton!

Luther Joseph Penton was born on April 19th, a mere 10 days past his due date.  He was also born at home with a midwife.  Here are some pics to tell the story of his arrival.

 The bed set up.

Other supplies...

More set up...

In pool during contraction.. Patty, my midwife, coaching me through it.

In pool between contractions.. hence the smile :)

No rest for the weary...

 Yeah, there was quite a bit after that. Yelling, crying, praying, sweating, pushing, etc. 

But eventually at 11:45am...

Luther Joseph Penton was born! 

Daddy got to 'catch' baby Luther!  (Although he refused to pull on Luther's head to get his body out.. as I was yelling/instructing him to do) There were more tears and more prayers and HUGE sighs of relief!  

Baby Luther nursed for 45 mins like a champ...

 Then we (Joel and Patty) began clean up...The hose was submerged completely and filled, then one end threw out the window. (white trash? it was clean water at least..)  It siphoned out very quickly and Joel was proud of himself for thinking of this efficient method.

Daddy checks on Luther..

Look at that cone head!

Sweet babe..

After some nursing, cutting cord, and delivering placenta.  Luther was ready to be checked out.  8 lb 1 oz..! Patty predicted "a little guy maybe 7 pounds max" After 30 mins of pushing I knew he was much bigger than Judah was! (he was 6 lb 11 oz and came out in 2 pushes)

Daddy inspects his newest son...

Open eyes..

Joel threw a spaghetti bake in the oven and Joel, Patty and I destroyed it in a matter of minutes.  Nobody had eaten all night or all day.

Patty left around 3pm.. thanks Patty for torturing me.. I mean..getting the baby out safely ;)

After Patty left everyone took a nap...

After that Joel (39 months) and Judah (19 months) came for a visit to meet their new brother with Emily and Whitney (11 months).  That experience was so chaotic and we were so deliriously sleepy that we forgot to take pictures.

Luther got to stay in our bedroom that night but after a few snorts and whines he was moved to the bathroom...

The next day the brothers came over to check out Luther...

They decided that he needed an Easter bunny toy to keep him company...

And Mommy enjoyed breakfast and baby in bed...

Praise the Lord! We are so thankful for little Luther's safe arrival. 

41 weeks...still waiting!

Whew! Past due date again. So thankful Joel is home and able to take care of Joel and Judah all day.

Easter
I thought that since I have time to do things I'd post an update about Easter. This Easter was our first as a family at our own home. Since the next day was my due date we decided not to leave town.  It was super nice and laid back.  We went to church in the morning and then had an indoor egg hunt.



Judah did an incredible job in his room 'hunting' his eggs. Once he discovered there was a jelly bean inside each egg there was no stopping him! After naps and a nice dinner we had our family worship time which included a teaching lesson about Jesus death and resurrection, using 'Resurrection Eggs.'  Joel loved the project, Judah had a hard time sitting through it, no surprise there.



Joel
Joel has finally mastered riding his bike, and has a blast doing it.  It took some perseverance from Daddy (Joel wasn't really motivated to learn, most of the time) but now that he 'has it' he wants to do it all the time!



9th Month of pregnancy quality time spent with Joel 3 is usually on the couch reading books.

Judah
Judah and Daddy have had some fun the past 2 weeks catching up on much needed quality time together. They are like best buds lately.  Daddy enjoys Judah's extreme playfulness and Judah enjoys Daddy's willingness to take him outside all the time:)

Some of Judah's favorite new words are "Haa Maa" for "help me" with arms up in the air (a sign we taught him for help a while ago). "Jaa-do" for Jesus.  "Ahh-bee" for Amen.  His pronunciation is not that great, but he tries to say almost everything now, and usually gets the number of syllables correct :)

What are we doing with ourselves while we wait?
Fun projects, like mulching.

Selling Joel's motorcycle.

and playing outside with our version of a 'water table.'

 

What else is going on as we wait?

As we wait we are challenged and reminded to rely on God for everything.  Our daily family worship sessions have been a huge blessing for me during this time.  As we sing and pray and talk about Jesus together as a family (yes, its short.. 5 minutes? I mean.. Judah is 1.) I am able to refocus on what is important and that produces more patience and an attitude of thankfulness within me.  We are so blessed.