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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.}

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.}