My little one was born on Saturday - her due date! I had a feeling I was going to have a full moon baby, and sure enough...
Abigail Wyoming was born free at home, attended by her daddy, two midwives and an assistant. It was perfect from start to finish - definitely the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but so worth it. She is alert, attentive, curious and so strong - she holds her head up and looks around already. (My midwife said it's some of the best head/neck control she's ever seen.) I am very proud of my birth experience and cannot imagine having done it any other way. (My husband, who months ago was 100% against a homebirth, now says he doesn't want any more kids unless I'll have them at home too!)
The quickie birth story: I first realized I was having real contractions at about 2:30 in the morning. Managed to sleep (after a glass of shiraz
) from 5:30 to 7:30, but was woken up by the pain. I called the midwives at 10:00, when contractions were a little irregular but about 5 minutes apart and lasting a little less than a minute. They arrived a little before 11:00. I labored on the birth ball, in a birth tub, and walking around the house. I'd guess sometime around 8:00 I found myself in the kitchen with a small lip of cervix left. I ended up asking my midwife to hold it out of the way because I was ready to be done - she was able to, and I started pushing at 8:43. My water broke with a pop and a gush a few minutes into pushing. I stood for a while, then sat down on a birth stool to finish up. My body totally took over - I couldn't have breathed that baby out if I wanted to! Abigail was born at 9:42pm, after 59 minutes of pushing - her whole body shot out in one push. She was pink and calm and breathing great. We waited for the cord to stop pulsing to cut it, which went very quickly - my placenta was a little slow, but I hardly bled.
I felt great afterward, despite one 2nd degree tear and a couple skid marks. Aside from being a little sore and tired, I still feel great. She is doing awesome and I am so glad neither of us are trying to metabolize away drugs! I am really, really thrilled with the whole experience and still trying to grasp that we did it... and we have a gorgeous, curious, healthy daughter to show for it.
Abigail Wyoming
:
She weighed in at 6lbs, 14oz and 20 inches long. She didn't have any vernix. The placenta looked good, just starting to calcify. I think she was perfectly cooked.
Abigail Wyoming was born free at home, attended by her daddy, two midwives and an assistant. It was perfect from start to finish - definitely the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but so worth it. She is alert, attentive, curious and so strong - she holds her head up and looks around already. (My midwife said it's some of the best head/neck control she's ever seen.) I am very proud of my birth experience and cannot imagine having done it any other way. (My husband, who months ago was 100% against a homebirth, now says he doesn't want any more kids unless I'll have them at home too!)
The quickie birth story: I first realized I was having real contractions at about 2:30 in the morning. Managed to sleep (after a glass of shiraz
) from 5:30 to 7:30, but was woken up by the pain. I called the midwives at 10:00, when contractions were a little irregular but about 5 minutes apart and lasting a little less than a minute. They arrived a little before 11:00. I labored on the birth ball, in a birth tub, and walking around the house. I'd guess sometime around 8:00 I found myself in the kitchen with a small lip of cervix left. I ended up asking my midwife to hold it out of the way because I was ready to be done - she was able to, and I started pushing at 8:43. My water broke with a pop and a gush a few minutes into pushing. I stood for a while, then sat down on a birth stool to finish up. My body totally took over - I couldn't have breathed that baby out if I wanted to! Abigail was born at 9:42pm, after 59 minutes of pushing - her whole body shot out in one push. She was pink and calm and breathing great. We waited for the cord to stop pulsing to cut it, which went very quickly - my placenta was a little slow, but I hardly bled.I felt great afterward, despite one 2nd degree tear and a couple skid marks. Aside from being a little sore and tired, I still feel great. She is doing awesome and I am so glad neither of us are trying to metabolize away drugs! I am really, really thrilled with the whole experience and still trying to grasp that we did it... and we have a gorgeous, curious, healthy daughter to show for it.
Abigail Wyoming
:She weighed in at 6lbs, 14oz and 20 inches long. She didn't have any vernix. The placenta looked good, just starting to calcify. I think she was perfectly cooked.
