May Garden

• Jul. 11, 2007 - Our Unassisted Birth Baby!

Our Oldest and Our Youngest bonding the first week of Sophia's life.                                                          Sophia Nicola 2006  Thurs. July 6  baby is 33 3/4 weeks along according to my EDD. In the last few weeks baby has moved lower and is less active always a sign that baby is getting ready for the ultimate event. I am at full term comfort level I have had some signs of labor on Sunday July 2 and we started preparing the house for the possibility of labor. We took a break later in the day and went swimming at a friend’s house. This was nice and relaxing. It made me wonder if I would get a water birth. I purchased a pool and pump even a net to keep the water clean. Being in the water made me realize how buoyancy could be a real help in laboring. The cramping I’d had earlier in the day subsided. On Monday July 3 I rested a great deal but still continued some sanitizing of kitchen and bathroom. On Tuesday July 4 I rested in the early part of the day and then put in several hours of gardening I wanted to get some plantings in before I would have the baby and not be able to garden for several weeks. I slept very well that night and Wednesday July 5 woke early to get ready for our outing to the zoo. Michael had been off of work for several days and would be returning on July 10 so we had some fun things planned amongst preparation for baby. We got a great start to the day and arrived at the zoo around lunch time. It was a lovely day not too hot or humid. I never felt “ bad “ like I was over doing it and exhausting myself. I felt good getting some walking in. We returned very satisfied to have such a nice day with the kids. We were tired but just tried to take a few short cuts to our evening. One thing that helped was to take the kids to eat at McDonald’s as they ate I talked to them about our nice day and daddy took a little siesta. We stopped at the hardware store to get some replacement hardware for the bassinet  we wanted to put together yet and picked up groceries and some dvd’s. While I got the kids bathed and ready to wind down Michael unloaded our van and put things away. Lina was asleep upstairs and the boys didn’t want to join her yet so as Michael rested we watched a dvd together. It was really cute “ Yours Mine and Ours “ we had some good laughs. We fit an incredible amount into one day but we so needed this time together. We were all bordering on burn out the last few weeks. My emotions and drive to get certain things accomplished was a bit much!  And noticing some clear mucus when using the potty told me why. WE WERE VERY CLOSE TO BRINGING BABY INTO THE WORLD. The boys went upstairs and I napped for a while. They asked for a snack at 1:30 am. after their tummies were full they were finally able to fall asleep.Timmy trying out Sophia's playpen... found truly napping there.   I woke first on Thursday July 6 it was early and still quiet outside so I took a glass of water with me and checked out the garden our kitty friend joined me. I thought of how very soon we would have baby in our arms and everything in our lives would be changed. As I sat  brushing my hair while breathing in the fresh morning air baby became very active for the first time in quiet awhile. I went inside when my water was gone to have some breakfast Luke and Timmy joined me. Luke and Tim wanted to see the Dr Sues stories on DVD so I laid down with michael for a bit. By the time Lina and Michael woke I was ready for a nap! I slept well for 2 1/2 hours. I made lunch for us and cleaned up the kitchen. Twelve hours later We had the bassinet put together and baby clothes in the storage pouch with little blankets ready inside bed. After dinner of turkey burgers and homemade shakes I finished up all laundry and took a relaxing bath before laying down for the night. Asleep for a few hours I wake with a start the baby had kicked and some fluid gushed out this was different for me because this hadn’t happened during all the other births, the care providers broke the bag of waters during the other labors. I told Michael what happened as he was stirring from my movement. We lay there for a few minutes realizing we should go a step farther and finish preparing. Michael helped me change the bedding to our birthing sheets after I showered. We also spread out plastic on the carpeting and drop clothes over the top so no one would slip. Mike sanitized the tub in case I would use it. Contractions had started but not consistently progressing after we lay down again to rest I started keeping a record I would get at least one really hard one an hour but they were spaced up to 20 minutes apart. Around 4:00 Timmy came down and got into bed with us. Michael took him back up after a while but Timmy comes back into our bed shortly leaving dad sound asleep upstairs with Luke! He was good company telling me to blow the pain away, get snacks and drinks .... he took great care of me. I started taking arnica 30  4 pellets every 2 hrs. from that time on as well as raspberry leaves. I can’t seem to fall asleep for more than 45 minutes at a time again having at least one hard one that would wake me up.I was VERY calm ~ thankfully ~ I was such a mess with ups and downs for the previous days and weeks. It is now Friday July 7~ Morning! I eat lightly and take a 5w blend of herbs, the arnica, shakes and teas. I focus on folding about 6 loads of clean laundry. Michael and I decide that it will be too much to have the pool in the house and have him taking care of the kids helping me when he can etc..  we had rigged up a levy from our archway between the kitchen and living room with eye hooks and clothesline rope. I had a great birthing chair I’d found on ebay from a woodworker in up state New York. Crafted Replica of an 1800's birthing chair That way we wouldn’t be confined to the cramped bathroom. I’d found the potty to be my biggest comfort in my last two labors so I knew  a birthing chair would be a great help to me. I wanted to stay up right to keep baby positioned well and labor going so I stayed on my feet while folding and putting away that laundry. When the contractions were intense I’d lean on something or grab the levy ropes and do a semi squat to relax the muscles. I kept my focus and concentrated on staying relaxed. There were a few times that the kids got too loud or got into rough play ~ Michael got the boys involved in some computer games and spent most of his time caring for Lina. We waited to put Lina down for a nap until 4: 30 pm so she would sleep long and soundly. We hoped I’d reach transition before she’d wake. Things did intensify! After about an hour   ( 5 : 30 )I told Michael I was gonna need his undivided attention. Stopping to focus on baby as I fold laundry... So he made the boys and himself a snack and then cleaned off the kitchen table and lay out the smaller helps we’d need the  towels,scissors, cord tape etc....  I asked him to give physical support for the first time this seemed to be a little much for him I could tell he was feeling everything was intense. Maybe it was easier in some ways to be busy with the kids than to enter into what I was going through. I leaned into him as he stood in front of me just as we knew I was in transition. Around 6:30 pm we heard Lina calling for us from her crib. She would have to stay put. Timmy was getting antsy and excited jumping around and singing he said he decided he was gonna marry a girl and have babies too!  He had to be told to settle down because every time he jumped it made a shock wave go through the floor and I felt it! He made the strong contractions even stronger. The boys said how much they wanted baby to be born and we wholeheartedly agreed. I’d been on the birthing chair for some time now and I knew I needed to reposition.... what would work?? We decided to have Michael sit on a very low stool right in front of me so I could put my knees on top of his lower thighs I could move forward with some support from the chair and some from him supporting my knees. I started singing opera as they called it ~ a strong sing song moan. Timmy jumped again and this sent a very strong one with the urge to push I decide not to be annoyed but to see it as a way to get the baby born! With that first push the sack was bulging and Michael was thinking he had to catch the baby but it was the sack about to burst and when it did it was one big gush and then a smaller one! Michael almost lost it! I didn’t  notice but he said it smelled awful the little fan behind me was blowing the odor right in his face he told Luke to move the fan! The boys moved to the kitchen side of the arch way. They were for the first time a little emotional because they thought their dad was gonna throw up. Mike emptied the container that caught the waters. I never saw it. He came back into the room with one of the little sack clothes ( white muslin cotton dish cloths ) that I was gonna use for swaddling baby tied around his face. So I was getting the idea of why doctors sometimes wear masks. He got back into position and I asked him to support the perineum during the next contraction that really helped a lot. He said the baby was crowning and I felt a brief ring of fire with that push one more push and the whole body came out. Mike noticed the natural turning of the baby’s body and said “OH, OH, It’s a baby” as he caught.LOL Then as he handed baby to me he said “it’s a girl”. ******** I tried to be careful of modesty issues in choosing pictures. I truly hope no one is offended ********

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