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Home waterbirth of Ruby Matilda Rose

soulcupcakesoulcupcake member
edited November 2014 in December 2014 Moms
Warning: contains a lot of words... ;)

Back story:

In mid-week of 37 my midwife I had a talk with my midwife. It was after a PIH scare that caused even more anxiety on my part. She knew I was getting anxious and expressed late term/birth loss fears, which is usual for me at this point after having lost Duncan. After our long talk she offered to sweep my membranes close to 39 weeks, on 11/28, if I didn't go into labor before then. While very much a low-interventionist, she understood that my mental and emotional well-being mattered and that anxiety and stress are not good for either of us. As much as I've tried to be optimistic throughout the pregnancy, and did pretty well for a while with bouts of anxiety creeping up here and there, the end is so very difficult for me. So with that talk I felt a little better having a date to look forward to. I was 3 cm/70% effaced and she was engaged at 37w4d, so she was confident the stretch and sweep would encourage things along. Friday, however, I began experiencing latent labor late afternoon when contractions started coming 6-10 minutes apart for two hours and then getting slightly closer together for another hour before beginning to space out. They were lasting a good minute, and while they were still very manageable, they felt like they were doing something productive. I was right. That bout of latent labor got me to 5 cm/80% effaced.

11/26-27

Wednesday evening, around 9:00 pm, I woke up from a nap. I got up to walk to the bathroom and felt a gush, and then pulled my pants down and another gush followed. It wasn't a huge massive gush, but a decent, noticeable amount. Enough to know I didn't pee my pants. I got a bit excited because I've never had membranes spontaneously release. I quickly texted my midwife letting her know. I put a giant 14.5" pad on and inspected the fluid to make sure that's what it is. We suspected that it was my forewaters and her being low made it possible to keep a lot of the fluid in, mostly around her body. Her head being low acted as a plug. That night I upped my water and vitamin C intake, added more garlic to my tea, and continued doing the hibiclens perineum wash to prevent infection. I continued to gush some here and there when I changed positions, and also released more fluid Thanksgiving morning. I was getting pretty anxious about labor starting/not starting. I just wanted things to kick in already. Around 15 hours after SROM I asked my midwife if there's a preferred way to augment if labor doesn't kick in on its own between 18-24 hours after ROM. She said I could try castor oil once I get close to hour 18, and that's what I did (my midwife and I induced with castor oil with #4). Since it took 8 hours before the "effects" kicked in last time, we figured that if I took the doses in the afternoon labor could kick in in the evening as it did before. This time I decided on a much smaller dose than the usual 4 oz. The best way to minimize its really nasty effects is to start small, and to blend it with fat and protein. I mixed 1 tablespoon with eggs for scrambled eggs and cheese, and the other tablespoon with my usual fruit/protein smoothie. Both methods masked the texture completely. I had no problem getting either down. The doses were spaced about 30 minutes apart as my midwife and her apprentice stopped by to check up on me/Ruby just before my eggs were ready. I believe I finished the eggs close to 2:00 pm, which was right around the time DH came home with Thanksgiving food. I finished my eggs and ate the delicious Thanksgiving meal while we watched The Flash on Hulu. Within 20 minutes I had to use the bathroom. No diarrhea. Just soft stools (sorry, TMI). 

I had to use the bathroom again about 30 minutes later, and this time they were looser, but not at all awful. No different than using any other stool softener. I made two quick and painless bathroom trips, and no other side effects felt. Contractions started coming 3 minutes apart at 3:00 pm. They were pretty identical to what I felt with Henry. They felt like menstrual cramps in the front and back (though she was OA). They were definitely noticeable, but very manageable. I kept active during this time, wondering if it was truly the real deal. In the back of my head I was thinking I should start getting some things ready just in case, though remaining skeptical. By 3:45 pm I told DH that we should start filling up the birth tub because they're getting stronger, though still manageable. I called my midwife at 4:00 pm to tell her that I was contracting regularly and we're setting things up. She only lives about 5 minutes away so we knew she'd make it in time. She arrived around 4:15, and the tub was a little more than a quarter of the way filled. In the back of my head I kept thinking, second guessing myself. I felt bad for pulling her away from her Thanksgiving even though she had a heads up and was totally cool about it. I didn't want it to be latent/prodromal labor again, but I was hopeful that this was it. Since it was still afternoon my other kids were still wide awake. My girls kept to themselves, my eldest playing Minecraft, and DH looked after boy minion while checking up on me periodically. Shortly after my midwife and her apprentice arrived I put on my water birth attire, and they began running cold water into the tub to cool it down. I got in the tub around 4:45 pm. Ahhhh! It felt SOOOO good. So warm and comfy! I told my midwife that it would suck if my contractions started to space out once I got in the tub, which is not uncommon. It can slow labor down in some cases. She laughed and said it could happen. 

Well, it did happen, but the contractions soon returned to their more frequent pattern of every few minutes. I could tell my midwife was watching me to get a sense of where I was at in labor, and here I was unconvinced it was the real thing. Minus the Christmas music playing in the background on Pandora it was so quiet and peaceful. It seemed almost too quiet. I quietly breathed through each sensation. "This can't be labor! Renee is so going to tell me I'm still 5 cm." I thought. But I could feel the changes in my belly. It felt much softer, less "baby," which told me she might have descended pretty low. A little after 5:00pm hit and I was growing curious about my progress. Renee asked if I was able to reach inside to feel for anything. Hmm... nope, my reach wasn't that great at this point. She instead offered to check for me during the next contraction. "Ohh!" she said with a smile. "You have a baby hanging inside your vagina! She's at +2 station and you're 8 cm." My immediate thought was "WTF!? No way!" But then she said oh-so familiar words... "but you have a tight cervical lip holding her back. She'd have been born some time ago had it not been for the lip." Ahh, yes, the dreaded lip. I had it with Evangeline and Henry. She gave me ideas to help with taking care of it. Lithotomy position with legs as far back as they'll go is the best position to eliminate tight cervical lips, so that's the position I assumed. I got as deep as I could and propped my legs on the tub ledge on either side. She offered to massage my cervix and hold it back during a few contractions. She did warn me that once her head cleared the lip I'd feel her descend rapidly. I immediately thought "Ah shit!" and blurted out "I hate that part!" (I really do!) So with that she proceeded to help rid Ruby of the lip over her forehead. In my head I'm thinking "fuck, shit, shit... it's (massive pressure I hate) coming!" I was making faces that showed my displeasure for what was ahead. 

After the third try/contraction she let me know me know Ruby cleared the lip, and I blurted out "Fuck!" because I sure did feel it. There she was, descending, ready to be born, and me grimacing from the immense discomfort. All I kept thinking was "I don't want to do this. I don't like this part... but I have to do this, she's right there!" Renee and Kim were so encouraging, telling me to breathe her down and out, ease her into the water. "But this shit hurts, dammit!" was going through my head. Renee grabbed a mirror so I could see where Ruby was. Her head was right there! More gentle encouragement to ease her out. I had this immediate urge to put my hand down to support her head on its way out. As I did this I gave a push and her head was free, still in OA position, and still supporting her head with my hand I gave another gentle push to ease her body out. She was born in the water straight into my hands. Immediate relief! No more ring of fire and insane pressure. Little Ruby cried immediately and Renee quickly unlooped the loose nuchal cord from around her neck. DH made it back downstairs just in time to see her crowning and being born into the water. He got to cut her cord once it stopped pulsating. He was such a sweetheart. He checked in on me and was so supportive. Immediately after Ruby was born I could tell she was my tiniest term baby. So little at 7 lbs., 4 oz and 20 in, but all sorts of adorableness. She was born at 5:21 pm after 2 hours and 21 minutes of labor at 38w4d. Fast, but not so fast that it made it difficult to process and prepare for her birth.

I was still in quite the disbelief that she was here since I was not convinced I was in true labor until 5:00 pm, when contractions were getting stronger with pressure, just 21 minutes before her birth. Kim, Renee's apprentice, remarked that she attended her first silent birth minus the "fuck" at the end. I did experience excessive blood loss that they managed promptly. My uterus contracts well, wasn't boggy, but Ruby's placenta, though healthy it was, was on the larger end. She said sometimes blood vessels where the placenta attaches don't constrict as fast as they should, leading to more blood loss. It wasn't due to uterine atony from the precipitous labor. I asked for cytotec to help with the bleeding and they had me drink a lot of electrolytes and fluids and take herbs. Pitocin was on the table as a last resort.

I got my home waterbirth, and though intense at the very end, it was awesome. My midwives are such awesome ladies. <3 Thanks for reading! :)

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G 12.04 | E 11.06 | D 11.08  | H 12.09 | R 11.14 | Expecting #6 2.16.18.



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