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Introduction

Sarah is at her grandparents. Moe went to the store. Joshua is sleeping in his swing. So, in a rare moment of peace and quiet, I wanted to take this opportunity to write out my birth story. It has barely been over 24 hours, so the details are still fresh in my mind. Hope you enjoy...


Joshua Noel’s Birth Story

My due date was December 14, 2003. It came and went. I reached 41 weeks and was very unhappy about it. My midwife suggested that at my next appointment, she could strip my membranes and give me a labor-inducing herbal tea. There were no guarantees that it would work, but it might be worth a shot. The day of that appointment was December 23rd.

I talked it over with my husband and my doula, and I also prayed about it. As much as I wanted that baby out of me, I wasn't going to do anything without asking God first. My husband and doula felt comfortable with it, but I wasn't as sure. For some reason, I felt so strongly that I should just wait a little longer before trying a natural induction. I felt that since the baby and I were both healthy, that the only reason for inducing would be for my convenience and comfort. For me, that just didn't seem a good enough reason to go interfering unnecessarily. So, I decided I would just wait and see...

On December 23 (appt. was for 9:00am that day), I woke up just before 8:00am, and I was having pain way down low in my abdomen. I didn't think much of it, because I had been feeling pains like that off and on for a few days prior. Then I realized they were coming at consistent intervals. So I started to time them. They were 5 minutes apart, and lasted about a minute each.

I woke up Moe and told him I thought I was in labor. I asked him to get Sarah ready and take her to preschool. While he was doing that, I called my doula, who said she would be right over. Then, I called my midwife, who was already going to be coming soon anyway. She asked if I had any bloody show, and I hadn't. After I hung up with her, I went to the bathroom, and there it was. So, I called her back and said, "Now I do." LOL. She said she'd be right over.

So, while I waited for them to arrive, I just leaned over my birth ball and rocked and breathed through the contractions. Del, my doula, showed up first and she put on this wonderful CD of instrumental worship music that I ended up wanting to leave on through the entire labor. During the contractions, she would say things like, "Just let it all sink into the floor." "Let that baby move down." "Feel your cervix opening up." It may sound cheesy, but she just knew what to say and when to say it. She also would pray for me, which helped a lot. She has one of those calming voices that just make you feel like everything will be alright.

My midwife arrived shortly after her and Moe returned from dropping off Sarah. Seeing that I was in good hands with Del, they both set about other business. Michelle (midwife) began setting up all her things in the bedroom, and Moe decided to cook breakfast for everyone. I was SO hungry, but whenever I tried to eat, I felt nauseas, so I gave up.

After a while, Michelle wanted to check my progress (and I was curious, too!). I had only been in labor for about 2 hours, so we were all surprised to hear I was 4-5cm, stretchable to 6! This was very exciting news and Michelle predicted we would have a baby by noon.

Labor was progressing, and I started to ask about getting in the tub. I wanted to make sure it wouldn't slow anything down. She said it was fine. Del ran the bath for me and lit lavender tea lights all over. It was heavenly. I got into the tub and immediately felt relaxed. The contractions were more bearable, and it just so nice to lay there and soak. I thought I would stay there all day, but after a while, the heat was making me nauseous, so I decided to get out. Del got me a warm towel and some new clothes to put on. I then went into our bedroom and resumed my relationship with my best friend, the birth ball. Funny, because in my last labor, I didn't find it helpful at all. Go figure...

Anyway, the pain was increasing, and I was feeling nauseas with each contraction. Michelle asked to check me again, and found that I was at 8cm!! In order to facilitate dilation, she suggested I do some contractions upright, i.e. on the toilet or "slow dancing". I didn't want to because I knew it would hurt more. However I also knew that I would move things along faster, so I agreed. After a while, I couldn't take anymore of being upright, so I lay down on my side in bed. This also is a good position to help the baby move down. She checked me and found me to be complete, but I still wasn't feeling the urge to push. This was annoying me because I really wanted to get the pushing part over with. I said aloud, “Why isn’t he coming??” They assured me, “He is.” I asked why I didn’t feel like pushing if I was complete. I just wanted to get that urge, so I could actively do something to bring this pain to an end. I had a few more contractions and Michelle asked me if I felt any pressure. I said I felt a little like I had to have a BM, and she said I should work with that and try to push a little. So the next time, I tried, but I felt like I couldn’t do it strong enough. The urge just wasn’t there. I was getting really agitated at this point and I kept asking what was wrong. Why didn’t I feel like pushing?

But it only took a few more minutes for that urge to hit me. And I do mean HIT me! Suddenly, I felt as if I had no control over my body. I was thrashing around on the bed like an animal! I tried to listen to them, telling me how to moan through it and go with it, but I felt too hysterical. It was a little scary, to be completely overthrown like that. All I could think to do when the urge hit was to push as hard and much as possible, just to get him out and make the pain stop. I knew I should slow down so I wouldn’t tear, but the pain was so intense, it was overriding any sense of good judgment. Michelle was putting a warm compress (soaked in ginger root from the crock-pot) on my perineum to help prevent tearing. (Ginger root is an anti-inflammatory.) She told me to slow down a little bit, and I listened to her when I could. Most of the time, however, I was not in control of my body. When it hurt more, I just pushed more so he would come. Del told me to reach down and feel his head and I did. She said, “This is what you’re working for. Open your eyes and look at him.” But I was too overwhelmed and just said, “I can’t!” I pushed again and finally felt him slide out of me. They put him right up on my chest, all warm and slimy. I just cried and said, “He’s here! It’s finally over! Thank God it’s over!” I was told I only pushed for about 3 minutes (!!!), but it seemed longer to me! I could feel the cord still inside me, and I couldn’t see too much of the baby because he was facedown on me. I kept saying, “I can’t see him. I want to see him. Lift him up.” Michelle said I couldn’t just yet because he was still attached and the cord was pretty short. Then she noticed it had already stopped pulsing, so she let Moe cut it, and I was finally able to hold him up and see him.

I was so relieved that it was all over, and I just wanted to enjoy my baby. Michelle told me I would need to push for the placenta to come under the pubic bone. I didn’t want to push anymore- I had done my job! LOL. I relented, though, and the placenta was birthed with just a small push from me a few minutes later. When it came out, I felt like I had just had another baby! That’s how big it felt! I don’t remember that at all from last time…

Then of course, she had to push on my uterus to make sure it was contracting back to normal. That sucked SO much. It didn’t seem fair that I had to go through more pain after I just finished giving birth. I knew she had to do it, though, to check for clots and to make sure everything was working properly. I would rather endure that than have to be rushed to the hospital, so… oh well.

Eventually, she concluded that I was fine, and I was finally able to concentrate on my son. He wanted to nurse right away. He was rooting around practically from birth! He latched on really well, and ate for quite some time. Of course, as he nursed it made me bleed a lot more, which Michelle said was good. When he took a break from the breast, she did his newborn exam. It was so cool because she did it right there on the bed with all of us looking on. She explained everything she was doing, and it was neat to hear what they look for and why. And do you want to know the kicker? Through this exam, she was able to assess his gestational age. She concluded that he was not, in fact, overdue at all! He was a normal, healthy full-term baby! So all of that fretting for nothing! He was given Apgars of 10 because he really was just perfect. (biased- lol). It’s true, though. He came out nice and pink, with a hearty cry, announcing his entry into the world. He was born at 12:50pm, making the entire labor from start to finish, only 5 hours long. Yippie! He weighed in at 8 pounds even, and measured 21 inches. WOW! My daughter, for comparison, was only 6lbs. 3oz., measuring 17.5 inches!! Talk about a peanut.

Del ran out to the store to pick up some Motrin for me and some lunch for all of us. She came back with a fresh fruit salad and a sub from Publix. Yummy!

About 2 hours after Joshua was born, Moe went pick up Sarah from preschool. When she came in the room to meet her new brother, her eyes lit up. She smiled the biggest smile and said, “A tiny baby!!” She was so sweet- she tried to climb up on the bed to see him. Moe helped her up and we told her to be gentle. She never stopped smiling the whole time. She touched him and kissed and hugged him. She said, “I want to hold him.” It was a really precious time. We took lots of pictures.

After that, Michelle examined the placenta and explained how it works. It was all very interesting, but at that time, I was too tired to care very much. It was time for mommy and baby to rest. So Michelle and Del took off, and Moe took care of Sarah. I didn’t go to sleep, though. I just lay there, staring at my little boy. I marveled at how small he was and thanked God for my miracle.

The whole experience was really amazing and I am so glad I was able to have my homebirth. I can’t describe the incredible difference between my hospital birth and this one. With Sarah, I was directed to bear down, hold my breath and push to counts of 10. Despite the fact that she was a small baby, I did have some tearing that required stitches. This time, I was just told to go with whatever my body said, and I had only a tiny “skid mark” requiring no stitches, even though he was almost 2 pounds bigger! The recovery has been much easier already this time around. My bottom is not nearly as sore as it was with Sarah, and I am already able to be up and about on my own, just 24 hours later. I took a shower today with no problem. Last time, I didn’t feel like I could even get out of bed on my own for days. I feel so blessed to have had this experience, and I would recommend it to any healthy pregnant woman.