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Beyond Myself: The tale of Karabeth's homebirth

DaGreekswife — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:16:47 CDT

BIRTH STORY: Beyond Myself
(by Tiph, about the birth of Kara Elizabeth, 08.07)

In faith, we followed a path in which we were led…and because of it, now have an awesome testimony of the the Grace & protection of God, as well as thestrength and power of a woman’s ability to give birth…despite what seems impossible.

Before we were married, we knew we wanted to start a family. Among the discussions of birth control, money management, faith, child-rearing and discipline, plans for education, etc…it was decided that--as long as I had healthy, low-risk pregnancies--I would have our children naturally, with a midwife, in a birthing center. After nearly two years of marriage- ultimately trusting the Lord for his perfect timing in beginning our family - I finally found out I was expecting. We were elated! We contacted and toured our local birthing center at the beginning of December (2006), and then told our families on Christmas Eve. It was the best Christmas present ever!

I had a beautiful easy pregnancy--one that my midwife (Harmony)referred to as 'the epitome of the perfect pregnancy'. In March (around 19 weeks), we found out that our little bundle--or “Precious” as she had been nicknamed by my mom--was a girl! A round the same time, we decided to move from the very small home we had been renting into my mom’s empty (and spacious) home. Up to this point, there was no question whether we could have a homebirth or not…there was just no room! But now the opportunity, and space, was available... and in my childhood home, no less!

Then the time got closer. With early progression, but no outward signs of labor....we began to get anxious to meet our little girl! When I hit 39 weeks... my mom and sisters decided to hit the road, so they were sure to be by my side when the time finally came. Marmee (my mom) and my sister Heather were to be my doulas.

Friday, August 10th: The day started not much different than any other. I woke up feeling huge, but ultimately great! In an attempt to lessen the misery of the Florida summer heat, we decided to go out to the beach and pool for the day. It was great having my family around, to keep me busy and distract me through the monotony of the wait! After a full day of swimming and fun in the sun, coupled with eating a very ripe pineapple and a good bouncing on my birth ball, we went home to get ready to go out to dinner for a friend’s birthday (Mexican…yes! Bring on that spicy food!). While I was getting ready, I began noticing some light cramping, but since they weren’t strong and steady enough to merit being the 'real thing' (and so as to not get my hopes up), I just wrote it off as having overdone it during our busy day, and attempted to ignore them. Throughout the night my 'cramping' slowly became more frequent and striking, occasionally even taking my breath away.

We got home around 10:15pm, and I decided to do a little more bouncing on my birth ball. By 10:40pm, Marmee saw the contractions had not died down any, and suggested we start timing them. Sure enough, they were coming pretty consistently, 10-15 minutes apart and lasting for about 20-30 seconds a piece. My husband Bill went to bed to get some sleep while Marmee, Heather and I snuggled in with my body pillow on the couch, to watch some TV (Dinner Impossible and Good Eats on the FOOD Network), and time and record each contraction. Finally at 2:00am, seeing as things were still slowly progressing, we woke Bill up to get the pool inflated (just in case!) and called Harmony, to let her know what was going on. By this time, contractions had increased to 5-10 minutes apart, lasting about a minute. After touching base with Harmony, we settled in to watch 'Father of the Bride: Part 2,' all the while, still monitoring the length and timing of the contractions. After the movie was over, we called Harmony once more. The contractions were progressively getting stronger and closer together, but I could still talk through them, so she advised us to try to get some sleep. I tried to lie down for awhile, but found myself getting up periodically, to pace the floor.

Finally, at about 6:15am, I could not rest anymore. I went in and woke Marmee, who in turn, eventually woke Heather and Bill. Then about 7:30am, we called Harmony. By this time, I could no longer talk through any contractions and she said from the sounds she heard me make, I could definitely have this baby by mid-morning! Harmony arrived at almost 8:00am, and when she checked me, discovered I was about 8cm dilated, and almost fully effaced. Harmony immediately called in Tami, her birth assistant--which she does not do unless she thinks birth is near. Tami got there around 9:00am, and I got into the pool at 10:02am - with everyone thinking, “Surely this baby will be born by 11am!” . At 10:30am, I hit transition, and after that, everything for about the next 13 hours is pretty much a blur.

I labored in and out of the tub throughout the afternoon. It felt awesome, but seemed to relax me a little too much, and we didn’t need anything to stall labor any more than it already was. I laughed, cried, prayed, moaned, relaxed, prayed, sang hymns, walked, prayed, rested (or tried to, between contractions--I was SO exhausted!), breathed deeply, prayed…and vomited - a lot (back labor is NOT fun!)--but in the end, it was all SO worth it!!

At about 5:00pm Harmony gave me the choice, and we decided it would be best to go ahead and break my water, to see if we couldn’t get things moving along a little quicker. At that point, I was almost completely dilated, but apparently the baby was in a posterior position (hence all the back labor). This put uneven pressure on my cervix, causing a cervical lip - which was stuck at 7-8 cm. At 5:30pm, Harmony gave me an IV for hydration, which helped a little with my energy levels. And shortly thereafter, I had dilated to the point where I could begin pushing!

And so it began. you name a position, we tried it. In the water while sitting…water while on hands and knees…bed using rebozo (midwife wearing!)…bed on hands and knees (hated that one!)…Standing…standing using rebozo…we tried them all. After each contraction Tami checked the baby’s heartbeat, and it stayed ever strong…never wavering. She was doing awesome…but I was exhausted! Then, complicate matters further, we discovered that due to a childhood injury to my tailbone, which had healed improperly - as well as the fact she was posterior - the baby’s head was getting caught on my tailbone. Ouch!

Five hours later my birth team was getting concerned. Harmony said that the baby needed to be born very soon, or we may have to transfer to the hospital. Marmee and Heather had just attended a doula training seminar in Nashville, and learned some new positions to use for posterior presentation. Marmee suggested a position, and Harmony agreed that we should try it. We all moved to the kitchen where Marmee sat on the counter and I hung from her arms (facing out) with one leg up on the chair, to maximize gravity and use it in our favor. At this point the contractions were coming pretty constantly and I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. Harmony had seen how supportive prayer was for our family, and she suggested that Marmee pray. During the next contraction, as Marmee prayed and I pushed, Harmony exclaimed it was working--the baby was moving down a little! However, my tailbone was still proving to be a major obstacle. After a few more pushes, we realized that Harmony was going to have to reach up and use her hands to guide the baby past my tailbone. Progress was starting to be made, however it was slow.

By this time, Marmee was growing very very concerned. The baby continued to respond perfectly, but I was exerting so much energy, she didn’t know how much more I could take. As she held me, she could feel my exhausted body rapidly becoming weary & weak. Sweaty and tired, not knowing what to do, and not wanting to drop me... she suddenly swung me around to face her, and held me tight… a few contractions (& prayers) later, at 11:36 pm, Kara Elizabeth (Our precious promise of God!) finally made her way into the world--nuchal hand and all--right into her Daddy’s waiting arms! Weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and measuring 20.5 inches long…she was born beautiful and healthy--just 24 minutes before her Daddy’s 24th birthday! After a few puffs of oxygen for me, and an attempt at breastfeeding Karabeth, we moved everyone to the bedroom, to rest until the placenta was ready to be delivered. About an hour later, once the cord had finally stopped pulsing, Daddy cut the cord and was finally able to hold his new baby girl. It was a great night!

So, although Karabeth’s birth was the hardest and most painful thing I have ever done, I wouldn’t trade a moment of it for the world! It was long, tiring, intense and trying. I was challenged to go beyond myself, to be more than I thought I could be. I was mentally and physically pushed beyond my limits. My faith was tested and tried, and by God’s grace, I totally came out on top.

All that was needed was faith, prayer, patience and creativity!

KB's birth: Our photo gallery

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amuchbetterway — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:40:56 CDT

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Damian's 50 Hour Waterbirth

buenafortuna — Sat, 08 May 2010 07:56:03 CDT

After days of painful Braxton-hicks contractions, I awoke on Wednesday, January 28, feeling damp and certain that I was leaking amniotic fluid. I called David on his cell phone. He was in class that morning, but had been leaving his phone on in case I needed to reach him. I let him know what I thought and I paged my midwife. David arrived home twenty minutes later and we packed our bags and camera in case it was the real thing and she wanted us to stay. We arrived at the birthing home and I was tested with litmus paper. It tested positive when rubbed on the pad I’d been wearing, but came out negative when swabbed internally as well on as my cervix. The midwife wasn’t sure what to make of it, and I was feeling extremely anxious and excited, hoping she’d confirm that it was amniotic fluid. She checked me and determined my membranes were still intact, and that perhaps I’d just had a little leak that sealed itself over.

I think David and I both disappointed - I was so eager for things to move along. She continued on to say that I was 50% effaced and 2cm dilated, and asked if I wanted her to sweep my membranes. I agreed and she was only able to do half because my cervix was still in a very posterior position. It wasn’t nearly as painful as I’d heard people say before and it only took a few seconds. She told me it might not work, but that she swept my first midwives’ membranes only days before and that she started having contractions on her way home. Maybe! She checked the baby’s heart rate and his position. Still posterior. We borrowed her Mexican rebozo and she encouraged us to do everything we could to get the baby to turn. We spent twenty minutes or so before leaving doing exercises to help.

We arrived home and rested. I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees and rocking my hips. The baby wouldn’t budge at all. I continued to have cramping like I had in the days before, and the next night I lost a great deal of my mucus plug that was bright pink and streaked with some blood. The moment I saw it I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. It was unreal that I was having signs of going into labor soon. We spent the next couple days getting last minute things prepared for the baby and doing lots of walking. I started drinking tons of fluids and even went for a ten minute run with David.

On the night of January 31st David and I had dinner and started watching the second season of ‘The Office’ on our computer in our room. My cramps were much stronger and I started timing them. Fifteen minutes, ten minutes, eight… they were painful and I didn’t sleep much that night. I acknowledged there was a possibility that I was in real labor when hot showers weren’t working anymore and the cramps didn’t subside. But when I called the midwife in the morning and my contractions were four minutes apart and ninety seconds long, I denied that I was in labor. She told us to make our way over in a couple of hours or when I felt like I needed more support.

Three or four hours later I was feeling intense pain with contractions and we started getting ready to leave. Getting into the van was excruciating and I knew the drive would be unbearable. I tried hard to remain relaxed and wrapped myself in a blanket. The drive to the birthing home is ninety minutes long and extremely bumpy, and desolate. By the time we arrived in downtown I told David I didn’t think I’d be able to make the rest of the ride. We waited for an additional fifteen minutes in the parking lot of the birthing home waiting for the midwife to arrive too. We all walked in together and I climbed into bed. I briefly met a midwifery student and my midwife's birthing assistant. She was quiet and small with red and black hair and bright blue eyes. I didn’t think much of her and that she would probably hang back and watch the entire time. I didn’t lie in bed long before Alina told me I needed to stay on my feet. We went for a couple short walks in the garden and I sat on the birthing ball while David left to Whole Foods to buy some lunch. He arrived what seemed like hours later and we ate broiled chicken and rice.

I’m not sure if we walked more and if my contractions started becoming more painful, but I remember moaning through each one and having to drop to the floor with each one. I wanted to get in the tub badly, but the midwife told me to save it. My back was feeling the most intense pain and my doula massaged my back while David applied counter pressure above my tailbone.

An acupuncturist from the Oriental Medicine office next door arrived and had my lie on my side while she stuck needles in my back, hands, and ankles in between contractions. She attached an electrical charge to my ear and I felt a hot buzz through my body. It relaxed me and helped me focus, and the sharp sting of the needles took my mind off my pain. I don’t know how long she was there, but her presence was peaceful and strong and she gave me some strength. Before she left she removed the needles and I started to get up. She accidentally left a needle in my ankle and I rolled onto it. Yow!

From here my memory is hazed, but I believe the midwife checked me to see how dilated I was. After sixteen hours of labor I was only 3cm. She started talking about the hospital and telling me that I didn’t have to stay at the birthing home if I didn’t want to. I began feeling distressed and hopeless and told her I couldn’t make any decisions. I told her to ask David if she had any questions. She left for a while and David and I talked with my doula in the room. I told her that I felt the midwife was pressuring me. Her face was so understanding and I immediately felt a connection with her unlike with my midwife. David told me that the midwife was focused on seeing progression, and that if I wouldn’t progress that night I would have to be transferred to the hospital nearby.

I was determined to try and be more active to speed things along. I did lunges against the tub and did a soldier walk up and down the stairs with David. It was extremely painful and every change of position increased my contractions a million times. I sat on the toilet a few times which felt relieving in a way, but made me moan through each contraction. I think at this point the tub was filled and I asked if it was okay for me to take off my clothes. I jumped in naked and felt instant back relief. I sunk in the hot water up to my ears and closed my eyes. This was going to be my sanctuary.

Dinner came and went. I had a few bites of chicken alfredo. David continued rubbing my back and hours went by. The baby’s heart rate was checked often because I was keeping the water very hot. I went between floating on my belly and leaning over the edge of the tub. My temperature was checked and I was given homeopathic arnica every fifteen minutes. At some point I was given black and blue cohosh.

At around twenty-four hours into labor I started becoming delirious with exhaustion. I cried to David that I lost my ‘Bill Clinton mug’. What on earth? He told me he’d buy me a new one. My doula stayed by my side every moment and I asked her about her births. Her oldest daughter who is ten was born in a hospital and her younger, one year old, was born at home with my first midwife, who had her baby boy only days before.

It grew late and every one was tired. Midwife and doula went to bed, promising to check on me every hour. I got out of the tub and dressed at her request, and lied in bed next to David. He was snoring within seconds and I felt alone. How can every one be asleep when I’m in so much pain and hurting?

I immediately got back in the tub. It was too painful out of the water.

The midwife ran in when she heard me turn the water on and checked the baby’s hear rate. She’d become diligent about this when the baby’s heart started racing because of the heat. She said I could stay in. I stayed in the water alone going through each painful contraction. I started crying and yelled for David. He stayed with me for a few minutes before falling asleep in a rocking chair near the tub. I couldn’t sleep and I was in a nightmare. I heard her alarm go off an hour later. She didn’t wake up. I listened to it for what must have been another two hours before I heard her feet hit the floor and she threw the door open and ran in. I was dehydrated and miserable and she suggested an IV. I broke down crying and started hyperventilating. David and my doula convinced me that it may help and give me energy I needed to get through. She missed my vein three times. It hurt so bad. I yelled at her and told her I didn’t want an IV anymore. I was feeling so upset and was sobbing. She kept saying we could leave now if I wanted and they would give me Pitocin at the hospital and I would have the baby that night. I cried because I didn’t want to and I felt pressured, and I knew it would hurt too much to get in the car and drive, or get onto a stretcher and be wheeled in. No.

They made me magnesium tea to help relax me and gave me a natural rescue remedy. When this didn’t help my doula drove to the gas station and bought Tylenol PM and I took it. What a mistake. I went through a living nightmare for hours. My mind and body fighting the sleep the medicine was trying to force me into. This was one of the most miserable parts of my labor.

I never once left the tub. In the morning my midwife checked me for progress. 4cm. All those hours, all that pain, and I only increased by a cm. I cried.

This was it, if I didn’t start really progressing I was going to be made to leave. I got out of the tub and into a towel and started walking the hallways. This hurt so badly and David held me with each contraction. I would alternate between the tub and walking and sitting on the toilet. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom.
I began talking more with my doula. I stared in her eyes during contractions and asked her if it would only last a minute. Just one little minute, you’re doing it!

The contraction is not you… through your belly, into your vagina, and down into the ground…

She repeated something like this with each contraction. When she got up to leave I waited anxiously for her to come back. I couldn’t relax without her mantra.

Hours later 5cm.

By dinner again, on February 2nd I started feeling hopeless again. Doula promised me I’d have the baby that night, but it seemed so far away at only halfway there.

I started feeling nauseas and threw up several times. The contractions started becoming outrageous. I told the midwife I thought I was peeing. Moments later there was a film of white floating above the water. Vernix!!!

She checked me again. Same dilation, but totally effaced. My membranes were still intact so I gave her permission to break my water. She grabbed and amnihook and within seconds I felt another gush of fluid.

I left my mind behind here, but now I know that the rupture of my membranes threw me so hard and fast into transition I didn’t even know what was happening. I moaned and cried and threw up again. In a way I felt a hellish kind of good. I wasn’t totally aware of what was happening, but I remember feeling voices and everyone looked like shadows. I was stuck six more times for an IV. David (he was a nursing student at the time, currently a Registered Nurse in the ER) stuck me twice with the biggest gage needle he’s ever seen, and the midwife tried twice as well. Finally the birthing home’s administrator who is also an RN gave it a shot. She hit my vein and it blew. One more try. In… she managed to get a quarter of the bag in before my vein blew again. I felt a cold shock and pain in my shoulder, but we’re not sure why.

I thought my back was going to break and I screamed for a rebozo. Somebody grabbed a bright blue scarf, or some kind of fabric, and slung it behind me and pulled gently. Relief. I started becoming agitated and kicked Suzanne out of the room. Someone turned the lights off and everything was silent. Much better. My eyes were closed and everything was still and quiet. David sat behind me in the water while I went through some contractions in a “C” position in the tub. He was so warm and his arms around me brought me so much comfort. I turned around and started kissing his mouth hard. I couldn’t control myself and didn’t care that there were three people sitting inches away. I think D was a bit surprised, and the midwife told him that it was okay and that she’s seen a lot of people do that near the end of labor.

My energy returned and I started pushing and grunting. Midwife said she wasn’t going to stop me, but I was only at 8cm when I started feeling pushy. I managed to only to do small pushes and this lasted hours long. When I reached 9cm she stretched me to 10, but I kept slipping back to 9. Finally I just started pushing hard. I felt out of control and hated the way my body was making me do something I couldn’t stop. Pushing hurt. She told me to put my fingers inside and see if I could feel his head. I felt something soft, but told her I didn’t think so. Soon I was able to feel his head pressing against my fingers, and then slipping back up after each contraction. It was frustrating. I knew I was screaming with each push but I couldn’t hear myself. Everything else was silent.

At some point D got out of the tub and held me up while I pushed standing in the tub. I nearly pulled him in a few times. He got back in and asked if he could feel the baby’s head. I pushed against his fingers and heard him gasp in shock. I pushed harder and harder and screamed. His head was coming lower and lower and I felt incredible pressure. I yelled that it felt like I was “pooping a goose”. I kept trying to sit on my butt in the tub and everyone kept pulling me back up. It kind of felt like I was sitting on his head, but I couldn’t stop it. I reached down and felt hair! I didn’t know what it was at first and I’m afraid to admit I pulled it. David felt it and peeked - it was dark!

I’d been pushing for hours and the midwife told me that if he wasn’t born soon she’d have to call an ambulance. No. David got out of the tub to help me from the outside. Right before he started crowning I felt him wriggling and trying to turn. I cried “He’s turning!!” It felt like a large fish swimming right inside and it terrified me. David checked… no cord around his neck. My belly was soft and I knew it hopefully wouldn’t be too long before he was born. I asked her how many more pushes before he might be out. She said eight or nine more. I gave my loudest and sharpest scream and knew he was crowning. At 4:30am I pushed with all my strength and felt an audible pop… and our beautiful boy was born.

I was in a dazed shock. The midwife cried out “pick up your baby!!” and put her hands to her face and sobbed. I looked into the water and saw his baby face staring up at me, big eyes blinking like a doll. He never turned, he came out posterior! The second I took him from the water and held him against my chest he screamed. He was crying so loudly but looked pink and fresh, with hardly any vernix covering him at all. He was so much bigger than I imagined he’d be. Somebody squirted a few syringes of something awful tasting into my mouth, while David appeared next to me and kissed me and felt Damian’s head. I think he was laughing. I thought Damian was choking so I patted his back until the midwife suctioned his mouth a bit. I didn’t know what to think. I think I was smiling, but I didn’t shed a single tear! Damian had a head full of long silky dark hair and giant blue eyes. I thought he looked just like David and my heart swelled.

Damian was born after 50 hours of labor and 6 of pushing, at 8lb 13oz and 21 3/4 inches long! I was 19 years old at the time and will be turning 21 soon. Damian is currently a rambunctious 15 month old who is still my "water baby". :)

Unhindered homebirth of Ellis Lee

StzaLee — Tue, 04 May 2010 10:04:13 CDT

The morning of April 4th, I started losing my mucous plug. I spent the day with my mom and my daughter going to a couple different stores and came home later in the evening. I put my daughter to sleep around 9 and thought I was feeling contractions while lying in bed with her.

I got up around 9:30 and sat down at the computer desk and after a few minutes realized my water had started leaking - thank goodness it wasn't a huge gush like with my daughter!!

I then started feeling the contractions more, but they weren't too bad. I tried laying down in bed because I was tired and realized I was going to probably be up all night, but it was too uncomfortable to lay down. I sat in the bathtub for a while, which actually did help this time, and I didn't have too much pain with my contractions.

At 1:30 a.m, I called my mom - who lives in the building next to us - and told her I was kind of starting to feel the need to push, so she said she'd be over in a few. She got there at 2 a.m. and by then I really did feel like pushing.

I tried laboring on our bed but it was still uncomfortable, so I sat on the toilet for a few minutes since that position was comfortable. After a few minutes of that, I figured I would jump in the tub, maybe run some warm water for a little while, but as soon as I squatted down in the tub I had a very big urge to push, so my husband held me up since I was a bit weak as I squatted down.
I called for my mom, she came in and sat on the edge of the tub, grabbed a towel and put it under me while I pushed. I had one push after she put the towel down where his little head came down, then another contraction and his head came all the way out, and with two more contractions his whole body was out.

My mom caught him and handed him to me, and he nursed right away. I held him until his cord was pale and had stopped pulsing, and then my husband tied it off and cut it because it was too short for me to get up and still hold him to my breast.

My husband held him while I got out of the tub and went and laid in bed. He was born at 2:36 a.m., on Monday, April 5th, 2010, and weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz.

I laid in bed feeling more contractions for the placenta, but the way I was laying it was unable to come out, so I had to have my husband hold him and finally passed the placenta when I sat on the toilet - glad Kevin didn't see that, he would have been totally grossed out. We were asleep by 5 a.m., and woken up around 9 a.m., by our daughter, who was delighted to see her new baby brother!

The Birth of Change

WomanUncensored.com — Mon, 03 May 2010 17:01:59 CDT

(talks briefly of a lost baby, and touches on past negative birth experience, you may want to avoid this if you are sensitive to those things)

My first birth was NOT super. We were 19, unprepared, and just trying to survive in a whirlwind of family judgment, and financial strain. Our little surprise blessing was born 3 weeks "early"after 38 hours, drugs that made me unbearably itchy, epidural, a vacuum extraction, tearing and cutting, and more stitches than my doctor cared to count. We were of course thrilled to have our beautiful little girl, but aside from her, the only good thing I walked away from that experience with was a longing for something better for all of us.

After about a year, we got the internet and I met some amazing women online that I'm still friends with today. They challenged me to think beyond the norm, and I spent an unfathomable amount of time learning everything I could about breastfeeding and parenting in general. Then one day I found a brochure for a midwife in our local area and a light bulb came on! I hadn't even thought such an option would be available here! Then it was on to furious learning about birth, although I wasn't even pregnant again or even trying yet!

We planned to have a home birth. I learned deep relaxation techniques using Hypnobabies. The knowledge and experiences I found online blessed my heart every day and I felt like we were moving in a really positive direction.

We finally decided to try for baby #2, and were successful on the 2nd month after having my IUD out. Baby was due around the same time our first little girl would turn 3. We were THRILLED. Then, Hyperemesis hit me. I'd had it the first time too, but this was considerably worse. As the infamous Heather Armstrong, akaDoocewould say, "It sucked and then I cried". Anyway, I survived that hell with my sanity barely intact.

Later in my pregnancy, a dear friend of ours moved in with us briefly as she was between homes. She had lost a full-term son right before I found out I was pregnant. Despite my fears that it would be too hard for her to be around me pregant, she was the epitome of a perfect friend, and I loved that time with her. We spent a lot of time crying and laughing together. One day, we all sat in the living room, and I commented on how unusually active baby was being that day. My friend said that baby was bound to come at any time! I said "Nahh, I'm only 36 weeks, baby has to finish baking". That night, I put plastic down under our sheet, just in case, not anticipating putting it to use for some time. I had felt all along that baby would be "early" like my first, but I was still hoping I was wrong!

I guess there is something to be said for intuition! My water broke in bed the next morning. I said to my husband "Wake up! But don't roll over!" He mumbled grumpily, and of course rolled right into the enormous puddle. I had leaped out of bed, and still continued to gush shocking amounts of water onto the floor. HOW was there that much inside me?! Hmmm... no contractions. I hopped in the shower while my husband got things together and called Debbie, my midwife. She came over and we had some things to discuss.

Group B Strep (GBS) had shown up in a very early pregnancy urine test. This meant I was "highly colonized" at that time. I had also tested positive for it in my first pregnancy, and the early breaking of my waters with no contractions was another warning sign for GBS. All these things together meant I was "high risk" for GBS. She had me swab myself so we could send off for the results and at least get them back after the birth so we'd know whether to watch baby for signs of it. In addition to all this, I was also 4 weeks "early", AND Rh negative (risk of blood incompatibility junk). Since our local hospital SUCKS and is now a student hospital to top it off, I decided there was no way I wanted to count on those people to take care of a serious problem if need be, or to even handle a few little tests or something afterwards if it was needed. On top of that, I was plagued with memories of my own first birth there, years of my grandpa being in that hospital, AND being there with my friend as she had to birth her angel baby. I REALLY wanted to be as far as possible from there.

We made the decision to go to the free standing birthing center in a bigger city about45 minutes away. My midwife volunteered there, and it was right near a good hospital. As my labor had not even begun, we figured the long drive would be no biggie.

The birthing center was amazing. It was just like a great big house, and we had the top floor to ourselves. A "family area" which was just a big living room and kitchen. My room was just like an actual bedroom with a big bed in it. Nothing was "clinical" feeling at all. It was really comfortable. There was an incredible big tub too. I was in HEAVEN!!!

We had hoped our daughter could be there for the birth if she wanted, but since we didnt even know when labor was going to START, we let her go stay with her favorite aunt who was right there in town. Then we waited. I was still losing a lot of water any time I sat for a while and then stood up. I had forgotten the small detail that the water never stops being produced, lol. Messy!

I rocked on a birth ball, I walked all over the neighborhood, I went up and down the stairs over and over... NO labor. Just a few weenie contractions. They wondered if my Hypnobabies training was SO effective that I was in labor and just not realizing it, lol. I didn't think so. I opened myself up to feeling anything, and there was nothing. Then I tried some homeopathic stuff my midwife had (gasp! I know, an "intervention!"). Everyone was loving and supportive. Nothing was done without me fully understanding and wanting it, and that made all the difference in the world to me. Still... no labor. We even locked ourselves in the bedroom for a few hours and tried nipple and clitoral stimulation (all scrubbed up of course). I got to have some fun, heehee, but still... no labor!

Boy was I glad to not be in a hospital, because they would have given me a c-section after 24 hours, because of my broken water and the "risk of infection". I took some immune boosting herbs every few hours, and did rinses with grapefruit seed extract in water every time i peed, to cut down my risk of infection. Our vitals were monitored closely, and I didn't have even a hint of a fever or anything, so I said that as long as we were both doing perfectly well, we’d stay at the birthing center. I felt very at peace and in-tune with baby.

My husband was a doll. I asked for some food from the grocery store, and he returned with about a week's worth of groceries, lol. He said he just wanted to make sure I had everything I could possibly crave.

Finally, after 43 hours of being STUPID and wearing myself out trying to get things going, I asked if we should do an internal exam to see if there was something we could discover. So Debbie (my midwife) and I scrubbed up really good. I was still only at 2 or 3 cm after all that time, but VERY stretchy. The problem was, my baby was posterior, and her head wasn't down in the right way to get my cervix to open up. Turns out, my cervix was also pointing way towards my back. She could feel the baby moving her head and trying to get into place. My wimpy and sporadic contractions were totally ineffective of course.

I decided to have Debbie try to manually dilate me, and BOY was I glad for my Hypnobabies training then! I got down on my knees and supported my front on a birthing ball, because she couldn't even reach my cervix with me laying down. Over the next 6 hours, she managed to dialate me to 8 cm, turn the baby’s head, and pull my cervix forward. I'd have hard contractions then, but every time I got up to pee and come back, everything would be back to the way it was. Cervix at 2-ish and posertior, and baby was again posterior too. We went though this several times. I used my "deepening" cd for hypnosis to keep me under. It was incredible. I didn't feel a thing, and I had no sense of how much time was passing. I was able to support myself on that ball that whole time without even moving. They said my legs started to shudder a little from exhaustion, but I didn't feel that either.

FINALLY, things got in place and stayed that way! My contractions hit fast and furious. Instead of begging for an epidural, I found myself begging for a nap, lol. I was so exhausted from spending all that time walking, going up and down stairs, using the birthing ball, doing pelvic rocks, and all that jazz. I got into the tub. My mom was a HUGE help, and my poor husband was at this point useless and just trying not to pass out. I had practiced my hypnobabies in complete silence, so when my birthing time came, every little sound was distracting me. Oops! A contraction would come, and I’d start to fight it, then my mom would put her hand on my shoulder and say "release!!!", and BAM! I’d go as limp as a noodle. They had to keep the water shallow because I’d shut TOTALLY off and just sink way down.

Then suddenly, I was pushing without even meaning to! It was such an amazing feeling! I hadn't been able to feel that when I gave birth to Brooklyn. They had to TELL me to push with her. This time it was "well, apparently I’m at 10, because my body is pushing without me!"

I ended up having to get out of the tub to finish birthing her. My body was too tired to support myself well enough. They also lost her heart beat with their little hand-held doppler and said I had to get her out ASAP. So... she was actually starting to crown WHILE I got out of the tub and moved to the bed. It turns out that my scarring from my last birth was so deep that it wasn't allowing me to stretch very well. It was a tad scary in that time, because they still didn't have a heartbeat on her, and I was having trouble stretching enough. My midwife used her hands to help push me over baby's head, and at 8:45 am on the 13th of March, it FINALLY happened.

She came out perfect and screaming. All was well. My darling husband, mom, and grandma all cried. My husband told me that it was a girl (we hadn't known), and then promptly had to call and tell everyone, lol. My grandma cut the umbilical cord after a while when it was done giving our baby all her blood. Having my baby girl placed in my arms was so amazing. Its such a different experience to not be doped up. It was the high of a lifetime! I would never do it the other way again. All in all, it was about 49 hours of waiting and only about one hour of real labor and birth.

I just needed 3 little stitches from tearing, no biggie. Hubby, baby, and I all curled up in the bed for a little nap.

Debbie brought us some incredible Thai food. Once I had eaten and rested a bit, I was up and around and feeling fantastic beyond belief! When I talked to people on the phone, they joked about how much drugs I must be on, but it was pure birth bliss. I think most of them were under the impression that a birthing center is just like a hospital, lol, when in reality it was just a beautiful house. We went home that SAME afternoon. We even stopped to briefly visit my in-laws and let them meet our still vernix-covered baby.

Alas, our adventure was still not over.

The next day, baby was starting to look a little yellow. By that night, when Debbie came over to our house to check on us, she was looking REALLY yellow. It was a bit unusual for jaundice to show up so early. Since I’m a negative blood type, and baby is a positive one, we had to make sure that it wasn't an issue with blood incompatibility. We decided that we shouldn't even wait til morning, so we took her in to the hospital to get it checked out. That ended up being a total nightmare. It was my mom, Debbie, and I with the baby, and they tried to tell us there couldn't be that many people with her, but I promptly told them to bite me. It certainly wasn't hurting anyone for us to just be sitting in a room with her.

They spent 3 HOURS just trying to get enough blood out of her for the tests. They couldn't use a heel poke as they do for some other tests, this particular blood had to be straight from the vein. They were all confused as to why there was a newborn coming in to them at all. Shouldn't we have been up in the maternity ward where they are used to this sort of thing? -sigh- It had to be the worst 3 hours of my life. It was after 8 in the morning before we finally got to go to the maternity ward. We’d spent all night in the ER. They put my mom and I in a room WITH the baby (I’d have liked to see them try and tell me she had to be in the nursery), and got her set up with the special lights for her jaundice. They had ruled out blood issues, and determined it was just normal jaundice, so that was a relief.

My mom and I spent 2 nights in the hospital with her, until her levels were down "enough". Our insurance wouldn't cover having the lights machine at home like they had for our first daughter. Forrest had to stay home to be with Brooklyn. I missed him a lot, but we decided it was better to keep things as normal for Brooklyn as possible, instead of sending her to be with someone else so Forrest could be with me. It was so hard to be away from them, but hey, at least I didnt have to cook.

Despite being 4 weeks early, baby was well baked, lol. 6 pounds 14 ounces. She nursed like a champ too! The hospital said she might have problems with that, and offered formula. I promptly told them to screw right off. They didn't even ASK how nursing was going, just threw out that assumption. Any time she had to get her heel poked for the jaundice test, they wanted to just cart her off to the nursery with out me. That was another big hell no. I would hold her the entire time, or they weren't allowed to touch her. Then they looked at me like I was the meaneset mom in the world for refusing to give her sugar water before and during the poke. "What, you don't want to lessen your baby's pain?!" HELLOOO.. I have BOOBS. Duh.

All this time, our baby was still without a name. We jokingly called her "Bob 2", as we had jokingly called our first daughter "Bob" while waiting 3 days to settle on her name. While I had been pregnant, my beloved grandpa, Charles, had passed away. My husband had chosen the name Gabriel Charles if our baby was to be a boy, but I had nothing chosen for a girl. I felt I needed to meet her first. My grandmother had jokingly suggested "Charlene", as it is a feminine version of "Charles", and we didn't feel it suited her. When I looked it up in the baby name book, I saw that Charlotte was another feminine version of Charles. Still, we didn't settle on it at that time. When we came home from the hospital, hubby and I talked and realized we had both gotten Charlotte stuck in our heads and had begun to think of her as that. So we finally named her Charlotte Annalee.

Anyway, those couple of days were long, but we finally began our lives as a family of 4. It wasn't the simple "mom births baby in a pool of water with candles lit, and that is that" kind of experience, but it was still something I treasure. I would highly recommend considering a midwife and Hypnobabies to anyone planning on having a baby. It makes all the difference in the world to at least understand what your body is supposed to do, and not fear it.

Unassisted homebirth of Grace Alexandra

SublimeBirthGirl — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:42:02 CDT

This Pregnancy: The First Twenty Weeks

Between Maddie's birth and this pregnancy, I learned a lot. I'm a childbirth teacher and have worked as a doula. I've read piles on childbirth and have gone through three different professional training workshops. I attended 2 homebirths as a doula, and 4 hospital births. By the time I got pregnant with this baby, there was no doubt I was having a homebirth. The idea of going back to the hospital to have a baby seemed too risky to me.

I hired the midwife who was present at the two homebirths I attended. She was very hands-off at those births and I was extremely impressed by her. I knew there was no other attendant I could feel at ease with. I told her that I'd be calling her late in labor, and that I'd rather her not make it on time than get there too early and risk "performance anxiety" slowing my labor. As the pregnancy went on, I realized that deep down, I didn't expect to call her at all.

In my first 20 weeks, I had two prenatal visits. I had no blood work, no gestational diabetes test, no genetic screening, no ultrasounds, not even listening to the baby with a Doppler (which exposes the baby to ultrasound). After 20 weeks I was able to find the heartbeat myself with a fetoscope. I would not be having a group B strep test, checking my fluid levels with ultrasound, fretting about the baby's size. I was just enjoying my pregnancy and it was truly wonderful.

Unassisted Birth: My Psychological & Emotional Journey

When I was late in my pregnancy with Maddie, around 37 weeks I believe, the midwife said that they liked to induce at 41 weeks. This was totally unacceptable to me. I don't believe in evicting babies before they're ready based on a date that should really be +/- at least 2 weeks. The risks associated with induction were beyond what I was willing to accept without a true medical reason. Needless to say, I started to feel a lot of stress over this impending fight, were I to go past 41 weeks (I actually went to 41 weeks, 4 days). My precious husband said, "Don't worry about it-if they try to force an induction we'll just stay home and do it ourselves.

And there, the idea of unassisted homebirth was born. It's interesting to me that so many women who want homebirths-assisted or unassisted-are thwarted by scared spouses, and the whole idea of unassisted birth came through my husband. Staying home without a midwife had never even occurred to me. But suddenly it became our back up plan, and I started to think about how great an experience it would be.

In the end, the midwives didn't pressure me into an induction and I stuck with my hospital plan. When Maddie was just a baby, I got a copy of Unassisted Childbirth by Laura Shanley from the library. It was so fascinating. Her way of giving birth felt very right (I later read The Power of Pleasurable Childbirth by Laurie Morgan, which really appealed to my practical nature).

Around 18 weeks I realized I wasn't going to call the midwife, and knew I needed to talk to her. I gave myself a couple of weeks to think it over, then called her around 20 weeks. She was very supportive of my decision, willing to be there for me if I needed her.

I continued my pregnancy with no problems, and no stress. Once I decided officially on an unassisted birth, it's like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I knew it was right for me. I told very few people in my real life, because I didn't want to deal with negativity, and I also didn't want to cause unnecessary stress for my family. Most people in our culture don't really believe birth is safe, and I didn't want people worrying about the baby and me. I wasn't worried-why should they be?

The Birth of Grace Alexandra

I'd been having contractions for weeks, real ones as well as Braxton-Hicks. On the night of September 9, I tried to go to bed around 9. Contractions were 15-20 minutes apart, and I wanted to sleep between them. They were really strong, and I'd wake up right at the peak and unable to stay on top of them. Around 10:30 I tried propping myself up in bed because lying down was making them worse, but even with that the waking up at the peak was too much. Around 11:15 I went out in the living room with Chad. We put in a Friends DVD and hung out for about 45 minutes. As soon as I was in the living room, contractions jumped to 5-7 minutes apart.

Around midnight I really wanted to get in the birth pool, but was thinking it was really too early. I decided I didn't care-the water was calling me. Chad tried to convince me just to take a bath in the tub first, to see if it really was labor this time. I said no. I knew this was it. He filled the tub and I got in. It was heavenly!

We put Friends on the computer and we actually watched it right up until transition. The water got my contractions closer together, not further apart. They were 3-4 minutes apart almost as soon as I got in, then 2-3 minutes. The DVD player shut down and I told Chad to leave it off. I remember sitting in the warm water, with the windows open. It felt so good, and I could hear the crickets chirping outside, and thinking, "This is the way to do this. I don't want to be anywhere else."

Transition was intense and painful but less confusing and scary than it was with Maddie, by far. I never felt out of it or confused like I did with her birth. Soon it felt better to bear down than to relax, and Chad thought I still hadn't gone through transition but I was already pushing! He was blown away to realize how quickly things were going-he'd hardly had to do any work yet.

My water hadn't broken yet, after quite a few pushing contractions, but I could feel her head right there. I allowed the overwhelming urge to take over at first, then forced myself to breathe through and slow down, with Chad's help. I felt her head trying to come out but the bag of waters was still there. I thought, I wonder if my short, bitten nail could break the thing. I touched it, barely, and it popped. Then I could feel hair and that was all the encouragement I needed. I wish I could describe what the rest of the birth was like but I don't really have the words. To know that we were doing this, totally our way and that it was going so quickly and smoothly, was just really amazing. Chad and I just looked at each other in awe of what was happening. We felt completely connected to each other, to the baby, and to the entire process as it unfolded exactly the way it was meant to.

Chad couldn't believe how far along I was already. He thought we'd have hours left. I pushed, gently, through crowning, which took several contractions. I did my own perineal support and could tell exactly where I needed to put pressure to keep from tearing. Crowning was intense but so cool! I could feel the baby trying to help me, pushing with her feet and trying to get out too. Her head and body came out in one contraction, and Chad said "Reach down!" I caught her myself, and pulled her up to me. The cord was around her neck but she was already crying and breathing just fine. I unwound it, and she nursed within about 3 minutes. It was so incredible!

I thought the whole pregnancy that I was having a boy, so it was a little surprising to find out she was a girl! But I knew before she was even out-I changed from "he" to "she" unconsciously-I remember saying to Chad, "The cord is around her neck."

The water was a little cool so we got out pretty soon. I sat down on some towels on the floor, and plop! Out came the placenta. That was easy! I bled less than I did with Maddie and was much less sore. I didn't tear, except for a little skidmark I couldn't even see (but could feel when I used the bathroom for about the first day). She was born around 3:23 am, after just about 4 hours of active labor. We didn't check the time right away but that's pretty close. We called all the people who wanted late-night calls, and Chad's mom came over for a little while to meet her. She went home and we went to bed for a couple of hours. It was so nice to be finished with birthing, take a shower in my own shower, then cuddle up in our own bed. Maddie slept through the whole thing, and in the morning she was SO excited to meet her little sister!

We had lots of visitors our first day with her, and that was nice too-no cooking and everybody brought me stuff! We weighed her Sunday afternoon, and she was 8 pounds, 1 ounce. We also finally came up with her name, Grace Alexandra. My recovery with Maddie amazed everyone I knew, but this recovery was insanely easy. I was out shopping with Chad and my 2 girls on Tuesday (she was born Sunday morning). I wasn't sore after the first day postpartum, and my milk came in in under two days. That took 5-6 days with Maddie, and I'm 100% convinced it was the interruption in our home life that caused the delay.

Having just Chad and me present for the birth is the best thing we've ever done. I wasn't at all afraid-I just knew everything was fine. We were the only people there when she was conceived, and it felt absolutely 100% right that we were the only people there when she was born. I was able to listen to my body completely, without anyone to depend on but myself and Chad. Chad was wonderful-he helped me remember not to push too hard, and he was my anchor during transition and pushing both physically and emotionally. Her birth was intense, sometimes painful, very hard work…but definitely one of the most incredible things I've ever experienced.

Rhylans Birth story

Jaya101 — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:38:52 CDT

My Perfect Yoni
~The story of my Home Water birthed Rhylan~

At 41 weeks and 1 day pregnant and after weeks of contractions and being 4-5 cms dilated I was a bit annoyed that I had woken still pregnant. I mean I had both of my other children on this day of pregnancy. So we went to the shops for the day and let the kids play in the play area, that night, so I stayed up surfing the forums. I finally went to bed at about 10pm.

I stayed up later than expected on the forums, but when I went to go to bed I still could not sleep, I also realised that tonight I had not been having my usual contractions, this annoyed me a bit. I got up like normal at about 12:00am to go to the toilet, still feeling annoyed nothing was happening. Once I was back to sleep I started being woken by contractions, these were very intense but I was able to go straight back to sleep after each one, I am sure I was dreaming of a contractions and slept through one! At about 1:20 am I decided that that one was a little more than I was handling so I must of needed to go to the toilet, I sat on the toilet for a while, and had no contractions but when I stood up I had another one, it had been 10 mins since the last one. So I sat on the bed and waited, thinking maybe something could be happening. 10 mins came….. and went, so I lied down and at 14 mins I had another one, how annoying they were irregular. That was at 1:45am, so I waited, I had another one at 1:55am and it was a ripper for an early labour contraction, then I had another one at 2:05… hhmm these are 10 mins apart and they bloody hurt, I better ring the midwife…. While I was chatting to her I had the next one come at only 8 mins, irregular again, dame it. As our birth pool had a hole in it (air was escaping) I was really worried about not being able to birth in the pool (we were going to replace ours that morning!) Sonya (or midwife) suggested she would get dressed and bring the birth pool over, 1 ½ hours drive! And if we did not need her just yet she would go back to her mum’s house (10 mins away) for the night. I rung one of my support people (Kellie) and told her things were starting and to head over soon. The next contraction was 10 mins again but was bloody strong, so I told her to come any way. Eric rang my mum too.

I wanted to labour in the pool but was worried about not having enough hot water so we filled the bath first before hubby started on the birth pool. I had one contraction in the bath, and it was strong. I did not have a clock so gave up on timing the contractions. The next contraction I had in the bath was full-on I could not get over the peak, I started to freak out thinking there was hospitals for this sort of thing, they had epidurals, and I wanted one. As the contraction went away I was still freaking out, WTF was I doing? this ****ing hurt! I called Eric in to the bathroom in hysterics, saying “I can’t do this, I need an epidural, I can’t do it.” He responds with “your doing really well honey, you can do it” This did not help at all and I was scared. I was so scared I started to vomit. Then the next contractions started! I hoped up on to my knees side ways in the bath and he hugged me. He made me safe, secure, loved. I don’t know how he does this but it was the same in Jeromie’s labour. I felt a lot calmer after that contraction so he went to turn the water on for the pool, but as soon as I started having a contraction I NEEDED him there. This must have been frustrating for him. I would yell out when I started having a contraction. I had a couple more contractions in the bath, but felt I was going to poo so I hoped on the toilet but I started shacking uncontrollably. I think at this point I hoped back in the bath, but there was no relief and I still wanted to poo. So I decided to use the toilet in our room, where we were planning to birth. It’s about now Kellie arrived. I was sitting on the toilet with the heater on and a towel around my back. I would call Eric when a contraction would start, he would come running and hug me and I would squeeze him until I did not need him anymore.

I again had a freak out for a minute and I started to vomit again, but I realised I was thinking a lot between contractions about how these were not going to stop until I had to push this baby out, so I asked for my rock CD my little brother had burnt for me just for labour. It really gave me something uplifting to focus on and I often sung the songs to myself between contractions. Eric kept asking if I wanted to hope in the pool now, and Kellie kept asking if I needed anything… gee how bloody annoying, im bloody singing here! In hind-sight I was entering into transition here, as I was not able to communicate even between contractions.

These contractions were so much more intense then any of my other labours, the only thing other than Eric that got me through them was telling my self “I can; I can; I can” over and over and over again, and focusing on the breath out. Eventually I stopped pooing so I decide I would hop into the birth pool. (hubby reckons I was only on the toilet for a few contractions- it felt a lot longer) We do not have a big room so it was in the entry with just enough room for one person to get past, in the hope that there would be enough room on the other side to fit the replacement pool when Sonya got here. Some time around now my mum showed up. It was her job to time contractions (she seems to always get stuck with that job!). Turns out at this point the contractions were 3 mins apart. I was leaning on the side of the pool with Eric squatting beside me hugging me. My back was out of the water so I had a hot water bottle on it. The pain in my back really picked up and it was now worse than the pain at the front. This I do not understand as I could clearly feel the baby at the front on the left. The baby also kept moving between contractions and that really hurt! At some point the contractions stopped going away the pain in my back was not going away either and it was excruciating.

I spent most of my time thinking about how if I could just go to the hospital I could get an epidural for the back pain. But I would then remember I would have to get in the car…. Dam it…. Every time the baby would move it would hurt even worse, then another contraction would start. I was still doing the “I can; I can; I can” It did not feel like I was getting any kind of a break. At 4:35 am the midwife finally arrived, and with her was the other pool, so everyone set about to get that set-up. The first thing I said to her was “I think you need to ring Liska” (our back-up midwife) Now remember there was only space for one person to fit past the birth pool? Well Eric was in the way, so he kept moving to let people past, and he needed to help them with things. If I needed him I would bash with all my might the drawers beside me… it got the point across and he would come running! At some point the midwife wanted to check the baby’s heartbeat and I just looked at her like “WTF I ain’t moving!” thank god the Doppler is water proof! I could hear them setting the pool up. I also could here Sonya getting things ready for the birth but because Eric was in the way she had to ask for things, she asked for the O2 and the resuss bag, and she also asked for the syntocin out of the fridge. All I kept thinking was “we don’t need that stuff, im having a baby here” lol. I started to feel the bag of waters move down and I felt like I wanted to tense my tummy muscles, not so much a push but just tense them. I knew if I stood up the water would break, but I did not want to stand up, so I had two contractions just hoping they would brake by them selves. Then I was told the other pool was ready. I was starting to have another contraction so I jumped up and jumped from one pool to the other (over the walls of both pools!) and sure enough as I put my foot down in the second pool, “POP” and I had a gush of clear fluid with vernix in it! Not what I had expected (both my other kids had passed meconium, and I was 41 weeks 2 days).
I knelt down and realised the contraction that started in the other pool was still going to happen, I think I had forgotten about that. Eric was no where to be seen (he was behind me) so I grabbed the midwife and she held me through that contraction. During this contraction I could feel the head was moving down VERY low. When that one was finished I reached down and could feel my baby’s head just in side my yoni! I started saying “Hello My Baby” over and over again, and everyone realised I was serious andI was having the baby, NOW! I started hearing people talking with excitement. I looked up and could see the sun had risen and all the light around me, the adrenaline had kicked in and I realised that Tenysha was not there, so I asked for her, and it turned out they were only just going to get her and Jeromie now! When the next contraction started I wanted to push a little but that felt just wrong, and at the same moment my midwife reminded me to breath. What felt good was to pant really quickly breathing in; out; in; out, and then I started to feel my perineum stretching, I tried to reach down but could not reach and the midwife put the mirror there so I could see but I couldn’t get the right angle to see. As I panted I felt his head stretch it more and more and more until I felt it was almost out! I had just birthed my sons head, with out ANY pain, and without pushing!!! It still felt really screeched as the contraction finished so I pushed a tiny bit and the very last bit of his chin came out. I reached down and felt his beautiful head while his body was still within me. It felt really soft and squishy and slimy! I was rubbing it when I realised I was right he was facing backwards. As the next contraction started again I went to push again but it did not feel right so I started panting again. I wanted to push gently on his head, I don’t know why. This bit was a little painful, then I realised his back shoulder was out, then I felt the other shoulder come out, then he slithered out. As I opened my eyes the midwife had her hands in the water and I blurted out something like “im getting him!!!!!” I still had my hands in the water around his body so I grabbed him and pulled him up to my chest as I fell back onto the edge of the pool. I started saying over and over things like “Hello Baby,” “he’s perfect,” “He’s Beautiful” and I started to bawl my eyes out. It was the most amazing feeling! Better than anything I have ever felt!

He was born at 5:09am. He did not cry just kinda made a little squeak, then just looked around and at me. This was bliss, everything I had ever wanted at my births.

Not long after he was born I started having 3rd stage pains. They were just like the contractions of the labour with the back pain and all. I squirmed to get comfy while trying to take in my new little man. And they seemed to last forever. For one I turn on my side in the pool and he just latched onto the boob like a pro! After a few contractions I decided that I needed to put some effort into them so I got up on my knees and pushed a little, it did not feel nice, and after the next one I did not feel like I was getting anywhere. My midwife offered me some magnesium and phosphate to help. At this point I decided to stand up and try to birth the placenta. They put an ice-cream bucket between my legs and I gave a little push and I could feel it in there, so with a bigger push out dropped my baby boy’s placenta. The midwife felt my fundus and could feel something, then explained there was something that needed to be removed, and what she needed to do. She just seemed to pull ever so gently on a piece of something that was in my vagina and out came lots of ‘stuff’ I don’t really have a better way to explain it. Turned out to be a small piece of membranes.

After that I hoped out of the pool and baby and I sat on the bed in full skin to skin contact with blankets wrapped around us. It was bliss I loved looking at him and smelling him. His placenta was still attached, we let Tenysha cut it when he was 2 hours old. I have since chopped it up and consume a couple of pieces each day.

Midwife checked me and not even a tear.

His 'stats' were
Weight- 4990 grams- 11Lb 0 oz
Length-57cms
HC-37.6 cms

My beautiful boy Rhylan Eli Milton

Breastfeeding

amuchbetterway — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:35:17 CDT

Definition:
(press EasyEdit to contribute here)

Benefits to Baby:
(press EasyEdit to contribute here)

Benefits to Mom:
(press EasyEdit to contribute here)

Resources:
(press EasyEdit to contribute here)

Legal Issues:
Breastfeeding laws by State

Celebrity Babywearers

amuchbetterway — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:18:22 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Natural Childbirth

amuchbetterway — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:47:39 CDT

Location

Home

Hospital

Interventions:

Cord Clamping

- More reasons NOT to clamp the cord (http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=177)

Inductions and Augmentations

- Research Summaries:http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=556

Childbirth Resources:

http://www.motherfriendly.org/

http://ican-online.org/

http://www.childbirthconnection.org/

http://www.wombecology.com/

http://www.vbac.com/

Alternative Schooling

amuchbetterway — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:02:19 CDT

50 Eye Opening Unschooling Blogs (http://www.onlinebestcolleges.com/blog/2009/50-eye-opening-unschooling-blogs/)

Case for unschooling - Education needs to be turned on its headhttp://zenhabits.net/2009/08/education-needs-to-be-turned-on-its-head/

Vaccinations

amuchbetterway — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:54:33 CDT

Every reason you should know about why vaccinations are a terrible idea

A Much Better Cafe

amuchbetterway — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:40:01 CDT

A Much Better Cafe is a collaborative, user created resource for all aspects of attachment parenting and natural family living. The Cafe is the community driven section of A Much Better Way.

We are specifically seeking to create a rich resource of links, documents, studies, and definitions as well as corresponding photos and videos.

This is currently an open wiki meaning anyone can join and anyone can contribute. Please join and help us build this valuable parenting resource.

Gentle Discipline

amuchbetterway — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:27:20 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Natural Healthcare

amuchbetterway — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:39:05 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Green Living

amuchbetterway — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:37:21 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.