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Birth Stories
MamaDobbs
member
Home Water Birth=Amazing!
MamaDobbs
member
Robert "Andon" Dobbs born in water on 8/19 at 9:44 p.m. weighing 7 lbs, 9 oz, and 21 in long.
Journal musings leading up to his birth:
Aug. 5: 39+2 and have been having crampiness and low back pain on and off the last couple of days. I went 42 weeks with my first, never had these feelings. Please tell me this won't last for 3 more weeks. It doesn't feel good Lol.
Aug. 11: 40+1 More frequent Braxton Hicks and low back pain... After the cramping last week I thought baby would be here by now so birth may not be imminent but it's definitely getting closer!
Aug. 15: 40+6 Back pain got worse last night and my stretches don't help anymore. Had an emotional couple of days after seeing I lost 3 lbs this week. I immediately convinced myself I was going to have low fluid again after all I've done to avoid it. Saw midwife today and she said it's very common to lose weight at the end and she wasn't concerned. She's fine waiting if I am, which I am as long as baby is healthy. If baby isn't here by Wed, we will go see Roy for a BPP. Please pray baby comes before then so I don't have to worry about the BPP. My birthday is tomorrow so that would make a pretty cool birthday present.
Aug. 18: 41+1 After back-to-back acupuncture sessions, chiropractic adjustment, long walk, Abdominal Lift & Tuck, Hypnobabies Come Out Baby script, and Hattie B's hot chicken, contractions started last night and were between 7-12 minutes apart for several hours. They started to space out and have been sporadic throughout the day (very similar to my first birth). I fully expect them to gear back up tonight and maybe we will have a baby tomorrow! Either way, we are making progress and he will be here soon! My prediction was Aug. 20 so that's very possible as well.
I'm doing pretty well to go about my normal day as things allow and I even went to work for a few hours today. But I'm also resting as much as I can to keep up my stamina.
Aug. 19: 41+2 He's here! Born at home!!! More to come later!
Birth Story: I started having contractions Sunday night. They were between 7-12 minutes for several hours, then became sporadic so I went about my normal day on Monday and even went to work for a few hours. They started getting closer again Monday night, but didn't get consistently closer than 10 minutes BUT they were much more painful early on than I remember with my daughter.
I didn't go to work on Tuesday, but hubs and I ran errands and I would just stop and breathe through contractions. At the end of the check out at Whole Foods, I had a pretty good one and leaned on the cart through it. Everyone was probably wondering if I was going to have the baby right there! From there, we went to Target. They would get as close as 8-10 minutes, but then space out to 20-30 minutes. Chris kept telling me I was further along than I thought, but I didn't think so since they weren't getting consistently closer. But I went ahead and called my midwife Sheryl around 4:00 to come check me. She asked if it was ok to finish her rounds and come when she was headed home around 8:00. That would give the contractions time to develop more of a pattern. I also think she thought there was a possibility she would end up staying. I agreed and after our Target trip, Chris made me go home. We were supposed to go get my coffee, but he didn’t think that was a priority.
My parents came to pick up our dogs because Chris was adamant about setting up the birth tub. We wanted to have things ready just in case and it takes over an hour to fill up the tub. When we got home, Chris said it was time to put on his birth clothes. I laughed and asked what that was and he said, “Shorts and a t-shirt.” My dad left around 6:00 with Lillian and the dogs, but mom stayed to help massage my back during and after contractions. Chris started filling up the tub (thankfully) and I told him we needed to be prepared for Sheryl to say I was only 2 cm. He said I was crazy. He had been wanting to call his brother Robby all day, but since he was driving from Chicago, I didn’t want him to get here and it still be a couple of days.
Sheryl got to the house around 7:30 and said, "I know I'm not wrong…" And she checked me again. As calmly as she could, she said, "I'm going to get my stuff from the car. You're 7-8 cm. We're having a baby." I said, "Thank God! I thought you were going to say I was 2 cm and I felt like such a weenie!" She said, "You're in transition. You're no weenie. You sure know how to labor well." I called my mom over and just cried, I was so happy and relieved! Then the tub couldn't get filled fast enough! Chris had the water heater up so high to be sure it didn't run out and the water was 117 degrees! So he started dumping ice cubes in it and Sheryl said when it got down to 103, I could get in. I think it was 105-106 and Chris said it was ready. Back pain was instantly gone!
Then we got in urgent mode to call people to get here since we knew it wouldn’t be long! Robby was first... Ok, ok Chris was right. We should’ve called him earlier. Sigh. Then, we called the photographer who was coming from Clarksville and my friend, Olivia, who was coming to view the birth as she is training to become a midwife and she also agreed to videotape. They both got here fast!
For the next 2 hours, I used my hypno techniques and the things that were the most helpful were breathing, relaxing, and visualizing contractions as opening my cervix. It was pretty boring and silent until pushing contractions. Ugh I hate that part! Sheryl had an underwater Doppler to keep checks on the baby and used the flashlight to check and see if/when baby was coming out. When I watched the birth video, I could tell when Chris got ahold of the flashlight and it’s no surprise that he had fun with it. He would say he had to show Sheryl how to work it because funny enough, she couldn’t get it to turn on.
I was on my knees with my arms over the tub with Sheryl behind me. With her excellent guidance and having me productively push (NOT purple push!) for about 2 minutes, she placed my beautiful baby boy in my arms. She was calm, but direct as she instructed the assistant in what to do as she pulled him out of the water. It was such a wonderful, healing experience after the unplanned hospital induction I had with my daughter. I could not have scripted it any better! I treasure both experiences as Lillian’s birth uniquely bonded not only Lillian and me, but also Chris and me in a very special way. But I am also so happy to get the home birth I had planned for years. And no tearing this time! After pains were harder for a couple of days, but overall healing is SO much better!
Some of the highlights for me were the funny discussions Chris and Sheryl had, learning that she didn't know who Charlie Sheen is (refreshing), having my amazing husband by my side who immediately responded to even my most subtle requests, and seeing my awesome midwife just hanging out with us draped over the other side of the tub. I loved that my friend Olivia was able to make it to videotape and Erin captured some beautiful shots, just like she did for our maternity shoot. And after having eaten half a dozen dates everyday for a month to soften my cervix, I am happy to say I’m pretty certain I will never eat a date again!
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Re: Home Water Birth=Amazing!
What's the deal with dates? Hadn't heard about that before?