The next day was Friday, February 13th. It started out just as the weeks before, I was up at 3am with braxton hicks, I bounced on my birth ball and practiced labor techniques for the big day. Somewhere around 6am they stopped and I fell asleep for an hour before everyone else got up- just like the many days before. Bree and I were eating breakfast and snuggling on the couch when I realized that I was leaking. I quickly changed clothes and knew that it could be my water, but didn't think so.I still had one more week till my due date and truly believed that baby T would arrive two weeks late! Two outfits later, I was on the phone calling hubby's work to let him know that my water had broken.The midwives told me to check in throughout the day, but that it could be a few days before labor really got going. One look at our house and I knew I had to get cracking! that's the thing about home births, you kind of have to have your house ready. I was sure that our little man was going to come late, and so I wasn't that motivated to clean. I messaged our Doula Jessica and jumped into high gear to get the house clean. As I was cleaning contractions came and went, nothing regular or bothersome. Jessica arrived and graciously helped me clean up the pile of toys and dishes. I didn't want to be in labor for hours like I was with Bree, so we began all the natural remedies to get things moving! I made double strength red raspberry leaf tea, ate a big hearty meal, munched on dates and kept moving. Around 2pm contractions were coming closer, stronger, and becoming regular!! My sister happened to be in town from college and so she came over to watch Bree. As weird as this sounds, my labor was joyous, and really fun. I was surrounded by people that loved and cared about me, and was getting to move freely in the comfort of my own home. I was having such a great time that I decided we should pop some popcorn and watch a funny movie. Well, we got the popcorn popped but no movie- by the time the popcorn was ready contractions were requiring more concentration. Still not sure what happened to that big bowl of popcorn, but I'm pretty sure Bree ate most of it! I decided to labor in the shower for a bit while Jessica called the midwives to let them know contractions were 2 minutes apart.
The midwives arrived around 5pm (just 3hrs after contractions were regular). Although contractions were closer together my head was still clear, I was still laughing, and I knew that in order to birth this baby things had to get more serious. When they checked me I was only at a 4... this was disappointing, but about what I expected. I had to surrender and allow my body to get to work. They sent me for a walk to get things really going. One fun dynamic about living on camp is that your neighbors are your coworkers, community living at its finest! Nate, Jessica and I went walking up our neighbors very steep driveway up and down, chatting with the neighbors, and walking some more! As we began walking around camp to keep things moving, most people were leaving work right about the time that I was out walking, and so I tried to carry on conversations and not let on that I was nearing transition phase. We had yet to tell most people on camp that we were having a home birth. In between seeing people I would crouch down on the ground and breathe as Nate and Jessica did counter pressure and spoke birth affirmations over me. They worked seamlessly together! An hour of walking and I had to get back to the house. As I walked in we were all chatting and laughing, our midwife nearly sent me back out the door, as she said "You're still smiling" to which I responded "I need to go the bedroom." I just wanted to stop smiling and talking- this was the point we had all waited for, things were getting real.
I went to our bathroom and sat on the toilet backwards, our little man was still posterior and so sitting on a toilet backwards can often help babies move into proper position during labor. I had just been studying how whales give birth, surrounded by many other whales, in a safe place. The laboring whale sings her baby out. I began to hum and sing low tone. Although it wasn't as pretty as a whale it did help keep my body calm and relaxed, while allowing me to get through each contraction. As Nate continued the counter pressure, Jessica spoke affirmations over me. "You're not alone." "Your body is strong and capable," I looked up at her and said" I think I'm in transition." She nodded in agreement and kept speaking birth affirmations over me. She said "Your not alone" more than once, this spoke deep to me, as labor became more intense, I knew I needed to let go- to rely on my birth team. The bathroom window was open and the most gentle breeze was blowing. The coolness of the air outside refreshed me with each wave of a contraction I grew stronger.
The hard work was about to begin. Birth time is such an odd thing, hours can pass that feel like minutes, and minutes can pass that feel like hours. I moved to the bed and the team let me lead the pushing. I didn't want to tear and so I began on all fours pushing slightly and breathing short staccato breaths. It was awesome! Not at all like Bree's birth, tied down and nurses and doctors counting for me to push. I was able to keep things at my pace. I had been pushing great for a bit, but was soon feeling stuck.Our midwife checked me and discovered that I had a cervical lip and that Connor had not one, but both his hands by his face. I felt like he was stuck, and he was! She allowed me to continue to try and push through it, but there wasn't any change in his position. She reached in and moved the cervical lip and pushed his hands down. While the pushing became easier, I was so tired at this point. What I thought was only a few minutes had been almost an hour and half of pushing. I flipped over on my back and looked my midwife in the eye. At this point I had decided that it was time to take a nap and just push Connor out after I had rested awhile. While I didn't say this out loud, I fully believed this was an option. Our midwife encouraged me to push, and all I said was "I'm so tired." She told me that I had to push him out. I tried arguing with her, and when that didn't work I argued with Nate. "You have no idea what this feels like I said as I squeezed his hands." The midwife looked me in the eyes and said, "You need to push this baby out now." As I looked into her eyes, she gave me the courage I needed to give it all I had, one final push and he was out! It was amazing despite two nuchal hands and a cervical lip to push a baby out without an episiotomy, no tearing and no use of forceps or a vacuum. 8:30pm our Connor Reed arrived in the world!!! He was a gorgeous 7lb 5oz 19 in beauty! My son was here!
That final push, brought quite the surprise, Connor's umbilical cord broke. The midwives jumped into action clamping his chord down. I began hemorrhaging heavily, and within seconds they gave me pitocin, and cytotec to manage the bleeding. I delivered the placenta and it was fully in tact and big! His cord was a mere 12 inches long- incredibly short for an umbilical cord,and in most cases babies that have short cords can't be born vaginally. Connor was safely in my arms minutes later and the two of us were resting. We knew that God had protected us and given us this birth. Six hours of labor and a gorgeous, healthy baby boy!! Before the midwives left that night Connor had to nurse, and I had to eat a hearty meal. The two of us loved snuggling in bed eating and resting!
I share the easy, and rough moments of our labor story to show that even Doula's need support, and that labor for every baby and every mom is unique. I am so thankful for the opportunity to birth Connor in the comfort of my own home, not tied down or strapped down by monitors. I loved that transition and pushing (while intense) were beautiful and special, and that labor wasn't as long or as intense as my 20 hour labor with Bree. How grateful I am for the education that I have received, and for my incredible birth team! I am so thankful for our amazing midwives at Birth Roots and for my incredible Doula Jessica Tyak who knew exactly what I needed. My amazing sister who watched Bree and kept her occupied while we labored. And lastly to my amazing hubby who loved me and supported me fully throughout this pregnancy, labor and delivery. You are my best friend and life long partner and I am so thankful for the children that you have given me!!! Thank you for wanting to do a homebirth just as badly as I did, and encouraging us to look into it! I couldn't have done it without this great birth team!
 |
| Our AMAZING Doula Jessica Tyak holding sweet baby Connor |
 |
| He started these little smiles two days after birth and full on smiles 4 days after birth! |
The last four weeks have been a whirlwind of late night nursing sessions, learning the art of rest and adjusting to life with two kids! I can't write to more posts on postpartum care and continue updating you all on this next chapter!
No comments:
Post a Comment