Team Green Homebirth Story : Warning LONG

Hannah Catherine?s Birth Story

On Saturday April 14^th I woke up to some mild contractions at 4 am, mild but all in my back. I started to time them and they were 8 minutes apart and 45 seconds or so long. I laid in bed timing them for about an hour and then decided I should get up and eat a little bit just in case things went fast as they did with Lucy?s labor. I ate an apple and sat on the yoga ball. DH came out to check on me a few minutes later and asked if we were going to have a baby, I said probably and that he should go back to bed.

I went back to bed 30 min or so later but wasn?t able to sleep, mostly due to thinking about whether this was ?it? so I got up for the day at 7 with Lucy and called Jude my midwife to tell her what was happening. I was supposed to have my ?40 week? appointment that morning at 8 and didn?t really want to go if I was in labor. She had a full day of clients so she wanted me to come in at 8:30 and get checked and chat with her about how I was feeling.

So, I went to my appointment, chatted about how I felt, which was that I was in very early labor and felt pretty good. She checked me and I was 2cm and 50% effaced. She told me to call if they were 5 min apart and about 1 min long or if my water broke and she would come to the house right away. My last DD had a 3 min shoulder dystocia so she wanted to be there well enough in advance that we could make sure all was going well and not have her feel like she was coming crashing in at the end. She told me to go about my day normally.

So, I did, I went to a friend?s baby shower, then went home and hung out with Lucy and DH. DH went to play racquetball with a friend around 5:30. My contractions started getting a little more intense around 6, still nothing terrible but a notch up from what they were. I put Lucy to bed at 7 and went and lay down to try to relax through contractions and watched a movie. DH and our friend got back at 830 and we had some dinner, of which I ate about 5 bites. I sat on the yoga ball and was quiet through contractions and chatted with the two of them otherwise. As 9 oclock approached I was starting to get antsy about when our friend would leave because my contractions were getting tougher. He left around 915 and I called Jude to tell her that they were getting closer together and longer and she said she?d be there soon.

Jude arrived at 945 and started to get everything set up. DH was trying to fill up the labor/birth pool but the adaptor was leaking pretty badly. So we called our friend (who also had a homebirth) DH talked to his wife and he was already in bed, DH said ?I?m going to need you to wake him up? , DH went and picked him up and went to walmart to look for the adapter needed to hook the hose up to the sink. They get there and their isn?t one, so they call Jude and she says she has one at her office, to come home and get the keys and they can go get it. All the while I?m laboring in bed. Contractions are getting closer together but are short 30-45 seconds but are still really getting me in my back.

DH gets back and starts to fill up the pool and comes to push on my back when I have a contraction. I?m feeling like things are getting more difficult but my contractions were still kind of close together and short. Jude wants me to try to sleep through some of them if I can. So I try to relax as best I can and DH is laying next to me in bed and when a contraction hits he pushes on my back to help my pain. After a while I asked if I could get into the birth tub because my back just hurt and I wanted some relief. So DH goes to get Jude out of the nursery where she is napping. Jude tells me that getting in could slow things down if I?m not dilated enough, which I knew, so I had her check me. At this point I was 5cm, -1 station and 100% effaced- this was at 12:45 AM, so she gives me the go ahead to get in the tub.

I get in and widely kneeled and leaned my arms/head over the side of the tub to relax, the water felt nice. When I would get a contraction DH would push on my back. But again they were closer together and intense but still short. Jude really wanted them to lengthen out so I tried a different position. I would sit in between and then squat to work through the contractions which did seem to help some. I was starting to get a little bit shaky so I was thinking that I was getting close to transition but it turns out we just needed to add more heat to the water. While they did that I got out to use the bathroom, I came back and my contractions slowed down some and we were all just chatting while I was in the birth pool.

After a bit more of this Jude told me that if I wanted to I could stay in the pool but things weren?t going to pick up very quickly in her estimation and it was late (2:30 AM) so I told her I?d rather get the show on the road. So I got out, changed out of my wet bra and into a dry one and tried some other positions. I tried side lying again but my back labor was really getting me and so I just didn?t like that. I also sat on the yoga ball/leaned over the ball/sat on the toilet. Nothing felt great on my back and so a little while later Jude again said we need to get things moving. So she told me to try some more squatting to help the baby descend so that pushing would come faster. So I would stand and sway in between contractions (because this caused them to be at least a minute long, nothing else had really done that) and then I would squat over a chux pad (because my water still hadn?t broken) and hold on to my comforter and work through the contraction that way. I was definitely having to vocalize through the contractions and they were getting much stronger. Which was good, but I was tired as I was approaching being up for nearly 24 hours. I really wanted my water to break because I thought that would help baby to descend but it still wasn?t happening. So we kept going, stand and sway, squat and work through contraction, rinse and repeat. I was definitely getting a bit of self doubt (hello Bradley method sign post) and was thinking in my head, if things don?t get going I don?t know what I?m going to do. At that point it was 4:00 am So I asked Jude to check me because I was starting to feel a little ?pushy?, she did and I was at 9 cm and +1 station, she told me a few more squats would likely get me to 10 and ready to push.

The next contraction, I felt more ?pushy? and towards the end of my contraction I was starting to involuntarily bear down.  Jude and Megan set up the birth stool for me to use while I worked through a few more. At this point I wasn?t able to control my tones as much anymore because I was starting to feel a little ?out of control? Jude kept reminding me to keep my tones low and in my body which helped and DH kept telling me I was doing good.

So I move over to the birth stool and I?m still having trouble keeping my tones low and I?m still feeling slightly out of control. Like I?m not completely in control of my own body so I?m trying to reign myself in. But I?m exhausted as I?ve now been up for 24 hours and I am READY to have this baby. Jude tells me how to use the birth stool and I can start pushing but the beginning of my contractions are so strong that I?m not able to focus enough to push. Jude reminds me where to push and I start to bear down and baby starts to descend. DH is telling me how good of a job I?m doing and that baby is moving down.

My water STILL hasn?t broken at this point and I?m telling myself that it would be easier if it was broken because baby would descend a little quicker, but none of my pushes are breaking it. In between contractions I am trying so hard to relax but my body is pushing involuntarily and so I find it very hard to relax completely and I?m kind of whining as I try to breathe and relax in between and then as the contraction would  pick up I would bear down again.  Jude has also been putting warm compresses on me to help my tissues stretch and using some olive oil as well.

I?m pushing hard now and baby is moving down fast, I start to feel baby?s head getting close to crowning. At 4:28 the head was seen and the bag as intact and at 4:30 I was crowning. Everything felt really full and the ring of fire was much stronger with this baby than it was with Lucy. At this point I ask Jude to break my water because it just felt like SO much was going to be pushed out, but as she reached to get the tool to break my water another contraction hits and I push hard and out comes baby?s head (with a nuchal hand) during that contraction. Jude is checking to make sure baby?s shoulders are in the right position due to my previous shoulder dystocia and she says everything looks good and that I can push out the rest of baby. I do and DH catches her and she was born ?in the caul? meaning her bag of waters was still in tact, Jude never got to break my water. So as DH caught her and handed her to me the bag of water broke. She was born at 4:31 AM.

As I picked her up I checked to see whether we had a boy or a girl and said, Hello Hannah to announce to everyone what we had. I instantly had all this energy compared to how I felt just before that. It was great to have her out. And the fact that I pushed her head out, with a nuchal hand and the bag of waters had me a little nervous about how my perineum had fared. Jude checked and nothing! No tears, no skidmarks, everything looked great.

They had me scoot up onto the bed while I held Hannah and we waited for the placenta. At about 30 min post birth I still hadn?t birthed the placenta and really wasn?t feeling too crampy so Megan and Jude did a little massage on my uterus to help and gave just a slight tug on the cord and I was able to push it out. My bleeding was much less than with Lucy which is because I took alfalfa this time around which helps with that. I didn?t need any herbs or pitocin to help slow the bleeding.

I got up and went to the bathroom, got cleaned up and then got back in bed and snuggled with my sweet girl. We took pictures and enjoyed the moment. Jude started to get things cleaned up and the 3 of us relaxed. At 6:30 Jude started the newborn exam and DH cut the cord (2 hours after birth). Hannah weighed in at 8lbs10oz and 22 in long! Everything looked good and after we finished the newborn exam, Lucy was awake and she came in to meet her new sister!

My labor was longer and in some ways more intense than Lucy?s but was totally worth it and having no shouder dystocia really helped make the birth experience more calm.