It's the 4th of July and I'm hanging out by myself with our new baby and our 1yo while the family is out at a picnic. It was really hard to stay home when I feel good, but I figured it was best. So with the quiet I took the time to type out my birth story. Here it is!
I was due June 30th with our baby and as the time approached was hoping to go early with the 4th of July coming up and all. We also have a town celebration that was scheduled June 28th and 29th so I kept wondering what I would be able to make it to and what I wouldn’t make it to. I typically have my babies right around my due date with my latest being one day overdue and the earliest being 6 days early (except for my twins who were a little over 2 weeks early). As it got closer and closer I wondered if I would end up going overdue for the first time as I didn’t have major signs of impending labor. I would have an occasional contraction but nothing major and no losing the mucous plug or anything.
On the 28th I still had no signs of labor but that was ok because of our town celebration. I figured I could keep busy with that. We went to some garage sales in the morning and to the playground in the afternoon. That evening there were fireworks to go to. The fireworks were really fun so I was glad that I could enjoy all of that. We came home late from the fireworks and went to bed. I did a tiny bit of nipple stimulation in the shower before going to bed but didn’t do it enough to start contractions or anything. I went to sleep pretty well around 11:15 or so.
I woke up at 1:30 A.M. with a contraction that felt fairly strong and soon had another one about 3 min. later. I could tell these contractions felt different than the Braxton hicks I occasionally had earlier. I kind of vaguely had this feeling like I had been having occasional contractions in my sleep but wasn’t quite roused by them. I typically have contractions that are close together from the start but they aren’t that strong but gradually get stronger and more intense. I decided I’d better get up and call my midwife since she’s an hour and a quarter away from our house. She said she’d be on her way when I called her. I also called a friend of mine who was coming over to help out with the labor so she could come over and then came back to the room and woke my husband to let him know. He got up and started making a few preparations in the room as I continued in lighter labor.
I did a little walking with some contractions and tried different positions. I ate a little yogurt as my midwife stresses trying to eat and drink some while in labor. The contractions were definitely getting more intense and took more work to relax through them. When it was getting close to 3:00 I had a few more intense contractions and felt like I might throw up but didn’t. I laid down on the bed on my back and for a bit the contractions eased up a bit. During this time the midwife had arrived and checked me and I was at 4cm. I was a bit disappointed and was hoping to be a bit farther along. I wanted to get into the tub sometime but wasn’t sure when the best timing for that would be as I didn’t want to slow things down. The midwife suggested I wait some as she didn’t want me to be in too long and have to get out. Then I started having some really strong contractions in bed that were pretty tough to relax through. The midwife said she could check me again if I wanted – it had been about ½ hour since she had checked me before. I was then 5 cm. I was glad to have progressed to that in ½ an hour and knew there was a good chance once getting that far that I would progress faster the rest of the way.
I talked with my midwife about getting into the tub. She was hesitant – must not have thought I was in as tough labor as I was but I had a sense I should get in and decided to go ahead and get in. It was then 4:00 A.M. The first contractions after getting into the tub, I threw up several times. It was not fun, but good to get it over with as then I wasn’t as queasy. Then I had some REALLY tough contractions and promptly commented on the fact that the tub certainly hadn’t slowed labor any! It was hard to tell if the water helped. It was good to relax between contractions in the water but I was in transition so the contractions themselves were still pretty unbearable. My midwife and friend would say encouraging things during the contractions like how I could relax and get through them and all and I would say, “no I can’t” but their words did help me get through them anyways. They kept trying to have me slow my breathing and I kept thinking that I needed to use the faster transition-type breathing.
My midwife had commented that I was probably in transition and I asked her how long it would last and she said, “maybe an hour”. I was surprised she would say that long and promptly said, “I can’t do this for an hour!”. My husband told me afterwards that it was kind of funny seeing the look on her face of “oh no, what do I say now”, and watching her try to go back on what she had said some. I don’t think she realized how hard of labor I was really in and that when I’m at that point, it’s really pretty close. I had had a little ****** pressure but not really strong. I commented on it but didn’t ask to get checked right away. I never really did get strong urges to push so I wonder if I was actually complete earlier but didn’t really realize it.
Around 4:30 I realized I hadn’t gone to the bathroom for a while and felt like I should go. I got out of the tub and went and was able to get my system all “cleaned out” which was a blessing. My midwife suggested she could check my quickly before I got back in. She checked me and said I was complete and the baby was in the birth canal, only an inch or two away from being born! I was so excited and relieved that I would be able to push and have the baby! The first pushes got her so her head was right there. The 2nd contractions of pushes I was able to have her head delivered, and the 3rd set of contractions I was able to push her the rest of the way out! It was definitely painful with crowning and delivery of the body, but all in all I think the water helped it be less painful than it was last time out of the water. She was born at 4:40 A.M.
She was brought to my chest and was in great health right away. For some reason I had a really short cord so she had to rest a little down lower on my abdomen until I cut the cord. Dad was video taping so I went ahead and cut it. Right after she was born, I checked to see if she was a boy or girl and made the announcement. I was excited about having another girl to even our numbers out a little more (3 girls, 4 boys). We had already decided to name her Lindy Mae.
After the cord was cut, I encouraged her to nurse. It took a while to get her to open her mouth to get her to latch on. After a little while, she finally did latch on and nurse. It was pretty quickly after that that I was able to deliver the placenta. I hardly had any bleeding with it. One other odd thing that seems to be normal with me for some reason, is that I never seem to have much fluids or know when my water breaks. This happened with my last birth as well and also happened with 2 other babies of mine. We don’t know when the water broke and there never seemed to be much water but all went well either way.
My midwife got ready my herbal bath that she does for mom and baby after delivery and we had the herbal bath. My friend got me some food and gave me some grapefruit and a fruit smoothie to eat right away while I was in the tub. Then after the bath, the midwife did the newborn check on the baby and weighed her and all. She was 8lb 5 oz and 20 ½” long. She’s only my 2nd 8lb baby. My first baby was 8lb 11oz and the rest of mine have been mostly in the 7lb range. After she was dressed and all, I got out and got checked by the midwife and then got to bed. It felt SOOO good to be done! My friend had made me a big breakfast so I enjoyed that and then nursed Lindy again.
Soon after all was cleaned up the midwife and my friend left to go home. My husband and I relaxed and waited for the kids to wake up. Thankfully they had slept through the whole thing. We made a couple of phone calls to tell family about the baby. My 2 daughters (7yo and 1yo) woke up first and came in. My 7yo kept talking to the 1yo explaining everything to her and all. She held the baby and we took some pictures. Gradually the boys woke up and came in. They were really tired from being up late at the fireworks but seemed to be glad to see their sister. They were pretty quiet about it but then they’re boys! The family got ready for church and I was able to stay home and rest. My parents were staying an hour away at my brother’s house and they said they’d come after church to see us and stay with us. They agreed to take the kids to the playground so we could both get a nap in in the afternoon.
All in all it went very well! I didn’t have any tearing – just a teeny skid mark in one spot. Recovery has gone very well. Basically no pain other than the post-labor contractions and all. My milk came in right away (in a day or so) so I’m mostly over the engorgement stage thankfully. I feel quite good. The last 2 nights I’ve pretty much had 8 hours of sleep since I’m not up too long with the baby and have gone to bed early enough so that's been great. I’m so grateful to God for such a smooth delivery and recovery and a wonderful, healthy baby girl! Praise be to God!
Here are a couple of pics. I'll post a couple more another time.
Mom & Lindy shortly after birth
Lindy Mae the day she was born
I must say, I never look this good after a birth, but I've never had a home birth. You lokk so refreshed in the pictures. WOW!! Congrats!!!!!!!! How many children do you have? Enjoy your new addition to your family.
What a wonderful birth story! Thanks for posting! I think homebirths are wonderful and wish it was something I could do. Kudos to you for being able to use a midwife and have a homebirth! And your daughter is beautiful! Congratulations!!!
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• Sat 5 Jul 2008 - Untitled Comment
I am so happy your homebirth went well...I love hearing home birth stories.
Cammie