My Home Birth By the Numbers

  • 6:34am: the time Harvey was born
  • 4 hours: amount of time that passed from the 1st contraction I timed until Harvey was born
  • 15 minutes: how long I pushed (as opposed to 2 hrs with Stella!)
  • 7: # of contractions I pushed through (according to my midwife – I don’t remember this at all!)
  • 5: # of people in the room when Harvey was born (Charlie, myself, the midwife, his assistant, & the photographer)
  • 0: # of stitches I needed (I had just one tiny tear)
  • 30 minutes: amount of time that passed before I delivered the placenta
  • 40 minutes: amount of time that passed before Stella woke up and came downstairs to meet her baby brother
  • 45 minutes: amount of time that passed before we cut the cord because it had quit pulsing
  • 1 hour: amount of time that passed postpartum before I remembered to latch Harvey on to breastfeed!
  • < 48 hours: amount of time that passed before my milk came in
  • 4 hrs 15 minutes: total amount of time my midwife & his birth assistant were at our house that morning
  • 38 degrees: the unseasonably warm temperature for the mountains in Colorado that morning at 3:45am when our midwife arrived
  • 3: the number of home visit checkups my midwife did in our first week postpartum
  • 9 & 10: Harvey’s apgar scores
  • 9#5oz: Harvey’s weight (4220g – he was already up to 4230g at 6.5 days old!)
  • 21.5″: Harvey’s length
  • 14.5″: Harvey’s head circumference
  • 20.3#: amount of weight I gained this pregnancy
  • 10 days: amount of time it took me to lose 19.9# (I lost 12.6# in the first 12 hours)
  • 8: # of times we filled the birthing tub over 4 weeks to make sure it’d be ready to go
  • 0: # of times we regretted having it filled & ready to go 🙂
  • 10: # of guests we had the first day at our house – all family and very close friends
  • 2: # of amazing kids I now have

Elk Run_10

21 comments

  1. That pic is just beautiful!

  2. Love this! Such awesome info to have to look back on. And…yay for no/very small tear!

  3. That is just about the sweetest picture ever.

  4. Love this!

    Less than 48 hours for your milk to come in is awesome! Did it come in fast before? What do you think allowed it to come in so soon? Or is that normal? It took me 4 days but I know I did some things wrong like allowing Ben to bottle feed because I had not slept in 3 days.

    1. It took about 72 hours last time. Anytime between 2-5 days postpartum is when most people’s milk comes in I believe. I nurse on demand too, so sometimes he was nursing every hour-two in the beginning, which helps stimulate your milk to come in. Now he generally nurses every 2-3 hours, though it’s still sometimes every hour in the early evening (6-9pm).

      1. mcmissis · · Reply

        A friend if mine who was an L&D nurse told me once that the like 16-year-olds who come in and have a baby get their milk in in like 12 hours… since biologically/evolutionarily/whatever that’s when we’re supposed to be having babies. I thought it was really interesting. Mine came in about 2-3 days with both girls so far. We’ll see with Poppy.

        1. Thats very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

  5. Very interesting. Some of these numbers are similar to my birth with Gracie and some with Lyla. Only 20lbs and you’ve lost it all already?????? Um, not even close to any of my numbers with any of the girls 🙂

    1. You started out much smaller than me though!! Both of my girlfriends here that are pregnant have gained around 40# — but both start out at size 4/6s instead of a size 10 like me. Makes a big difference! I still have another 10-15# I’d like to lose!

      1. Esperanza · · Reply

        Um, I’m a size 8/10 and I gained 40lbs and I still have 15lbs to lose. My weight loss hasn’t budged in two months and I doubt it will until I stop breastfeeding. 🙁

        1. Yeah, I’d guess that’s a much more common amount of weight to gain. I have no idea why mine plateaued and stayed around 20# this time. I guess with no empty alcohol calories (I’m a huge lover of my beer – definitely a big part of my weight struggles when I’m not pregnant) and horrid heartburn (making me afraid to eat much at a time ever), it just stayed in check this time. You’ll lose the rest soon enough. Some people can never lose that last 15# until they’re done breastfeeding!

  6. Oh wow, this is so neat!! 🙂 And that is awesome about the weight loss already!! That is what happened to me with Lids but this time I am worried because I have gained 5lbs already at 10 weeks!! AHH!

    That photo is beautiful!!

  7. I love numbers! So cool to see all this written out. And very sweet picture- thrilled for you 🙂

  8. Interesting stats! 🙂 The labor and delivery time sounds very similar to mine with baby #3 🙂

    I gain about 27-30 lbs each time, but my boys I carried alot lower and smaller than my daughter. I started out at almost 5’9″ and 128-130 lbs (about a size 4) and I have such a long torso I think it hides it a little more. I lose most of it but that last 8 lbs I have a hard time losing til I wean around a year (you know milk supply and all that haha)

  9. Esperanza · · Reply

    Oh those pigtails! And that tiny swaddled baby! SWOON!

  10. Wow, what a photo!

    You should have like three more babies Josey. You are awesome!

    1. Ha, my husband would kill me! Other than the horrid morning sickness for months, pregnancy & birth were definitely pretty easy for me. I definitely consider myself blessed in that regard.

  11. I agree, sweetest picture EVER! 🙂

  12. totally jealous on the weight gain and loss! I feel so much stronger already but having a rough time shedding the poundage! argh! Got to be better on the eating and working out.

    beautiful pic!! so glad you had such a wonderful HB experience. My sis is going for it, I hope she has a great experience as well 🙂

  13. I love this post. And I love Stella’s “pointy-tails” as my niece calls them. She is such a cute big sis to your handsome little dude.

  14. Can’t believe I’m just seeing this – I’ve been a bit delinquent on blog reading. Congrats on this beautiful little family!

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