Birth Story - Home Birth Baby #3

Our first was born in the hospital - natural birth after taking Bradley Classes with midwives.  Our second was born in a free-standing birth center - natural breech (frank) birth surprise with midwives.

Baby #3's Birth Story ? Baby #3 (abridged)
The quick story is that our newest family member, baby Boy #3, arrived at 1:10pm on Wednesday the 17th of October after about 10ish minutes of pushing, 3 hours of active labor, and about 6 hours of getting-ready labor. He was born at home with a healthy set of lungs and weighed in at 7lbs 8oz and about 19? long.

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The Long Version Birth Story of Baby #3

I was due the 7th, or so I thought, but when I went to the midwife on the 10th, I guess I had been using the wrong date all along b/c my very first ultrasound dated me at the 7th, 10th, and 11th, so the midwives (both my first clinic and the direct entry) were using the 10th. So that appt came and went with nothing of consequence. I was tired of being pregnant and felt huge ? I wasn?t checked at 40 weeks, but I was still confident that the baby would come very soon. After that appointment, I tried everything I could think of for old wives tales (evening primrose oil inserted, spicy/Thai/Chinese/eggplant foods, teas, black cohosh, walking, hiking, making out, pineapple, etc.). Nothing was really working. I did start to lose my mucous plug on Saturday and kept losing it until the day I went into labor. I also had contractions for 2 hours that were 3-4 min apart and only 30-sec while sitting/laying on Saturday morning and Sunday night, but they would go away if I walked around.

By Tuesday the 16th I was grumpy. Then my midwife called and said she wasn?t going to be in town for my appointment that day since she was at a birth and she rescheduled for the morning of the 17th. I confirmed with her, got off the phone, and started bawling. I was sure seeing her that day was going to start my labor and I was overly emotional. All day I was a total grump to everyone. I had to take deep breaths before answering or talking to anyone at work so I didn?t just yell or scowl. That evening I protested making or helping with dinner and complained about the house being a wreck and so we went out to dinner and we ended up at a little local sandwich shop that had a folk/bluegrass jam session on Tuesday nights and it was relaxing and fun.

DH had been sleeping downstairs for the last week since I was taking up the whole bed and getting up 5+ times per night. So he slept in the guest bed downstairs again. At 3:30am on the 17th (one week after my due date) I woke to pee and then went back to bed. At 3:38 I had to pee again, then 3:46, and so on. After getting up every 8ish min to go to the bathroom, I realized I might be having contractions. I decided to turn on the light and maybe time the contractions. I played on the internet a little and then read a little all while I was having 30ish second contractions every 6-8 min. Then around 5:30am I decided to finish some work just in case this was real. I worked from 5:30am until around 9:30am and slowly my contractions got closer (3-4min), but never really longer than 40 seconds. At 7am, I let my DH know I was having regular contractions and that I wanted to finish some work so I asked him to get the kids ready without my help.

DH got the kids ready for school and went and dropped them off, then stopped by home to check and see if he should go to work or not. I told him to go, but as he was walking out, I called him back and asked him to go with me to the midwife appt at 9:30 ?just in case.?

We showed up at the midwife?s around 9:45 since I was trying to e-mail everything off for work and running late. I was able to talk and relax during contractions and didn?t have any for the car ride or when we first showed up (around 9 min total). So I thought, ?Oh great, moving has stopped them again.? Then I went to weigh/pee and had like 4 contractions in 2 min and couldn?t walk through them. The midwife checked me and I was already at 5cm, so I decided to head home and told her we?d call in a couple hours to check-in.

We stopped by the grocery store and I stayed in the car to make a few calls/texts and then went home. At home I helped clean the house and set-up the bed for birth (basically put down clean sheets over a plastic tarp). I was cleaning for about an hour and my mom came by at her lunch hour and chatted with me. After that I had to stop moving and just go lean on a tall window seal where I could see our backyard crab apple tree. The leaves were changing and so they are a yellow/red with the red of the crab apples and the blue of the sky behind it was very relaxing for me. I stood the whole time ? couldn?t lie or sit down or I would not be able to relax since my contractions ran down my belly and into my IT bands in my thighs (must be my tightest spot). I also got very serious about then (maybe 12pm on the dot) and didn?t want any noise during my contractions. At around 12:30 I told DH to call the midwife because I wanted to be checked. She got there at 12:35 and started setting up. She came and checked me while I was standing at the window and said I was ?8 almost 9 with a bulging bag? so I knew I had to relax and keep focusing. About 15-min later, I felt like I was kind of pushing and just not relaxed, so I moved to the bedroom and asked to be checked again. Now I was complete and had that bulging bag.

Right about then, my phone rang and then my husband?s rang. He answered b/c it was our oldest son?s school. I was trying to tune it out, but I could hear my husband saying, ?DS#1, I can?t understand you, what did you do to get in trouble?...Can you put your principal back on so I can talk with her?...Thanks for calling, can I talk to DS#1 again real quickly?...DS#1, that is totally inappropriate to use words like that and I am disappointed that you chose to do that. You need to apologize to your friend and to the principal and we will discuss this when you get home tonight. I don?t want to hear you do that ever again?.Thanks, Mrs. X. I have to go, but we'll talk with DS#1 tonight.? [My oldest was talking with his friend at lunch and had said, ?What the Hell?!? to his friend when upset about something he said (about legos I think), which earned him a recess in the office and a trip to the principal?s office for ?disrespectful language.? Funny timing.]

I tried a couple pushes, but I wasn?t comfortable standing or leaning on DH ? so I went to a pretty typical inclined back (just like in the hospital) and started pushing while I grabbed my own legs and pulled back.

Up until now, my contractions had still been around 2-3 min apart and only lasting about 40-sec. Now, they were crazy?every minute and lasting almost that whole time (that's what the midwife/DH told me...I was never really timing). I was just having enough time to take a couple breaths when the next would hit. I asked the midwife to make sure that was the head (again ? I was a little nervous about a surprise breech again) and how I could speed this along and she said, ?You push the next contraction and I?ll reach up and break your water.? I pushed as hard as I could and she punctured the water and that baby came way down and I wanted to crawl away the other direction of my own pelvis. It was much different than pushing with either of my other two kids. Pushing was hard, hurt, and I was hyperventilating a little and had to take the 10-20-sec breaks to relaxing my breath, then push again. Within about 12-more pushes in 5-6 min, he was out at around 1:05 or 1:10pm (nobody looked at a clock for a little while). Unlike our first two, who were pretty bluish, limp, and just looking around when they came out, this last little baby was super pink, wailing, and a another boy! He seemed so much bigger than our other two, but was only 7lbs 8oz (half a pound bigger). The midwife also said that he was likely not overdue since he still had some of his soft blond body hair, no wrinkles on his heels yet, and that my placenta showed no deterioration at all. I told her that when I calculated from when I thought I had my last period that I was due the 23rd, but the ultrasounds moved it up.

My little sister was driving over from her town to attend the birth and she walked in around 5 min after to hear little baby cries. I was bummed she missed it, but so glad it was over. The labor was quick (or active labor was) and pretty easy to handle since I honestly didn?t need much support this time ? mostly I just wanted my husband nearby, where I knew I could get him if needed or hold his hand in between contractions. But the pushing was way harder than I remember and I think it was b/c it was fast. I also ended up with only a small (no-stitches needed) tear, which was great compared to the 4th degree episiotomy/tear from the second time.

My mom came in around 2pm and then my mother in law came shortly after. My mom also went and got the big brothers around 3:15 and then brought them by to meet the new baby. My middle son instantly loved the new baby and wanted to hold him, see his toes, look at his belly button and kiss him. He even said, ?I?m the middle brother!? Very sweet and he is still doting and has held the baby every day. My oldest was grumpy and stand-offish, so I just cuddled him and then he said he wanted to go outside. My husband followed him to the backyard and found him crying, ?Nobody cares about me anymore!? It was a culmination of a new baby brother and getting sent to the principals in one day that made him so sad and it was heartbreaking and darling all at once. Poor kiddo had a tough day and got lots of family snuggles after that ? plus he had a special dinner and movie with his Auntie and a new transformer from his grandma that night, which seemed to fix everything and now he's excited to teach the baby new things.

{This was almost 3 months ago and I still remember that I did not enjoy pushing this time.  The first two times pushing felt great, but this time is was different, just really tough, so I totally retract telling people that pushing was a the best part of labor b/c it isn't always that way. }