Welcome to the World, Donovan James Potter

This is the unedited version of Donovan's birth. It is the best birth ever!

Let's start with how wonderfully obedient Van is. I had a few wishes for how and when Baby #3 would arrive. Because Oliver and Ruth are exactly 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days apart I hoped I'd go past due date (July 29th) and deliver on August 1 so that Ruth and Baby #3 would also be exactly 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days apart. First wish granted!

For my second wish, I prayed that I'd be able to have a good night's rest and a good meal before having to labor. So on July 31st I went to visit with Dr. Chalmers and he swept the membranes and said he'd plan to see us sometime that night. Made me nervous that I'd deliver within a few hours of my hoped-for birth date; and that I'd have a terrible middle of the night labor, which would be exhausting. I still had Laura Callahan (friend/doula) come over to rub my feet and do some visualizations and affirmations with me. Chris and I went on a walk. And Staci Davies came over to take some pictures. She offered to photograph the birth and wanted to come take some pictures of our family the night before to tell the whole birth story. It was a calm, but exciting night thinking that I could go into labor at any minute. Chris and I went to bed that night expecting to wake up to broken waters. I'm not sure if I was relieved or disappointed when I woke up the next morning and saw I was still pregnant. I told Chris that I was gonna do everything possible to have a baby that day! I put on my work out clothes and was gearing up to go for a strenuous walk. I needed breakfast first though and while eating my granola, at 7:45, I noticed my first contraction! Wish granted!

  

Lastly, I wished for a quick labor! Haha! Be careful what you wish for! ;) 

At 8:00 I noticed that I'd had maybe 3 contractions in the last 15 minutes, so I started to sound the alarm. I told Chris, called my mom, Linda, Marietta, Laura, Diana, and Syndi. I made the kids breakfast and Chris was getting ready to go to a 9:00 meeting (which he didn't). We asked Linda to come over and watch the kids so that Chris and I could labor uninterrupted. When she arrived I said, "Oh, good! You're here. I'm gonna go get in the tub and try to relax so I can get these contractions to slow down." I was so busy with phone calls and breakfast that I wasn't really keeping track of the frequency. But they were strong enough that I would have to stop and breath through them, focusing on relaxing every muscle to make each contraction more efficient. I left a voicemail with Syndi that made her just laugh later, cause I totally paused for 30 seconds and breathed into the phone! Chris came to check on me in the tub and he timed contractions. When he realized the contractions were every 3 minutes, he cancelled his meeting and started to focus on getting packed to go. I needed his help with everything from this point on. He helped me to our bed, get dressed, he even put deodorant on me. I wished he could do more rubbing and pressure points to help me with the pain. But he had to pack and get me ready. So we called Laura over to come help. She got here quick. I told her that I was not doing well. That I felt like I needed to throw up and poop at the same time. Laura recognized that as transition (the most intense, shortest stage of labor right before pushing). She said it was time to go! And we fully agreed! It was just PAINFUL to move!

Laura found me a shirt, no bra. Chris ran around the place loading the bags and carseat and got the air conditioning going in the car. Laura walked me out the door. I remember telling Oliver and Ruth I love them while they were playing with Grandma downstairs. I told Linda thank you and we'd see her soon at the hospital. We were still trying to find someone to replace her at the house with Oli & Ruth. I was going to grab some flip flops by the back door, but a contraction hit again and then shoes didn't really seem important. No bra, no shoes. Fell into the back seat of our Honda Accord and laid my head down on a dirty beach towel - Chris thought he was supposed to bring it because it was thrown into the baby car seat by one of the kids. Glad we had it. 

I remember every little bump and turn leaving our house. Laura was sitting on the floor in the back seat with me, awkwardly pushing on my knees during contractions. I felt like we were stopping at every single red light down Sunset Blvd. I told her I was afraid I'd have to walk right in and get an epidural. She replied, "This is the hardest it's gonna get." Which finally clued me in to what she already knew. I was in transition! It was at the corner of Sunset and Bluff Street that I announced, "Shoot, Guys! We're Really Gonna Have a Baby in the Car!"

I'm told that Chris looked at Laura terrified. Laura said, "You're not crowning unless you feel burning." And she talked so calmly the entire time! I couldn't believe that this was actually happening to us! But it was burning! I wanted to push so bad! There were two things stopping me though. I was afraid of the mess in the car - that Chris would be mad about it. Then I was bummed out that I wasn't going to have that peaceful, serene atmosphere that I create at the hospital with my sisters and friends there. I frantically yelled, "I feel burning!" Laura calmly assured me, "You don't need a hospital to have your baby. You can push if you want to." She's right. I want to push so bad! I could have a baby behind a handcart!

Chris really sped up! I heard him call Labor and Delivery to tell them we were on our way and to meet us in the parking lot. I watched the trees in the window whip by and listened to Chris change gears like a pro driver! I was so impressed with his driving skills and calling L&D at the same time. I never thought his race car skills would come in so handy! He seemed so calm and in control. This is probably the most fun thing in the world to Chris. I think he's actually loving speeding through town like a race car driver! He was the most anxious one in the car though. The thought of having to move out of the car and into a hospital made me wanna cry. So I was happy to be pushing. Chris said his heart rate has never been higher! And when we reflect on the event he said he'd never wanna do it again! 

While all these thoughts were going on, I pushed. I started pushing somewhere along Bluff Street. I'm pretty sure I only pushed 5 times before the baby was out. After the second push, I yelled at Laura to take my pants off. She assured me, she could see Baby's head and asked for my beach towel. Chris pulled into the parking lot, parked crooked in front of the doors, and then honked the horn and ran in to get the nurses. Laura called him back, "Chris, come catch your baby." That would be so cool. She sat there ready to catch the past few minutes though and I know she was excited to do it too. The nurses ran out fast with a kit and clean towels. Chris felt more comfortable with their clean towels and experience and let them take over. They got there just in time to catch! What just happened???

Because most everyone finds out the gender these days, they didn't announce it so quickly! Chris was holding my upper body, shaking, and laughing, "It's a boy!" 

"No way!" I started to laugh and cry! I held my little baby boy! I knew immediately that he was perfect for our family. I wanted a little girl, I was certain we were going to have a little girl. But I knew that we needed another little boy in our family! And I looked at him and knew he was healthy and strong, he just looked better than the last 2 babies. "What time is it?" I asked everyone. "9:49 on my phone," Laura said. Only 2 hours of labor? Wow! I had about 30 seconds to stare at him and have a peaceful moment holding him. Then I looked up and realized that we were in the back of the car! Oh my gosh! I'm naked in a parking lot! And I'm still in labor! 

Chris cut the umbilical cord. The snip shot some blood that ended up being the only mess in the car. Seriously! I'm guessing my bag of waters ruptured when I went to bathroom an hour or so prior. So the nurses hoisted me into a wheelchair and pushed me inside. They covered me with towels, one of which contained my side of the umbilical cord and they had me hold it. Chris walked in carrying our baby. They put me on a delivery bed and I immediately delivered the placenta - there was the mess! That was fortunate to not have to clean up later! 

Our baby boy was 8 pounds 4 ounces. My biggest baby, but definitely the easiest to get out. Chris sent a text message to family. Both our moms thought he was totally joking when he said Baby was here already. Linda had just said good-bye to us 10 minutes ago! So he included a picture and sent it again. They still didn't believe him. Van nursed perfectly for a long while in the L and D room. Diana was on her way there when we called earlier, so she was our first visitor. And then Bill came to meet the baby too.

But our most important visitors were Oliver and Ruth. Linda brought them over within a couple hours of birth. They walked into a fairly dark room. Baby was crying from just being bathed. His face was still pretty puffy from what he had just gone through. And the room wasn't really intended for visitors. So I understand why Oliver and Ruth walked in totally nervous and weirded out. When Ruth looked at her baby brother, her face said it all! He doesn't look at all like my baby dolls! Oliver didn't wanna look at him or hold him. He was nervous from all the crying and everyone watching him. I appreciated Laura being in tune with the kids and talked to Oliver about some of the things that were happening and why the baby was crying.  I asked both of the kids to sit by me on the bed and I held the baby. It didn't take long for both kids to discover the buttons on the bed though. And I was in loads pain and didn't want them moving me up and down at all. So I gave them both some love and sent them home. We were hopeful to go home that very same day, so I figured we could visit all together soon enough. The hospital stay was uneventful. I loved having visitors. Baby and I were so tired that we didn't nurse as much as the staff wanted us too, so I stayed one night. Chris didn't stay the night so that he could help out his mom at our house.

One goal we had was to have a name decided on before we left the hospital. We weren't as prepared with a boy name because we thought we were having a girl. It was Beatrice Capri Potter. We'll save it for later, I guess. My criteria for a perfect name kept dwindling while we negotiated. I wanted a three syllable, family name, that was easy to spell and helped out our family acronym, R.O.C.K. Chris and I decided to name him Edvin. Chris went home and told the kids that their baby brother's name is Eddie. Oliver lit up cause his favorite elf cookie is named Fast Eddie! I messaged my parents with the name. We were set on it! But when Chris came back in the morning to pick us up, he admitted he didn't like it and couldn't do it. Haha! I agreed. We went back to our list and decided Donovan was perfect! I insisted on Van being the nickname, and he is NEVER to be called Donny! Van had a nice rockstar feel to it, but Donovan seemed to match our super-British name theme. We talked about naming him a car name, it was tempting. August Rush, Astin Martin, Accord... We abandoned that idea, but ironically ended up with Van, like a Minivan! Which happens to be my dream car! Practical, dependable, awesome! Just like this baby! The name Donovan means little dark prince, and it's Irish. Van the Man! Vanna Banana! and Vanny are popular with Oli and Ruth.
http://www.ohbabynames.com/meaning/name/donovan/1401#.VBIGn5RdUmw

Welcome to the world, Donovan James Potter! Donovan-because we liked it. James-after my dad. 3 syllables, family name, Van is easy to spell, and I guess I'll give up on my acronym. ;)

Van has proven to be a 3rd child dream! Chris and I knew he would be ;) since we're both 3rd children also. He is our easiest baby and we've been able to take him along with us on lots of activities. He nurses great, sleeps great, has good digestion. What more could a mother ask for? He and I are both healthy and happy! Oliver and Ruth had a tough time for a month or so and really acted out. But now that school's going and Ruth's involved in a few classes, they seem to understand that there's enough love and attention for everyone. They both get in trouble for kissing and hugging their baby Van too much. It's very hard to rock Van to sleep when Ruth's around. She likes to be a helper. Oliver sings made-up lullabies to him. There are times throughout the day that I have glimpses of Heaven on Earth. Then 10 minutes later, chaos resumes! Haha! It's wild and fun and messy and lovely!

Van will be blessed on November 2nd.

Cute little Van!