More Babies Prefer Home Birth

I woke up at 1:00am having contractions. They didn’t feel quite right, so I assumed they were Braxton Hicks (practice contractions). I alternated walking and laying down, praying they would stop so I could get some sleep.

About 3:00 I “felt the call of nature” and while finishing up there felt “something” at the opening to the birth canal. It was smooth and the size of a babies head. I am afraid I sort of panicked! I woke Andy and called the midwife and my mom. After everyone was on the way, I realized it couldn’t be the baby’s head since the water hadn’t broke yet. It must be the water bag formed like a water balloon.

Everyone arrived by 4:30, my parents took the older children to their house, and M and A (the assistant) set up for the birth. They checked the baby’s heart beat and it was 140, very good. M did an internal and said the baby was still high, but I was almost dilated.

I felt the need to walk. I have never felt that strong of the need to move around before. Strange how each birth is different and how our bodies can communicate to us.

Again the call of nature (almost 5:00am). Just as I sat down, the water broke. They got me into the other room and checked the heartbeat. 70 beats per minute. VERY not good. M did another internal and I have read enough midwife material to know what she would find (head high, then water breaks)- cord prolapse.

This is not a fun complication (as if any of them are). 200 years ago it meant the death of nearly every child it happened to.

What happens in a normal birth is the head engages with and presses on the cervix, then the water breaks. The head keeps the cord up by the body where it can continue to supply Little One with oxygen. With a cord prolapse, the head is still high when the water breaks and the cord washes down past the head. Gravity then pulls the head down onto the cord cutting off the baby’s oxygen. In the hospital this now means an immediate emergency c-section with good survival rate for the babies. At a home birth this means transport to the hospital and a c-section. Thankfully, this is a rare complication and most midwives will never see one. Mine has had the misfortune of seeing four now, in twenty years of practice.

M had me flip to the face and knees position and she held Baby’s head up off the cord.

“Time to pray and make decisions.”

I was already adjusting to the idea I was going to have major surgery in less than an hour.

Andy prayed for wisdom for all of us.

M said “Let me try…” and fiddled around. “The cord just went back up!” She had pushed it back up where it belonged! We listened to the heartbeat…140; back to normal.

“Are we going to the hospital or do we push this baby out now?”

“We are going to push.” said Andy. I pray during all of my pregnancies for Andy and the midwife to have wisdom and I determine I will do whatever they say, trusting God to tell them what we need to do.
M helped me off of our daybed and onto a birthing stool, checking the heart beat every 30 seconds. It stayed at 140.

I pushed from the top and M moved the cervix from the bottom. I don’t know how long it took and it was a lot of pain but the cervix moved and I was soon pushing just like a normal birth.

“The head is crowning.”

I pushed it out but something was wrong. In a normal birth you push the head out, then feel a relief at the neck. Another push and the shoulders come out followed by the rest of baby. In a breech, you push the body out (which feels like it takes forever!) then the rest of the neck, and then the head. This time, I pushed the head out but felt no relief at all. We had what is called Shoulder Dytocia. The shoulders were wedged behind my pubic bones. Baby was stuck! Doctors in hospitals have no more tools than a midwife at this point. It is too late for a c-section and no drugs will help. There are a half dozen maneuvers that can be tried and usually will un-stick Little One, but babies do die from this. You have less than two minutes before brain damage begins.

M kept repeating “Push your baby out Betty.” while she began on the list of maneuvers. Usually the top shoulder is born first and the midwife will try to maneuver it out first. If that doesn’t work (which it didn’t this time) she tries to get the bottom shoulder out first. That is what worked.

Jane Kathleen, 10.8 pounds, was born at 5:37 after 37 minutes of pushing. She was blue and white and had trouble figuring out how to breathe for a few seconds, but since the cord was now pumping to beat the band she is fine. In fact, at three weeks she is already learning to smile.

There were five people at this birth: Me, Andy, M the midwife, A her assistant, and God. He is so good to us and had His hand on my baby the whole time.

{If you’d like to share your own home birth story, please use the form at right to submit it.}

The Perfect Birth

This was to be my seventh birth. The whole pregnancy had been my easiest so far and, though anxious to get it over with and hold my baby, I was feeling pretty good. 

I had been having contractions every morning (3:00ish) for several days, but when these woke me up at 3:30, July 24, I could tell they were a little different. I was a few days past my due date, and I could tell from previous experience these were the real thing. I walked around some and then, lay down to try to rest. About 4:30, they were coming 5-7 minutes apart and were getting stronger. 

“I’ll wait this one out and one more, and then call Andy. Another 15 minutes or so, if things don’t slow down, I will call M” I thought to myself.

At that instant my water broke. 

“Oh, Andy.”

“mmmmmyeahmmgm?”

“My water just broke.”

“Ok…zzzzz”

So enthusiastic. :-)

I called M and my mother, and then took a quick shower. I have had three previous labors start with breaking water. This time it hurt though. Unusual

Andy helped me breath through the contractions while we waited for everyone to get here. He is great at keeping me from getting too stressed at any time, but especially during labor. He cracks jokes and talks about, anything I show an interest in, but mostly just sits close and holds my hand, helps me breathe and tells me it is almost over. I often look into his eyes during the worst part of a contraction and try to blow the hair out of his face. It really does help (he has a beard). 

My mom arrived at 5:30 and began picking up and washing my dishes. For some reason I had not felt like washing them before bed last night. M arrived shortly thereafter. She took my vitals and called A, her assistant. My children usually get up around 6:30, so we discussed what I wanted done with them. We decided to wake them up and for Mom to take them to her house. I have had short labors before, but I have also had a couple of long ones. I decided I really didn’t want them here for the worst part (it would distract me too much) and they were fixing to wake up anyway. 

I don’t really remember when A arrived. I was a little busy. I do remember thinking about a birth story I had read on the internet a few days ago where the woman called her contractions surges. They didn’t hurt she said. I told myself “These don’t hurt they are just surges.” I answered “Yeah, right!” What I didn’t realize was just how close to birth I was and that they really didn’t hurt in comparison to this point in past births.

“I feel a popping sound during the contractions.”

M just looked puzzled. I don’t know if it was an unusual thing to experience or if my grammar was too bad to understand. I don’t always make a lot of sense when I labor. 

I did try very hard to concentrate on not tightening any muscles in my body this time. I guess it did help to reduce the pain because I was kind of surprised when M asked me to move to the couch where she had just set up for the birth (as per a previous discusion we had had). 

“Is that an order or a suggestion?” Andy asked. 

“A STRONG suggestion.” M replied while watching me breathe through another contraction. I moved with help from Andy and A. I had one bad contraction just as I got down on the couch. I couldn’t see or reach Andy so I grabbed A’s hand and blew the hair out of her eyes for this one. She has pretty eyes. 

“Are you comfortable?” A asked me when I was settled. 

“No” I replied. Ok, you shouldn’t try to crack jokes when you are in labor. (Yes, A I was as comfortable as could be expected at these times. Thank you.) 

M had not had a chance to do an internal to check progress yet so she began to prep for that. My body began to push the baby out without my help. I informed M and tried very hard not to push while not tightening muscles either. That is kind of a contradiction of muscle control. 

After one of these contractions, I could feel something at the birth canal opening. I saw A look at M and say 

“Uhh, M?”

“Babies crowning. Doesn’t feel right.” I thought to myself 

“I see” M nodded to A 

“Let’s get a baby!” to me. 

“Can I push?” 

“Yes”

I don’t know how many times I pushed but it wasn’t many. I could feel M delivering the baby. I know from previous births that the head is the hard part, then you get a minute to breathe, then you push the shoulders out.

“How long is this head?!” I asked myself. She just kept delivering baby and delivering baby. The relief of the neck was a very long time in coming. 

Finally, I could feel the neck, after M did something that hurt. I didn’t take time then to figure it out then, but now I know she pulled the hands down out of the way. 

“Ok, I get to breath a little until the next contraction.” I thought.

“Can we have one more push?” M asked. She delivered my two previous babies and never had told me to push (I already knew when to from previous births and anyway, your body tells you). She was perfectly calm and quiet now, not the least bit upset, but it registered as unusual to me. 

“Something is wrong. My Baby needs me to push NOW” I thought. One more good BIG push (even though I was not having a contraction) and she was out. I opened my eyes (I close them when pushing) and saw my baby lying between my legs … upside down! Breech! 

This one was a little purple. I had flash backs to my first baby who had been born with the cord very tightly around her neck and had been down right blue. They had to put her on oxygen and I hadn’t been able to hold her for four hours. Thankfully, she is fine now. Our newest one began to breathe immediately and pinked right up. No need of Oxygen.

We now knew the popping sound had been; the foot kicking my cervix. That is also why the water breaking hurt; she kicked me.

At ten pounds even, she was my biggest baby, yet I believe this was my easiest birth. Official birth time is only around four hours of labor. I have only had one faster and he was induced in the hospital. M and A were wonderful; my little girl is strong and healthy. Andy is a proud Papa and shows his little girl off. I am thankful for all of God’s blessings He has given and for keeping us safe during this whole thing. I had prayed that God would do some miracle to have us in the safest place for Jacklynn’s birth. I believe He hid the breech position from us so we would stay home, the safest place for this child.

{If you’d like to share your own home birth story, please use the form at right to submit it.}

The UC of Isaiah Gideon

I just don’t know if there are words to do justice to the way my baby boy came into this world. To put it simply and maybe best, it was a little piece of heaven. I’ve never been closer to God or my family as I was in the moments he was born and after. As a mama who has had 2 cesareans and one hospital vba2c, this birth is incredibly special to me.

I wrote his birth story, 2 weeks to the day after he was born, and here it is:

I have a hard time believing how amazing his birth was. I feel like I dreamed it all. While I was pregnant I only hoped, dreamed, that it would be what it was. I would live and relive those moments over and over again if I could and will draw on that experience any time in my life that I need strength or courage. Because of his birth I know myself better. His birth was about responsibility from the start. During pregnancy I was responsible for taking the best care of myself that I ever have in my life. During the 2 years prior to his birth I took responsibility for preparing and educating myself about birth and every possible path that birth could take. I surrounded myself with people who were also educated about birth. But ultimately in my mind, my soul, I had a perfect picture of what this birth would be and it was.

What it wasn’t was dramatic. Or scary. Or painful. It wasn’t anything that people typically envision in a birth. And it was nothing like you see on t.v. By all means, Isaiah’s entrance into this world would probably be classified by some, as boring.

A boring birth.

But really, I would not call it boring. Sure, it wouldn’t make for good t.v. but I wouldn’t call it boring. I would call it peaceful. Joyous. Beautiful. Calm. Relaxing. Even triumphant.

On July 22nd at 3:00 pm my family who had just visited prior to leaving for their trip to Hawaii for my brother’s wedding was getting ready to say goodbye. My husband worked the night shift that night and he woke up as they were leaving to see them off. At 3:30 he was getting ready to go to work and I sat down on the couch to relax after a long day. My 3 girls, 5, 3, and 1 were playing. They had woken early that morning and my 1 year old was getting very tired after a long day with no nap. We had spent the day shopping and having ‘girl’ time together as I knew that things would get busy when the baby arrived.

When I sat down on the couch I felt the baby drop. It happened very quickly and noticeably. Shortly after that I had this feeling that labor would be starting soon. By 4:00 Nick was ready to go to work. I wasn’t having regular contractions, just the same Braxton hicks/ prodromal labor that I had experienced for weeks prior. Instinctually I knew that it was going to happen that night. I just knew. I let him know this but told him to go to work anyway ’just in case it wasn’t’. We all said goodbye and he was off to work. It took him about an hour to get to work and would take him another hour to get home. By 5:00 I was still not having regular contractions. They were still the same and still barely noticeable. I cleaned my house, helped my girls get ready for bed, washed all the laundry and took care of anything that I knew I wouldn‘t want to worry about once the baby did arrive. I was doing these things instinctually and that instinct was telling me that baby would b! e on the way very soon. I took a bath because I was tired and just wanted to relax. I sang along to my Ipod and could hear my older girls singing along from in their room while they were playing with their toys. I called Nick at work. He called back just after 5:00 and I told him he should come home or he might miss the birth. He was home by 6:00 and I was playing barbies with our girls. Our 1 year old had fallen asleep and it was just my oldest 2 still awake. When Nick got home he thought maybe my call was a false alarm. I was calm, relaxed, and not in pain. I did ask him to rub my back because it was tired after a long day. I was still keeping busy and my girls helped me switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer. It was almost 7:00 and I decided to lay down and rest a little. Still no regular or painful contractions. I went to the bathroom and half expected some signs of labor but nothing.

I went to go back to our room and lay down when my dh said, something along the lines of ‘so, we’ll have the baby tomorrow maybe?’ He was thinking he could go to sleep. I said, ‘no, baby will be here soon’. It was after 7:00 (7:15? I’m not sure…time is fuzzy at this point) I couldn’t sit still. I needed to be moving, pacing, walking, and I walked down our hall, into our living room, and then back into the bathroom. That was transition. It lasted about 5 minutes from the time I told Nick baby would be here soon and it never hurt. It was also the only time I had a regular contraction pattern or contractions that felt slightly more noticeable than Braxton hicks. My body then started to bear down. I wanted to be in the tub at first and the feeling of the water from the shower was very relaxing and soothing. Nick checked in on me and I think he finally believed that baby was going to be born soon. I reached down and felt the bag of water bulging. I told him that i! t was very close. Then I wanted to be out of the tub. I got out and Nick gave me towels to dry off. I made my way to our room and onto our bed.

Once I got on the bed I reached down again and felt a hairy head and shortly after that I knew I needed to slowly breathe him out. Nick and my girls were there with me, they were just watching and waiting quietly and patiently. When baby’s head came out I heard my older daughter say “I see the baby’s head!” I had my hand on baby’s head as it crowned and in the same contraction as the head was born the shoulders turned and baby’s body slid gently out into my hands onto the bed. He cried right away and was immediately pink. He looked around and then gave another good cry. I was so busy looking at him that I didn’t even think to look and see if he was a boy or a girl. We didn’t find out because we opted not to have an ultrasound. Nick asked and when I looked I half expected him to be a girl. I said “it’s a boy!!”

Within 15 minutes of his birth he was breastfeeding and the placenta came out. He ate for a half hour nearly every hour for the first 12 hours of his life, my milk came in the 2nd day, and has been a great eater! He weighed in at 9lb 2oz on the fish scale Nick bought for his birth…our “catch of the day” as he called him :)

Isaiah Gideon was born exactly how I hoped he would be. He had a peaceful entrance into this world. I was able to listen to my body and my instincts and do everything I needed to so he could have a safe and peaceful birth. I knew myself enough to know exactly what I needed for his birth and I know birth enough to know exactly what I needed to bring him safely into this world. I had hoped I would “know” I was “in labor” sooner this time (last time I didn’t know until an hour before she was born!) and I did. Even though my labors aren’t ’traditional’, instinctually I *just knew*. I had hoped I would enjoy it and soak it all up and I did. I had hoped my husband and my girls would be able to witness it and they did. I had hoped for the birth that was perfect for me and our baby and it was. I am so thrilled that my girls were able to see a baby, their brother, brought into this world in such a way, that they too may someday birth without pain or fear and it might ! be a joyous and beautiful event for them too. I feel so incredibly blessed!

{If you’d like to share your own home birth story, please use the form at right to submit it.}

On August 25th, 2010, @ 41w2d, I woke up at 5:30am feeling a small leak of fluid. I got up and went to the bathroom, laid back down and felt a *big* gush. I snuck into the master bathroom to change into dry clothes and get a pad, trying not to wake Dan. I had gone to bed at 2ish so I decided I should try to get some more sleep before contractions hit. Between the excitement and the constant fluid pouring out of me, I never did get any more sleep. I posted what was going on, on CafeMom and waited for it to get later so people would chat with me and so I could text my cousin Falyn and let her know what was going on. I wanted to share with someone but everyone was asleep! Around 6:00am, the contractions started. I timed them for a little bit and by 6:30am, they were coming every 4 mins and lasting 30 seconds. I didn’t want to alert everyone too soon in case it ended up being a long labor but I saw my! mom commenting on Facebook so I knew she was getting ready for work. So I texted her to let her know she shouldn’t head in. At 6:40 Dan woke up to get ready for work. I told him baby would be born that day. At 7:15am, I went to the bathroom and I had lost a lot of mucus plug and there was vernix floating in the toilet. My mom arrived at 7:30am. We sat around talking, as I posted on CafeMom about my labor. After a bit, I had to stop talking and breathe through the contractions. My mom filled the tub up, laying a shower curtain over top to hold the heat in. Dan went to work for a bit to get a few things done before labor picked up. About 8am, I texted my friend/doula, Cindy and told her I was having a baby that day. She told me to let her know if/when I needed her. At 9am, I got in the tub. The contractions were now 2 mins apart. I noticed then that baby had passed meconium. I knew that was not a huge deal but it definitely surprised me! I texted Cindy to come over as soon! as she could. Dan came back after a bit and him and my mom se! t up the bathroom. They put my netbook on the side of the tub, set up the video camera, put a big clock in there and brought me food and drink. I ate some cantaloupe and string cheese while in the tub. I had had a blueberry bagel earlier in the morning. I turned on Slacker Radio and sang some while I chatted online and texted. Kent and Lili woke up around 9:30am. They came into see me and were unimpressed lol. My mom and Dan pretty much kept to themselves, coming in to check on me every once in awhile. My mom cleaned up my kitchen, which was wonderful! At 10:20, Cindy arrived. She sat in the bathroom with me and we talked between contractions, which was a nice distraction from the pain. By 10:42am, the contractions were 1.5-2 mins apart and 35 seconds long. They were painful but I felt great in between. Cindy used a rolling ball back massager on my back during a contraction. I commented to Cindy and my mom that it was so weird how I could go from feeling great to hurting to! feeling great again, just like that. I was still texting and typing in between and when a contraction hit, I would get on my hands and knees or squat. Rubbing my clitoris helped the pain, so that’s what I did! I was aware that I had company and it was weird but I couldn’t care less! I kept saying “God. Oh God.” and my mom laughed and said she had no idea I was so religious! lol. At 11:05am, I commented that I could feel baby’s “head” about 2 knuckles deep and it felt “squishy”. I thought it felt…off….but I had heard that the head feels soft in the birth canal since its squished up. Hmmmm…… At 11:25am, the contractions were 1.5 mins apart, 45 seconds long and very intense. I was getting pretty tired and regretting staying up so late the night before. I laid my head on the edge of the tub in between contractions and even fell asleep a bit. At 11:53am, I commented online that I felt like puking and pooping and maybe I was in transition. I kept tellin! g my mom and Cindy I needed to puke and they would hold up a pan or tra! shcan but I never did puke. Around this time, I texted Falyn that the contractions were kicking my ass and my mom and Cindy were laughing at me for texting in between contractions. I got out of the tub for a bit here and sat on the toilet, which made the contractions a little more intense. I sent my last text at noon. After a bit, I got back in the tub. It was probably around this time that I switched from repeating “Oh God.” to “Baby”. By 12:30pm, the contractions were 2 mins apart and 45 seconds-1 minute long. I pushed with a few contractions. I didn’t have a strong urge but I felt like I needed to “do something”. After a few contractions, I did have the urge. Somewhere around here, I told mom and Cindy that baby was crowning so they got Dan. The pain was pretty intense at this point! I yelled a few curse words. At one point, the phrase “Holy Freaking Crap!” crossed my lips! I alternated between squatting and standing with one leg on the edge. I asked fo! r a mirror and held it so I could see the baby coming out. I thought the baby also looked kinda odd. It crossed my mind that maybe I was looking at a butt. Then I thought, maybe it’s a face presentation. I thought, “There is no way I’m having a bald baby…” but I didn’t say anything. While I was standing, my mom was ready to catch. Then I squatted again. Then I stood back up and she got ready to catch. Then I squatted again…. During a contraction, I reached back and shook my lower back vigorously. Again, I knew I looked ridiculous and didn’t give a crap! I pushed for maybe 5 contractions? At one point I said “I feel like I’m gonna tear!” I knew I had to keep my hand on myself to help prevent a tear. Ultimately, I ended up pushing her out while squatting. Once her bottom was out, the rest of her flew right out! Sure enough, she was breech! I caught her and brought her up out of the water. She was hard to get a grip on! It was 1:17pm. Her cord was over he! r shoulder and between her legs. I picked her up and snuggled her. Afte! r a bit, I checked in between her legs and announced that she was a girl! I knew it! Kent and Lili came in right after she was born. They told me later they heard laughter and happy sounds so they knew she was born. They had both decided they didn’t want to be in the room when she was born. I couldn’t pull her up very high as her cord wasn’t very long. I pulled the plug to let some of the water out of the tub so I didn’t have to hold her up so high. The water was yellow and had tons of meconium floating in it! She started fussing a bit so I nursed her, leaning over uncomfortably, so as not to pull the cord. She was pinking up wonderfully, her feet and hands stayed purple for awhile, and she was a little gurgly. She coughed and sneezed up some fluid. I wasn’t sure if the placenta had detached yet, so I pulled very gently on the cord, tried coughing, tried pushing but it didn’t come out. I reached inside and could feel it inside of me. So I pulled the cord a littl! e more, it was hard to grip, and squatted and pushed a bit and it came right out at 1:51pm. We hung out in the tub for awhile and she nursed like a champ! We drained the rest of the tub and Cindy helped me rinse the blood off. I moved the placenta to show my mom all the different parts and some good size clots poured out of it. They gave me some towels and we covered up while fresh water ran and Cindy boiled some water for an herb bath. We put the placenta in a pan on the edge of the tub and it was a bit challenging, just barely reached. So I decided to cut the cord. Cindy and Dan sterilized the scissors and my mom brought me the cord tie that Lili had braided. I tied it on and it actually started cutting through the cord. The brought me the scissors and they were hot! So I had them run them under the water to cool them off. I cut the cord at 2:52, nearly 2 hours after birth. Dan texted Falyn and she headed over. I asked her to bring me some Arby’s as I was starving and D! an’s truck was blocked in. She came in and I devoured the food while ! I held baby girl! After I stuffed myself, I held her so she floated in the herb bath and she was so content! She cooed happily and looked so peaceful. My mom and Cindy set up my bed and laid out our diapers :) Cindy left shortly after this. My mom and Dan helped us out of the tub and into bed. My mom cleaned up the tub, even dealing with the placenta! She put it in the fridge and covered the pan with tin foil. We weighed her and she was 8 lbs even! I couldn’t have asked for a better birth. While it hurt like crazy, looking back I realize the really rough part only lasted maybe an hour. The thought of going to the hospital or getting drugs never crossed my mind. At one point I did think “No wonder women dope themselves up! This freaking hurts!” I couldn’t imagine how her birth would have happened had we been in a hospital. They probably would have known she was breech as they would have insisted on an ultrasound. They would have insisted I schedule a c/s and it would! have been very difficult, if not impossible to find a caregiver that would have attended a breech vaginal birth. They would have kept her for a longer time and given her antibiotics due to the meconium. It breaks my heart to think of how it could have been and I’m so grateful for her peaceful entrance into the world. So how did I miss that she was breech? I felt a hard bump at the top of my uterus around 8 months and thought it must be a head. But then everytime she hiccuped, I felt it low. So I figured her little butt must have just been pretty hard! I am glad I didn’t know, as I went into her birth completely confident and at ease. Had I known, it may have shook my confidence. My mom and Cindy both told me later that they were also wondering if she was breech when they saw her start to crown but none of us said a word! I measured her the next day and she was about 20”, though it’s difficult to get her stretched out. She likes to keep her legs bent up, after being! like that in the womb. She is very peaceful and nurses like a champ. I! feel great. I didn’t tear at all and hardly feel like I gave birth. We announced her name today, on August 27th. We decided to name her Serenity DaniLyn. Serenity was my idea. It’s earthy and means “peaceful” and sounds very feminine. DaniLyn was her daddy’s idea. It combines his first name, Daniel, with my middle name, Lyn. If she ends up more tomboy than hippie, she can go by her middle name. All my birth attendants did absolutely wonderful. Dan stayed back for the most part, checking on me and taking pictures here and there. He was totally calm and did exactly what I hoped he would. My mom was very helpful, doing what needed to be done and distracting me when I needed her to. Cindy reminded me to breathe when my noises showed I was losing it, massaged my back and explained things to my mom and Dan, easing their nerves. I am so grateful for each one and I feel that everything went exactly how it was meant to go. It doesn’t feel like some amazing, astonishing ! thing they I had a breech baby in my bathtub without assistance. It just feels normal, like “What other way *would* it go?” It was a miraculous, amazing, completely normal, simple thing to do.

{If you’d like to share your own home birth story, please use the form at right to submit it.}

A home birth dad has invited other home birth fathers to answer ten questions.  Read what nine dads have to say about the home births of their children.