Home Birth

   

  Hi all.  This is my home water birth story.  Its long, it may be gory, but this is my blog and I don't care.  If you are considering a home birth and are anything like me, you cannot get enough of reading birth stories.  Believe me, the more you read/watch, the better.  Every little bit of someone else's experiences helps.  You never know what may resonate with you when you are actually going through labor.  So here it is, as well as a little background on why I chose a home birth.
     When I became pregnant with my son, I always thought it would be cool to have a home birth, but I had great insurance and I had no idea of where to start gathering information on it, so I went the hospital route.  Let me state for the record that I have severe white coat syndrome.  I literally get nervous when I go to renew my contacts.  At the time, I knew I had to somehow get the baby out so after a few OBGYNs I found one I liked and a hospital system that felt somewhat comfy.  Although I didn't know much at the time, I did know that I wanted to have my baby drug free and I did not want him in another room (nursery) ever.  I wanted him within eyesight at all times.  Once I arrived in labor I did have nurses trying to give me drugs against my will (yes, I almost gave in), but I got my wish and had him naturally.  My OBGYN decided I "needed" to have the vacuum used to get him out after only 20 minutes of pushing, which I now know probably did not need to happen.  Yes, my son had a lopsided alien head for two months and my vagina paid for it.   All in all, it wasn't too bad for a hospital birth.  I was only laboring in the hospital for 3 1/2 hours…not too shabby for my first, but I knew it could have been even better.
     Skip ahead eight years and there I was pregnant again... finally.  I didn't have insurance at the time because my husband is a contract employee and insurance was like $1300 a month (NO WAY).  Luckily I could get covered through the Unaffordable care act and it would cover my pregnancy, right? No.  We did not qualify for any tax break, and even with paying for the BEST plan, my OBGYN nor any affiliated hospital around would accept it.  BOOO.  So that left me with two choices.  I could pay out of pocket for a hospital birth I did not want where they would try and "complicate" everything so my bill would possibly be outrageous.  The much more awesome choice was to go a more natural route and trust myself and have this baby at home.
     I was six months pregnant when I found my midwife. I met her at a Starbucks and after chatting for an hour, I decided Sharon was the one. All of my appointments were done at home, which was actually great for my health. I would get so wound up in the OBGYN's office that my blood pressure was 146/90 on my last visit. At home with the midwife it was 110/75. Obviously I hate doctors.
     Although it seems like every story I read about home birthing had the baby arriving late, I knew Willow would be early. At 36 weeks I started red rasberry leaf tea, which is supposed to prime your uterus for birth and some say it makes labor come on faster.  My midwife also suggested Evening Primrose Oil but I was scared it would REALY bring on labor so I only used it for perineal massages (like two of them).  Around 37 weeks I began seeing slight red streaks after going to the bathroom, so I knew it would be soon.  I did not enjoy being pregnant this go around so I was pretty ready to get it done! My husband guessed August 28th as the due date, which was almost two weeks early, and he ended up being the closest.
     On August 27th, I woke up, took my son to school and gave him the usual warning that he may get pulled out of if I had the "feeling".  I wanted him to be there and experience it as much as possible.  Because of the age difference, I figured the more he can be apart of the baby's journey, the better.  I came home and took my usual nap (God I was so tired).  I woke up about 10:30am and felt normal, so I texted my midwife a question I had and took a shower while I waited for her to respond.  After the shower, I started having crampy type contractions.  I had felt this a few days before so I didn't get too crazy.  By then my midwife responded and I text her back about how I was feeling and she said to keep her updated.  Around 1:00 I was having the feeling come and go pretty regularly about 11 minutes apart.  I was staying in touch with my hubby at work, and we were both getting really excited.  I decided I had been eating pretty healthy this whole time, and I needed to have my stomach full of something hearty and bad for me so I made a run to Taco Bell and got some burritos.  I actually got extras in case I had the baby and wanted one after labor (haha).  No I don't recommend it, but hey, the baby was probably on her way out so a little junk food wasn't going to hurt now.
    The contractions were all over the place by three when I went to get my son from school so my husband and I decided he should stay at work until five.  By five, I wished I hadn't done that.  When Tony (my husband) got home at six, the contractions were really beginning to hurt.  I was having to walk through them.  This is when I decided I would rather have the baby another day.  It was too late for that.  I didn't want Tony to leave me and all we had to cook for dinner was hamburgers, so he cooked us dinner.  I knew I had to try and eat so, I shoveled in a few bites between pacing back and forth and hunching over on the table.
     These contractions felt a little different than the ones with Savion.  They were more of a really bad period pain combined with someone beating me in the abdomen with a baseball bat.  My midwife told me to call her when they were 4 min. apart and 1 min. long, but I was starting to loose track.  We didn't want anyone else there, so no one else knew I was laboring, but at 8:30, while I was in the shower, my mother in law stopped by for some reason.  Tony didn't even tell her what was going on.  I felt kind of bad but at that point I could not focus much to tell him otherwise.  After the shower I put on my bathing suit as the birth tub was filling up.  I remember looking at myself in the mirror and thinking "I wonder how long this suit is going to stay on."  I then called Sandra (mw) and told her it was time and to please hurry.  The contractions seemed like they were beginning to get on top of each other and I was only getting like one minute of peace between each one.  About twenty minutes later, I made Tony call her to see where she was.  I didn't want to get in the tub until she checked me out, even though I knew I was close.  Luckily she was right down the street.
    I didn't take any classes, but I did watch a lot of birth videos and read a lot, so I often heard women doing this mooing thing, so I figured, what he hell?  I am not very vocal when I am in pain, and felt a little embarrassed at first, but I did it anyway.  I had visions of myself calm and swimming in my pool outside all day while I was in the first stages of labor, but none of that happened.  When my midwife arrived, I was hunched over my bed mooing like a dying cow, and I never left my room after that.
     Sandra wanted to check to see how dilated I was but even that was a chore.  I couldn't lay down.  My body just wouldn't let me.  Finally I got a small break and told her to try it and sure enough, I was 9cm.  Thank God!!!  It was almost 10pm.  I kept thinking there was no way I could take this until midnight so hopefully Tony would not be the winner of the birthday bet.  Sandra told me I could get into the pool, so I did.  It felt good, ok better, but I couldn't lay back and really relax.  I was not having back labor but to sit down really hurt.  After a little while in the tub I started to get these awesome 3-4 minute breaks.  I could actually talk to my son, smile, and check the baby's heartbeat.  Unfortunately when they were over, it hurt like hell.  I told myself, that this was my body giving itself a break so it can prepare for pushing.  Yes, transition.
     With my arms flung over the edge of the tub and my face in writhing pain looking at my husband for help, Sandra checked me again and said I was ready to push.  Yea! I did not feel any urge to push, but I tried anyway.  Ouch and No.  Then for some reason I decided I could push better standing up out of the tub.  So I dried off, stood on the side of my bed, and felt like I had to poop.  They said "oh good, its the baby".  Liars.  Really I had to poop…and I did (a little).  At that point I didn't care, and luckily I did because if I hadn't then later they would have tried to make me before they left, and pooing is no fun after a baby.  So Sandra wiped my butt.  My husband and son were probably completely grossed out, and I decided I should go back in the tub to avoid any further humiliation.  I was really over these contractions, so I decided to give one huge push, and I could feel her head.  This was about to happen.  I knew better, but for some reason I felt like her head needed to be all out, so I didn't stop until I felt her head pop out.  That was a very LOOOONG MOOOO.  I shouldn't have done that because it caused me to tear, but I wasn't really thinking at that point.  One more push, and I felt her body slide right out.  Really, it freaking burned, but I would say the intense contractions before were way worse.
     As I said, my ideal tub position of the night was with me half kneeling with my arms flung over the edges so when Willow came out, Sandra had to do some maneuvering to get her on my chest as I fell back into the tub.  FINALLY, my baby was there.  I had watched all these videos and the home birth babies came out blue and limp (but were fine), but not Willow.  Her color was great and her eyes were alert.  She didn't cry, but I sure did.  I kept saying "Oh my God! My Baby!"  It was 10:47 on August 27th. She was perfection and only 6 lb. 12 oz. (thank you God!).  Then I immediately thought about the placenta.  Ugh.  I had heard horror stories of it staying in there forever and I knew this is where stuff could get sticky so I was worried.  I had originally told Sandra I didn't even want to see it much less make a pillow or a teddy bear out of it.  Yes you can do that with your placenta.  Google it.  Sorry, thats just me.  Luckily, she told me to give a hard cough/push and out it came out in tact.  I think my husband actually ended up burying it in the yard somewhere.  It was followed by blood but they didn't make it seem like a big deal.  That was another thing I learned not to be too freaked out about by watching other birth videos.  Once it came out I remember celebrating out loud "So Im officially not pregnant anymore???!!!"  Terrible, right?
     After a few bonding moments, I got out of the tub and had the shakes.  I had read many other stories so I knew I was okay and it was just the adrenaline.  I stepped right into my bed and held my beautiful girl skin to skin.  It was amazing. I looked over at Savion (my son who ended up being the ONLY one at that end who actually saw EVERYTHING) and he was crying tears of joy.  I could tell my husband was relieved and very proud of me.  It was an amazing moment I will never forget…duh.  My son now refers to Willow coming out of the black hole…eeeww.
     Willow (my new baby girl) eventually latched on and that seemed to help with the bleeding.  It did however give me intense after pains.  It is true, they do get worse with each pregnancy.  It literally felt like a bad contraction all over again.  Sorry to scare y'all, but its the truth.  After what seemed like forever, my midwife decided it was time to see if I needed stitches.  We didn't think I did, but we were wrong.  Luckily she did stitches.  I have heard that some midwives do not, so if you are planning a home birth check on that.   She numbed the area (sort of) then I had to get a shot "down there" on each side.  Really?  I thought I was done with the pain.  Yes it hurt, but it numbed everything so well that I did not feel the actual process.  While that was all happening, it gave my husband and son a chance to have some bonding time with Willow.  Soon it was all over.  At 3am Sandra left and we were left alone  in the comfort of our home to celebrate the beautiful life that just came into the world.
     I still can't believe I did it, and without complications! I look back now, and am so grateful for everything turning out so beautifully.  I could not have asked for a more perfect outcome.  I pray that everyone who reads this has the birth that they desire.  One thing I must say is to know and trust your body.  Trust your womanly instinct.  You know if you can do it or not, or if something is wrong.  Never be afraid of yourself or the process of birth.  I would not have had my birth any other way.