Thursday, March 10, 2011
6am - I woke up from a dead sleep to a contraction that hurt so bad I had to breathe through it. After the next one happened (13 min. later) I called Neil into the room and told him what happened. Luckily, he hadn't left for work yet.
The contractions were separated like this: 13 min., 8 min, 7.5 min, 7 min, 6 min, 5 min - one right after the other. And I was stopping to breathe through all of them. At this point, Neil checked me, and said I was dilated to a 5 without stretching at all.
7am - I called Melody and told her "I think I'm going to be having a baby today." Everything just felt different about these contractions, and with them getting significantly closer together with each contraction, I just knew. She said to keep monitoring them and call back in 30 min, unless something changed.
About 10 min. later, the contractions started going about 2.5 min. apart, and more painful. I called Melody back and she and the team were on their way.
In the meantime, I got into the bathtub, but it was helping so well with the pain that I was having trouble timing the contractions. So I got out, and they started right back up where they left off - 2.5 min. apart.
8 am? - My friend Tricia came by to pick up the kids and take them to her house. As she was leaving with the kids, Melody showed up.
As I was having contractions, I was showing Melody where everything was as far as the birth supplies, and just talking to her about random stuff. The rest of the team showed up at about 8:15 or 8:30, and started to get everything set out and ready for the delivery. Melody guided me through rocking my hips during contractions to help the baby descend.
At this point, all of the midwives (Melody - midwife, Rosetta, Rosemary, and Sarah - apprentices) gathered around me and prayed over me, the baby, the labor, and delivery.
Not too long after this, I was starting to hurt pretty bad, so I decided to get back into the tub for some pain relief. I was in there for a while, in different positions, still rocking my hips during contractions. And all during labor, people kept reminding me to drink water, to empty my bladder, and even fed me bites of a cliff bar. With how painful the contractions were, and with them still being 2.5 min. apart, we figured we'd have a baby within an hour or so...but then after a while, I was still at the same place - painful contractions 2.5 min. apart. Melody and the others were so good about speaking encouraging words, and giving gentle touches when needed. They were my encouragers. Neil was my comforter and teammate.
At some point while I was in the tub my Dad and my friend Maryann showed up. Maryann just happened to be on vacation and had gotten into town the day before...They hung out in the living room while I labored.
Melody started to get concerned about not continuing to progress. She told me to get out of the tub and walk around or whatever I wanted to do, but that we needed to use gravity to our advantage. So I got out...and gravity was definitely working (or maybe I should say that the tub was working...) The contractions immediately got stronger.
During contractions, I continued to rock my hips, and Neil pushed my hips together or massaged my lower back - both for pain relief and trying to help the baby descend.
After a while, Melody said that she wanted to check the baby's position.
She said I was dilated to an 8, and about 90% effaced. She was having trouble finding the baby's position. She finally realized that the baby's head was kinked to the side a bit, which is why I wasn't continuing to progress as she expected.
Rosemary (one of the apprentices) used pressure/massage both in my lower back and hip/pelvic area to try to get the baby to move. He definitely moved some, and I started having much harder contractions. I decided that I didn't want to move, so I stayed on the bed...
Not too long after this, I started feeling the urge to push during my contractions. This went on for a while, and my water still hadn't broken. I'm thinking "seriously? why hasn't my water broken yet? Why is this baby not here yet?" It was just so different than the other two. Instead of hitting transition, getting no break between contractions, but having a kid in no time - I hit transition, the contractions were really painful, but they were still far enough apart that I was able to get breaks in between them. The pain was seriously bad though...I felt like at any moment my water would break...I kept pushing and pushing...but nothing. Just pain...feeling the baby descending, and lots of screaming :) During the pushing, the midwives were applying warm compresses to the perineum.
Neil got into position to deliver the baby.
After pushing for close to 20 min., my water finally broke with a gush - All over Neil! ha.
A couple minutes later, Isaiah's head popped out, and was turning as he was coming out. The cord was wrapped behind his neck, over his shoulders, and under his arms. Melody and Neil got him unwrapped, and guided him out the rest of the way. Total pushing time: 22minutes.
Total labor time: just shy of 7 hours.
Neil announced the birth of a baby Boy - a surprise to all of us. Even the midwives were all convinced that it was going to be a girl - because they said that boys typically have a harder time during labor, but Isaiah's heart rate never dropped at all - and he did wonderfully the entire delivery.
For the first time ever - No tearing during delivery. Not one - probably because it took him so long to come out.
They immediately put him skin to skin with me, and (this is a bit different) once the placenta was delivered, Neil cut the cord.
We were all laughing and celebrating for a while, as the midwives were all checking vitals, etc. while Isaiah was still on my tummy. He wasn't quite ready to nurse yet. Once vitals were done, Isaiah and I got into the bathtub for an herbal bath, to promote healing for me and the umbilical cord for him. While we were in there, Isaiah nursed, and Neil sat by us, next to the tub, so we could both get to know our new baby boy. He also fed me a turkey sandwich. love him.
After the bath, I got cleaned up and dressed, and went back to the bed, where the linens had already been removed and put into the wash, to check vitals again. Then, my Dad and Maryann were able to come in and meet Isaiah as well - and share the story from their point of view.
Isaiah Ethan Jones was born at 12:47 pm, weighing 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 20 inches long.
Welcome to the world, Isaiah!!
Would I have a home birth again? Most definitely. If I had been in a hospital, they may have broken my water, but that could have caused more complications. I could have even ended up in a c-section because of his position. The difference is how proactive everyone was. Melody and the team knew what to do to help me through the pain, and the awkward positioning so that Isaiah could come. And I was so much more comfortable than I would have been in a hospital. And really, you can't beat knowing that every single person surrounding you is a believer - praying for you - encouraging you - serving you - loving you - and wanting the absolute best for you. Neil sums it up like this: In a hospital, it's about what the doctors and nurses do (they break the water, they give medicine, they do this or that...), but this labor was all about me and what I was doing. The others were simply there to support, encourage, and direct the course of labor...letting me do what my body needed to do to deliver Isaiah.
What do I think about the birth? It was definitely longer and definitely harder than my other two. The length didn't bother me - It actually helped me out to not have a labor so fast and furious. Because of the length, I not only didn't tear, but my body also didn't go into shock right after delivering like it usually does. No shaking at all this time.
The hardest part was the pain. There was definitely reason for it, and it was definitely less than it could have been if his position hadn't been changed at all during the course of labor. I'm just thankful that God gave me breaks during the course of the pain to be able to take a breather and get through it.
No, I still wouldn't get an epidural or any other drugs, even with the pain. Having anything could have hindered the whole process as well - and by golly, I loved not being strapped down or having an IV. It was fabulous!
Highly recommend a home birth and midwifery care to anyone and everyone (that isn't super high-risk) that is expecting a baby. SO worth everything!
