My Home Water Birth Story
As all moms know, a birth story hardly begins when labor begins.
My story begins on Monday October 19th, the day after my due date. I've had contractions here and there for at least a month but this was the day they started to become regular. Started to wake me up at night and take over my thoughts during the day.
This went on all week, I started to wonder when to call the midwife to let her know something was up. It was so hard to go through each day as normal when all I wanted to do was be lazy. Thursday evening we drove to Durham to pick up a bookshelf from someone on craigslist. The original plan was to go for it Saturday, but I knew we wouldn't make it.
Friday morning the 23rd I woke up with contractions around 5am and some other signs that baby would soon be here. We got in touch with the midwife and our parents, we were excited that we would finally have our little girl in our arms!
I was anticipating a quick and easy labor, especially in comparison to my posterior baby Laila. However I dealt with prodromal labor with baby Elyanna. Not terribly painful at first but terribly drawn out. I managed contractions all day, resting when I could, taking a walk, last minute preparations. Tim did a great job taking care of our little ones until bedtime, he went to bed when they did knowing we'd have a long night ahead of us. I went to bed at 10 and was only able to sleep 20 minutes when strong contractions started at about 7 minutes apart.
They got closer together from 10:30pm until about 1am when I called the midwife, they were 3 minutes apart then but just over 1 minute apart when she arrived at 1:30. I knew this was the end of the first stage of labor and the real work was about to begin.
We got the ok to get in the tub, it felt wonderful but drastically slowed my labor. It was hard work for another hour or so before it became unbearable and I reached the "self doubt" stage of transition where I was sure this pain would kill me and I wasn't capable of handling it any longer. The beginning of a contraction would bring me to tears but no tears would come. Around 3:30am I asked my midwife to check my dilation to see what kind of progress we'd made. That's always an encouragement!
I stayed in the tub while she checked and said she was fairly certain I was completely dilated! This was great news but why hadn't I felt like pushing yet? We agreed I would start to gently push with contractions and see what happened.
Nothing, nothing happened. I pushed gently, I pushed with all I had, nothing happened. I was devastated. This was supposed to be the part where I felt relief. I lamented to my husband and midwives that I just wanted to know that my pushing was doing something and how discouraged I was. After each contraction I was left with crippling cramps that were almost as bad as the contractions themselves. My midwife suggested I reach up and feel for her head, I did once in the early stage of pushing and couldn't feel her head at all. Just a few contractions later I could feel it! And it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had, something that would've never been allowed in a hospital. Shortly after that the cramps stopped and I hoped it was a sign that we were close to seeing our baby girl earthside.
We discussed how getting out of the water to push on the bed may bring my contractions closer together and help us make some progress. As I felt the next contraction begin, I said after it was over I would try pushing on the bed.
Something about this contraction caused me to take another breath and keep pushing, I don't know what it was but I just knew I wasn't done and I pushed as hard as I could. Just like her big sister, out of no where I felt her shoot down into the birth canal like the dam waters had just been released! I remember yelling, "she's coming!!!" We were all shocked, I pushed her head out in the same contraction and reached down to touch it. How crazy is that? Half of your baby still inside. One of the midwives took an amazing photo of this moment while I'm yelling, "when can I push again??" It's very uncomfortable to be between contractions with the baby's head out! Within seconds I felt the next contraction begin and I didn't hesitate to work with it to immediately bring my girl into this world. That last push is the most relieving, satisfying feeling, when the baby just slips right out. In my case into the water, I call her my baby torpedo because her birth was so fast. Tim got to watch her entrance this time, where he was unable to see Laila's due to the position I was pushing. It sounds like he thought the whole thing was pretty amazing too.
Elyanna was immediately put on my chest, a moment I have dreamed about for a long time. I didn't have this with my other two children, what a redeeming moment it was! There is absolutely nothing more rewarding. After a few grunts and squeaks we noticed she was asleep! So we fidgeted with her a while to get her to take some deep breaths and get the fluid out of her lungs. She was blue for a little longer than we'd like to see but my birth team was amazing and knew what to do.
After the placenta was delivered they helped me to the bed where I got to nurse my sweet girl for the first time. The midwives cleaned up the bathroom while I sat watching from my bed (how cool is that?!) Elyanna nursed and nursed and nursed. Finally we took a break to get her weighed and dressed. I had a minor tear that needed stitching, but it had been an hour or so since birth and the experience was so much different (in a good way) from that of my first two children. Getting stitches is never fun, but by comparison this was the best. And now a few days later I don't even feel them!
Two hours after giving birth my midwives had cleaned everything up, started the laundry, given me some instructions for the first few days and hugged us goodbye! They left us to rest, uninterrupted with our new family of five :)
I'm so grateful for the whole experience, the opportunity to rest and heal in my own bed. No one is bugging me or waking me, poking at my baby or forcing me to do anything. There is a time and a place for medicine/doctors, and this wasn't it!
We only got a couple hours of sleep before our kids were up, they come down the hall bickering as they always do but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw their new baby sister in my arms. Both of their faces lit up and they couldn't get up on the bed fast enough to meet her. So much love, it was bliss. My kids to wake up and get in bed with us and our new baby. So natural, it was perfect. I will cherish that memory forever.
"Baby Ana" is just a doll, perfect in every way. She sleeps well (when held) and nurses as often as I'll let her. We're loving putting all these adorable cloth diapers on her little hiney and learning which ones fit well and which don't. Tim is doing a great job being Mr Mom, my parents were able to be here the day after Ana was born and I am so so grateful! They live 5 hours north! There is nothing like having your mommy take care of you and of course my kids are eating up every minute of mom moms attention. This morning (day #2) they brought books to her room to have her read to them as soon as they woke up. I love having my mom here, I only wish my daddy could've stayed longer.
I am amazed at how well and how quickly I am healing, I'm sure it's partially due to being able to rest. This is for sure the easiest, fastest recovery! I am so grateful that I can rest and don't have to worry about going back to work, that I have help with my older kids. Tim goes back to work (traveling) Monday the 2nd so keep us in your thoughts and prayers, I get emotional even now thinking about him leaving us for the week.
Now to answer the questions everyone asks next:
Are you done?: Yes, we think Elyanna perfectly completes our little family! If God chooses to send us an unplanned blessing later on we will be perfectly happy with that too.
Would you have another home birth?: If there were no serious health risks, absolutely! I loved my home birth experience best.
My story begins on Monday October 19th, the day after my due date. I've had contractions here and there for at least a month but this was the day they started to become regular. Started to wake me up at night and take over my thoughts during the day.
This went on all week, I started to wonder when to call the midwife to let her know something was up. It was so hard to go through each day as normal when all I wanted to do was be lazy. Thursday evening we drove to Durham to pick up a bookshelf from someone on craigslist. The original plan was to go for it Saturday, but I knew we wouldn't make it.
Friday morning the 23rd I woke up with contractions around 5am and some other signs that baby would soon be here. We got in touch with the midwife and our parents, we were excited that we would finally have our little girl in our arms!
I was anticipating a quick and easy labor, especially in comparison to my posterior baby Laila. However I dealt with prodromal labor with baby Elyanna. Not terribly painful at first but terribly drawn out. I managed contractions all day, resting when I could, taking a walk, last minute preparations. Tim did a great job taking care of our little ones until bedtime, he went to bed when they did knowing we'd have a long night ahead of us. I went to bed at 10 and was only able to sleep 20 minutes when strong contractions started at about 7 minutes apart.
They got closer together from 10:30pm until about 1am when I called the midwife, they were 3 minutes apart then but just over 1 minute apart when she arrived at 1:30. I knew this was the end of the first stage of labor and the real work was about to begin.
We got the ok to get in the tub, it felt wonderful but drastically slowed my labor. It was hard work for another hour or so before it became unbearable and I reached the "self doubt" stage of transition where I was sure this pain would kill me and I wasn't capable of handling it any longer. The beginning of a contraction would bring me to tears but no tears would come. Around 3:30am I asked my midwife to check my dilation to see what kind of progress we'd made. That's always an encouragement!
I stayed in the tub while she checked and said she was fairly certain I was completely dilated! This was great news but why hadn't I felt like pushing yet? We agreed I would start to gently push with contractions and see what happened.
Nothing, nothing happened. I pushed gently, I pushed with all I had, nothing happened. I was devastated. This was supposed to be the part where I felt relief. I lamented to my husband and midwives that I just wanted to know that my pushing was doing something and how discouraged I was. After each contraction I was left with crippling cramps that were almost as bad as the contractions themselves. My midwife suggested I reach up and feel for her head, I did once in the early stage of pushing and couldn't feel her head at all. Just a few contractions later I could feel it! And it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had, something that would've never been allowed in a hospital. Shortly after that the cramps stopped and I hoped it was a sign that we were close to seeing our baby girl earthside.
We discussed how getting out of the water to push on the bed may bring my contractions closer together and help us make some progress. As I felt the next contraction begin, I said after it was over I would try pushing on the bed.
Something about this contraction caused me to take another breath and keep pushing, I don't know what it was but I just knew I wasn't done and I pushed as hard as I could. Just like her big sister, out of no where I felt her shoot down into the birth canal like the dam waters had just been released! I remember yelling, "she's coming!!!" We were all shocked, I pushed her head out in the same contraction and reached down to touch it. How crazy is that? Half of your baby still inside. One of the midwives took an amazing photo of this moment while I'm yelling, "when can I push again??" It's very uncomfortable to be between contractions with the baby's head out! Within seconds I felt the next contraction begin and I didn't hesitate to work with it to immediately bring my girl into this world. That last push is the most relieving, satisfying feeling, when the baby just slips right out. In my case into the water, I call her my baby torpedo because her birth was so fast. Tim got to watch her entrance this time, where he was unable to see Laila's due to the position I was pushing. It sounds like he thought the whole thing was pretty amazing too.
Elyanna was immediately put on my chest, a moment I have dreamed about for a long time. I didn't have this with my other two children, what a redeeming moment it was! There is absolutely nothing more rewarding. After a few grunts and squeaks we noticed she was asleep! So we fidgeted with her a while to get her to take some deep breaths and get the fluid out of her lungs. She was blue for a little longer than we'd like to see but my birth team was amazing and knew what to do.
After the placenta was delivered they helped me to the bed where I got to nurse my sweet girl for the first time. The midwives cleaned up the bathroom while I sat watching from my bed (how cool is that?!) Elyanna nursed and nursed and nursed. Finally we took a break to get her weighed and dressed. I had a minor tear that needed stitching, but it had been an hour or so since birth and the experience was so much different (in a good way) from that of my first two children. Getting stitches is never fun, but by comparison this was the best. And now a few days later I don't even feel them!
Two hours after giving birth my midwives had cleaned everything up, started the laundry, given me some instructions for the first few days and hugged us goodbye! They left us to rest, uninterrupted with our new family of five :)
I'm so grateful for the whole experience, the opportunity to rest and heal in my own bed. No one is bugging me or waking me, poking at my baby or forcing me to do anything. There is a time and a place for medicine/doctors, and this wasn't it!
We only got a couple hours of sleep before our kids were up, they come down the hall bickering as they always do but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw their new baby sister in my arms. Both of their faces lit up and they couldn't get up on the bed fast enough to meet her. So much love, it was bliss. My kids to wake up and get in bed with us and our new baby. So natural, it was perfect. I will cherish that memory forever.
"Baby Ana" is just a doll, perfect in every way. She sleeps well (when held) and nurses as often as I'll let her. We're loving putting all these adorable cloth diapers on her little hiney and learning which ones fit well and which don't. Tim is doing a great job being Mr Mom, my parents were able to be here the day after Ana was born and I am so so grateful! They live 5 hours north! There is nothing like having your mommy take care of you and of course my kids are eating up every minute of mom moms attention. This morning (day #2) they brought books to her room to have her read to them as soon as they woke up. I love having my mom here, I only wish my daddy could've stayed longer.
I am amazed at how well and how quickly I am healing, I'm sure it's partially due to being able to rest. This is for sure the easiest, fastest recovery! I am so grateful that I can rest and don't have to worry about going back to work, that I have help with my older kids. Tim goes back to work (traveling) Monday the 2nd so keep us in your thoughts and prayers, I get emotional even now thinking about him leaving us for the week.
Now to answer the questions everyone asks next:
Are you done?: Yes, we think Elyanna perfectly completes our little family! If God chooses to send us an unplanned blessing later on we will be perfectly happy with that too.
Would you have another home birth?: If there were no serious health risks, absolutely! I loved my home birth experience best.
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