Homebirth as planned

mesr · February 2009

On the morning of Friday, February 6, I was having bloody show and irregular painless contractions. Around noon, I decided to go to Target to get paper towels and trash bags. Walking into the store, I had my first painful contraction. I had another as I was driving home. I looked through all of my pregnancy books trying to figure out if I was in false labor or real labor. I wasn?t sure. So I puttered around on the internet and tried resting my upper body on my exercise ball while rocking my hips during each cramp ? this felt great. By 4:00, I was getting suspicious that I might be in real labor, so I figured that I should try timing the contractions. My contractions were about 40 seconds in duration but seemed to come anywhere from three to seven minutes apart. By 5:30 I had to concentrate with each contraction and stand up and sway my body. I called Josh, my husband, at work and told him that I thought I might be in labor and that he should come home on time.

Around six, I decided that it would be prudent to call the midwives. The midwife on call told me to make sure to eat something, to time my contractions, and that, since her shift was ending, another midwife would be calling me back in about an hour. I also called my birth assistant and told her that I thought I might be in labor. She told me to try to sleep and to keep her posted. When my husband got home around 6:40, I tried to eat a granola bar but felt nauseous. We started preparing the bed by laying out a shower curtain and an extra set of sheets. The second midwife called back around 7:20. While on the phone with her, I had two contractions that I could not speak through. She told me that she would take a shower and be to my house around 9:00 to assess the situation.

I was completely unprepared for how much labor would hurt. I tried to remember what I had learned in our Bradley classes about relaxing through the contractions, but that did not feel right. I labored in the bathtub for awhile, which brought no relief, then got out and paced between the living room and the bathroom, lying down between contractions and getting up and swaying back and forth while moaning during each one. Josh tried to coach me like we had practiced, but it did not feel good to be touched. When the midwife arrived, she told me that it looked like I was working pretty hard, so she told the birth assistant to come on over. I was still struggling to find a position that was at all satisfactory for laboring. I puked and then ended up laboring while sitting on the toilet, the only thing that felt halfway tolerable. The birth assistant arrived, and she, the midwife, and Josh sat in the living room listening to me moan through the bathroom door. Every time one of them came in to offer to help me or to listen to the baby?s heartbeat, I would ask them to leave as soon as possible. I am a very introverted person, and I needed to be alone to work through the pain.

At some point, I realized that I was bearing down with each contraction. I could not resist the urge to push. When the birth assistant next checked on me, I told her, ?I think I?m pushing,? and asked to have the midwife check my dilation. The birth assistant asked me, ?Do you want to have your baby here in the bathroom or upstairs on the bed?? I chose the bed, so between contractions, we all hurried upstairs. Once the midwife checked me, she said, ?Please get the birthing kit because we?re going to have a baby really soon!? Josh and the birth assistant scrambled to get everything into the bedroom. I didn?t want to push lying down, so Josh got behind me leaning against the headboard, and I leaned against him in a semi-sitting position. Although the labor contractions had been excruciating, pushing felt wonderful. With each push, the midwife and birth assistant encouraged me. I reached down and felt the top of the baby?s head emerging. My birthing team told me to push gently to let my perineum stretch, but my body was telling me to push, so I pushed with all my might. The head popped out, and the midwife unwrapped the cord, which was looped once around the baby?s neck. With the next push, the baby was out past the chest and screaming. I pushed again, the baby?s legs slid out, and I pulled my baby to my chest. She was born at 12:09 am on Saturday, February 7. I had pushed for just 24 minutes. The midwife and birth assistant helped dry the baby off with receiving blankets while Josh and I just stared in sheer amazement. I pulled up a corner of blanket and discovered that I had given birth to a little girl, Cora. She was perfect!

I bled a lot during the delivery and after the placenta came out, so the midwife asked to give me a shot of Pitocin to help my uterus shrink down. With the first jab, the needle would not go into my leg. The midwife jabbed again, and the needle bent! Finally, on the third try with a new needle, she was able to administer the Pitocin. While Josh and I bonded with our beautiful daughter, the midwife inspected me for tearing. Even though I had pushed Cora out in such a hurry, I only had a first-degree tear. After the midwife was done stitching me up, she examined Cora at my side. Cora weighed 6 lbs 2 oz and was 19.5 inches long. Josh got to weigh Cora using a fishing scale and helped with the measuring as well.

The birth assistant started a load of laundry for the bloody linens. I ate and drank a bit. After I had a brief shower, Cora showed interest in nursing, so the midwife helped me get started with that. Finally, around 3:30 am, the birthing team tucked me in with Cora on my chest and left.

I am very grateful that we were able to bring Cora into this world at home; I could not have asked for a better birthing experience or one more suited to my needs. Although my labor was painful, I believe that the pain helped keep me in a position that made for a fast and easy delivery. Being a mom is absolutely amazing ? I am still in awe of my beautiful daughter.