Birthday

Oh the pain. Prelabor stuff most of the day. My midwife and her assistant came over. I got checked and stripped.

Then Sally the assistant wanted to do a belly cast of me for something that she is decorating. So somewhere out there is my big belly.I went into true labor at about 11:30 PM. Sent mom and Amanda to bed to see if it would stop if I went to bed. It didn't. I did my relaxation tracks while I laid there for about an hour. Then I felt that I really needed my doula, Heather. So I shot her a text and woke up Nathan and got in the tub. Oh Heather, how do I love thee. She was so wonderful. So steady in my sea of ebbing pain and relief. I remember after every contraction I would open my eyes and see her sweet face. Encouraging, never worried or concerned in any way. I think that would have been hard to have someone feeling sorry for me. That would have made it hard. Oh it was hard. Nathan sat by me while I was in the tub, but he eventually went back to sleep. I imagine it was very boring to any one else. I didn't talk very much at all. I just breathed slowly. Most of the time it was so quiet.

Heather talked me out of the tub. I needed some gravity to

work for me. When ever I was out of the water it made me nauseous . So after I threw up, I felt better. I leaned on the ball for a while and she rubbed my back. I got tired quickly of this and laid down on my side. The contractions were pretty intense for about 45 min,

but I needed to be up. So I got in the shower and froze a little but got some good work done. I was shaking so bad, but made my self relax during the contractions. It helped so much to just relax. I got back in the tub and there I stayed.

Transition

This was the point when I called my mommy over. My mom was the best. So in the tub, I was either on my knees or back getting little guy lower and lower. I didn't get checked until I felt him get really low. I was so afraid that all that labor would put me at a 5. But mom checked and I was an 8 and my bag was bulging.

I almost cried with relief. But there wasn't really opportunity to feel relief. Call everybody quick. I really expected to be done quickly. I am glad I didn't know how much longer it would take. We called Janae Beeson (one of my good friends) and got Amanda up and Nathan up. Waiting for the midwives to get here took about a half hour. I am glad I didn't know that either. Oh boy there is a differenc

e between normal 1-8 cm labor and 8-10. Oh my oh my. I have never fully experienced labor because I have always had an epidural. My breathing automatically went to what my

hypnobirthing coach called birth breathing. Big breath in and blow out hard and long. My mom asked me if I wanted my water broken and I said, "wait a little longer." Then probably about 15 min later I agreed. That definitely put things into a more urgent state. Even in the water the weight of the baby on my back and pelvis was too intense.

Pushing

I got on my knees and leaned over the side. I knew he was close to crowning. I could feel his head with my fingers. Then I felt this thick band covering the front of his head. I knew this to be an anterior lip and knew that it had to be out of the way for him to come. So I grabbed it and pulled. WOW. The midwife said as soon as I did that his head almost fell into her hand. She said "his head is out" I cried "oh thank heaven" Then I pushed 2 more times and she jimmied his shoulders out. Ouch again. And it was over. Wow. Amazing. During those last 3-4 pushes I was screa

ming like I have never screamed before in my life. They said I wasn't that loud, but in my head it reverberated for miles. Very Primal. He was born into the water and was brought out and into my arms. I sat down and held him. There it is. The whole story with out the blood and guts.

This is Nathan, Wesley, Alison (midwife) and Mom.

Tyler and Wesley heard me screaming and came to investigate. So they didn't actually see him come out but they were there right after. It was perfect. They were so cute, all sleepy eyed and amazed.

He weighed 8 pounds 11 oz. He was 3 days early. Perfect apgar scores. Perfect perfect

Cute pictures of the little no name. We have about 3 that we like. Just going to spend some time with him and get it perfect.

Allison came by with the kids. Peter loved kissing him. As does our Wyatt.

Some may think it is unnecessary to put yourself through it. Why not just get an epidural? I don't know how to explain why I decided to have a home birth, it just sounded so peaceful and something inside me said I could do it. I loved the experience. It was the hardest thing I ever did. I am sure there are more hard things to come. Now I am better prepared. Thank you to everyone for support and advice. We are so happy.