More Babies Prefer Home Birth

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.}

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. 

Little boy helps mom during surprise home birth VBAC last Friday.

If you are not familiar with our history we had a few obstacles to overcome before this birth became possible. 1993 - My first baby was born via induced vaginal delivery at 9 days past my due date. A week of prodomal labor, 12 hours active/hard labor and 30 minutes of pushing. She was posterior, but born vaginally. 1997 - Second baby was born via c-section for posterior brow presentation after induced labor (18 hours of hard labor, at least of an hour of pushing and the sOB trying to turn her head during contractions) at 6 days past my due date. I had not gone into labor on my own, but had been leaking amnio fluid for 2-3 days and had a low-grade fever. 2000 - Third baby was born via scheduled repeat c-section (4 days before my due date) for breech position that turned transverse upon the opening of my uterus which required an Inverted T incision by the doctor because the baby got stuck.

[…]

I read Natural Birth After Cesarean by Karis Crawford, PhD and Johanne C. Walters, BSN, RN.  Karis herself had an inverted T incision and went on to have 2 VBACs.  In the midst of this research I decided to find a homebirth midwife or at least a midwife that was not working for a hospital/OB group.

To read the rest of Thalea’s Birth Story, please visit A New Baby

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

I’m not sure where Isabella’s birth story begins. I’d been having contractions that started and stopped for about 10 days.

[…]

Part of me can’t believe I really did it. In fact the first thing I said to Isabella was “We did it, baby! We really did it!” I’m so glad I wasn’t in a hospital. I was very loud and someone would have tried to shush me. Plus, with the horrible back pain it would have been hard to say no to drugs. I never even thought about this being a VBAC once labor began (it hit me a few hours after she was born that I finally had my VBAC), but a hospital would have considered me high risk. Homebirth rules! I just wanted to shout from the rooftops because I felt so great. There was no comparison to Abigail’s c-section birth. This is the way birth is meant to be!

(For the full birth story, please visit http://www.peanutbutterkisses.com/isabella.html)

{If you would like to submit your home birth story, use the form provided at right!}

by, Jasmine Rae Ojala

This birth story can not be fully understood unless you know about the birth of my first child, a beautiful, spirited boy, Gabriel Kelly. I was naive and uneducated about birth; I had no clue that there were any options other than having an obstetrician in a hospital. My 18 hour labor started early one morning with my water breaking at home, I got right to the hospital where I was laid in bed, subjected to at least 42 cervical checks (I lost count), every single intervention that they could present, including an epidural that did not work properly causing me to shake violently, all culminating in a very traumatic ‘emergency’ Cesarean Section for failure to progress/fetal distress, wherein the spinal was placed ‘too high’ and I could not feel my lungs breathing for the entire operation. I suffered in silence from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Postpartum Depression in the months following, nobody knowing the true depth of my sorrow. In August of 2006, my husband mentioned! having another child someday; I agreed to consider it on the condition that I would not have another Cesarean Section.

In the months following, I delved in to research, reading anything and everything having to do with all things birth, I did little else in those months but read about birth, talk about birth and breastfeed Gabriel. I wanted to be fully prepared to ask or answer any questions I had to; I read all of my mother’s nursing books, she had just gotten her RN degree that very same year, so they were accessible. I realized all of the things I could/should have done differently in order to get the natural, joyful birth I had desired; afterwards, I wrote my Lamentation of Birth, Gabriel’s birth story. I attended a few local International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) meetings and joined the email list under the advice of a local homebirth midwife who had a Cesarean Section herself, and soon after I joined ICAN as a member. Ross and I decided after all our research and revelations we would be happiest and safest having an unassisted birth at home when we got pregnant again. In Novem! ber of 2006 we did just that, unbeknownst to us… well, more bluntly, our condom broke. I continued breastfeeding Gabriel until about April when he weaned himself, much to my dismay, because I so loved our nursing relationship. I had not wanted to conceive until Gabriel was at least two years old, but the universe had other plans I guess… All in all, my pregnancy was very healthy and happy, I was active and very excited to have another baby coming. I did my own prenatal care, even checking the baby’s heart rate from time to time with a stethoscope I borrowed from my mother, save one prenatal visit to an obstetrician to get ‘proof of pregnancy’ in case I needed it for a birth certificate or something. I continued learning all I could about birth all the while forming my own ideas and ideals; making it my own, so to speak.

My labor started very slowly and lightly with irregular, weak contractions on Friday night August 17th, my sister was over for the weekend and we took her home on Saturday evening. The whole hour and a half drive out to my parents home I was having ‘secret’ contractions every few minutes, because we were keeping my family in the dark about our birth plans so as not to cause needless conflict and stress, so I could gestate in peace. On our way home, I knew I wanted to have this baby soon, so we decided to go to the mall and walk around for a few hours. On Sunday August 19th when it came time for Ross to get ready for work at about 9 pm we were not sure if he should go in or not, so I asked him to check my cervix, I was open to 6 cm, so we figured he could call in to work and stay with me, get the birth tub ready and get Gabriel in to bed. Ross made me some wild rice soup because I figured I was in for a long night and I would be hungry, by the time I finished the bowl I was r! eady to get in the tub and relax, I must have been waiting for Gabriel to be sleeping for labor to really pick up…

In the tub, I was moving around constantly in slow voluptuous movements; I was never still during a contraction, if Ross laid his hands on me in any way, even if it was very gently or lightly, I felt as if I was put in a cage and I would panic causing the contraction to hurt rather than just take focus, I needed complete control over any touching, so I touched him when I needed contact, but he had to keep his hands off.

An hour or two later, I must have been in transition; I was in and out of the tub every other contraction because nothing felt ‘right’ for very long; I thought to my self, ‘I must be in transition; I am acting like an animal right now!’ Finally, I chose to make a little nest of pillows on the mattress we had put on the floor in front of our couch. I was leaning on the couch and my pillows in between contractions and rising up like a wave and either kneeling or squatting down deeply for contractions. All of my thoughts at this point were ‘soft and round’, like a woman. After a while I started sleeping between contractions which was so nice because I was beat, and my sleepiness must have been catching because I looked up at Ross who was sitting on the couch and he was sleeping too! At this point the ‘pain’ was very intermittent (when a contraction would ‘sneak up’ on me, it hurt more), and mostly located in the tops of my thighs and sometimes in my hips.

Suddenly starting at the base of my skull and moving down like a wave, my body started pushing; it was a very strange sensation, kind of hot, dizzy and tingling like being tipsy. I looked up at Ross quizzically and said, “I’m pushing?” He gently replied “I know; it’s okay if that’s what your body has to do.” I taught him well, I think. I had been so determined not to consciously push at all, to just ‘go with the flow’ so to speak, and that is what happened, I made sure not to think about it too much.

My water broke with a loud pop during a contraction I was rolling my hips through, after the contraction I compulsively looked down at the sheets to make sure the water was clear, it was, and I wondered why I looked, I Knew it was fine… I continued rocking, rolling my hips, rising and falling and pushing when the need struck. I liked when my body pushed, it (and I) felt so ethereal, so powerful and Devine, yet very primal at the same time.

I kept this up for a while watching the trees sway back and forth in rhythm with me, mirroring the ebb and flow of my body, suddenly I was compelled to tell Ross “If you’re going to catch this baby, you better get back there.” I guess I did not want him jumping behind me abruptly and shaking the bed when I needed concentration and stillness. I reached inside of myself to see what I could feel, and I swore I was touching a tiny butt cheek, I asked Ross what he could see, the baby was just centimeters from crowning and he could not see anything. After a few more contractions (they seemed very far apart, who knows how long it really was), I asked Ross “What is it?” (meaning a butt or a head, obviously I knew it was a baby) he said nothing for a long time because he could not tell what it was, aside from a wrinkly wet ‘thing’, and he wisely avoided saying “I don’t know” knowing intuitively a reply like that would not be received very well at all, very soon though, he saw it had ! hair, and told me so; I was a little relived, although I was totally comfortable being at home by ourselves if the baby had been breech, I was just so sure that the baby was in the LOA position and I honestly would have been a little annoyed if I had been wrong.

Out of nowhere it felt like Ross was pulling my labia apart to get a better look, I said, “Don’t touch, don’t touch it!” he was not touching me at all, although he did not say anything back, I got the impression the intense stinging was not going to stop, and was the baby’s head, not Ross’ hands. I got scared at that point, the fact that a baby was coming out of my vagina some how snuck up on me, and the sting got way worse (I will probably always wonder if it was the head stretching me open more, the fact that I was scared, or both…), with the next push Ross said the head was out, and then said, “Hang on honey, the cord’s wrapped.” Now, in my head I was screaming ‘No, no, no, that feels wrong, stop touching, please.’ But, I actually said, very calmly and sweetly, “Don’t worry, just unwrap it when the baby’s out.” I felt the baby turn to let the shoulder out, and the baby slid out in to Ross’ hands on the bed. The stinging was instantly gone, and I turned around and held m! y screaming, bright pink baby so close, I said, “Hi, oh my baby, I love you so much, I’m your mama, I love you! Hi there, oh, was it so bad to be born?” I felt a little lump on the side of the head and I kissed it and said, “Oh, that’s what that squishy thing was!” The baby had had its head tilted to the side and I tore a little on the right side of my vagina because of that…

I moved the baby off my chest for a second to see what gender we had made together and I saw she was a very pretty girl, I Knew we had a girl through the whole last trimester of my pregnancy, I just Knew… Ross had seen it was a girl right away, but he remembered I wanted to see for myself and not be told (Thank you for remembering, Ross!). I was examining her very long cord, which she had not only wrapped around her neck but also her body, it was really pretty shade of bluish purple. Wise baby, protecting herself from a cord prolapse like that!

I was amazed with how girly and delicate her hands and feet were, Gabriel’s were so huge compared to hers! She was so girly from the start, very pretty, delicate and SO loud; she is woman, and we hear her ROAR! I decided to get back in the still warm and inviting birth tub to clean of just a bit, covered in blood and meconium as we were… we got out after Ross took the bloody sheets and plastic off the bed and we crawled in and wrapped in our favorite wool quilt and settled in to nursing while we waited for the placenta. The cord had turned white and limp, so we tied and cut it, I got up to push the placenta out in to a bowl, and it did not hurt like I was expecting it to. I looked it over and it was whole and intact and a bit heavier than I had expected. I smelled it for some reason, and it had a unique and kind of cool smell, nothing I would bottle, but interesting nonetheless… I ran a hot bath for myself so I could wash off a little better as I still had blood and meco! nium on my face. I talked to my mom and my dad on the phone, finally being honest and open with them about our birthing at home which was a relief. They were in awe, and not upset at all as far as I could tell.

We settled in to bed for the night until around 7 am, when Gabriel woke up to meet his sister. He came out and said, “Baby!! Meow, baby!!” I guess she sounds like a kitty. He gave her kisses and was so sweet; to this day he will never refuse to kiss ‘his’ baby, he will sometimes refuse to kiss Mama and Daddy, but never his baby.

After doing this I feel like I can do anything I put my heart in to, it is amazing to feel like that again, after my Cesarean Section with Gabriel, I did not feel like myself, a lot was taken away from me that day, not just the chance to push out a baby, but a lot of my ‘self’ was taken, a lot of my fire and spirit along with most of my confidence. I had been banking it all up since August 2006 when I had resolved to take control of my birthing, putting it all in layaway a little at a time, and I finally got it all back the night I had Violet, with interest! Ross says I even look different. I definitely feel different, I feel redeemed and proud of myself for accomplishing so much in such a short time, I also feel like I absolutely must help to spread this feeling to as many women as I can.

I know that unassisted birth is not ideal for everyone, but for me, it is the only way I feel I could safely and securely give birth; for me, any interference at all, ‘good’ or ‘bad’, would have ruined my Violet’s birth. I respect the need for well trained obstetricians in hospitals or operating rooms, in the cases when medical care is prudent; so it isn’t like I have something against doctors or hospitals, it is just, I personally do not need all that to give birth. I love and respect the work that midwives do, their wisdom and their dedication to a profession that is really unappreciated by our society at large; I have every intention on training as a midwife in the future when my children are a little older, not requiring my undivided attention and are no longer breastfeeding, so it is not as if I have something ‘against’ midwives, I simply would never have been comfortable being myself in front of a midwife, even if she was a friend, I would never have really been able t! o let go and just birth. I know that for sure. The simple truth is this: Ross is the only person who really knows what I am all about, he really knows what I need and want and he can do it without disturbing me or even without thinking, and in the moment of birthing, that is the most important thing, I think. We were the best midwives I could ask for. A great number of couples do not have the sort of relationship conductive to unassisted birth, and some do; a great number of women do not have a personality conductive to birthing alone, and again, some do. I had no real desire to be all alone, I wanted Ross to be with me, idle but present, and that is what he was; it was perfect. For us.

I think we in the birthing ‘community’ need to realize everyone has individual needs and desires, some need and desire to be completely alone, some want a midwife, some want their mothers, some want an obstetrician and an epidural and we all need to respect and support those needs and wants. All women need to have choices, many varied choices that they can choose from freely without worry of people thinking they are ‘crazy’ or ‘weak’ or ‘radical’. I felt the need to keep our plans for an unassisted birth a secret among many of our family members and friends until after the fact because I could not deal with the fearful, rude and even downright snarky comments and ‘looks’ during my pregnancy if I were to be peaceful and happy, which has since made me resolve as long as a woman has educated herself with accurate truthful information about all of her choices I have no place thinking (or saying) anything but supportive things, even if she has decided to have an elective Cesarean! Section operation after being fully informed of risks and benefits.

I think we could all resolve to make sure women are well educated about their options for birth. It is in our hands, we have the ability to change things for the better, if only we would act to do so. We must let the well educated woman choose what is best for her and her family in birth, and then just let her choice be, whether or not we think it is the ‘right’ choice; it will make for happier, easier pregnancies and a much more simple kind of birth.

You can view the photo montage of this birth here.

{If you would like to submit your home birth story, use the form provided at right!}