Recently updated…
Welcome, Kaiden Jace Crawford!
I couldn’t have been less prepared for what happened today!
It was all so “according to plan” for a little while. I took castor oil this morning, 2 days after my official due date, after my dear friends convinced me. It was wonderful. Contractions started, with NO other side effects, within two hours.
But, as typical with all my other labors, it was slow. I labored from 7 a.m. until 3:50 p.m. with almost all contractions at 10 minutes apart. I didn’t want to get to the hospital and have to walk for hours like I’ve done many times.
Nevertheless, when the first ones jumped to 6 minutes apart, I decided we better go, just because I didn’t want to be too uncomfortable on the ride. We live an hour from the hospital.
Ten minutes from home, however, my water broke. All of a sudden, I jumped to transition, my contractions got crazy painful and started coming closer and closer together. I was so scared. My labor has never progressed that fast.
A few minutes after delivery--THAT is the look of sheer relief.
My husband, though calm, began driving 110 mph (I didn’t know this until later, thank goodness). About 20 minutes out, contractions were now back to back and I was starting to lose control. I told him we better pull over and call an ambulance. This was so not what I had in mind!
But we kept driving and he called the hospital to tell them to be waiting with a wheelchair. Aaron picked me up and put me in the chair and I started asking for an epidural (ha!). My one on-purpose natural delivery had been rather traumatic, and these labor pains were bringing it all back.
The nurses ran with me, got me on the bed (with me saying, “I don’t want to do this!”) and I gave birth in three minutes to our 10 lb. 3 oz. baby boy!
And boy is God good…the cord was around his neck BUT the doctor couldn’t pull it off; it was too tight. So it had to be clamped and cut it before I could finish delivery. Had we been in the car, Aaron wouldn’t have had the tools he needed. I’m so grateful for the Lord’s provision in allowing us to get here in time.
“Whew” is all I have to say right now! And thank you all so much for your prayers. We are all doing really well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ADDITION:
I meant to compare my now-two natural birth stories since my first one was traumatic for me in a different way. Thinking about yesterday’s experience, it’s hard to compare because I was completely unprepared for a natural delivery. It was truly the last thing I expected to happen and so the shock of it all took the forefront in my experience.
Transition was much faster than before so the 45 minutes in the car after my water broke was really the worst part. And I was SO scared of delivering in the car (I keep saying car but we were in my husband’s Ford F-150 truck–bouncing at break-neck speed). I think that fear may have distracted me some from the pain. All accompanied by the awful feeling of sitting in a pool of water, well, it wasn’t fun. (When my water broke Aaron said, “There are some napkins in the glove box.” I almost replied, “Yeah. That’s like handing me a paper towel to sop up the Nile.”)
By the way, our nine-year-old daughter, Avalee, was with us so she got a more exciting experience than any of us intended as well! She was a CHAMP.
Almost the whole L&D staff were waiting on the sidewalk, trying to guess, as each car drove up, if it was “the one.” They told me later how excited they all were for something different and that’s why so many of them came down.
I’m still laughing at myself for asking for an epidural while his head was crowned. I just did NOT want to push without it! At one point when I said, “I don’t want to do this!” for about the fourth time, Aaron sweetly grabbed my face and said, “Honey, listen to me…there’s no turning back. You can do this and you’re gonna do great.” That was when I finally resolved to push.
Pushing was bad, but admittedly not like my other experience. Aaron testified too, that he could tell it wasn’t as painful for me. I felt out of control, but the doctor and nurses assured me that I “did great” and was in more control than they expected given our circumstances.
I did experience, but to a lesser degree, the after-pain and inability to even focus on the fact that I had just given birth. I still prefer the calm (epidural) deliveries (it also helps prevents stitches in many cases) which have allowed me to completely focus on baby without any pain. But that’s my personal thing.
Aside from wanting so much to have my friend and Mom in the room during delivery, I can attest to the blessing of having everything over so quickly. God was so gracious to help us arrive in time and now, snuggling with my sweet new son, my heart is simply, peacefully, overwhelmed.
You guys are the BEST! I have so enjoyed reading your comments. I’m only sorry I can’t reply to them all. What fun to give birth and have such a huge cheering section here. I love you.
Oh, and how fun is this picture? The baby on the left is Kaid’s now-two-year-old brother Jax!
82 comments
Praise God! Congratulations! I am sooo thrilled and my family is rejoicing over the safe delivery of your newest amazing blessing!!! We will continue to pray for you as you recover. Oh, what joyous news! And….it is prompting me to take castor oil tomorrow morning! Thank you so much!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! What a birth story! I prayed and prayed today, not knowing what to pray, but saying, “Lord, You know what’s going on! Just keep Kelly and baby safe!”
I am SO, SO thankful for the Lord’s awesome protection of all of you as you traveled to the hospital, and that you got there in time for Kaiden to be born there so his cord could be clamped and cut before the birth. God truly has all the details worked out ahead of time, and His mercy and provision are beyond amazing!
That is one big baby boy! Forget the newborn onesies — he’s already past those! 😀
Tomorrow night when that super, super moon comes, Kelly, you can sit and look at that moon with your sweet baby in your arms instead of in your belly. 😉
He’s a treasure, and I’m so glad he is here! Love and blessings to your whole family.
Yay! I am so thankful he is here safely! Praise the Lord for His blessings and provisions. I can’t believe what a little chunk he was!! And I love his name. So unique. Blessings to you!
Kelly, Aaron & family,
Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby boy! We have bigger babies too (our biggest was 10 lbs. 3 oz.) and two of them were unintentional natural births–ouch!!
Praise God for His protection and care of Kelly and little Kaiden. What a precious gift and blessing to your family!
By the way, I’ve been reading your blog for several months, and I deeply appreciate your wisdom and insight. Your words are a balm and inspiration. . . Thank you!!!
AWESOME!!! Praise the Lord Almighty for His wonderful works!!! I’m sooooo happy for all of you and thankful that everyone is healthy and fine! Kelly, you look radiant and way too beautiful to just have had a baby– a BIG baby at that! And, he’s so precious! Oh, my heart just rejoices with the wonderful news! Even though we’ve never met, I feel like one of my closest friends just had a baby–I’m that excited! Hope that makes sense. I’ll keep praying and congratulations to you all! Love ya!
Yay! Congratulations! He is adorable!
Congratulations!! I had a 10 pound baby too and the first thing we saw were those chubby cheeks just like the ones your baby has!! It was my all natural unassisted birth and it was the easiest one!!
Oh, I am getting baby envy now! He is so sweet. 🙂
Oh wow, quite a story! You are amazing Kelly, to write the birth story the same day you gave birth! And you look radiant! Gods blessings on you and little Jace! I hope you get lots of time to rest now.
You are a ROCK STAR! So glad you got to the hospital in time. (With so many people praying for you, it wasn’t likely things were going to go badly!) Enjoy your new bundle of joy!!
And a shout out to Aaron for being the knight in shining armor and doing what needed to be done to get you there!
Congratulations! Way to go! 🙂 I’m glad it didn’t take that long. Well, the delivery part anyway! God bless!
WOW!!! Big boy!!! Thank the LORD it all turned out good.
Congratulations! Wow, big boy and natural!!! My 3rd son was born 9 weeks ago 10 pound even and natural. Like you, contractions went from 10 minutes apart to out of control (though I was with my birth team) and baby here before you blink. It was also my quickest recovery. Praying yours goes the same way. Blessings!
Congratulations! What a beautiful picture!
Congratulations Crawford family! Our last two were over 10lb boys. (10 lb. 6oz. And 10 lb. 14oz.) I always look at them in amazement thinking, how did all of you fit inside me??
Congratulations, Kelly and family! What a blessing!!
What a whirlwind! Praise the Lord for your sweet blessing! Already His hand is evident in his life! 🙂 Celebrating with you!
Praise God for his miracles! So happy for you. Last month i delivered our 3rd in the front seat of our Expedition as my husband ran inside the ER to get help. He came out along with ER staff and I was holding our baby girl in my arms! Our first 2 were born via induction and I was 2 days past my due date with this one and didn’t really think I would ever go into labor! My biggest concern on the way to the hospital was like yours…I was afraid there wouldn’t be time for an epidurral. That mindset all came when the pushing came uncontrollably! Our little girl is “Built Ford Tough”! Congratulations to your and your family. Praying for a smooth transition!
Congratulations!
Amazing! Congratulations! Makes me & my wife want to go for a drive to get our second one 🙂
Congratulations! I’m so excited to hear that it all went well and you are now enjoying your baby boy in your arms instead of your womb. I still have 3 weeks until my due date with #10.
Congratulations, Kelly. Tears are in my eyes! I’m so happy for your family.
Congratulations, what a story! He is adorable!
Congratulations!! I guess you successfully avoided all that time walking around the hospital ;). Beautiful baby!
Congratulations!! Praise God for His protection and provision!!! Beautiful story!
WOW!!!! What a delivery! Praise God for allowing you to get there, and for his protection over Kaiden. He’s beautiful…and BIG!
We’re rejoicing with you! Congratulations!
YAY! Awesome story…I had 10-11 lbs. babies, too. But, I am alot bigger than you! Wonderful to see the news of another blessing!
Thank you all so much for your well-wishes and congratulations! I’ve just been able to read through all your comments and it’s such a blessing for you to share in our joy.
Boy, some of you have some great stories too! Good to know so many of you can relate to the frightening experience. I’m still reeling, not believing my day went from slow, uneventful contractions and me thinking I’d be in labor for days, to instant transition. Un. be. liev. able.
I thank you again SO much for your prayers and thoughts. They mean so much!!!
Wow! You look great after just having a baby. I looked like death warmed over…I was not a pretty sight. Congratulation!!!
Congrats! It is wonderful to have another baby, and another boy, so close in age to Jax. Enjoy and rest!
Congratulations! He is so adorable and I’m glad everything turned out so great. 🙂
Congratulations! Thanks be to God for a successful delivery and a healthy baby boy,
The LORD took such good care of you and this precious new baby! Congratulations!!
Kelly, I just read the story of your “on purpose” delivery and would definitely agree that it was different from probably most natural deliveries. I was curious….was this ‘unplanned’ natural delivery less traumatic? Did you have pain afterwards, or did you feel relief? Did you feel elated, or were you too shocked over the quickness of it all? I was just wondering if this one was more like what others describe.
Out of my 10 deliveries, 7 were natural. I had epidurals with numbers 2, 8, and 10 (the last was for medical reasons). All my natural deliveries were pretty textbook, I think. Hard work, but not traumatic (though I’ve had two very traumatic POST birth experiences). However, with my 9th baby, a home birth, the delivery was MUCH harder than the others. Far more painful during the pushing stage, which was unusual for me. Pushing does give me relief, but not that time! I yelled, which I NEVER do!
Anyway, was just curious if this one was different in terms of pain, and how you felt afterwards. You look amazing post-delivery, so I pray that means you were feeling great! 🙂 I know you’re busy loving on your sweet boy, so no rush in answering these questions! 🙂
Candace,
I meant to go back and talk about the comparisons (several people including you have asked 😉 and I’d like to have it documented for me too). So I’ll go back and add a blurb to the post. Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s so interesting to see how different it is for each person.
Congratulations!! What an amazing birth story! He is gorgeous!
YAY! How fun to come back and see the addition to the post! I’m so glad to hear this one wasn’t ‘quite’ as traumatic, and the pushing was at least a little easier….and faster.
I cracked up over the “napkins in the glove box” part! Too funny!!! With our first, we had gone to see a movie on my due date. I was having contractions, but nothing alarming. About three minutes into our drive home, my water broke. I was SO thankful it didn’t happen IN the theater! lol
Thanks for sharing! Precious, precious boy!
Congratulations to you and your family!!! What an incredible blessing. I am so happy to hear things went well even though it wasn’t what you were planning on.
So grateful you both are safe. What an entry! Welcome baby Kaid!!
Congratulations Kelly! I LOVE his name! Glad he arrived safely!
Congrats! What a story! I thought my labors were fast, but yours topped mine and most I’ve heard of! So very thankful for a safe delivery and God’s hand on it all!
Congratulations! I had one like this. Very scary! Have your other babies weighed this much? His cheeks are adorable!
Kaiden looks so snuggly! I love chubby babies!
Congrats! Enjoy your new baby.
Congratulations, Kelly and family. What a story! He is a beautiful little boy. God is good.
In Him
Meredith
Congratulations Kelly and Aaron!!!
Congratulations on your beautiful baby boy! I feel your pain of laboring in the car. My youngest was born in the car in a parking lot on the way to deliver in Tennessee with a midwife. It was an awesome experience, though, so no regrets. Blessings to you!
Oh congratulations, Crawford family!!!!
We are so glad God blessed you with the safe delivery of your new son!
(I’m glad you didn’t find out about the 110 mph until afterward, too.)
I hope and pray that you have a speedy recovery.
Congratulations, again!!
Beware of castor oil… ;-)Congrats, Kelly and family with your little angel boy. I’m proud of you. God bless.
Congrats!! Phew…That was close!!
Congrats!!! He is beautiful :D! My last delivery was a few mins after I got in the ambulance, haha, but that was much better than delivering in our van with a bunch of tools on the floor :P, so I understand the chaos. It was my first natural delivery, and I don’t think I would have champed that out if I had any other option, so I’m actually pretty grateful. Now I know I can do it! I tear the same with an epi or not, but I do prefer getting stitched up with one rather than not :(.
I’m so glad you made it to the hospital in time and that he is plump and healthy :D!!!!
Kelly,
Congratulations! It’s not one of those labor and deliveries you’d ever dream of having, but now that it’s over, it’s a story that will be passed down for many years to come!!!
Try to get some rest! Good job for staying calm!
[…] Now that baby Kaid is here, I will be taking a blogging break for the rest of the summer to adjust, recover, and enjoy my growing family. (If you missed our wild adventure, you can read it here.) […]
Congratulations Kelly!!! What a precious gift your family has been give :-)!!!! Lord Bless baby Kaid and you all.~tammy
brings tears to the eyes. a full quiver…..a covenant baby…..growing the Kingdom…bless God….
Love this birth story!!! I had all 4 of mine naturally, and was very out of control! It HURTS! And I’m a screamer. My second son came very fast, with a tight cord too and I was screaming in the car on a bumpy country road, 45 minutes to hospital, in a VW bug…he was born 15 minutes after arrival. Also, if he had been born in the car he would not have made it. The doctor on call that night was a newly-hired emergency delivery specialist, and cut the cord before I delivered as well. My Landon would not have made it! He had to be resuscitated and taken to NICU and we left the hospital without him, but he is healthy and 8 yrs. old today! All mine came too fast for me to have an epidural, except #1, which I chose to not have one to see what my pain tolerance would be. GOD IS GOOD!! So thankful for your healthy boy!
Hooray!!! Congratulations Kelly, Aaron and Family!
This story brought happy tears to my heart! The Lord is so kind–He gently leads mothers and their young. So very thankful for His protection and strength for you!! What a sweet little man. Soak up these precious newborn days! As if you need reminding… 🙂
So thankful for your beautiful testimony. Thanks for sharing your life with us!! Blessings to you all!
Haha!! Love it and love you!
Congratulations! God is good. What a beautiful little boy you have! He is so sweet. Another blessing!
Kelly, I’m so happy for you. My son was born in the car on the way to the hospital. When my husband called the hospital to let them know we were coming and the baby had been delivered – everyone and their mother was waiting for us. I was the talk of the hospital, probably the town.
I’m so glad you and your family are doing well. I’m overjoyed for you.
God is so amazing.
Jasmine
You’re an amazing lady! When I read your posts, it’s hard to realize it’s from the little 2nd grade girl I taught piano lessons to!
😀 Amazing how life flies by!
Love this and God’s providence at getting you where you needed WHEN you needed it!
My first labor was 42 hours. I planned a home birth, but we ended up delivering in the hospital. I felt like a watched pot and I learned many lessons through that experience, and one was patience with my body and trust in God.
So, when my second was due, I updated the midwives but since my contractions were irregular and far apart, I told them I’d let them know when I needed them. 16 hours into my labor my water broke and things went FAST. In less than 30 minutes I was pushing and my midwives were racing in two directions through parade traffic and construction traffic! My husband caught our second little girl himself with the midwife on the phone. A few minutes later, my mother walked in the door and then the midwives arrived in time to catch the placenta. 🙂 There was a cord wrapped around her neck too, but she sort of somersaulted her way through it on her way out (I’ve read that is an actual maneuver that midwives will use). She was 9 lbs, 12 oz. It was a wonderful ride!
Congratulations!
WoW! You are a champion! I have four precious jewels, all elective caesarians(first for pre-eclamsia, and then the second because of breech presentation, third because of transverse presentation, then fourth because-oh, well! What could I do?? I always read natural birth stories with amazement, and intrigue, labour being something I have never experienced. Congratulations, on your beautiful new boy, and yes!!He looks so much like his older brother! Amazing! My first son, and third son, were exactly alike at birth, and still are. They are just like identical twins seven years apart!
Awww, congratulations!!! He’s beautiful and I love his name!
Seriously Kelly, it should be illegal to look that lovely after just having delivered. Congratulations on a beautiful baby, though. God be praised.
LOL! Well, that is a sweet thing to say. I guess I didn’t have time to mess up my hair and makeup 😀
Congrats on the baby (finally) coming! I’m sure you feel better – and he sure is a cutie! That is the story you will be telling your grandkids & have a big laugh over for years to come. Looking at Kaid & Jax pictures side-by-side there is NO denying he’s yours! You look beautiful especially considering you’d just given birth. Now sit back and enjoy him! We’ll continuing praying as the family adjusts to the new arrival….
I hadn’t been by to read your blog in a while so I just saw that your latest family member finally joined the ranks. What a way to do it, huh? It’ll make a great story for years to come, no doubt.
Congratulations to your family! I hope you are recovering well and having a wonderful time being a new momma all over again.
Thank you, PW! Yes, we’re still reeling from his surprise entrance but enjoying him immensely! It’s amazing how the love for a newborn is so “new” and amazingly strong, no matter how many times I’ve held one.
This is beautiful. God bless you and your beautiful family. Children truly are a gift to us from Him. I’m so happy to read that you really enjoyed your pregnancies and will miss being pregnant. I’ve always said this and my friends all think I’m crazy. We have been blessed with a daughter and twins, boy and girl and I loved every minute of my pregnancies. We are done, however, and I tear up when I see a pregnant woman remembering the wonder of it all.
Enjoy your time with your new addition. 🙂
Congrats and what a birth story you have to tell about your 10th!! Enjoy and happy baby snuggles!!
God bless!
Congratulations, oh how I remember my first child. Id I did not want to sit at the hospital or worse be sent home because I was not “ready”.
When I started spotting my husband was adamant that we GO. God so kept me/us safe as I had a partial detached placenta and had to have emergency c section, my son born 3 hrs later healthy, such an amazing gift to bear a child.
Congratulations, what a beautiful baby! I had my first 2 in hospital with inducement and epidural and my other 2 at home with midwife. There were pros and cons to both, but thankfully my homebirth experience was complication free! Great story, what a praise that you made it there in time.
What a great story. My current baby #8 was also 10 pounds – my biggest. I’ve had most of my babies at home, but this one was in the hospital with an epidural. I totally get your desire for one. This birth was so calm compared to previous experiences where I feel out of control with the pain. Oh well, however they get here, they’re here and wonderful. Enjoy this little one. You already know how fast he will grow up.
Congratulations! Your birth story sounds similar to the birth of my 5th last summer. My contractions were very irregular, but about the time we left for the hospital they started coming very regular and close together. The hospital we were supposed to deliver at is 1.5 hours away. We made it to the small town hospital that is about half way, and I delivered within 5 minutes of arriving. We called ahead so they were ready for us, otherwise the on call doctor would not have been there in time. The ride was pretty intense and I was unintentionally pushing for part of it-I really thought I was going to be delivering in the car. The ability of a woman’s body to birth a baby is amazing-and there is no stopping it!
That does sound similar! You were smarter than I was, Sara. After the fact, neither of us could figure out why it never occurred to us to stop at the hospital about half as close as my hospital. I already knew my doctor wasn’t going to deliver and a stranger was on call, so it wouldn’t really have mattered 😛 Oh well, all’s well that ends well.
Congratulations! Kaiden is beautiful! (I love how like his brother he looks…that is so awesome!) God is good in timing and strength and wonderful husbands who help us do what seems “impossible” at the moment. I’m so happy for you and your wonderful family!
Loved reading your story of your Wild Ride to the hospital! Praising God for His Perfect Timing and your precious new son! He is absolutely Adorable!! Congratulations!
[…] am a busy mom. I just gave birth to my tenth child. I almost had him in the car, but we did slide in on two tires in the nick of time to get me to my room. At home now, juggling […]
Your birth sounded very familiar. One hour from when my water broke until delivery… my husband driving over 110 mph with four young children in the back seat. As soon as the paramedics met us, my children jumped out of the car to go with the “first-responder” strangers. The helicopter came out of the sky and I refused! Then the ambulance arrived and our 5th came into the world about 2 minutes later in the parking lot of a restaurant. Thank the Lord it was in the middle of the night!
[…] After heading toward the hospital Sunday night around 11, contractions let up and we turned around and came home, grabbing a few hours of sleep and then heading back around 3:30 am. (Deciding when to go was tortuous for me this time because of my last crazy birth adventure.) […]