It was cold in the apartment. Russia and the Ukraine were in the middle of a gas dispute. Our city’s central heating system was short of fuel, we were left in the cold. Outside, there was a fierce frost and a lot of snow. I was struggling to get the air conditioning in my apartment to blow hot air instead of cold, so that my baby would not be born into a cold space. I finally succeeded but it was still cold, so I turned the oven on and left its door open. Finally, things were starting to heat up.

Contractions were now painful, and I vocalized through some of them. My daughter woke up and asked what was going on. It was probably around three in the morning. “The baby is on his way, honey, he’ll be with us soon!” She brought me drinks, and seemed excited. I tried to get her to go back to sleep, but she wanted to be there with me.

My second birth was an extremely spiritual experience. Because I chose to birth unassisted, and had to rely on myself exclusively, I felt every sensation, and was aware of the process every step of the way. I did ask myself whether I was doing the right thing, and if I should go to hospital, but I knew, in my heart, that this was the best choice. Not just because of the medieval maternity system in our country of residence, and not just because the midwife who attended my first birth did many of the things that they did in hospital too, like shouting at laboring women and trying to cut an episiotomy without the consent of the mother. No, this birth was so much more than an alternative to something unwanted. It was a rebirth for me, as a person, too.

My son was born into my own two hands, face up. My daughter was excited to meet her little brother. “Hello, little one. Hello, my little one,” I exclaimed, as I stared into his tiny but bright blue eyes, eyes that stared right into my soul. He was tiny. So much smaller than his sister. So fragile, and so perfect. The placenta came out with ease, very soon after my son did. After I was sure that the umbilical cord had stopped pulsating.

We bathed together and then got dressed. My daughter picked the clothes my son would wear for the very first time, and we went to bed. My children went to sleep peacefully. I couldn’t possibly let this precious moment go to waste by sleeping, and observed my two beautiful children for hours, just being. I felt at peace, yet energetic. For months, I was on a birth high. I felt euphoric.

Olivia
A crunchy homebirth mom of two. I blog about trying to conceive – www.trying-to-conceive.com

At 28 weeks I was required to take a Glucose Tolerance Test. They called me and told me that my blood sugars were so high, I was automatically being diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes with no further testing. This diagnosis changed the way my pregnancy was treated from that point on. I didn’t have to change my diet much in order to control the blood sugar, and I stuck to my regular exercise every day.

After 32 weeks I had to go to the doctor’s office twice a week for ultrasounds and non-stress tests. Everything was perfect every time, and the baby consistently measured on the small side of normal throughout the pregnancy. I asked multiple times what happens if I go past my due date and I kept being told “We don’t like GD mom’s to go past their due date. We’ll see  how we’re progressing at the time.”  This was stressing me out because I felt pressured to go into natural labor before my due date in order to avoid unnecessary interventions.

I began my leave from work at 38 weeks in the hopes that I would go into labor naturally. My husband and I spent our days doing lots of walking, having lots of sex, eating spicy (but healthy!) foods. I kept up with my exercise and bounced on my birth ball.  But it was apparent that she was not coming any time soon.

When I was almost 39 weeks I had the doctor’s visit that changed our entire plan. They assumed I would want my cervix checked, which I did not because there was no point since I was not in labor, and then the doctor asks me when I was planning my induction.  Um, sorry but we are not planning an induction!  Then I heard the familiar threats that GD babies need to be born by 40 weeks or they will be “too big” and there is an increased risk of stillbirth.  These scare tactics just made me angry because I knew my baby was healthy and I was not going to force her to be born early!  I felt extremely stressed whenever I thought about going for a doctor visit or about our hospital birth.  So when our Bradley instructor (who was also our Doula) suggested contacting a local midwife about a home birth I felt that this would be a huge relief!  And so I made an appointment to speak with Alison, a midwife I had met before at a Birth Circle meeting just ten minutes from my house.

Alison agreed to take us on for the amount we would have paid for the hospital copay, which was amazing of her because it is the only way we could afford it since my insurance does not cover midwives. She sympathized with my story and agreed that since my blood sugars were well controlled there was no reason to treat my pregnancy as anything other than the normal healthy pregnancy it was.  And so we began planning our home birth.

It is a good thing that we did this, because it was 11 days past our due date when the labor started. Monday night I was having a terrible time sleeping, as had happened a lot that past week, so I was up until about 7 in the morning. I slept off and on for a few hours and woke up around 11 having cramps.  I told my husband I thought something was finally happening!  We got up and ate breakfast and the cramping continued to get more intense.  We decided to try timing them and they were about 10 minutes apart.  Then I went to the bathroom and found blood.  Bloody show! I told James I thought this was going to be the day so we should call Alison and Klarissa (our doula) and let them know!

James and I used our Bradley relaxation techniques to handle the contractions, and read each other trivia questions from a board game in between to keep our mind off things. Alison came by to check on me, and by this point my contractions were about 10 minutes apart. We let her know that I hadn’t slept well the night before so she suggested drinking half a glass of wine to slow the contractions so I could take a nap since I would need my energy. She left and told us to keep in touch. I drank the half a glass of wine but contractions did not slow down, they sped up!  They were starting to be 3 – 4 minutes apart when we called Klarissa and said we thought she should probably come over now.

Klarissa came over and got the birthing pool filled up for me and I climbed in.  It felt soooo nice!  James was still doing a great job reminding me to relax and take deep breaths.  I found that I had to make a low moaning sound to get through the contractions as they were getting stronger.  He ended up climbing into the pool with me so that he could press on my coccyx with a piece of pool noodle, which relieves a bit of the pressure of contractions.  Alison and her two students arrived, and we labored like this in the pool for several hours. Everyone was impressed at how great we were doing at focusing on relaxing and breathing and dealing with each contraction as it came.

At around 11 it started to get pretty intense and Alison had me get out of the pool so she could check my dilation. I was at 8 ½ centimeters with just a bit of cervix left.  We tried laboring in a few different positions and then Alison checked my cervix again and there was still a bit left that wouldn’t budge. She said it felt like scar tissue which was causing the problem, we discussed it and I agreed to let her break my bag of waters so that the baby’s head could press on the cervix to help open it. It was about 11:45 pm by this time and I was sure I’d have my baby soon.

Hours later I was still laboring HARD. Alison gave me an herb which was supposed to stop the contractions so that I could rest a bit because I was too worn out to push effectively. Once again my body reacted the opposite it was supposed to and the contractions only increased in intensity and the urge to push was too much to resist. And so we continued.

James and I got in the shower and labored in there.  By this time I was begging for the hospital because “they have drugs that work!” and starting to understand why so many women choose to have an epidural!  It was getting extremely hard to handle!

Back to the bedroom floor at the foot of my bed and I pushed on the squatting stool, on hands and knees, on my side, on my back, on the other side, back on hands and knees…  I kept hearing people say “You’re doing great!  She’s coming!”  but then I would cry out “Then why isn’t she here yet!!!” because it seemed like it wouldn’t end!  I was crying that I couldn’t go on, but everyone kept encouraging me.  “You can!  You’re doing it!  She’s almost here!”.  I remember seeing Kat, one of the student midwives getting some clean towels out and putting them next to me and I asked what it was for and she said it was for the baby.  All I thought was, but this baby is never coming out!

Finally I think I just decided this was it, I was going to push a couple of more times with all of my might and get that baby out!  I got back into the squatting position and when the next contraction came I did not let up!  Her head finally came out and then -whoosh- the rest of her slipped right out!  She was born at 6:20 am Wednesday morning. Alison caught her and put her on my stomach and I sat back on the stool and just looked at her in amazement!  I couldn’t believe she was actually here!

I had some help onto the bed and James climbed in next to me and the baby was wiped and covered with towels and a little hat put on to help keep her warm and I couldn’t believe how perfect she was!  And thanks to the loooong second stage labor and squatting position, I had absolutely no tearing.

James cut the cord, and I delivered the placenta with one little push. That was easy! Then I was escorted into the shower while the birth team stripped the bed and put on a nice clean set of sheets. I think we tried to nurse, it’s all a little fuzzy now… Then Alison took Zelda to the foot of the bed to take measurements, check the baby’s eyes and reflexes and all that good stuff. She was 7 lbs 2 ounces and a whopping 22 inches long.  That is a long and skinny baby!  She was perfectly alert and healthy.

Although it was the most difficult thing I have ever done, and the most pain I have ever experienced, I am very glad that we chose to have a home birth. First of all, if she had been born three weeks earlier she would have had no fat on her!  I know that my baby really needed the time that she took. Secondly I am convinced that they would not have let me labor for that long in so many positions in second stage. I would have ended up in surgery, which was not necessary at all because obviously by body and my baby were able to do it!  Alison says that Zelda was a big help pushing herself out, and her heart rate stayed strong through the entire ordeal. Klarissa commented that she really lives up to her name, which means woman warrior!

Nicole

I had a midwife appointment Tuesday afternoon.  Even though I know it doesn’t mean much, I asked her to check me because I was curious.  I was 2.5cm dilated and 40% effaced.  Interestingly, Lena had been transverse and posterior, meaning she was facing the side and front instead of the back.  Facing backwards is optimal for labor and birth.  Well, Lynda could tell when she checked me that her head was actually anterior, which is what we want.  So, she basically had her head turned to the side, which was good.  Lynda offered to strip my membranes.  I entertained the thought, but really just wanted this labor to start on its own.  So, I declined and grudgingly set up a 41 week appointment for next week.

I went to sleep that night resigning myself to further days of pregnancy.

Brian and I had gone to bed early.  He was fighting a cold and I was just plain exhausted, so by the time I woke up just after 2:30 I had already gotten 5 hours of sleep, thankfully.  A contraction had woken me up.  I honestly don’t know if I had had any yet, or if they just started intense enough to wake me.  But, wake me they did.  I laid there wondering if this was really it.  I grabbed my iphone and checked my email, surfed the internet a little, all while timing the contractions.  I was surprised to realize they were 5 minutes apart and one minute long.  Still not painful, just uncomfortable.

Then one hit that I would call painful.  I decided to get up and walk around to try to move things along and start to get ready.  This was about 3:10.  I proceeded to get dressed, get things situated, etc.  All the while noticing that the contractions were very close together as I was walking around.  My contraction pattern with Trevor was a little random, so I didn’t think much of it.  But, they were getting intense enough, I decided to wake up Brian around 3:30.  I told him I was in labor.  I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of “are you sure?”.  I assured him I most definitely was and he got up.  Within about 5 minutes I told him he better call Lynda my midwife because it appeared things were progressing quickly.  We woke up my mom so she would be available just in case Trevor woke up.  I really hoped the whole thing would be done and over with before Trevor woke up in the morning.  That gave me 4-5 hours.  I was hopeful, but a little nervous, too.

I got on the birth ball and rocked back and forth, humming through the contractions.  They were very close together and pretty intense, but I tried not to think about since I figured I still had at least a few hours to go, if not several.  I wondered if things weren’t further along than I thought when I had to keep telling my mom and Brian to not talk during the contractions.  I had to focus because they were getting hard.  I started getting hot and shaky and started having a harder time dealing with the contractions.  So, I told Brian to fill up the tub so I could have some warm water to help with the pain and the buoyancy to take some pressure off my belly.  I got in the tub probably around 4 or shortly after that.

After a couple contractions in the tub, I was starting to worry that Lynda wasn’t there yet and was about to tell Brian to call her again, when she showed up.  This was probably 4:15.  She came in to see how things were going, and only had to listen to me groan through one contraction to realize that she had better get a move on setting things up.

At this point the contractions were basically on top of each other and getting extremely difficult to deal with.  I knew things were moving along at a surprisingly fast rate, but I still don’t think I knew just how close I was.  A few more really hard contractions in the tub, then one hit that had a distinct hard pressure.  Not a pushing pressure, but more of an downward and opening pressure.  I think this was when it hit me that it was almost time.  The next contraction was a distinct pushing contraction.  After it was over, I got out of the tub and onto the birthing stool Lynda had brought.  One push on the stool, just enough time to catch my breath and yell “IT HURTS!!!” before pushing again with all my might.  And she was out at 4:40am.  Last time Brian cried as Trevor was put on my chest, this time, he laughed and kept repeating “Look at her! Look at her!”  He was basically in shock that it was already over and had gone so fast.  I think I was, too.  In shock, but very grateful.

My water had never broken, so she was born in the caul, which means I pushed her out with her amniotic sac still intact.  Being born in the caul is good luck, supposedly.  It broke as her body came out and gave her a little shower, so she was totally clean when Lynda put her on my belly.  The umbilical cord was short, so I couldn’t hold her any higher up than that.  She didn’t cry at all.  We got a good look at her and then moved me onto the bed with her.  I wanted to nurse her, but she couldn’t reach my chest until we cut the cord.  Oh, Lynda had two assistants that arrived about 5 minutes after she was born.  Luckily, Lynda was totally comfortable and confident flying solo.  I love that woman!

So, Brian cut the cord, and she latched right on.  Yay!  The midwives cleaned everything up while Lena and I got acquainted.  The placenta came out with no problems, and they said I bled surprisingly little.  I did get a minor 1st degree tear that needed to be sutured, but that’s a lot better than what I came away with last time.  They gave her a newborn exam and she passed with flying colors.  They finished cleaning up and left.  They were gone by 6:00, which gave us just enough time to settle and reflect a bit before Trevor woke up.  The timing of everything couldn’t have been more perfect.

As we’ve reflected over the experience since then, we’ve realized some interesting things.  First, Brian missed half my labor.  Sounds funny when you say it that way, but it’s true.  I doubt he ever would have imagined when I woke him up that he would have a new daughter just over an hour later.  Second, we would never have made it to a hospital, considering I didn’t even wake Brian up until an hour before the birth.  And then, we would have had to wait for someone to come stay at the house with Trevor.  I can imagine I would have starting feeling like pushing as we were walking out the door.  Lynda pointed out we wouldn’t have made it to her birthing center either, for the same reasons.  This baby was destined to be born at home.  I’m just glad we had planned it that way instead of it taking us by surprise!

We are totally amazed by the experience.  How blessed we’ve been with how it worked out and how things have been going since then.  So amazed.  We can’t even talk about it without chuckling because it just blows us away.

Jody

At about 1 am Monday I was awoken with stronger contractions.  I got up went to the bathroom, walked around and tried going back to bed.  I think I was in denial that this could be the day!   An hour later I was up again, this time with hunger.  I grabbed a bagel and started pacing around while eating it.  I decided that I would not wake Joe up until I absolutely needed him, and at 3am I NEEDED him.

Joe set up the yoga ball and pillows in the bedroom so that I could be on my knees and leaning over the ball.  This was a laboring position we had planned on, so that I could rock back and forth and he could rub my back.  This worked well and got me through an hour and a half of contractions. During this time Joe had called the midwives and they were on their way.

By the time the midwives arrived it was 5:45 am and I had been sitting on the toilet laboring through contractions for quite a while (I found the toilet to be comfortable and I had the sink next to me to lean on).  The midwives wanted to check me to see how far along I was, so I had to move to my bed.  When one of the midwives checked me, she was shocked to see that I was 9 cm!  The other midwife found it hard to believe since I was so calm and quiet and had not said two words since they arrived, so she checked me as well.  She was also shocked when she found I was 9cm.

As soon as they were finished checking me I headed back to the toilet.   My husband pulled up a chair next to me and was rubbing my arm and soothing me through contractions.  I did not speak the entire time, except that I would say “water” once in a while and someone would give me a sip.  I was just focused on breathing.

By 8am, after about 2 more hours of being on the toilet, the midwives asked me to move to my bedroom.  They had set up pillows covered with shower curtains on the floor in front of my bed.  I kneeled on the pillows and leaned over the bed.  This position was great and I immediately started bearing down.  After a while, they told me to reach down and touch the baby.  His head was right there, and that really motivated me.  The midwives were great, they were calmly telling me “the head is there, use it to stretch you open and relax”.  So instead of me pushing his head sat there for a few minutes while I waited for the next contraction.

Baby Joseph came into this world at 9:19 and I couldn’t even believe I had been at it for over 8 hours.  It really felt more like 3, the time flew by!  Afterwards I was immediately on my bed with my baby on my chest.  I delivered the placenta and my husband cut the cord.  We were so in love and so pumped with adrenaline.  I got up and went into the shower for a quick rinse.  By the time I was out, my bedroom was all cleaned up and I got into my bed with clean sheets. The midwives helped the baby latch on.  They made sure I had something to eat and before you knew it they were gone.

My entire birth experience was better than I could have ever imagined.  It was a dream and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Kathleen

Finally, when I was almost 38 weeks my midwife referred me to an OB for a version. I had an ultrasound done first where it was discovered that my amniotic fluid levels were quite low. Too low to attempt a version, and low enough to cause concern that something else could be wrong. The OB said that most of his colleagues would recommend I get a c-section that night since my baby was full term and breech.

He realized that was obviously something we wanted to avoid, so he recommended a non-stress test to see how the baby was doing first. Fortunately, my midwife could do this at her office, so we didn’t have to stay in the hospital. Baby was doing great so the orders were to “hydrate like hell” and hope to get my fluids up enough to attempt the version in a couple days. I drank liters and liters of water but when I went back for another ultrasound my fluid levels were barely higher. A version was no longer an option. Time to prepare for plan B.

We did another non-stress test (baby still doing great) and talked things over with our midwife. Here in Utah it is illegal for liscensed midwives to attend breech births at home. This meant our wonderful midwife, Rebecca, could not attend our birth alone. So she contacted a very experienced and well respected lay midwife in our area and asked her if she’d be willing to come to our birth. Chris agreed to come.

We decided it was probably best for Miriam to come pretty soon since my fluid levels were so low. We decided to give her a few more days but made plans to encourage things along the following Wednesday. We continued to do non stress tests every other day, which Miriam always passed with flying colors.

Wednesday (June 23, 2010) came and that morning Rebecca stripped my membranes and gave me cohosh in the hopes of getting labor started. I’m not usually a fan of even these types of intervention but with my low fluid levels and a breech baby we thought it was best to encourage things along. We did another nonstress test that morning too and she was happy as always.When Rebecca stripped my membranes I was 4 cm dilated and 50% effaced with a bulging bag of waters quite low. Not a bad start.

We left Rebecca’s office just before 10 and headed to Costco to get a few last minute things. I started having a few mild cramps. By the time we left Costco they had picked up a bit. We stopped at one more store to get diapers and pads and then headed home. It was just after 11 am when we got home. I was having mild and crampy waves pretty close together but still didn’t know if they would go anywhere. I had several things I wanted to get done around the house and thought I would have plenty of time. I got on the computer to do a quick post on my blog. By the time I was done with that I was having to really concentrate on the waves to relax. They were getting more intense and were VERY close together. Rebecca called around noon and said that was the cohosh at work.

I laid on my bed and listened to Hypnobabies Easy First Stage. The waves were so close together I hardly got a chance to regroup between them. Time gets a little fuzzy from here on out, but I spent a few waves on the toilet and then on the floor of the bathroom on my hands and knees. Then I went back to my bed. Rebecca called again and said she would come right over as soon as her last appointment left. I was back in the bathroom when she got to our house about 1:45. She checked me and I was 7 cm and 80% effaced. And bless her she said I could get in the birth pool!

I was so happy to be in the water. It really helped me relax more. The waves had spaced out a tiny bit so I was getting a bit more of a break between them, but they were also getting super intense. I knelt and leaned against the side of the pool and started vocalizing through them. In the mean time, Jared was working out arrangements for our son Asher who had just woken up from his nap, and we were still waiting on Chris, the other midwife to get there.

Right around when she arrived I started feeling pushy and felt a pop–my water broke. This is also about the time Jared left to take Asher around the corner to a friend’s house. I started pushing involuntarily and pretty soon her bottom was out and then her legs. And Jared wasn’t back yet! Rebecca ran out the door to see if she could catch him but didn’t see him. He got back when Miriam was half way out.

Chris told me to reach down and touch her so I was rubbing her back before her head was out. She got still for a moment while she got her arms out and then I pushed again and her head came right out super easy.  I just lifted her between my legs and turned around. No one else even touched her. I think the whole pushing phase was less than 5 minutes. (Unfortunately, it was so fast that we didn’t get a chance to get out the video camera. I really wanted to get the birth on video since a breech homebirth is so unusual. That is my only regret for the day.)

She was born at 2:41 pm. So I had roughly 3- 3 1/2 hours of active labor. I think because of the cohosh and membrane stripping, everything was more intense. My waves were always super close together. It was definitely a fast ride. But I remained very calm and peaceful during the whole thing. Thank you, Hypnobabies! I really trusted my body and my baby and it could not have gone more smoothly.

When I lifted Miriam out of the water her eyes were wide open and she was quiet. My first thought was that her eyes were huge and she looked so different than Asher did right after he was born. (He was all swollen and bruised.) I rubbed her back and we put a towel on her and she started pinking up and making some noise. We hung out in the water until the cord stopped pulsing and then Rebecca clamped it and Jared cut it. Jared took Miriam and held her skin to skin while I got out of the water and went over to the couch. I wasn’t even bleeding that much thank goodness.

A few minutes later I pushed out the placenta. We just hung out on the couch and Miriam eventually started nursing while Rebecca and Chris cleaned up and then checked me out. I didn’t tear! I just have a little “skid mark” that will heal up fine. I’m not even sore. I only used one ice pack that day and have felt fine since. Much different than how I felt after Asher when it seemed like my bottom wasn’t even attached to by body anymore! Three hours of pushing can do that I guess!

My grandma thoughtfully had some pizza sent to our house so thats what we ate for a late lunch. Then I had to go pee so Rebecca helped me up and I got all cleaned and padded up. I seriously felt SO good. I didn’t feel like I had just had a baby. I put on some clothes and then we weighed and measured Miriam. 6 pounds 10 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long, 13 inch head. Absolutely perfect.

This birth was pretty much exactly as I had been visualizing it my entire pregnancy. The only difference is that it was faster and she was breech. I really wanted to go into labor in the morning after a good night’s sleep and then have her in the afternoon sometime. I imagined being in the water, kneeling and catching her myself. That is exactly what I did. Although labor was very fast and intense, I was always calm and never afraid. I always felt really peaceful about everything. Pushing was SO easy and painless and she came right out fast and perfectly.

I feel like the stars really aligned to give us the perfect peaceful home birth we had prepared for. I will be forever grateful to Rebecca for her confidence in us and the birth process. And also to Chris for agreeing to come so that we could have the birth at home. She was so calming and assuring as I pushed out Miriam. I’m still amazed at how easy and beautiful this birth was when probably 99.9% of people in our situation would have had a c-section. I feel so blessed that I had this experience.

And let me also add that being at home right after is SO great! I’ve loved it. I hope I never have to birth in a hospital again!

Katrina
I am a mama of two, step-mom of three, and photographer living in Utah with my professor husband.
www.redbeanphotography.com
www.atmothersbreast.com
http://redheadmusings.blogspot.com

I assured her that Toby was late and I wouldn’t be having a baby until May. She told me that she didn’t mind if I went into labor at her Saturday night party, but I had to make it to her service Friday night, the Torah reading Saturday morning, and at least make it to dance with her once at her party Saturday night. I promised her I would.

Fast forward to the weekend of M’s bat mitzvah. I made it to Friday night services, where her mother expressed disbelief that I was “still here” and we ended the night with nary a contraction. M reminded me that I wasn’t allowed to go into labor until the next night (because I still had her morning service and the party!), and I assured her I would be there.

Her morning service went beautifully, and at lunch, M and her mother expressed that they were so happy I “made it” to the service. Now I could relax, enjoy her evening party, and then GO HAVE A BABY ALREADY. I laughed, assured them that I hadn’t felt a single contraction (and barely any Braxton-Hicks), and once again told them that I would be having this baby in May.

That afternoon, before the party, I put Toby to sleep in his big boy bed, and Keith and I went to cut his hair in the bathroom. After about a half hour, I briefly peeked in on Toby and he was sleeping peacefully, buried in covers. I finished cutting Keith’s hair and came in the bedroom to change for the party. Got changed, and went to wake up Toby, where I noticed that it wasn’t Toby under the covers – it was the dog.

I called for Toby – no answer. I went downstairs and called for him – no answer. Went into the other part of the house – no answer. By now I’m starting to panic. Checked the back door, and it was unlocked. I started moving in hyperspeed, running around the property, calling Toby’s name. I ran across the street (both of them), terrified that he’d been hit by a car or picked up by someone random (we live across from a gas station).

Nothing.

I ran back upstairs, too panicked to cry. Our roommate, Joyce, came out of her room and asked what was going on. Toby wasn’t in her room, and I ran into the bathroom to tell Keith he was missing. Joyce ran outside to look for him, I ran downstairs, and I see Joyce carrying him out of the shed. He was sitting on the tractor, pretending to drive it.

I lost it. Totally lost it, crying. It honestly took 10 years off my life.

Once I calmed down, I realized how sore I was. I was 9mo pregnant, running at full tilt for about 15 minutes, and I was HURTING. We all got dressed, and I resolved to take it easy at the party that night.

The party was lovely, and we had lots of fun socializing for cocktail hour. We go in to dinner, and my butt hits the chair to eat and I have a MASSIVE contraction – painful, full-belly, OMG-I’m-in-labor, I-remember-how-this-feels-and-I-can’t-believe-I’m-doing-this contraction. I had a bunch during dinner, where I’m getting pretty uncomfortable, and after dinner we went into the other room for dancing.

I did havdalah with the Hebrew school kids, and realized that during a less than 10 minute service, I had 4 contractions. Do the math. So I go to Keith, have him give me his phone, and start timing them. 3 minutes apart, at least 60 seconds in duration. We look at each other and start to laugh. My students kept coming up to us, trying to get me to dance with them (I did do the electric slide while in labor!), but I declined. They took this as an invite to dress me up in a tiara and boa.

By the time we were able to sneak out of the party at 10:30pm, I was having a hard time moving and talking through them. Still a steady 3 minutes apart. On the way home, we call Karen (my midwife) and tell her I’m in labor for real because she has to rustle up the team and drive an hour. Karen tells me to go home, drink a glass of wine, take a shower, and then sleep. I’m to call her when I can’t sleep any more. We also called my doula, Heidi, to warn her I might be having a baby in a few hours.

So I did what Karen said, and by about 1:00am (now Sunday morning) it becomes obvious that I can’t rest any more. I called Karen and Heidi again, and everyone (Karen and Laura – my midwives, Katie – the student midwife, and Heidi – my doula) ends up at the house around 2:30ish. Keith was filling the pool and I was getting ready to get in.

About this time, things get fuzzy. I remember doing a rotation of pool, bed, bathroom, birthing stool. Did it a few times, and Karen checked me right before dawn. She didn’t tell me my dilation, but expressed surprise at how quickly my contractions were coming but how slowly I was dilating. She told me I had a ways to go, but gave me lots of tools to get there. Sidelying seemed to be the best way to get me dilating, so I did a lot of that.

Through this whole time, everyone alternated shifts of pushing on my back during every contraction, one pushing while the others slept. In fact, everyone did this rotational sleeping thing that was brilliant – one would be with Toby, one with me, and two sleeping. I needed that constant counter pressure to relieve the back pain (I think it’s something that’s going to happen with all my labors, because it was right at the spot where my spondilo is, and I remember having it with Toby as well). I’m sure they were all sore by lunchtime, but they kept pushing every 3 minutes for what seemed like forever, and it was the only thing that relieved that pain.

I got discouraged about midday, and my wonderful cheerleaders kept me going, despite my wails of  “I can’t do this…” and “I should have scheduled a repeat c-section!” and (Heidi’s personal favorite) “Why did I think this was a good idea??” I had expected a baby by lunchtime, and it wasn’t happening. Mentally, things were not going well. I had to keep repeating “the only way out is through” over and over to keep my mind from going elsewhere.

Sometime in here, my water broke in the pool – how convenient!

Late afternoon/early evening comes around and it’s obvious that something has stalled, because we’re working at over 20 hours of labor. Karen says I only have a lip of cervix left that wasn’t cooperating, and starts massaging it to get it out of the way. She must have been doing that for an hour, and I think we were both getting frustrated, when I shifted a bit, felt the strangest POP in my pelvis, and all of a sudden, I REALLY needed to push.

I pushed EVERYWHERE. Sidelying, on the birth stool, in the shower – I have never made so much noise in my life. I was really surprised at how low I had to go to really effectively push. I really needed to be upright while pushing – standing or squatting with help was the best. Through the whole labor, I never wanted to be on all fours, which was funny – I’d assumed I would spend most of my labor that way.

We ended up in the bathroom, with Keith holding me up under my arms while I bore down as hard as I could and made weird mooing noises. Three hours of pushing later, Karen starts telling me to put my hand down and feel baby. I refused for the next ten minutes because I was convinced that I wouldn’t feel baby’s head or that I would be disappointed at how far along I was. I was beaten at this point, convinced I would never have my baby vaginally (even though I was pushing).

As she started crowning while I was on the birthing stool (to give Keith’s arms a rest), I started feeling a horrible burning right near my clitoris. I started to panic, and yelled things like “OMG, my clitoris! It’s ripping me apart!” and started thinking horrific things about tearing up instead of down. Everywhere else felt like it was stretching fine, but for some reason my clitoris was BURNING. I was in agony.

A couple pushes later, baby came out and we realized why – she had had her left arm up near her face, and her left hand on her right cheek the whole way through the birth canal, so I actually birthed her head AND her arm, adding quite a bit to the crowning circumference. Perhaps that weird POP that I had felt right before pushing was her arm coming down just enough to fully dilate me, and perhaps that was why the labor took so long.

When she came out, there was a HUGE flood of water that soaked poor Karen (and I think Laura, too). We were all surprised at how much water had stayed behind Naomi – it totally ruined the two books I’d been using to prop myself up on the birthing stool. I remember laughing and laughing. I think all of us were.

Karen caught her, wrapped her up quickly, and gave her to me. I was in disbelief. I think I said “OMG, I just pushed out a baby! I just had a baby in my bathroom!” a million times. Eventually, someone asked if it was a girl or a boy, and we all had a laugh because I was just so amazed that she was HERE!

So baby girl Naomi Noa Eiser was born at home into the hands of a wonderful CPM, at 9:34pm, after 26.5 hours of labor, 3.5 of them pushing. I had told Karen that I wanted a labor that was half the length of my son’s labor (53 hours) and I got it – just by the skin of my teeth!

Keith cut the cord after the placenta was out (which I barely noticed), and I walked (ON MY OWN TWO FEET!) back to my very own bed with my beautiful little girl. Toby woke up just in time to see us come in and hung out, getting to know his new sister. He’d been wandering in and out through the birth, and had fallen asleep while I was pushing.

I had no tears, only a couple of skid marks (Karen said I was Superwoman!), and I was able to get Naomi right to the breast and nursing. Keith made ravioli for Kate and I, and we all basked in that after-birth glow as Karen, Katie, and Laura did the newborn exam and cleaned up.

I am still amazed that I was blessed to have Nomi at home. When I held her in my hands, I realized that through my pregnancy, I had visualized my HBAC becoming a transfer to the hospital. I had never truly believed that I would be able to have her at home successfully, but I’d been given everything I’d wished for and more. Her birth was so healing to me – I’m still in awe over my body’s ability to initiate labor and finish it, all on its own, with help from amazing women who trusted me to be strong the whole time. I’m amazed that Naomi and I worked together the whole time, and I feel such close bond with her. We are truly a wonderful team, from day one.

I am humbled by and thankful for my birthing team – Karen, Laura, Katie, Heidi, Keith, and even Joyce and Toby. Each of them contributed to our success in their own way, and though they’ll all deny it, I couldn’t have done it without them.

And you know what – despite my statements to the contrary during labor – I’d do it again. In an instant. It was so.totally.worth it.

Sara

I went to see my midwife on Thursday, the day before our due date, and she told me that if I didn’t deliver in the next 10 days she would have to turn me over to a doctor to be induced in the hospital, which was the last thing we wanted.  She suggested there were some natural methods of induction we could try and since I felt my body was ready, I agreed to let her stretch my cervix. This was somewhat painful, but the pain faded within about 30 minutes.  She told me that she could feel the baby’s hair, which made me realize the baby inside me was not the tiny fetus from the ultrasound pictures, but a full term baby.  At the end of the appointment, she asked me if I felt I was ready to have the baby.  I replied casually that I was.

I did give her question a lot of thought after leaving her office.  That afternoon, I walked to a park near our house and sat on a bench in the sun. I had to admit that every night before going to bed, I would secretly hope that my labour wouldn’t begin that night. I wouldn’t say I was fearful, but I was definitely apprehensive, both about the birth and about becoming a mother. That afternoon, I told my baby that I loved her and that I was ready for her to be born.  My contractions began two hours later.

Earlier in the day, I had told my husband that we could go out for Indian food, and even though I was sure my labour had started, we went anyway.  My contractions were 5-7 minutes apart, and were about a 5 out of 10 on the pain scale.  They felt like menstrual cramps, but they were much more bearable because of the long break in between them.  After dinner we went for a walk around the park, and by 11:30, my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart, so we called the midwife. She arrived at midnight, and confirmed that I was 3-4 centimetres dilated.

I spent the night walking up and down the hall, which I found made the pain easiest to bear, and in the shower. I laid down in bed with my husband for awhile, but I found the pain to be too hard to manage laying down, even with my husband’s hands on me. My contractions at this point were 7s and 8s out of 10, which were intense, but bearable.  What really helped me was to take it one contraction at a time, and remember that each contraction would only last for a minute and then it would be over.

We took hypnobirthing classes (I loved Marie Mongan’s book) and I visualized the way my muscles were working.  As much as possible, I tried to relax and welcome the pain, knowing that the more I relaxed, the more effective the contractions would be in bringing forth our baby.  I also had a hot water bottle, which was much more useful than I would have thought.

By 4:00am I was 6-7 cm dilated, which my midwife said was good progress.  My water still hadn’t broken, and she told me that if she broke my water, it would move the labour along more quickly.  Weeks ago, in her office, I had told her that I didn’t want any interventions, but during the labour I quickly agreed.  It was very anti-climactic, the baby’s head was well engaged at this point so very little amniotic fluid came out.  She told me that since the labour was well on its way, I could get into the bathtub (apparently getting into the water too soon can slow things down).

I had 30 contractions in the tub.  My husband went to take a nap (unlike me, he had been working hard up to the birth) and my midwife relaxed on the sofa in the other room, checking on me occasionally, but for the most part, everyone left me alone, which was exactly what I needed. I counted the contractions as a way of distracting myself.

As sun came up, my contractions started to change – I now felt the urge to push – the contractions took over my whole body and reached up and gripped my throat and I started making involuntary guttural noises.  My midwife checked me again, and said I was fully dilated at the back, but I still had some of the edge of my cervix at the front as laying on my back in the tub had put pressure on the back of my cervix, but not the front.  She suggested I lean over the bathroom sink to position the baby’s head right on the front of my cervix.  My husband was up at this point and he rubbed my back as the contractions came, and I was glad then to have him with me.

My midwife started calling the others from her clinic to try to get a second midwife to attend the birth, and she told me to breathe through the contractions as much as possible to avoid pushing.  After about 20 minutes of leaning over the sink, I laid down on the bed on my back and continued to breathe through the contractions.  She told me afterwards that I was able to breathe the baby all the way down to the perineum, which is a hypnobirthing technique, which she said she had not seen anyone do before.

When the other midwives arrived, she asked me to push on the contractions, which I found overwhelmingly painful. I could feel myself tearing at the top, and to be honest, I was afraid to push. With the encouragement of my midwife, I did push my hardest for two contractions.  During one, I reached down and felt the opening, and also felt the baby’s head beneath my skin.  At that moment, I realized how much bigger her head was than my opening.  My midwife watched me do this, and told me that I had the option of an episiotomy, and that it would be her recommendation to do so.  I quickly and gratefully agreed. Our baby was born with the next contraction. Once her head emerged, the rest of her body came out easily.  I wish I could say that she and I bonded in that first hour, but I was still in a lot of pain and I felt overwhelmed by the experience. The midwives helped me breastfeed her, and a few hours later left my husband and I to rest with our new baby.

Some thoughts I’ve had since the birth:

I think it was the stretching of my cervix that caused my labour to begin, but I credit the state of mind that I came to that afternoon with the steady progression of the labour and my ability to focus.

The episiotomy did upset me initially.  I made the mistake of getting out the hand mirror a few days after the birth and between my deep tears and the episiotomy, which cut one of my lips into two pieces, it was really a horror show.  I felt it was a personal failing, that perhaps it had happened because I didn’t have the courage to push hard enough. But time heals all wounds, both physical and psychological, and five months later my tears are light grey lines and the cut is not as pronounced.  Through parenting we discover our tremendous capacity for selflessness, and I realize now how completely inconsequential the episiotomy was.

Although the second stage of labour was very painful, it was actually very, very short – I only pushed for about eight contractions, so I really only experienced about eight minutes of really intense pain.

Looking back, I feel that Lauren’s birth was a really great experience.

Jennifer

Anyway, I took a shower, ate some breakfast, and called my husband. The contractions were strong enough that I really didn’t want to stay at home alone with my 3 year old all day. I was afraid I wouldn’t be as available to get him what he needed, so John agreed to come home. I also wanted John to be with me during the whole thing.

John came home and we decided to go out to eat and to the park. The weather was abnormally warm for February. And also there had been a full moon. Anyway, we went to Route 66 and I ordered a Double Steak with Cheese and fried potatoes. Yum. After this, we went to Happy Hollow Park. I had to stop every 6 minutes or so for a contraction. We met a couple friends there, and had a nice time. I was tired, so we went home so I could try to get a nap in. After getting home I took another shower to try to calm down for a nap. After trying to nap for an hour, I decided it wasn’t going to happen. So, I gathered John and Jackson to go on a walk with me. By this time the contractions were pretty painful. We only made it for about 15 minutes on the walk and then came home.

After being home for only an hour, I decided that my 3 year old needed to go. I was having a hard time getting through a contraction with him running around yelling. So, Grandpa came to pick him up. After he was gone, John went around the house lighting candles and turning down the lights. At this point I called our Midwife. When I got on the phone with her I started crying because I wasn’t sure how far I was into the labor, and I wasn’t sure if maybe it would be possible to stall out the labor with a bath so I could get some rest. Our plan prior to my going into labor was to stop the labor (if possible) if I labored all day. We wanted to avoid exhaustion.

When the Midwife arrived we started filling the birth pool. It was taking much longer than I preferred to get that thing filled! Our hot water heater is miniscule, so we had to boil tons of water to get warm water in the pool. The warm water was supposed to either stall out the labor, or speed it up. After getting in, my labor slowed down.

When my contractions stayed at the slower pace for a while, my Midwife and the attendants decided to go out for some dinner. They thought that maybe I would get some rest while they were gone, or speed labor up due to not being the center of 5 people’s attention. When they left things definitely got going. I was yelling for HELP and telling John that I needed to go to the hospital so I could get an epidural and go to sleep. He stayed strong and told me no. He knew that wasn’t really what I wanted. I would have been very disappointed if we would have gone to the hospital.

After yelling so loud that the neighbors were probably wondering, ‘who the hell is being tortured next door?’, I told John to call our Midwife. I was definitely in hard labor. I got back in the birth pool and stayed there until Archer arrived. John laid behind me to support me while I moaned and yelled some more. I was very attached to one of the attendants. Later I found out she has been a doula and has been attending home births since I was born. She just gave me a lot of comfort and encouragement. Every time she would leave the room I would yell HELP!

By this point there was no conversation and the only thing you heard was me moaning. This lasted for only an hour and a half and all of the sudden I felt a snap, and I assumed it was just my water breaking. Then came the urge to push. So, I yelled, ‘I gotta push’! And I did. I pushed maybe 2 times through that one contraction and Archer was out! He came out in the water sac or, ‘in the caul’.

What my Midwife later told me was that Archer came out with his hand by his face and reached for her hand.  She said it was quite an amazing experience. He surprised everyone with how quickly he came. We all were in a bit of shock. He went right on my chest and it was all over! He was beautiful! He cried shortly after laying with me and stayed with me for the next few hours. He was born at 1:09 am on February 11, 2009, also my birthday! He is by far the best gift I have ever gotten on my birthday!

Our experience with having a home birth was wonderful. It was better than we expected, and even though it was rough for a little while, I am so glad we did it. This was much more of a natural way to welcome our new baby to our family. It seems that at the hospital the doctors and nurses take control of the labor and birth. For us, we were in charge, and we made the experience what it was—absolutely wonderful.

Katie
A stay at home mom of 2 boys.  I have a side business of sewing linen ring slings.  I am very passionate about natural birth, health, and living.
www.mamakates.com

That Friday we had a BPP (biophysical profile) test scheduled, which includes an ultrasound and a non-stress test, where they check all of baby’s stats and make sure everything is still OK. They look for baby’s movement, breathing, fluid levels and muscle tone, and then hook you up to a monitor to make sure baby’s heart rate is increasing with movement, etc.

Annnd….we kind of failed the test.

Baby was in the middle of a nice long nap during the ultrasound, and was NOT interested in coming out to play. Thus he got a big fat ZERO in the movement box, and a big fat ZERO in the breathing box, because that was also way down.

Luckily he came out to play for the non stress test, and they recorded lots of movement there.

However, since we technically failed the test, the midwives asked me to come back the next morning to repeat the whole shenanigan all over again.

Goodie.

My midwife assured me it was nothing to get concerned about, since they saw lots of movement eventually, and that lower breathing rates can actually be a sign of a baby getting ready to head on out, but it was another day of waiting, and another drive to the hospital the next morning.

Or not…

We went home, I promptly got on the elliptical and went for a nice long (but slow!) walk. Ate 1/2 a pineapple. Then got up to some shenanigans of our own later that night.

Something seems to have worked!

At 3:30 am, I woke up feeling those telltale cramps. By 4am, my contractions started. They were regular from the get-go, coming about 5 minutes apart, but only lasting about 30 seconds or so. I stayed in bed for the next two hours, determined to rest and let the family keep sleeping, and knowing full well that my 3 year old son Griffin would be up at 6:01, and there was no chance of anyone sleeping in. I started to make lists in my head…lists of all the things I had to do when I got up – strip the good sheets off the bed, blow up the pool a bit more, pack the last of Griffin’s things, oh and muffins…wouldn’t it be nice to have fresh muffins this morning?

Just before 6am I woke my husband Steve up to share the news.

The first few hours of the morning flew by in a haze. We called Grandma and Grandpa to come pick up Griffin, called my mom, called my friend Gretel who was coming to be my doula, and finally, called the midwives, all while my contractions sped up to about 3 minutes apart. I took a shower, and spent about an hour sitting onto the birthing ball and just breathing through the contractions.  Things slowed down a bit for that hour, maybe because I was so relaxed…and maybe because upon coming to check on me at one point, Steve found me trying to move the changing table to plug in the heating pad for when baby was born, and in no uncertain terms told me to sit back down and chill out until the midwives arrived.  The stress of having me in labour and Griffin being very hyper was a bit much I think!  (However, I did get those muffins made!)

At 8:30am, everyone seemed to converge all at once. Grandma and Grandpa arrived, just in the nick of time, because we were starting to lose patience with the 3 year old Captain Full O’Beans! The midwives arrived. The dog went crazy. Gretel arrived. The midwives checked me and declared me 4 cm dilated, and in active labour, all while Dudley the dog barked madly in the background.

And then suddenly, it was quiet again.  Griffin, Grandma and Grandpa were gone, thankfully taking the dog with them, and I had the go-ahead to get in the birthing tub.

Ah the tub! It was warm, I was buoyant, it was all good. And those stories you read, about water birthing, and how getting in the birthing tub just makes the pain of the contractions “melt away?”

Um….not for me!

Don’t get me wrong, it was relaxing as stink to hang out in the water all day. It was easy to change positions, it was soothing and warm, but there was nothing melting about my contractions!

The midwives encouraged me to get out of the tub fairly regularly, as walking around sped things up. I got out for the first time around noon I think, just around the time that my Mom arrived. Another check found me at 6cms, and we decided to break my water just to keep things moving along. (I’m kind of with the “lets just get this over with” school, that says bring on the pain, if it means it’s over quicker!)

I think it was shortly after 1pm that I got out of the tub again. The contractions had seriously intensified, and I could no longer get comfortable in the tub. Buoyancy was suddenly unwanted, I wanted something solid and supporting under me that I could lean on, and I knew push against when the time came.

And the time came sooner than I anticipated. We moved to our bedroom, the walk there having stepped things up another notch.  I knew we were close.  Steve snuggled up on the bed next to me for a few delightful minutes while I worked through the next few contractions.  Suddenly I started to feel the pressure in my bum, and the urge to push became overwhelming.  The midwife quickly checked me, and I was glad to hear that we were good to go, everything was dilated and effaced and all the other things they needed to be. So suddenly we were pushing. And just as suddenly, it was over. I think maybe a grand total of 4 pushes and a few tribal howls later, I was holding my beautiful new son in my arms.  They brought him right up to my chest and he let out a few gurgle-y cries.

Now, aside from all the “technical elements” of the story, I want to tell you a bit about what I remember about the beauty of being able to have this experience in my own home. Our house, which is full of windows facing in all directions, was flooded with the most beautiful sun light all day long…I’m not sure I’ve seen a more beautiful day so far this winter. Despite the fact that there were 6 people in the house plus me, it was silent, almost reverent, all day long. It was an amazing feeling to be surrounded by familiar things, familiar people, all of whom obviously held a deep respect for what they were witnessing. I hardly felt worthy of the respect as I lounged in the water and later howled on the bed…heck, most of what I was doing was breathing. However, here in the afterglow, holding a stunning little human being in my arms as I type, I fully understand the importance of the event. It’s life giving…it’s giving life.

I really don’t know where everyone was or what everyone did all day long, but the one thing I do know is that Steve never left my side – he was amazing, strong, and I couldn’t have done it without him. Gretel too – she did leave my side, to make sandwiches and take pictures and do all kinds of other stuff that I’m certain I have no idea of the breadth of, but every time a contraction hit she was right back there at my side, pushing on my back, or not, depending on my mood at the time. I’m so thankful they were a part of the day.

I’m also so glad that my Mom was able to be there. My Mom arrived on time for Griffin’s (hospital) birth, but ended up going back to our house to grab a bit of rest, as we thought it was going to be hours before Griffin arrived. Griffin surprised us all (including the second midwife who arrived in barely enough time to catch him!) and my mom missed the big moment. I’m glad she didn’t miss it this time!

Corben is, in a word, perfect. He weighed in at 8lbs, 8 oz.  He is a totally chilled out baby…very little phases him. Even when he’s hungry he gets a bit worked up, but it’s nothing like the end of the world cries that my first son had when he was a baby. The only thing he hates is being cold, and thus, being naked or anywhere even close to partially undressed. Other than that he’s eating all day, waking only once or twice in the night to feed, and generally being adorable.  We’re all very much in love!

Jenn
Proud Mama to 2 beautiful boys.  My husband and I are just a couple of folks (with a dog) who decided to leave our little apartment in downtown Toronto for greener pastures (literally!) and to start a family.  We now live on a 2 acre slice of paradise on the “Roof of Ontario” – the highest part of the province.
You can follow our adventures at www.lifeontheroof.blogspot.com

I had bloody show on Friday, and contractions in the morning. After running some errands and shipping my boys off for a pre-planned out of town trip, my contractions stopped. I slept well that night, and they picked up again on Saturday. I laid around the house all day, watching Ugly Betty (great noncommittal TV programming!), snacking, baking, and blowing up my birth tub. I liked being alone, just me and my baby. I wrote her a letter, telling her about all the good things, cloth diapers, a birth tub, nursing, big brothers, etc when she decided to come and be born. I was ready.

Around 8pm, I felt my contractions picking up in timing and somewhat in strength, but it wasn’t anything to get excited about. I timed them for about two hours, and they were 3 to 5 minutes apart. I could walk through them and stand, I mostly stood and laid down when I felt I needed to.

I posted my times to my personal journal and my birth partner took a look, gave me a call. I told her I felt OK through it all. I retreated to my bedroom where I labored from about 1030 until 1145. I rocked back and forth on my feet, knowing that gravity is my friend! They were intense contractions, but I didn’t want to call my birth partner and have her waiting around for me.

Around 1145 I realized that I said out loud ‘I can’t do this! Why did I sign up for this?!’ and of course the fbomb quite loudly after some pretty powerful contractions. I called my birth partner and said please come, and she hopped in the car straight away and drove up.

Two or three contractions after that, I was almost worried. The contractions were very powerful and strong, I had to comfort myself and remind myself to stay grounded, keep my verbalization low. I hit a high pitch cry and almost shed tears, but reminded myself again that I could do this. I didn’t watch the clock because I didn’t want to know how much time had passed.

I was working through a pretty tough contraction when I felt my water break. I realized that I was tensing my buttocks, I finally relaxed my muscles, It was an actual POP. Really loud, and fluid gushed down my legs. I was REALLY happy. I knew things would get a little better after that. The water breaking made me drop to my knees. I cupped my vagina, and knew her head was right there. There was tons of pressure. I relaxed my bottom, and felt her head slide right down. I braced my perineum, her head expanded the opening slowly, I breathed in and out slowly and made sure that I was slow and careful.

Her head totally crowned and birthed itself, I felt her little ears, and her face. She was posterior! No wonder I was having so much back labor. I felt for the cord, it was around her neck once, but very loose. With the next contraction, my body pushed her body out and onto the floor. I unwound the cord, she gave out a big shout! Like “Hey mom you said I was going to be born in a tub! Wth!”

I gave her the once over, and rejoiced in the fact I wasn’t in labor any more! I scooped her up and held her close to my body, she gurgled and grunted and yelled some more. She was completely pink! Not blue, or purple at all. She smelled wonderful, like birth.

I sat down on the floor, wiped off my hand, and gave my birth partner a call, she was IN THE DRIVEWAY!

My birth partner called me back a second later, and said that I had locked all the doors! I had to get up off the floor and unlock the back door to let her in. We settled in the living room on some chux pads, I birthed the placenta, it was LOVELY. My daughter latched on to nurse for a bit. She’s got quite the latch! A born nurser. I had my birth partner hold my dear new daughter  while I had a quick shower. I did not bleed much in the shower, a great sign.

My birth partner put us in bed and I weighed and measured my girl. My birth partner then made me a placenta smoothie. Ladies, seriously, if you have had PPD (post-partum depression) or might be prone to it, or hell, even if you’re not, I highly suggest making a placenta smoothie after birth. I could NOT taste it at all. All I tasted was strawberries and yogurt. Please please, if you can spare yourself the evils that is PPD, please eat your placenta! Its especially easy when you’re not watching someone prepare it!

My birth partner, spoon fed me the smoothie and we laughed and talked. She cleaned up the futon and mopped the hallway where I had dripped some blood when opening the door. My birth partner had me take some cramping tincture that tasted like ground up grasshoppers. Seriously, it was worse than eating placenta raw I’m sure! :lol But it does the trick. My after pains were quite strong, especially when my daughter was nursing. Did I mention she’s a pro?

My birth partner then turned off the lights in my room locked the door and left! I can’t wait to see her later today.

My daughter and I slept til about 7am, I changed her beautiful meconium diaper, it was thick and glossy. She nursed some more. I called a few east coast friends, and started sending pictures to cel phones of west coast friends. I feel amazing right now. No emotional distress, its actually been really interesting waking up alone with her, changing her diapers, walking around the house. I’m not sore. I’m starving though, so I hope someone shows up soon with some grub! I could eat a horse.

My mom and my boys are on their way back from their trip. My mom told them there is a huge surprise for them when they get home.  I haven’t named her yet, I’ve tried to have a couple conversations with her, but she keeps falling asleep. I guess a name can wait for now.

I knew that I was planning a UC (unassisted childbirth) with a friend here to encourage me, I didn’t plan on her not being here at all, but it worked out for the best. I wasn’t scared. I kept my head about me, removing the cord, making sure she was breathing, laying her on her side to spit out any yuckies.

It was such a different space when I was all alone. I was the one encouraging myself to continue, to stay focused. My body and my baby worked as the perfect team and we had a perfect birth. No one shouting, to push, no one making suggestions. It was all me and her. I cannot wait until she is old enough to hear the story of her birth and be empowered. To know that she was apart of something so magical and special that most women take for granted.

I have a DAUGHTER! a freaking daughter omg. She so cute. I can’t wait to put her in a dress!

Stats:
Born 8/02 at 1:00am
8 pounds
21.5 inches long
13 inch head

Noel
Single mother of three, graphic designer, birth and breast feeding advocate, working towards becoming a postpartum doula as a placenta encapsulation specialist. Author of the original Housepoet’s Famous Lactation Boosting Cookie Recipe.
www.noelove.com