Baby Girl, December 6, 2004

At 1:00 am on Dec 6, 2004, I awoke to my water breaking.  I called my midwife to let her know my water broke and that it was clear.  I did not have any contractions at first, but I was too excited to sleep so I called all my friends on the West Coast to tell them my labor was beginning.  While I was talking to my sister-in-law, I started having mild contractions.  At 2 am, I started getting sleepy so I went to sleep.

 

At 4:30, my contractions were picking up pace but were still not painful.  I called my midwife who said she was on her way and to get in the shower.  I got into the shower and could feel my contractions really picking up pace.  I got out of the shower and started to blow dry my hair but my contractions were so strong I had to stop.  I felt the need to go to the restroom but then I realized that I didn’t need to go to the restroom, my body wanted to push!  So I ran to my bed to lay down in order to slow down the labor. 

 

I started blowing my breaths so I could make sure I pushed the baby out slowly so I would not tear.  I reached down and could feel the head.  My husband was busy getting stuff ready for the midwife and I called to him.  My midwife had given me the confidence to trust my body so was not afraid of being alone.  I just concentrated on my breathing and waited for her to arrive.  Shortly, my husband and the midwife walked into the room and I said, “I can feel the head.”  My midwife said with a smile, “Feel it? I can see it!”  She calmly sat down and had my husband sit down next to her.  I delivered a healthy, beautiful, and sweet 8 lb 4 oz baby girl without a tear at 5:18 am.

 

Birthing at home was empowering. I felt in complete control of my body and amazed at the perfection of birth when the body is allowed to do what it is designed to do.  My husband and I bonded with our daughter while the midwife worked in the background.  She became so much like family during the visits leading up to the birth that it was natural to have her there.  When my husband and I were ready, we let several close family and friends in the room to join the birthday celebration.  It was a truly powerful experience and each person (none of whom had been to a home birth and one of which was a LND nurse) commented on the sense of peace and warmth they felt when they entered our room.  Even big brother, who was only 20 months, seemed to understand the significance of the moment and easily accepted his baby sister as part of the household.

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Birth Stories

At 1:00 am on April 22, 2003, my husband came home from a concert and told him I was having mild contractions but that I thought we would have a child by the end of the day.  We both went to bed excited but managed to sleep.  In the morning, my contractions were still mild so he went to work and I called in to work to tell them I would not be in.  I relaxed until my appointment to see the midwife at 1 pm.  I had dilated to 2 centimeters by then and my contractions were starting to pick up pace.  She sent me home to rest saying it would be a long night. 

 

My water broke while I was napping at 4 pm and the contractions started coming full force.  Luckily my husband had taken a ½ day so he called the midwife and started packing the car for the hospital.  The midwife came over and we loaded into the car and arrived at the hospital at 5:30.  They hooked my up to IVs but pretty much left me in the capable hands of my midwife.  At 6:45 she had me get into a tub to help me relax between contractions.  It was amazing how much it helped.  The water didn’t take the pain away, but it made it manageable.

 

Suddenly, I had the urge to push so my midwife got me out of the water into a squat.  It felt so good to work with my body and I easily pushed out a healthy, beautiful 8 lb 11 oz boy at 7:28 pm.  I was amazed at how good my body felt and how alert I was.  My husband and I bonded with our son as he suckled at my breast until they had to take him to the nursery and hour later.