Baby Birth Story of Enceladus!

Hi everybody!  My oh my, do I have someone who wants to meet you all.  She’s my new BFF.    Won’t you all say hello to Enceladus?
Full Name: Enceladus Seven Reed Rader,  Born: 11:53PM on July 2,  Weight: 7 pounds, 4 oz,  Personality: Feisty and Silly

Everyone asks about her name, Enceladus, so I’ll save you the trouble of googling! 🙂  She’s named after a moon on Saturn.  You pronounce it En-Sell-Ah-Dus.
Her middle name is Seven because she’s our 7th baby (we’ve had 6 cats prior).  We really wanted to include our Meowza family in her name somehow since they’re so special to us.
She has 2 last names, Reed Rader, because it’s always made sense to us that Baby should have both names.

At 5 days old she was already helping her Mom bake her first batch of cookies, one handed.  She lost a sock along the way, but don’t worry, it didn’t land in the cookie batter. She’s a natural.

Below is her birth story – hope you enjoy reading!

My labor with her was quick.  In the same hour we arrived at the hospital and gave birth!

SUMMARY: Went to the beach on Sunday, July 2. Started having contractions at 8PM. Arrived at the hospital at 11PM. Had Enceladus at 11:53PM.

Long Version: (I wrote this for Facebook originally so apologies on caps/bad sentence structure!)
Sunday, we went to the beach with friends. I was feeling fine. At that time I was 39 weeks, and never experienced a contraction. We left the beach and drove home, at around 6PM I experienced what I thought could be a light contraction in the car, but brushed it off as I wasn’t really sure. We got home, we made tacos at 8PM and I did laundry. Then suddenly I started to feel contractions, I knew it was them. We started timing them and they were all over the place, 8-12 minutes apart. We ate tacos. Contractions started to get really strong, I had to sit on the floor, go on all 4’s, etc. I laid down in the bedroom and was like “holy shit, these are really intense”. We continued timing them, they were still all over, but I was feeling them BAD. Matthew said we should call the hospital, even though they weren’t 4 minutes apart, as they seemed intense and like they were getting quicker. I called, they said I was probably ok, not in full labor, just a worried First Time Mom, but I could come in if I wanted to. So we decided to go in because again, they were much more intense then I thought contractions were going to feel like. I finished packing my bag, thinking they might admit me. I was prepped with a cute labor gown, my birthing ball, endless papers of birth plans and relaxation techniques, I imagined I’d be in labor for at least 12 hours at the hospital – we were prepped. We drove to the hospital, and arrived at 11PM. Matthew headed to park the car in the garage, as I was wheeled up to the labor unit. By this time I was in pain and just yelling out without a care. At the front desk, they needed me to fill out papers for insurance, and I said “I”m going on the floor” and just dropped to the floor in contractions. At this time everyone pretty much still thinks I’m a over reacting First Time Mom. They took me back to Triage to see if they could admit me. Matthew arrived. They asked me to climb up on the bed, I did, I had a big contraction, rolled on my side, banged on the wall and yelled “FUCK FUCK FUCK”. Immediately my water broke all over the table. ALL the nurses quickly realized that ok, maybe I was actually in full labor. They quickly examined me, 10 +1 CM DILATED! OMG. They quickly wheeled me over a few rooms to the labor unit, rolled me onto a new bed, told me the Doctor was on their way and not to PUSH. I WAS HAVING A BABY RIGHT NOW. I told Matthew I was going to die about 24 times while contractions continued. He told me I wasn’t, held my hand, put ice in my mouth, told me cat and family stories while I just continued to feel things that I never experienced in my life. DR arrived 5 minutes later. They said OK THIS IS IT. 10 minutes later, Enceladus was born.

For some perspective, I ate tacos at 8PM. I arrived at the hospital at 11PM. I had Enceladus at 11:53PM. Although my birth plan went completely out the window, I did get to give birth completely natural, unmedicated and the nurses all declared me a boss. Fun Sunday night times.

Enjoy these photos that will walk you through that magical evening.

6 hours before we would become Mama and Papa at the beach.

This is the drive to the hospital. We might be feeling different things.

SUDDENLY THERES A BABY!

HOLLA! I had a baby!

HOLLA! We had a baby.

7 pounds, 4 oz.

Immediate skin to skin.

This is my placenta.

9 hours after giving birth. Donut, Baby, Shudder the Ghost.

Dad doing skin to skin.

Baby lips.

More Dad skin to skin.

Tuesday morning, getting ready to leave the hospital!

Enceladus’s first car ride home!

Enceladus’s first trip involves going over the Brooklyln Bridge, lucky girl!

Welcome home Enceladus!

The cats all had to take a peek at her when she arrived home.  They all love her so much!
Goblin is going to be a great big brother.

And Toes is going to be a wonderful big sister!  Toes stays up with us every single night during feedings.

And Xanadu is her Night Nurse.

The last week has been beautiful and tiring.  We are trying to figure out how to juggle everything as our lives change forever.   Stick with me if posting is a little slower for a bit.   In return I will give you cute photos of her feet.  Can you handle how cute they are?

<3
Pamela and Enceladus