When she found out we were expecting again she told us her desire to be a doula and asked if we would want her to try and finish the course by our due date so she could be a doula for us.  We decided that her aspiration was wonderful and she should definitely pursue it, but we were very eager to have my husband coach the birth.  She understood and went ahead with pursuing the doula training, but not with the urgency to have it completed by our due date.

Anyway, as she completed the required reading list for DONA (Doulas of North America) she read a book called Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.  She highly recommended I read it as well.  I checked it out from our local library and read through it quickly.  I knew that this was the birth experience I wanted.  When I came to the end of the book, I read the about the author section on the inside of the back cover.  When I read that she was in Summertown, TN I immediately asked my husband to mapquest it.  It was only 2 hours away so we called and asked if we could have our baby there.

During this time my mother-in-law also recommended The Bradley Method® of husband coached natural childbirth since she knew we wanted a natural birth.  I looked into classes and the closest instructor I could find was in KY.  I keep checking and later found an instructor who had recently moved here to Clarksville!  I emailed her immediately and asked about prices, times, etc.  The price was very reasonable and it was the best money we spent on the birth.  I am so glad we took it, you will soon hear about how well this method really works.  If you are pregnant and want a natural childbirth – FIND A BRADLEY® INSTRUCTOR NEAR YOU!

Originally we had planned that my mother-in-law (Nana) would come to The Farm to watch our 2 year old son, Caleb, during the labor and ensure he was present at the birth so that my husband could focus on coaching me.  However, at the end of May Nana called to inform us that her husband had to go to the doctor for a possible staph infection.  A week later on 30MAY08 they would have to go to the hospital to have a MRSA infection cleaned out of his knee and they did not know how long they would be there.

We made arrangements for another friend from church to come and assist with Caleb if Nana couldn’t make it.  She was very distraught about it all as she desperately wanted to be there for Mike and also to be at the birth, but we all knew that God had a plan and purpose for all of this and His timing and will would be done.  My father-in-law ended up staying in the hospital until 10JUN08 and having 4 surgeries.  Nana and I stayed in close contact during this time and keep each other updated on our current statuses.

While I was starting to tire of being pregnant and becoming anxious to meet our new addition, we all preferred Nana be able to assist with Caleb at The Farm and were praying that Savanna Zoe would hold off until she could.  Caleb prayed every night for PawPaw to recover quickly so he would feel better and Nana could come.  Also, we were having new windows installed on Tue the 10th and Wed the 11th and wanted to have that project finished before she arrived.  What a thoughtful little girl she turned out to be!

On Wednesday I woke up feeling great and as if Savanna was coming really soon.  I cleaned the entire house and did all of the laundry, including towels and bed sheets.  I was also loosing the mucous plug bit by bit throughout the day.  I called our midwife, Carol Nelson, to inform her about the plug.  Nana called in the afternoon to see how things were going and let me know she was ready when we were and Mike was doing well.  When I told her how much cleaning I had accomplished she said she would go ahead and come down to our house that evening just in case and she arrived after dinner.

The next morning I awoke at 6AM with fairly regular contractions of 10 minutes apart and lasting about 30-45 seconds each while laying down and 5 minutes apart lasting 1 minute when standing and walking.  I stayed in bed until Caleb woke up and then told my husband and Nana.  We ate breakfast (except for my husband- who was busy trying start his vacation time from work and to print, fill out and fax in an absentee form for his master’s program on Saturday and fax his take home final to his instructor as well) and everyone showered and got ready for the day.

I called Carol and let her know about the contractions.  She suggested I drink a big glass of water and then lay down again and see what happened with them.  Emman left to have breakfast with his friend, mentor, associate, and accountability partner.  I did as Carol suggested and they spaced back out to 10 minutes apart and 45 seconds long.  I called her back and she said if they aren’t going away then they sound like definite labor contractions, but it is still very early and she asked when we thought we would go down.  Our plan had always been to leave at the first sign of real labor since second labors usually go faster and we had a 2 hour drive to get there.  So I said we would be packing up the last minute things and heading down.

My husband came home and finished with what I mentioned above in order to be excused from work as well as class that Saturday.  He also called a friend to arrange for our dogs Abram and Sarai to be picked up and stay with them while we were gone – they would also be keeping Sarai as their pet when we came back (Sarai has always desired to be the full and ONLY center of attention and a house with another dog and soon to be 2 kids was too much competition for her, so we decided she would be happier in an only pet environment where she could have the attention she craved).  He then posted the blog that we would be leaving.

Nana and I watched Caleb and loaded the van.  Caleb “helped” to load the van and pack last minute things as well.  We got the van loaded with food for a possible full week stay at the cabin, our last minute clothes, and Caleb’s stuffed animals, sound machine, bedding, and pack-n-play.  My husband finished with his tasks about the same time.

Then, as is customary in our family, we posed outside the van for photos before loading up and taking off.  On the way we called friends and family.  We stopped just once for a potty break for Caleb.  Caleb serenaded us pretty much the entire two hour drive with “BINGO”.  Only it had many more “B I N G O, B I N G O, B I N G O, B I N G O, B I N G O, B I N G O” than I remember the original version of the song having with only an occasional “there was a farmer who had a dog”.  My contractions stayed about 10 minutes apart and 45 seconds long the entire trip.

I called Carol and let her know we were on our way and she said she would have the cabin unlocked and ready for us and just to call her when we got in (there is a phone in the cabin for local calls to the midwives in order to allow for more privacy for the birthing family as well as quick access to the midwives if needed).

We arrived at the cabin around noon so we unpacked, ate lunch, and called Carol almost simultaneously.  Carol arrived and checked me while my husband put Caleb down for a nap.  I was 1 cm dilated and completely effaced.  She suggested a nap and a walk afterwards.  Nana and I napped and my husband took on the massive task of filling the large birthing tub.  The hot water heater was very small so he could only run the hose for about 10 minutes then had to wait 20 for the tank to refill with hot water, so he boiled water in several pots at the same time and dumped them in as the water got hot, then refilled and boiled again.

When everyone, including Caleb woke up we walked (except for my husband- he was still filling the tub- bless his heart!).  We went up and down a big steep hill that Carol had suggested and Caleb even walked up it by himself and faster then I could keep up almost!  Nana was very thankful that she didn’t have to carry him.  On our way back to the cabin from the walk we saw Carol drive by and stopped to talk.  My contractions hadn’t changed much and she suggested I try rubbing my belly during contractions and said I should not get discouraged, but try to get some sleep tonight and call her when things picked up.

We got back around 6:00 and Nana microwaved one of the thawed casseroles I had frozen for our stay.  The microwave was pretty weak as we soon learned and heating dinner took longer than cooking it in the first place!  We would heat food in the oven or a skillet from that point on.  My husband finished filling the tub.  He had made the water extra warm so that it didn’t get too cold since we didn’t know when we would actually be using it.  Caleb saw the tub of water and asked, “Where’s the toys?  Baby Zoe needs toys to play with in the tub.”

While waiting on dinner I starting rubbing my belly with each contraction.  Let me tell you, that works amazingly well!  As soon as I started rubbing, the contractions became a LOT stronger.  They were now about 5 minutes apart but only 30 seconds long.  By the end of dinner I didn’t want to rub anymore because the contractions were becoming very strong and painful.  Contractions were now 2 minutes apart and 50 seconds long.

I started to try to focus on relaxing through each one like we learned to do in Bradley class, but it was very difficult to concentrate on that with Caleb finishing dinner and getting ready for bed.  We promised Caleb that we would wake him up if baby Zoe started to come while he was asleep so that he could watch (we had been preparing him for this and he was very excited about his new sister being born and how it was to happen).  Caleb went to bed and I called Carol around 8:00 pm.  When she heard my voice during a contraction she said she would be right over.

When Carol arrived she checked me and I was 3 cm dilated.  At this point I stopped timing contractions and just tried to focus.  I stood holding onto my husband and trying to relax through each contraction while he pushed on my lower back.  I was finally feeling like I was starting to get a better focus and be able to relax through them, but I wasn’t quite there.  Nana offered to braid my hair in two braids one on each side and I gladly obliged.  My husband got me a cool rag for my neck and I sat on the bed while she fixed my hair, I would relax and lean over onto my husband during contractions and she would start braiding again when they ended.

I was losing modesty and getting very warm.  Once I was able to get focused and relax at the very start of each contraction, the pain went away!  That’s right, each contraction felt like a blood pressure cuff being inflated around my belly, but as long as I focused and let my uterus work the way God intended it to and stopped stressing out about it, it didn’t hurt anymore!!!  Labor from here on out was great!  I was doing so well at relaxing that Carol asked if the contractions were getting easier or if I was just getting better control.  Carol even told Nana that I was so relaxed she couldn’t tell where I was at in labor anymore.

It was then suggested that I try a birthing stool as it would put me in more of a squat position.  Sitting in the chair did exactly what it was supposed to and the contractions became stronger and harder, it took even more focus to relax through them now. Some time later I tried lying on my side in the Bradley® runner position.  This was very painful on my lower back and so we switched to Emman sitting behind me and propping me up in an alternate labor position.  By this point my legs were starting to shake uncontrollably which jostled my back (I have degenerative disc disease and several torn discs in my lower back) and caused great discomfort.

Nana and Carol massaged my legs and Carol remarked excitedly that this must be transition.  She wanted to check me since we were not advised to get into the birthing tub until I was 5 cm since the warm water often slows things down.  She thought I must be at least 5 by now.  It was 10:50 pm and I was 7 cm going on 8.  Carol said we could get into the birthing tub and the water temp was perfect.

Carol called another midwife, Sharon, to assist in the birth.  My husband and I took turns in the bathroom and then got in.  I had one contraction after getting in while myhusband was in the bathroom, then one or two more with him holding me up in the birthing tub.  I then had a strong urge to push.  I told Carol and asked Nana to get Caleb up.  Carol asked if I was sure since I was only 7 going on 8 a few minutes ago.  I said I was.  She started to put on the birthing tub gloves (they come up to their elbows) to check my dilation and my husband reminded me that if I felt that I needed to push to do so as my body knew what to do.

I started becoming a little frantic about Caleb being woken up as I knew that he was about to miss it.  Nana ran upstairs to get him.  I pushed with the next contraction; by this point the urge to push was so strong I could not have resisted if I tried.  Carol had one glove on when she turned around and saw the head already crowning and decided that she had 2 choices:  put on the other glove or catch the baby.  She decided to catch the baby.  At the same time Nana comes quickly downstairs with Caleb.  I push once more and she is out.  Caleb is in shock from being jolted awake and rushed down right as his sister pops out, I am relieved and my husband is nearly at muscle failure from holding me up!  It is 11:00 pm exactly.

About this time Sharon walks in and is surprised to see a baby!  She exclaims that she only lives 5 minutes away and she knows it didn’t take that long to get here.  Carol laughs and tells her that it happened so fast she didn’t even get the other glove on!  Savanna Zoe is placed on my stomach in the water with a blanket over her and my husband and I hold her and stare at her. My first thoughts are, “wow, that is a lot of hair and some crazy chubby cheeks, but the rest of her is so skinny!”

Sharon says there is no way that she is 41 weeks with so much vernix all over her.  I then ask if she is a girl and Sharon said that she would be an awfully pretty boy if she wasn’t and everyone confirms that indeed she is a she.  I tried to nurse her, but she seemed as exhausted by the whole process as I was and not extremely interested, so I just held her.

We asked Caleb if he wanted to put on his swim trunks and get in the birthing tub and hold her, but he said no.  He was still very shocked and not quite awake, also a little concerned about her crying and confused as to why everyone else thought it was fine. Sensing his nervousness about the crying and remembering the many rounds of BINGO just hours before, I told Caleb that he should sing BINGO to her since she would recognize his voice and had listened to him singing it on the way.  He began to sing and lo and behold, she quieted down!  (This would become his special song to her as he sings it to her any time she cries, most of the time it works, but only when he sings it!)  Later Caleb exclaimed, “mommy just went ugh, and out came baby Zoe!”

After several minutes, it seemed like at least a half hour, but I am sure it probably wasn’t that long, the placenta still had not come and Savanna Zoe’s blanket was all wet, and I was afraid the placenta wouldn’t come until I could relax and not be concerned about her getting too far under water, and Emman was shaking from muscle fatigue so I confirmed that the cord had stopped pulsing and requested Emman cut the cord and Caleb helped. I handed her to Nana. After I relaxed I felt another urge to push and the placenta finally came. My husband and I stood up to get out of the tub. This is when I apparently passed out.

Nana was kind enough to add in here a piece from her birth experience with Savanna Zoe since my version goes blank for a few moments:

“The most unexpected special blessing for me, was after your husband cut the cord, you handed her to me. It was such an honor to have you look in my eyes, smile & hand your precious newborn to me! I will never forget that moment or the look of trust in your eyes. I don’t know that it was something you had thought about or planned. I think it just happened, but I thank you for it. I got to be the first to hold her after you, not a stranger in the hospital, but her very own Nana!

“I know you were unaware as you were passing out, but I held her and sang to her (and held her down low for Caleb to see) for a very long time as the others worked with you. There was tension building in the room & much rushing around concerning you. I was very conscious of trying to reassure and comfort her (& Caleb) that her Mommy was okay & that we all loved her very much and that all would be fine now that she was here. I remained calm so she & Caleb would hopefully sense my calm, not the tension in the room.

“The midwife finally came to check her over, weigh & measure her as the other midwife went to the kitchen to fix the eggs & toast. (I don’t believe she held her at all.) I diapered her (& maybe put a t-shirt on her, or was that later?). The midwife wrapped her in fresh blankets and handed her back to me. When your husband was available to leave your side, I handed her to him.”

When they weighed and measured her she was a whopping 8 lbs 10 oz and 20.5 inches long! Not the little girl I was expecting!   I woke up moments later on the bed with everyone staring at me!  (This happened with Caleb too only we assumed that it was because I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink and such was not the case this time as I had been encouraged to eat and drink as I desired.)  Sharon made us all scrambled eggs and toast (such a wonderfully different atmosphere than what you find in a hospital- when does the OB fix the whole family eggs after delivery)!

I passed out several more times in the next 24 hours, they took blood samples, checked my iron, temperature, blood pressure, etc, but everything was normal.  I was okay, apparently I am just a postpartum-passer-outer!  So that is it!  We spent a few days on The Farm to ensure that I was okay and all got a little cabin fever since it was raining most of the time and the cabin was small for 3 adults, a very active 2 ½ year old, and a newborn (we all felt like the Ingall’s family on Little House on the Prairie).  It was a beautiful and peaceful place though with deer roaming around the cabin as we watched out of the windows and tried to take pictures!

Overall, this was one of the best experiences of my life!  It was invigorating, empowering, encouraging, uplifting, and spiritual.  During the Bradley classes as I read about women with “painless” labors, I thought, how can this be.  After all hadn’t God commanded that women have pain in child birth due to the original sin?  A word study on the passage revealed to me that the Hebrew word we have translated as pain in our Bibles is he same exact word that is later translated as hard work in regards to Adam’s side of the curse.

I can say that focusing on relaxing and letting my body do what it is supposed to and what God intended it to do without interfering is hard work, but it wasn’t painful as long as I did these things and let go.  This experience has taught me that life is the same.  It is a whole lot of hard work to “let go and let God”, but it is often extremely painful when we don’t.  I would highly recommend the Bradley method to anyone expecting a baby and would highly recommend The Farm midwives to anyone comfortable with that style of labor.  It was exactly the experience I was hoping for!  God is good and I feel so blessed for being able to experience the miracle of  childbirth like this!

The birth was so wonderful I decided to become a Bradley® instructor myself!

Jade
www.bradleybirth.com/ndweb.asp?ID=C564

My first, born at 39+5weeks, was a long (35 hour), drawn-out process that involved waters breaking, contractions stopping, pitocin drips, 13 hours of hard labour, Dr talking c-section, and about a half hour of active pushing.

This one… just a wee bit different.

The prior Saturday, started feeling contractions that were rather strange. There wasn’t so much any tightening, as just a surge of energy that started in my belly, and flowed up into my sinuses making me light-headed.

That night, during my many trips to the potty, I lost my mucus plug. Figured things should really get going soon.

Not so much.

Nothing really changed before my midwife appointment on Tuesday finally arrived. She did an internal, and found I was 3cm, and she could stretch that to 5. She stripped my membranes while she was in there. Not a comfortable procedure, but not the worst. She set me up for a Verbena induction on Sunday, but honestly didn’t think I’d even make it thru the night.

5am Wednesday morning. Woke up to a small puddle between my legs. Assuming it was my water having sprung a leak (as was how my first started), went and cleaned up the small mess, and went back to bed. About 10 minutes later, the contractions started. Not overly painful, though it was concentrated down at the bottom, and it was like bad (at least for me) menstrual pains, not really anything resembling the full-belly tightening I had with #1.

They were about 5 minutes apart at first. Laid there debating whether to let DH go to work, or just have him stay home. By the time it was time for him to leave, they were down to 2-3 minutes, and getting painful, so he stayed home.

I finally managed to get myself something to drink, and quickly realized my thirst had been aggravating the contractions, as they slowed down.

Nothing really progressed throughout the day, contractions stayed about the same intensity, and went from 5 minutes, to 2, to 8 or longer. And I realized that I hadn’t really been leaking anymore, though there was an inordinate amount of mucus. Just after 4pm, decided to call the clinic to see what they thought I should do.

The on-staff Doula suggested I give it till after rush-hour, and if there’s still no change, to head to the centre, and get checked out. Worst they could do is send me home, right? She figured my “puddle” that morning was possibly a small leak that had quickly healed over. Or it might have just been a build-up of vaginal fluid coming out. Hard to tell.

As I was talking to her, my husband was kindly providing me with some nipple stimulation (he’s a boob guy), and it was causing the contractions to suddenly come harder, and as it turned out, faster too. By the time I got off the phone, they were down to 2 minutes again, and kinda painful.

Decided to have another bath, as the one I’d had earlier had provided quite a bit of relief. Went into the bathroom, sat down to pee, (which was tough thru the contractions) and as I was sitting there, feeling like I needed to poop too, I felt what to me felt like a bubble of gas popping thru (I’m sure we all know what I’m talking about), though I wasn’t 100% convinced.

Finally got into the tub, and had barely got myself seated when I started to feel a good gush. Because of they way I was sitting, it kinda felt like I was peeing, but it very quickly became evident that it was not pee. My water had burst, and I was flooding into the tub (thank the gods there, and not somewhere it would have to be cleaned up). This was shortly after 5pm.

Debated whether to hang around at home for a while more, but the 3 minute apart contractions, and the 40 minute drive to the centre quickly changed my mind.

When I got there a little after 6pm, we were down to 2 minutes, and painful, and turned out I was already 7cm. Could barely tolerate laying there for the 15 minutes they needed to take a strip, especially when they wanted me to move onto my sides. Moving at all was bringing on contractions at this point.

Finally got the clearance to get into the tub. I had a hard time getting over there, but managed alright. I wasn’t in there very long when the contractions were starting to make me push a little too. It also wasn’t long before the contractions were all but non-stop. I’d barely finish one when the next would start.

Seemed like it took forever, but the midwife finally arrived, and when she checked, I was easily 10cm.

It was about 7:30 when I finally admitted that the contractions were making me push. I wasn’t really sure at first, cuz with #1 the pushing was a relief… it actually felt good to push. But this time, it hurt like hell. I decided that it wasn’t gonna get any better, so I started to just go with it, and started letting the pushes do their job.

It wasn’t till he was crowning that reality finally set in. Up to this point, even though I knew that I was having a baby, I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that in a few days (/hours/minutes) there would be a BABY there, and that our lives would suddenly be completely changed forever.

But, a few LOOOONNGGGGG pushes later, at 7:52pm, he was finally there. All 10 pounds of him, with his 39.5cm head. And though it was at 40+6weeks (we think), he apparently didn’t show any signs of being overdue.

I ended up with a 2nd degree tear. Better than the 3rd degree I had with #1, but sitting is still not comfortable.

The placenta was delivered a few minutes later. The midwives and nurses were amazed at the size of both it and the cord. It was apparently the largest placenta most of them had ever seen. They weighed it. 2lb 9oz. Most are around 1lb. And the cord was a rather large neatly wound spiral that they marveled over as well.

The part that took me by surprise the most, was the fact that I actually delivered in the tub. I never could figure that one out. We’re human, not cetaceans. It’s just not natural to me. But, being in there, knowing the kind of relief it had been providing earlier, and the pain I was in while in there, getting out was just not an option. Add to that the fact that there wasn’t time to get out, thanks to the constant contractions, I didn’t have much choice. And honestly, by that point, I just didn’t care. I put my trust in the midwives, and went with it.

All-in-all, I would say a good experience. It definitely hurt more than what I remember the first to be, notwithstanding the pitocin the first time. And it would have been nice to have had the chance to use the music I had ready, and the tea, and all the other stuff, but I did get to do most of the time-consuming work at home, and didn’t have enough time at the centre to really think about things. And I’m pretty sure nothing happened/didn’t happen that was contrary to my birth plan. YAY!

So, welcome to the world Calum. We’re happy to have you here.

Lisa

I had prodromal labor for months with him so it was nothing new when the contractions started at 8pm. I tried to sleep and for the first time they didn’t stop, but got a little stronger. I got up, took a shower and begged him to let me sleep a little. They slowed to about every 15min and I got a few (restless) hours in.

I had an appointment at 9am to strip my membranes and try to keep things going. Thankfully, by 9am, I was in hard labor. I had been sitting at 5cm for weeks so when I let her check me I was happy to find I was 7cm already!

At 10am I had a hep lock put in for GBS abx, we ran a cycle and then I got in the shower. I sat on the labor ball in the shower for an hour, got out and ran another cycle of abx.

She checked me I was a full stretchy 8 and wearing down fast, she suggest breaking my water and I happily agreed. With the next contraction she broke it and told me if I wanted another waterbirth I had better get in the tub NOW.

I got in and with the next contraction he was crowning. I pushed maybe 2 or 3 times and delivered my 2nd beautiful boy.

To manage the after birth bleeding I had with the previous birth, I took alfalfa supplements, and she ran some pit through the hep lock as I pushed him out. No problems this time.

Another perfect birth for me.

Richelle

We went back at 3pm and was still only 3cm, she sent me out again. Back to the hotel room where I was in and out of the shower, sitting on the toilet, moaning pretty strongly.

At 7pm Kris thought we should head back over there, she checked me again and I was still only 3cm. She had planned on sending me out again but thought I should try getting in the tub for some pain relief (7:30pm). Within 5 min of getting in, my water broke and I was an instant 5cm.

I relaxed in the tub and almost fell asleep between contractions, I was really focused on relaxing and feeling the baby move down. At 8:30 my body started pushing by itself and my midwife was shocked to see I was ready and he was coming, I pushed for maybe 20 min and delivered my big beautiful boy myself. I went from 3cm to delivering in 1hr 50 min!!! Man I loved that tub!

After the birth things got a little dicey, I lost a lot of blood. My midwife and her nurse assistant were grinding on my uterus and I had 11 shots of pit before they could get me to stop bleeding. There was an ambulance on stand by just in case they couldn’t get it stopped asap. I had no idea at the time it was so serious, they were perfectly calm and collected and I was none the wiser.

It was my perfect birth.

Richelle

I was lying in bed, having just turned out the reading lamp. The house was quiet—Colter and Greta were asleep, and Brent was in Leavenworth on a stakeout. Even though I was tired, I was excited. Reagan’s water had broken sometime earlier, and that meant my nephew would most likely come soon. I tried to sleep, knowing I would need all my energy to devote to helping Reagan get through labor and deliver the precious baby we had all anticipated for a long time.

But sleep did not find me that night. Jere called me at 1:00, just a few minutes after I had turned off the light. His voice was calm, but filled with excitement. Reagan was having regular contractions, and they were going to meet the midwife, who was driving in from Lawrence, at the birth center at 2:00. That meant I had an hour to pack up Colter and drop him off at my dad and stepmom’s house, and join Reagan and Jere at their house.

Colter woke up easily and quietly listened as I explained what was going on. It wasn’t until we were halfway to Grandma Micki’s house that he broke down with worry about whether she would have cereal for him in the morning. I assured him that he would be well taken care of.
After tucking Colter into bed at my dad’s house, paranoia got the best of me. Even though I wanted to speed over to Reagan and Jere’s, I took a page from my husband’s book and drove back by my own house, and double checked the alarm system was on, and the garage door was shut. I did not want anything else on my mind as I assisted Reagan.

After that I sped down Gage, almost hoping to get caught by a police officer so I could maybe talk him into a lights and siren escort. Thankfully, no one slowed me down and I made it to their house in good time. Walking in through the front door and into the low lit living room, Jere met me and whispered how regular Reagan’s contractions were. We sat on the ottoman in front of the couch on which Reagan laid on her side. She looked beautiful, her eyes shut in concentration, and her curly hair strewn about as she cradled her stomach with her arm.

Before too long, a contraction gripped her and she requested that Jere put his arm on her leg and press. After that contraction was over, Jere said he was going to lie down, which meant I took over. After a few contractions, it was apparent that they not only very close together, but gaining in intensity. Reagan made more sounds of discomfort as they progressed.

It occurred to me that this was the real deal. Even having gone through labor myself, I had been foolish enough to forget its all consuming power. When a woman is in actual unmedicated labor, no one can sit around and read, even though I had brought my book thinking I could do so. On top of that, I was not going to be able to enjoy my sister’s company as she went through this, but rather grit my teeth as she faced contraction upon contraction.

That was another thing that occurred to me, watching her lie there on her side, I realized I did not want to see her in pain. It was a little too late for that, but worst-case scenarios ran through my mind as they did when I was younger and she would get sick with colds or the flu. I was thinking about this as Jere walked out from taking a nap and glanced at Reagan. He did not seem frightened at all, and I knew he loved Reagan as much as I did. With that in mind, I resolved myself to do whatever it took to lessen her pain.

Eventually, Reagan opened her eyes and looked at me for the first time since I got there. As she sat up she said “I need some water.” In my haste to get her water she needed, I grabbed my own water bottle, which was sitting right next to me and stuck the straw in her mouth. That water bottle became very handy throughout the delivery, as it could not be spilled and the straw was easy for Reagan to drink through.

After a while, Reagan got up to go to the bathroom. I kind of stood in the doorway, trying to gauge what she wanted me to do. I knew as labor progressed, her sense of modestly would lessen, but I didn’t know if that was already in effect. As I stood there, Jere’s mom arrived at the house. I asked Reagan if she wanted me to shut the door and leave her be, and she immediately made it clear I should do no such thing. She finished doing her business, and walked out to the living room where I helped her put her shorts back on. It was then that Jere said it was time to leave, and Reagan made her way out to the car. I smiled a joyful smile at Mary as we walked through the door, eager to share my excitement with someone. Smiling so big felt disloyal to Reagan, who was suffering such pain, but I couldn’t help it. I promised Mary I would send her text message updates.

I hesitated outside, and asked if they wanted me to take my own car to the birth center, thinking they might want to ride home alone with the baby. Reagan again made it clear that would not be ok.

We made it to the birth center, and Reagan strode purposefully inside as the midwife, Emily, held the door open for her. As soon as she entered the room she had another contraction, and hunched over the bed frame, trying to breathe through it.

Emily listened to the baby’s heartbeat on the Doppler and announced quietly that he sounded good. Reagan was lying on the bed by that point, and Jere came in from parking the car, having unloaded Reagan’s bag and other essentials in the waiting room. Emily was patiently checking Reagan’s vital signs between contractions, which wasn’t easy because they were perhaps a minute apart. Eventually she checked Reagan’s cervix, which we were delighted to learn was completely effaced and dilated to six centimeters. As Reagan lay on the bed Emily asked me in a whisper if I was Rachel. I smiled and nodded to her yes, because to speak felt disloyal to Reagan, even though I’m sure she couldn’t hear us and wouldn’t mind if she did.

Emily had filled the bath tub before we got there, and Reagan got in after we asked her if she would like that. I helped her into the bath tub and helped her put her sports bra on. The warm water did seem to help her. Mostly she hunched on the side of the tub on her knees, which left her back exposed. She liked it when Jere or I pushed on her lower back. We took turns doing that, meanwhile the other was at her head, holding her hand and stroking her hair. A couple of times I was doing it the wrong way or too hard and she would let me know. Eventually she only wanted Jere to press her back because his hand was bigger and therefore more effective.

After every contraction I would offer her cranberry juice, or water, and she normally took one or the other. She labored in the tub for about an hour, switching positions every so often, and asking for more hot water occasionally. We would whisper encouragement to her, saying that she could do it and she was doing great. Once when Jere was holding her hand at her head, he asked her what that one song was from our childhood. He mentioned something about a telephone pole, and immediately I knew what he was talking about.

When we lived in West Virginia, our house was on a mountain, and we used to go to the Shenandoah River, which was in our neighborhood, but at the bottom of a long, gravel road hill. When it was time to go home, we would have to climb that hill, and often, exhausted from swimming, we would get so tired and the hill seemed eternally long. A family friend made up a cadence for us to say as we climbed that hill. It went “Put. One. Foot. In. Front. Of. The. Other. Stop. At. The Telephone. Pole.” Jere started to say that, and Reagan told him to be quiet. But I whispered the rest of the cadence to him. Unfortunately, there were no telephone poles in the birth center, and the contractions would not have given Reagan a rest even if there had been, so the song wasn’t much help.

Reagan had invited the doula who taught the birth classes at the center, Kelly, to assist with the birth. Emily called Kelly, and Kelly arrived less than five minutes later, bright eyed and smiling even though it was around 3:30 in the morning.

Soon after Kelly arrived, Emily checked Reagan’s cervix, which had progressed to eight centimeters. Emily told Reagan to let her know if she felt like she had to poop, which meant the baby was moving down. Finally Reagan said she felt like she had to push. Emily asked Reagan if she’d like to get out of the tub, and Reagan said she would. She climbed out and we toweled her off and put a fresh nightgown on her. Emily asked if she’d like to use the birthing chair, so Reagan sat on that and leaned up against the bed. I sat beside her on the birthing ball, pressing my hand into her back. I whisper asked Emily if Reagan was completely dilated, and she said she thought Reagan probably was, because Reagan had the urge and was pushing with every contraction.

So we sat like that for a while. Jere was lying across the bed at Reagan’s head, holding her hand and whispering encouragement. I was to Reagan’s right, pressing her back and holding her hand. Emily was to Reagan’s rear, using a mirror to monitor the birth canal during contractions, and Kelly was to Reagan’s left, whispering encouragement and patting her back.

Eventually the baby started crowning with each contraction. Emily tried to show me, but I was at a bad angle, and what I thought was the baby crowning actually turned out to be Reagan’s anus, which was straining with each push, proof of how hard she was working. I never actually saw the baby crown while Reagan was using the birthing chair.

Soon, however, Emily told Reagan the baby was making his way further down, and asked if she might like to lay down in the bed and try pushing. So I helped lift Reagan’s legs up and she climbed into bed. She was lying on her right side, and I was on that side holding her leg so give her some leverage against which to push. Soon after though, Jere and Kelly and I switched around, so I ended up on Reagan’s left side, holding her other leg to give her leverage. We were all whispering encouragement.

Meanwhile, the nurse that Emily had called was moving around the room, turning on the warming lamp for the baby, and getting out blankets and other necessities for the baby that was not there yet, but would be soon. It made me more excited and anxious to see the baby that would be using all those things, and who was the reason we were all there. The nurse also placed plastic liners under Reagan’s bottom and over my leg so I wouldn’t get messy when the baby came out. I realized then I would have not minded getting all bloody and mucousy, but there was no reason to, so I stayed under the protective plastic. Emily told Reagan that one the baby’s head was out, she might ask Reagan to stop pushing, which would feel unnatural, but it would keep her from tearing.

Reagan was pushing regularly, and working very hard. I could see the baby’s head now, and a couple of times, Reagan reached down and touched him. Reagan couldn’t believe all this work was actually getting her somewhere. But the baby was coming indeed, albeit with only a little progress with each contraction. Reagan was working so hard. I suggested to Reagan that she roll over to the other side and see how that helped things. She did and it pushed the baby’s head out a little more, which was encouraging. However, when the nurse checked the baby’s heart rate with the Doppler, as she had been doing regularly, she found the heart rate had dropped considerably. We rolled Reagan back to the other side, and the baby’s heart rate rose happily. He did not like that side and he let us know!

Emily was trying to stretch the vaginal opening, but the baby was kind of having a hard time coming through. He would go back in a little after each contraction, but he was staying out more and more in between. We kept telling Reagan this, and encouraging her to use each contraction to its full potential. I was holding Reagan’s foot, to give her something to push against, and without knowing it, I was squeezing her foot. During one contraction she cried out “Rachel! Don’t squeeze me!” I was embarrassed for causing her pain instead of helping her.

The next contraction she was holding Kelly’s hand and the other hand was grabbing Kelly’s shirt and pulling, to which Kelly smiled and kept saying words of encouragement. Finally with one big push, his head was out. It was surreal to see it down there, just kind of sitting there, before Emily pulled out one shoulder, and then the other, and then he was out. Time seemed to slow down at this point. Emily unwrapped the cord that was once around the baby’s neck, and put him on top of Reagan. It was 4:33 in the morning, only two and a half hours after we had come into the birth center.

At this point tears were traveling down my face, as I watched momma, baby and daddy meet each other for the first time. Reagan was calm and was talking to him immediately. The baby was talking too, getting all the mucous and water out of his lungs with healthy cries. Once he finished crying on one side, they switched him to his other to make sure all of it was out. Reagan was talking to him the whole time, and looking at him with amazement and love. Eventually they wrapped him in a blanket and he settled down and started taking in his surroundings. I sat on the bed with them the whole time, just watching. Reagan asked me if I would like to know his name, and Jere told me. Brighton Justus –A beautiful, strong, masculine name that fits him perfectly. It was worth the wait.

Momma and baby tried nursing, which was tricky because Brighton was moving his mouth the opposite way he should have been. Meanwhile, I watched Emily give Reagan one stitch to her lower vaginal opening, which made a big difference and straightened things out down there. Having wanted to be a midwife when I was younger, I was really fascinated by watch the whole process from labor to birth to delivery of the afterbirth. It was quite a learning experience.

After a while, the midwife and the nurse left, and daddy and momma and baby all took a nap together on the bed. After a few minutes trying to read in the rocking chair, I tip toed out into the waiting room, found a blanket, curled up on the couch and went to sleep.

An hour later I woke up when a new midwife helped Reagan into the bathroom to use the toilet. I lay on the couch for a minute and then went into the room again. My memory from here gets kind of sketchy, but I know Reagan tried nursing again, the baby got weighed, (7 lbs 4 oz, 20” long) and Reagan and Brighton took a bath together. I was a little nervous about that because I remember the first time I gave Colter a bath, and how slippery he was, but Reagan had no problems with that. I helped wash his head with a brush, and when he was all clean, Reagan handed him to me. Holding him like that, nervous I would drop him; I knew I would do anything for that tiny baby, and that I loved him like my own.

I put a diaper on him and helped get him dressed. At that point, we started packing up to head home. I helped them do that, and we said goodbye to all the midwives, the doula, and the nurses who had helped us. We put baby Brighton in the backseat and I sat next to him for the short ride home.

Both Brighton’s grandmas were at Jere and Reagan’s house, anxiously awaiting the arrival of their grandson. They had been keeping busy by doing laundry and other cleaning work. I helped get Brighton out the car seat, and handed him to my mom. After that, Grandma Mary held him and both grandmas sat next to each other on the couch, marveling at the precious addition to the family.

Reagan, Jere and I all had sticky buns and orange juice, which made us feel a lot better. Reagan was feeling fine, up and walking around like she hadn’t had a baby just three hours before. Mary told me she had wanted to slap me because I hadn’t sent her any updates, but I told her I had been helping Reagan the whole time, not in the waiting room like she thought. All was forgiven then, and even though I didn’t want to, I had to get Colter and go home to bed, thinking I had to work that night. I gave Brighton a kiss, and left. I called Vicki on the way to pick up Colter, and she informed me that Colter had eaten two pieces of cinnamon toast, and declared that it was better than the cinnamon toast I made him at home. So his fears about starving were completely unfounded. I went home, found someone to work my shift for me, and went to sleep, thanking God for keeping Reagan and the baby safe, and excited about the future of our family that will now include a sweet little guy named Brighton.

Rachel

Following a miscarriage in September of 07, my previous OB told me it was my fault because I was still breast-feeding.  I had already decided I wanted a water birth with the second and wanted to switch providers but this really sealed the deal.  I went looking for an affordable and more sympathetic (and less myth-based) approach.

Meeting the midwives at the Mountain Midwifery Birth Center I realized everything the midwifery model of care could offer.  They actually seemed like the LIKED their jobs and talking to moms about their pregnancy and whatever else was going on in their lives, unlike my OB.

My last pregnancy was good, but Lyric’s pregnancy was even better.  I felt fantastic, even right up until I went into labor.  Towards the end she was measuring a little small, so Cassie sent me for an ultrasound.  I was freaked out and the midwives were so great and supportive and listened to my fears (everything showed up fine).

I went into the office Wednesday, June 18 for my last prenatal appointment.  Tracy did my forty-week check and found me to be 2 cm and 70% effaced.  I was feeling totally overwhelmed and emotional and when I broke down and started bawling in the waiting room, Heather said, “I think you’ll have your baby really soon.”

Sure enough, that Wed I went into early labor, waking all throughout the night with contractions.  They got much more regular at 9 am, from 2-5 minutes apart for three hours.  At 12:30 we decided to head down to the Birthing Center since we live a bit far.  We dropped off our stuff and headed to a nearby park to walk around outside.  I think this turned out to be not the best idea since I couldn’t really get inside myself and settle into the Birth Center.

We returned at 4:30 where they checked me and found I was 2 cm, 70% effaced…exactly the same as yesterday!  I was so frustrated!  I didn’t mind a longer, slower, labor as long as it seemed to be doing something!  Cassie and Tracy were awesome at talking me through my frustration, Tracy saying her last birth took three days to get there!  Tiffany also helped me regain control by saying my baby might just need a little extra time to get used to the idea of being on the outside.  They almost sent me home to a bath and glass of wine, but I really didn’t want to spend an hour in the car (contractions in the car are awful!) and I wasn’t sure when to come back since contractions were pretty close together anyway.  They decided to give me two hours to see how I would progress.

I calmed myself down, refused to look at the clock, and went inside myself.  After two hours Cassie checked me and I was at 4 cm so they decided to let me stay!  I spent some time on the toilet where my water broke, a high tear that didn’t continually leak fluid.  Two of my good friends came, including my friend who was a doula and was amazing at helping me with my breathing and rubbing my back!  Contractions started getting really strong, along with bloody show and more of the mucous plug was lost.

I spent my time going through transition in the tub, which was great and made the contractions much more round.  I was always a little worried I wouldn’t have a break if I did it naturally since I had had an epidural with Haven and it really helped my long labor by giving me a rest.  Magically my body seemed to know this and contractions slowed down to 7-8 minutes after I had gone through transition.  I even started to fall asleep in the water between contractions!  My body was naturally preparing me to push.

I was checked and found to be sort of stuck at 9.5 cm with a little “lip” of cervix left.  After sixteen hours at the Birthing Center, I really wanted to be done, so Tracy said I could try and push past it if I wanted to.  I tried but it was hard, like pushing into a hammock where the baby kept bouncing back.  Cassie ended up helping break the bag of water around her head which felt AMAZING, like her head was suddenly half as big.  Then she helped hold the lip of cervix back while I pushed.

At first I couldn’t tell what was a productive push and what wasn’t and I was losing all my energy out my voice.  Tracy gave me a great pep talk to help me learn the right way, then I became much more productive.  Twenty minutes of pushing and she was out!

My daughter Haven watched as I brought her out of the water and then she and Kyle joined me in the birth tub.  As soon as she came out of the water Haven said, “It’s a baby sister!”  Even to this day she likes to tell the story.  She says “Uterus squeeeeze the baby out and the baby came out Mommy’s yoni in the water and nurse and get all dry dry.  That was hard work for Mommy, Mommy did a good job, good job Mommy!” Haven was totally thrilled with her new baby sister and held her even before Daddy!  We got out of the bed and spent time cuddling as a family on the bed.

After a long time, Kyle and the nurses did all the weighing and checking while I took a luxurious, relaxing herbal bath.  It felt wonderful!  We stayed for a while, then packed up to go home…at 4 am!  It was nice to be in our own bed after such a long night.  The nurses and midwives needed a break too because with the full moon and Summer Solstice brought six new babies…IN 24 HOURS!

The recovery went really really well, much better than after Haven’s birth.  I think I was able to be aware of what my body was doing so much more without the epidural and not rush my body into a place it wasn’t ready to go.  As a result I had only one tiny tear that felt fine after a day or so.

Haven’s birth was good, but Lyric’s birth was phenomenal.  I never thought I could be so nurtured and supported in the process.  The midwives and nurses were all fabulous and Kyle and I both enjoyed the intimate atmosphere.  We loved having Haven there to watch the birth.  I can think of no greater responsibility than teaching our children (especially our daughters) that birth is a normal, natural part of life and nothing to be feared.  It was all I could have hoped for and more.

Lyric Hana Brynn
Lyric:  because she loves being sung to,
Hana:  meaning “flower” in Korean, her placenta is buried under a flowering linden tree,
Brynn:  meaning “little drop of water” for my little water birth baby.

June 20, 2008
12:23 am
7 lb 3 oz
20 in

Amy
http://birthingbody.org/
Youtube video of the birth here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccUROeqhsjQ

When we got home, the contractions were not strong or very regular, but were happening every 10 minutes or so for a couple of hours, so I called my midwife and told her that we would probably be calling later that night. At around 11 the contractions got stronger and were about 10 minutes apart. I was too excited to sleep so I just stayed up and messed around with all the baby things. By morning, though, the contractions were slowing down. Dorie, the baby I was nannying, came over around 7 and I told her mom that I might call later in the day, but that I could keep her for then. Philip stayed home and helped, but I wasn’t having many contractions at all by that point.

Then again on Tuesday night (my due date), the contractions picked up in the night. This time I knew that it didn’t necessarily mean anything, and I was pretty tired, so I did try to sleep. They were coming every 10-15 minutes and sometimes I think even more like half an hour when I was sleeping, so I was able to sleep between contractions quite a bit. Again though, by morning they were slowing down. I spent most of Wednesday sleeping, which was good because the next day was very intense.

Wednesday night the contractions started again at about 11, but this time they were much worse. The pain was all in my back, and during contractions the back pain was terrible; I never really felt the stereotypical stomach contractions, though. I called my midwife C at about 2 to tell her that I thought I needed to go to the birth center. She came to our apartment to check me, but I was only 4 centimeters, so she encouraged me to stay home longer. Since we don’t have a car, she told us she would plan to pick us up on her way in the next morning at 8, so I knew how long I had to keep trying to cope at home.

I spent the rest of the time in the bathtub. I just turned the water as hot as it would go and let it keep running, overflowing through the little hole (awful, I know!). I also vomited on the bathmat and tried to wash it in the tub… I don’t think I was thinking very well at that point.

When C came to pick us up I felt so relieved. I was sure that the baby would come pretty much as soon as we got to the birth center. We got settled into our room (one of three in a beautiful old Victorian house that’s been converted into a birth center) and I had a small check and listened to the baby’s heartbeat and then the midwives left us alone to relax. A midwife would come to check on us and check the baby every hour, but other than that, we were on our own (as we had said we wanted to be).

We also went on a walk during that time, although we didn’t get far. At around noon I had another internal exam. I was only 5 cm, only 1 more than the night before! I was in a lot of pain, and hearing that I had only dialated 1 cm during all of it was crushing. At that point I started asking to go to the hospital, saying I couldn’t do it without drugs. Fortunately, my husband and my midwives knew that I didn’t really want that, so they strongly encouraged me to stay and keep working.

Honestly, I don’t really remember much of that afternoon. I remember feeling like I was dying, the pain in my back was so bad. The only even slight relief I had was in the water, so I spent a lot of time in the shower and birthing pool. The midwives encouraged me to get up and walk, so I tried, but it was so hard. We have one picture from the birth of me laying on the floor because the midwife had told me to walk around until she got back from doing something and I somehow thought that if I wasn’t in the bed, that would at least count for something! I just wanted to lay down and rest, but every time I would try to get comfortable, I would have another contraction. At some point, the midwife broke my water, but it didn’t seem to change anything.

Finally at around 7 I got into the birth pool and by 8 I could start pushing. I didn’t feel a strong urge to push, but an internal exam revealed that I was 10 cm, so I decided to just start pushing. I was so ready to be done! The baby had a hard time getting under my pubic bone, probably because she was posterior (sunny-side up!). Getting on my hands and knees helped with that, though, and she did eventually get through.

After an hour (maybe? the timing during this part is really fuzzy for me) my main midwife, K, discovered that I had a cervical lip, a part of my cervix that just wouldn’t open up all the way. Causing what was definitely the most excruciating pain that I have ever felt, she had to (TMI alert!!!) reach in while I was pushing and try to stretch the cervix around the head. It took a couple of contractions of that to get it fully stretched. At one point I told her point-blank that she was absolutely not allowed to do that on the next contraction; I was taking a break from it, consequences be damned. Once it was done, though, we could see the head! The lights were off and there were candles lit, so they got a flashlight and a mirror so I could see. It was so amazing!

She was still having a lot of trouble getting out, though. After 3 hours of pushing in the water, the midwives suggested that I try getting out. I was very reluctant because the water was helping so much with the pain, but at that point I was ready to do anything that might get the baby out.

When I got out of the water, I went to a birth stool, which is basically a chair with a hole in the middle. After just a few contractions on it with just the top of the baby’s head showing, the baby came shooting out! She had not tucked her chin in (military position), so the biggest part of her head was the first thing to come out, which resulted in a tear that the rest of the body just burst right through. All 3 midwives and Philip screamed and she almost didn’t get caught. When they were filling out the paperwork, they had trouble even figuring out who caught her. I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to be the one to catch her, but she was up on my chest within seconds, so it all worked out. Ada was born at 10:43 pm, on July 23rd.

We all moved to the bed and I got to hold Ada while her placenta was born, which was really easy. Then I got to cut her umbilical cord, which turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. I snipped it the first time but I didn’t cut all the way through so I had to do it again. It was a little freaky, but I’m glad I did it.

After that, Philip got a chance to hold her while I got stitched up and then Ada had her first checkup. She was 6 lbs, 14 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Once that was done, we met the post-partum doula who would be with us through the night and the midwives went home.
Obviously, a lot of stuff happened after that, but since this is just the birth story, I think I’ll stop here. That’s the story of Ada!

Erinne
A mama to just one, for now, and a natural birth advocate and breastfeeding fanatic!

My DH (Jason) got up to go to the bathroom a few minutes later and when he came back I told him that I thought I might have had an “accident” but that now I was having some weird cramping. He asked if it was my water and I told him I didn’t know, that it wasn’t like what I would have expected my water breaking to have been. I thought it was supposed to be like a flooding gush, but that I was now having the cramps.

I was losing my mucus plug the day before so I was kind of worried that this might be labor. We took the Bradley method and learned that sometimes you will have false labor and being that my due date wasn’t until july 21st, I thought that maybe this is what was going on. So, following the Bradley guide I got up around 6 am and took a shower to try and see if they would stop. Also, I wasn’t full term for 4 more days and the midwives told us at our last appointment that we could only delver at the birth center with them once we had reached full term which was still 4 days away, so i needed these contractions to stop.

Anyway, I got in the shower and had Jason start timing the contractions on contractionmaster.com (great site by the way!). I stayed in the shower for about an hour but the contractions kept coming. I still wasn’t sure if they were real or not because they didn’t seem to be getting any worse, pain wise and they seemed kind of sporadic but close together.

When I got out of the shower I checked the timing that he had recorded and they all seemed to be lasting about 30-60 seconds and were all between 1 1/2 – 2 min apart. Well, we had learned that when contractions start they should be short contractions but about 10 minutes apart, which mine obviously were not. It was only 7am so we really didn’t want to call the midwives yet, because we didn’t want to be those people who show up 5 times to have their baby and actually be having false labor, so I drank a lot of water and started walking around, all the while talking and going about doing things normally. But, I decided if they were still coming at the same rate by 8am I would call them.

Jason ran to his mom’s to get the lawn mower, because we had gotten a notice from the city saying we needed to mow or we may be fined, so he ran and got that and was back a little before 8am. He came in to see how I was doing and I told him I was still having contractions at the same rate as before and still not very strong.

We then decided I should call the midwife on call and tell her about the contractions I was having, that they didn’t seem to be very strong but were really close together. She said that since I wasn’t quite full term that I should go to the hospital near the birth center and if it was real labor that they would need to give me meds to stop them. I then reminded her that we lived an hour away and that I really wasn’t sure if it was just false contractions or not and that I had been trying to walk them off but I didn’t want to be speeding things up if they were real. She said “Oh yeah, I forgot you were that far away” and she suggested that since it didn’t sound like I was really having a problem with the contractions that maybe that was what was going on, so to stop walking and get in the tub, drink lots of water, take a double dose of  calcium-magnesium and call her back in an hour to let her know how things were going.

So Jason ran and got the pills she said to get and I got in the tub. I took the double dose while Jason called our moms and my sister to tell them what was going on but not to worry, that we thought they might just be false and that we were trying to get them to stop and then he went out and started on the lawn.

I stayed in the tub for about an hour and a half until I was so uncomfortable I had to get out. I figured it was because it is a small tub so I wasn’t even actually able to get my big belly under the water unless I turned on my side which in turn made my hips hurt, so I got out and called her back. She asked how far the contractions were apart and I told her I didn’t know because I was in the tub and Jason was mowing the yard. She asked if they were growing in intensity but I told her that I didn’t think they were, that I was just really uncomfortable being in the tub because it was so small.

I then told her that I had lost my mucus plug the night before and that I wasn’t sure if some of my water had broken that morning, because I forgot to tell her earlier. She then said that she was finishing up a home birth and that she wanted me to go ahead and come into the birth center so she could check to see if I was leaking fluid and to see if I was dilating or not. We agreed to meet there at 11:30 because we needed to get ourselves together and it takes an hour to get there.

I went and got Jason out of the yard and told him to take a shower while I got dressed and put all our stuff into a bigger bag and got a few more things together. He took a quick shower and started helping to get things together, but was concerned because the lawn wasn’t finished and we didn’t want to get fined so he started asking about what we needed to do to get a hold of the city to let them know that I might be in labor and that we wouldn’t be getting the lawn done.

Well, about that time the contractions really started getting bad, like almost instantly. one minute I was handling them fine then the next was really slamming and I had to stop and brace myself for it and I couldn’t even talk.

I got a few more like that while he was getting a little frantic about getting things out to the car and worrying about the yard not getting mowed, and he kept asking me were the phone number was for the city. I finally lost it and told him to “f*** the lawn” we needed to go and to leave a note!!! He ended up finding the number and calling before we left, at which the city guy said yes, don’t worry about the lawn get to the hospital!

If I wasn’t having such strong contractions, it was really quite comical to see my DH so frantic about getting everything to the car, and then he starts running around talking about “We need towels!! We need more towels!!”

We finally got out to the car and realized that we needed gas!! So, we stopped and got enough to get us there and then got on the highway.  At this point my poor DH is really stressing out and is hauling to get us to the birth center as fast as possible, but go figure that everyone and their brother decided to be on the highway at the same time I decide to go into labor. So, Jason puts on his emergency lights, is going like 95-100 MPH and is flashing his lights, honking the horn and trying to wave all these “fools” out of the way!

A little back info, we had planned that we would have fruit and cheese and crackers to eat when we went into labor, but being that we were 3 weeks till our due date we didn’t have any of it on hand, and neither of us had eaten anything before we left. He then remembers that we don’t have any of the food I wanted so he gets on the phone and calls his mom and tells (yells to) her that she needs to go get fruit!! “MOM!!!! I NEED FRUIT!!! I NEED FRUIT, YOU NEED TO GO GET FRUIT AND CHEESE AND CRACKERS AND MEAT!! WE HAVEN’T EATEN ANYTHING AND SHE IS IN LABOR!!!! BRING IT TO THE BIRTH CENTER!!!”  But, she doesn’t even know where the birth center is, so he then tries to tell (yell) directions to her.

He is so sweet, here we thought we would have this romantic labor and delivery, and he would feed me fruit and give me ice chips, so he was still going to do anything in his power to make my “labor day” dream come true.  Well, he finally gets off the phone with her and is flying down the road, when up ahead we see a state trooper pull out in front of us with his lights on!! “OH GOD!!!” he frets “WE ARE GONNA GET PULLED OVER!!”  but the trooper pulls over some one else, so he flies by them at near 100 MPH.

At this point my contractions are reallllllly bad and I am feeling a lot of pressure and it feels like my body is pushing and I can’t stop it!!! And we are still 30 minutes away!!!  I really started getting worried.  Luckily, he was going so fast that the 30 minutes turned into closer to 20 minutes and we finally are about 4 miles from our exit.

Well, he is steadily “moving” people out of our way when we come up behind a city police officer! Well, cop or no cop, he needed to get the hell out of our way and there was no way around him, so at this point emergency lights flashing, he flashes his lights non-stop, starts honking his horn like a mad man and we are BOTH waving at the cop to get out of the way!! BUT THE FOOL WON”T BUDGE!!!!  Then finally there is a break in the traffic and we are like 1 1/2 miles from out exit, so we go shooting around him and cross all 3 lanes to get to our exit lane, but of course the cop puts on his lights and PULLS US OVER!!!

Jason tore off the road and stopped so fast the cop probably almost hit us, he jumps out of the car and yells “OH NO, YOU GOTTA LET US GO!! MY WIFE’S IN LABOR AND SHE IS FIXING TO HAVE THIS KID RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!! THIS IS OUR EXIT, WE GOTTA GET TO THE BIRTH CENTER!!!!” The cop then walks up to the car while Jason is getting back in and as soon as he sticks his head in the door I feel a gush of water “OH GOD, NOW MY WATER JUST BROKE” I yell.

(I must interject, get some depends for the “big day” they really do the trick) The cops jaw drops and all he can do is stutter, ” Ah, ok, go on, just be careful, don’t hurt anyone!”  We take off!  We run the red lights between the exit and the birth center and get there at about 11:25am.

Jason jumps out of the car and rushes around to help me out and helps me to the front door, at this point I know the baby is coming, it felt like he was half way down my birth canal. we get over to the door and Jason reaches out to open it, and it is LOCKED!!!!  “OH MY GOD, IT’S LOCKED!! WHERE IS SHE, I THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA MEET US HERE!!!” he yells and his face just drops as his heart about stops, we are going to have this baby on the side walk!

Just then a little old janitor lady comes to the inside of the door and tells us “they are closed”. He says to her “no, you gotta let us in, my wife is having this baby NOW!! Hope (my midwife) is supposed to be meeting us here please let us in!!” But she can’t get the door unlocked so she tells us to come to the next door, which is a pediatrician office that is attached to the birth center.

We get into the building and there just happens to be a pediatrician there. Usually there wouldn’t be anyone there, but she just happened to be holding a seminar there that day. So me, Jason, the ped, and the janitor make our way down to the waiting room of the birth center and the rest of the center is across the hall locked up tight! I grab the phone and call Hope. She anwers all pleasant and calm “hey, hows it going?”  I’m frantic, “Hope!! where are you?!?!?!  You gotta get here, he’s coming, HE’S COMING RIGHT NOW!!!!!!” She’s taken a back.  “What??? you weren’t urgent on the phone the last time i talked to you, what happened??? I’m almost there, I’ll call Sharon, she is right around the corner!! We will be right there!!”

At this point the ped (Dr. Cerone) and Jason help to get my bottoms off as dr Cerone instructs the janitor to get plastic bags, paper towels and gloves! And she states that she has delivered children before so she will deliver ours if she needs to. They get me to the floor as they are laying out the bags and paper and the dr is getting her gloves on.

Just then Sharon (the head midwife) comes through the door, bare foot and half dressed. “What happened? You aren’t supposed to be having him yet.” She smiles and asks dr Cerone if she has checked me yet, but she hadn’t. So Sharon grabs some gloves as Hope runs in, and she checks and says “oh yeah, i feel his head, he is right there, we need to get you to the birth bed. when your next contraction subsides let us know we need to move you. its not going to go away completely, so just when you feel it ease up some let us know.”

It eases a bit so they (Jason and Sharon) help carry me to the birth bed. Jason climbs into the bed next to me and I’m on my side pushing and about to rip his pocket off. I push a couple times like that and they say to get onto my back so I can push better, so they roll me to my back. I get one leg and Jason’s neck and Jason gets my other leg. Jason looks around and says “Oh my god, I can see his head! I can see his head, he has hair!!”

I pushed again and Jason can see him coming out and is so excited “You’re almost there, our little guy is almost here and he has so much hair!” They tell me to reach down and I feel my babies head and he does have a full head of hair! I pushed 3 more times and his head came out, then his little body!

They placed our baby on my chest and it was the most wonderful, shocking thing ever! It was so surreal, I couldn’t even believe that I had woke up only 6 hours prior and all of a sudden now I’m holding our baby!!

Jaxon Creed was born at 11:56 am and was 6lb 13oz and was 19 inches, he is so precious and perfect, with a full head of hair like I had when I was born. He has my lips and daddy’s nose and both of ours green eyes.

“Well, i didn’t see that coming.” Sharon said smiling once it was all over. Well, needless to say, there was no time to fill the tub to have the water birth we had wanted but we still couldn’t have had a better birth.

They checked his heart and lungs and wiped him off a little bit before they left us to bond together for about an hour. Kristin (the lactation consultant) then came in and asked if he had nursed yet and she helped me to feed him a little and showed me how to express some colostrum into a spoon to feed him if need be, while Jason held him.

About that time Jason’s mom called and said that she was about to leave her house to bring the fruit he demanded, but he told her that it was to late that the baby was born and she got to hear him cry. He said not to worry about it, that we would see her tomorrow. We then called my mom and sister so they could hear our boy and my mom was making her way up to my sister’s house. I then took a shower while Jason got some daddy bonding time and then he went and got us some food while Kristen again helped me to get him nursing. We stayed at the center till about 4 pm.

Because Jaxon wasn’t full term and so technically I was supposed to deliver at a hospital (but being that he was coming out there was no time to transfer me), they wanted us to stay in town for the night so they could keep watch on his vitals, so we went to a hotel to stay the night. you should have seen the looks on the peoples faces at the hotel when we got there. we showed him off to the man behind the counter, and on the way to our room there was a couple in the hall who asked “Oh, what a cute baby! How old is he? 1-2 weeks?” They were shocked when we told them, “No, he’s 4 hours old!”

We had a wonderful first night,in our king sized bed, both of us taking turns to watch him while the other slept and I spoon fed him throughout the night and took his temp and counted his breaths, which were all right where they needed to be. Hope came in the morning to make sure everything was going good and to check him over then we headed home with our new baby.

Alicia

On Monday (September 28th) I had some mild contractions during the work day.  They felt like strong braxton hicks so I didn’t think much about it.  Around seven o’clock we started timing them.  They weren’t strong, but we wanted to test my husband’s iPhone contraction timing application.  They were 15-30 min apart at that point.

At 8:30 I decided to do a fear clearing hypnosis session.  The contractions were getting stronger, and I was starting to have flashbacks from my son’s 32 hour labor.  I needed to get my fear under control.  It helped a lot and I calmed down.

At 9:30 I started to wonder if this might really be it.  Contractions were still 15-30 min apart, but some were up to two minutes long and very intense.  I can honestly say my initial thought was “oh crap…I still have so much to do at work before I go on maternity leave!”  So I decided to work for a while (I work from home).  I worked until 11:00 trying to close things out.

I got in the tub at 11:00 thinking it would slow things down so I could go to bed, but things only picked up.  At this point the contractions were about 3-5 min apart and intense enough that I had to really focus to get through them.  I was still in denial that this was the real thing, and then I felt a big gush and knew my water had broken.

Josh started getting our things together.  We were very caught off guard and we hadn’t packed anything.  He called his mom to come watch Ryker, and my mom and our midwife to meet us at the birth center.

We left for the birth center shortly after 1:00 a.m.  The drive was about 15 minutes and we listened to the Hypnobabies Birth Day Affirmations on the way there.

Getting out of the car at the birth center I felt a huge wave of nausea.  I didn’t throw up, but I remember thinking that I must be entering transition.  I was shocked at how calm I was and how quickly I had progressed.

The atmosphere at the birth center was so calming.  The lighting was low, and my midwife spoke in soft tones.  She had the tub filled and waiting, and I immediately got in.  We listened to her heartbeat and my midwife checked her position.  She did not check me for dilation – she said that when it was time to push I would know.  She also tested the fluid on my pad and confirmed my water had broken.  Josh turned on my Hypnobabies script, but I felt like I needed a quiet room so I could concentrate so I had him turn it off.  I did use self-hypnosis and Josh used the queues we had learned which helped me relax.

After about 30 minutes in the tub I started feeling the urge to push.  My midwife said to go ahead and give it a try.  I was lying on my left side and moaning deeply with every contraction.  I could feel her moving down.  Pushing felt so good!

I put my hand down and could feel her head covered in hair.  The contractions were very intense, but I was able to recover and smile and talk in between them.  I never felt out of control.  I never felt like I couldn’t handle it anymore.

My midwife had me put my hand down to help stretch the perineum.  She had me hoot like an owl to slow down on pushing so I wouldn’t tear.  Then suddenly with the next contraction her head was out.  I had a small break before the next contraction, then one more big push and she was out!  She swam up to me and I pulled her up onto my chest.  She was beautiful and perfect.  It was 2:13 a.m. and only forty-five minutes after our arrival at the birth center.

It took her a minute to start breathing, but that was fine since the cord was still attached and pulsating.  We sat and cuddled and massaged her for a minute and then she let out a little shriek.  Once she was breathing well and the cord stopped pulsating my mom cut the cord.  My midwife had me move to the bed to monitor my bleeding while I nursed Ruby and birthed the placenta.  She latched right on and nursed for 45 minutes or so.

Ten minutes later I felt amazing and told everyone I could do it all again right then!  The rush was unlike anything I have ever felt.  I had a very small superficial tear that did not require stitching.

We measured and weighed her (8 lbs, 5 oz and 20 ¾ inches long).  She got her vitamin K shot, and then we tucked her into the co-sleeper.  Josh and I got in bed and went to sleep, my mom wet home, and my midwife went to the next room to sleep.

We woke up to the smell of pancakes being made in the kitchen by my midwife.  It was the best meal I have ever eaten – I was so hungry!  We had breakfast in bed and stared in awe at our little miracle sleeping away next to me.

At 10:00 a.m. Ruby and I had checkups and passed with flying colors, so we left and went home to begin life as a new family.

Leanne

I had every faith that I would be successful! I saw a wonderful midwife for my prentatal care, and she helped me to acheive a healthy, low risk pregnancy in preparation for my birth. I believe that if you give your body the tools it needs to create a healthy baby and pregnancy, that you can also trust it to deliver this baby with an innate wisdom that you cannot even comprehend. This mindset has never faltered and has helped to carry me through my wonderful birth experiences.

Addison was the first. Here is her story.

My husband Jay and I had been given two different due dates, April 5th, 2006,  and then after our 19 week anatomy scan ultrasound, they moved it to April 12th. The gender of our baby was a surprise, so by the time I reached the end of my pregnancy, I was getting very impatient for our baby to arrive! I just could not wait to find out who had been kicking around inside of me all these months!

Once my first date had passed with my vaginal exam showing a firm closed cervix, my midwife Judi gave me some homeopathic pills to help speed my cervix ripening along. I was having small contractions daily throughout the last week before the birth and I was always hoping that one of them would finally hurt so I would know that it was really going to happen! After several days of “is this it?” I decided to just ignore the contractions until they got uncomfortable so I would not get my hopes up and overreact.

My dad had to leave Wednesday afternoon for work in the North Slope oil feilds and he was not scheduled to get back until the end of May. It was very important to me that he be here for the birth of his first grandchild and get to at least meet him or her before he left. I was beginning to get impatient. Monday the 10th of April I had been awake all night and my husband decided to stay home with me. We spent all day walking and having sex and doing other activities hoping to get labor rolling. I had good strong contractions 5 to 15 minutes apart all day long, especially while walking but when I would rest they would slow to a stop. I was very disappointed to find that they completely stopped when I laid down for the night. I had not one contraction all night long. I was beginning to think labor would never happen.

Early labor begins

Tuesday morning I woke up at 5:00 A.M. I got up and moved around and slowly I started having some contractions!! I sat down for a while and they kept going even when I was resting, but still nothing more than the contractions I had been having all week. I was discouraged.

About 10:00 A.M they were right at 5 minutes apart. I timed them for an hour, not daring to believe that this was the real thing. I took a shower and just before noon my aunt called me. She asked if I was having a baby today, and I told her “I hope so, but we’ll see!” She asked me to go to lunch with her and I thought that would be a good plan to keep my mind off of things.

My contractions were a steady five minutes apart all afternoon like clockwork, but they never seemed to get more intense. There was lots of pressure, but no pain at all. I was cheerful to find a large bloody mucous blob on my toilet paper at one point when I used the bathroom at the restaurant. I kept thinking how funny it was that I was probably in labor, and nobody around me could tell.

Jay and I spent the rest of the afternoon driving around looking at houses and then stopped at WalMart to buy two little Easter outfits for that Sunday. We bought a girl and a boy outfit, and kept the receipt. When we left there at 4:30 I was getting a little discouraged and worried that the contractions were just going to stop again that evening. I decided to call the Midwife for a second opinion.

The midwife on call (I think it was Jessica) asked me if I had rested at all that day. “No! I’ve been walking walking walking non stop, trying to get these things to hurt!” I reported. She told me to go home and take a nap. She assured me that if this was real labor they would get stronger with some rest, but if not they would stop. We went home and made some bean and bacon soup and toast and I laid down for a nap.

I fell asleep about 6:30 only to be awakened by some serious contractions within the hour! I had to close my eyes and concentrate thought them, and they finally hurt a little! They were about a minute long and only 3.5 to 4 minutes apart. When Jay tried to rub my back right at the peak of a contraction and I told him not to touch me, he promptly went downstairs and called my midwife, Judi. She told us to come on over! We got to the Birthing Center about 8:30 P.M. Tuesday, April 11th.

Active Labor

My midwife Judi greeted us at the center, and we proceeded with an exam. Judi checked me and I was barely 3 cm. dilated. The contractions were still very manageable but she took one look at me, touched the furrow between my eyes and told me I needed to relax! I didn’t even realize I was tense between contractions. She told us to bring in our gear… this was really going to happen!

A couple had just gone home after their birth that afternoon, and the tub was being sanitized, so I sat in the waiting room in the huge overstuffed chair while Jay brought in our things from the car.

I vividly remember a birthing video was on the T.V. and it began to sink in that this was the real thing. I was going to hold my own baby in just a few hours. I was going to be a mother. It was a little overwhelming, and I sat and watched the babies on the screen come in to the world and I cried away all my tension.

When my room was ready, I went up and sat in the Jacuzzi tub for a while and my second midwife Kristine helped me time my contractions as I got into the rhythm of things. There in the tub I learned how to effectively relax through my contractions, to let go of my tension, to release into the pain, to allow my body to work with it. I began to go into my labor trance, and time began to blur as I went inside of myself and began to get down to business. As my labor got stronger, I remember saying “Ok little baby, I was just joking! You don’t have to come out today. Are you sure you don’t want to wait til tomorrow?” My mom arrived after her Arbonne meeting and by that time I was out of the tub and into the shower. It was probably about 10:00 pm.

For the next few hours I switched between the birthing ball, the toilet, the shower and the floor. I liked laboring in the shower and I held on to the handrails and did “Hula” dancing…. Just rotating my hips in circles to help the baby come down faster with the warm water streaming on my back. At some point they checked me and I was just shy of 5 cm. dilated. I remember thinking that it was taking a long time.

It seemed like every time I changed positions I would have three contractions on top of each other with no break, so I tried to stay in one spot as long as possible. Judi had delivered three other babies in the 36 hours before my birth, and had hardly slept, so she left me in the care of Kristine and went to take a nap around 1:00 AM. I had been laboring now close to five hours.

On the way out she told me “We should have a baby in time to still get breakfast in the morning”… I looked at her like WHAT!??!? I have HOW many hours of this left?? Needless to say, those were NOT the encouraging words I wanted to hear! They kind of made me angry, in my laboring state. I was determined I would prove her wrong and have my baby a lot faster than she expected! I remember feeling soooo insulted! That’s a cranky laboring woman for ya though.

By this time I was in very active labor, just coping with the contractions. I was very tired since I had been up since 5 that morning and had only about an hour’s rest all day. I knelt by the bed and remember just wanting to sleep.

During contractions, I found it best to close my eyes and concentrate on relaxing as the contraction started. At the peak of contractions, I felt it neccessary to deal with all the excess sensation by making a low “Oooooo” sound with every outgoing breath. I’m pretty sure I sounded like a cow mooing.This also gave me something to focus on, the sound of my own voice, and it kept me centered amidst the wild sensations having their way in my body. I envisioned my breath flowing out through my pelvis and pictured all sorts of things; flowers opening, the baby’s head pressing down and I made my body release into the pain instead of pulling away from it. This took ALL my willpower and concentration as labor progressed. The mind over matter mindset it took to stay in control yet surrendered,  was the hardest part of labor.

I spent most of my labor totally internalized and focused so I have little memory of what all was going on around me. I laid down on the bed for a while and tried to get some sleep between contractions. Jay and my mom rubbed my feet and that actually provided a lot of relief.

I didn’t get to stay there too long because Kristine checked me  again and there was a lot of progress! She decided it was time to go wake up Judi. I was surprised how fast I went from not even 5 cm. to almost 8! I got up from the bed to get in the Jacuzzi, but dropped to my knees as a HARD contraction hit me. I was so tired and I remember saying “I don’t want to do this anymore! I just want to sleep!” Truthfully, I just wanted to cry. My mom saw I was about to lose it and she knelt down beside me next to the bed.  “You can’t cry now.” she whispered, rubbing my back. “You have to do this. It’s got to be done. Judi is about to come in here and you don’t want her to see you crying.”

“Judi can bite me!” was my reply. It was probably around 2:30 AM and I was starting my transition. I got into the tub and to my surprise it was not long at all before I HAD to push. Kristine had me try to blow through the contractions and the urges but when you really have to push, there’s just not anything you can do about it! I did not understand  what was going on with this incredible urge inside of me to bear down. She checked me again and found that my membranes were bulging through my cervix into my vagina even though I wasn’t totally dilated yet. That was causing the premature urge to push, but it was still quite painful when I tried. She asked if I wanted her to break my water, but I wasn’t really coherent enough to decide whether I wanted to risk any harder contractions, even if it did make the baby come faster. So I declined.

I tried my best not to push then, and I found with some large raspberry blowings (like horsey noises)  rippling my lips with each outgoing breath to direct the pressure elsewhere, I got through the next few contractions.

I was surprised to read, two years later, that Ina May Gaskin reccommends blowing raspberries to help fully relax a tight cervix! I had done it totally instinctually, all on my own. And it was remarkably effective.

The Birth

Judi arrived then, looking very chipper after her short nap. She was also surprised how fast I had progressed. My cervix was a little thick still on the right side, so they had me roll to the right to put more pressure on that side. A few minutes later with the next contraction, Judi told me there was just a tiny lip left and if she held it out of the way I could go ahead and push! I couldn’t believe it was almost over!

She tried her best to inform me that I still had a ways to go, and tried to prepare me for an hour or maybe even two left of pushing, which is normal for a first time mother, but I didn’t buy it. My mom had all of her babies in three or four pushes. I beleived I would as well.

Once I could really push things happened very fast. After one good push, Judi said “Well, it has hair!” I was so excited I almost cried with relief!

At this point I really snapped out of my internalized mode as my labor slowed and gave me a good rest between pushes. It felt all at once relieving yet overwhelming to push, nothing like the pinch of contractions. The urge was absolutely unstoppable, pushing without my concious effort or consent. Such an incredible force, like a freight train through my body.

I remember asking Jay if he had called his parents. They were in the waiting room, as was my dad, my little brother and my sister Danielle and her boyfriend Jeremy. My sister Rosanna was taking pictures and video for us. They all came in just inside the door and waited quietly where I couldn’t see them. It only took about three contractions for her head to crown. At this point my water finally broke! We were beginning to wonder if the baby was going to be born in the sack.

The room was dimly lit and there were candles around the Jacuzzi tub. My mom was kneeling on the floor behind me and lending her support while Judi and Jay were down at the receiving end of things. Rosanna was taking video.

Judi told me to put my hand on the baby’s head so I would know how much to push. It was so surreal feeling that little patch of wrinkly skin and hair bulging out of me. It was incredible finally being able to touch my baby! Judi handed Jay a washcloth and had him press it onto my rectal area to help guide the baby’s head upwards out my vagina, so it would not tear through my perineum. This rectal counterpressure was incredibly releiving, and helped to reduce the irrational feeling that I was going to split in half as I pushed. I made him keep his hand there, even between contractions.

I felt like I was trying to poop a grapefruit and I remember thinking how impossible it seemed that a whole baby was really going to fit out of my body!

My sister Danielle and my mother in law walked toward the tub with the next contraction so they could see as the head crowned up to the ears. Then my last contraction came and Judi said “OK Daddy, get your hands down here! The head’s out.” And in the same instant the whole body slipped into the water. Jay lifted our little baby out of the water and straight onto my chest at 3:59 AM April 12, 2006…

(WELL before breakfast, thank you very much! My labor was only 7 1/2 hours from the time we arrived at the birthing center) I absolutely squealed out loud with delight as I finally held my slippery little baby in my arms.

It’s a GIRL! And celebration ensues.

Jay took a quick peek between the legs and proudly announced his findings “It’s a girl!” I was SO excited! She began to wail and I started to laugh. There was an immediate change in the room from quiet anticipation to complete celebration! Everyone was talking and laughing at once, Addison was crying, and I was in some crazy state of euphoria. I felt like I could jump up and run around the room. I scooted around to the other side of the tub so I was facing the visitors (I had a swimsuit top on. No worries, I was modest.) and so Jay could see her better.

Everyone came to look at her and I laid her back so just her face was out of the water to keep her warm. She was so pink and vigorous and full of life, just looking around in wonder at her new surroundings. We stayed in the tub for about 20 minutes until my placenta came out, just talking and getting to know our new baby girl.

The Recovery

Then Jay cut the cord and took her from me so I could get up and into my nightgown. Everyone went out to give us some privacy and we weighed and measured Addison. She was 8lb. 3oz, 21 inches long. Judi and Kristine helped me up into bed where they checked to make sure there were no tears or undue amounts of bleeding, which there were not. I had birthed my 8lb 3oz baby girl over an intact perineum! No stitches in my lady business was definitely a plus.

My mom called my Grandma and Grandpa as well as my Aunt Sarah (who I had been to lunch with earlier in the day) and they came right over at 5:00 in the morning. I nursed Addison and then passed her around so she could meet all the family who had waited so anxiously for her to arrive. All the excitement died down around 6:30 and everyone went home to get some rest. They left Jay and I and our new baby curled up in bed. We slept for several hours, then I got up and had shower. We got our things together and after the midwives checked on us one more time to make sure everyone was doing well, we were told we could take our daughter home as soon as we felt ready. We drove home around noon April 12th.

We spent the rest of the day laying around the house and more family came over to meet Addie. My sister Rosanna and my friend Marjie made us omelets for dinner that evening and Addie and I napped on the couch off and on during the day. Everyone went home and left us alone as a family after dinner and we went to bed around 9:30. I remember laying next to Jay in our own cozy bed with Addison nestled between us. He was just looking at us, and a little tear started down his cheek. “Thank you” He said, and he kissed me. It was the perfect ending to the most wonderful day of my life.

My reflections

Addison’s birth was such a beautiful and positive start to my career as a mother! In 7 1/2 hours, it took me on a journey from an uncertain 20 year old to a confident, trusting, totally empowered mother. It taught me that I am capable of so much more than I ever dreamed, and granted me a new respect, trust and awe for my body, and myself as a person. It showed me the possibilities that are inside of me, and put me in touch with my intuition and instincts as a woman in a way that nothing else could. It was a primal, intimate, gentle, loving birth atmosphere; everything a baby should experience in her first moments on the earth. I am so thankful that I was able to experience it the way I did. I was granted dignity, respect and support during my labor and birth, and allowed the freedom to listen to my body, express myself and not only participate, but truly own my child’s birth. Nothing can compare to it. I cannot help but feel that birth, as nature intended, is one of the most incredible processes on the earth, and I look forward to doing it again.

Sharon
Mom of two beautiful girls. I live in Alaska and am a domestic engineer. With a great love of natural living, herbal remedies, natural childbirth and peaceful parenting. I will pursue midwifery school once my children are older and I dont have one nursing through the night!

Addison’s  birth video is here
www.vimeo.com/sharonblueyes
Both my labor stories are also hosted at www.mynaturalbirthstories.blogspot.com