One week late, weighing 10lbs 4.5oz and having a 15.25" head circ!!
Yesterday, I called the midwife to tell her that I was done. She said that she would break my water that night and get labor started for me. She was supposed to come to my house, but at the last minute, I told her that I wasn't comfortable with a homebirth and that I would prefer to meet her at her birthing center (I listened to the little voice, very important!). At 8, we met and she broke my water. I labored painlessly in the water until fully dialated with a slight lip. When my body started to push at 2:30am, I was excited that I had gotten that far without any pain. I was laughing inbetween contractions saying "we're going to see him soon!" Then, labor slowed waaay down. Confused, I felt up inside of me and there was a cervix again! I told the midwife and she confirmed that I had a swollen cervix. At that point, all hell broke loose.
My rare contractions started throwing me into complete panic and I started pulling him up into me with each contraction. I screamed, cried, shook said I couldn't do it for 3 hours. She had me do some tricks to help the swelling and baby's position, arnicha, pulsita and rescue remedy. He felt like he was in the right position...LOA, so she thought he might have a hand or something causing problems in his descent. I was telling her that I thought I should transfer...I couldn't do it, there was no way. Then, I thought about what a transfer would really mean and got serious. She told me that I'd have to work with her and get through the pain, but that we could get the baby out. My strength renewed and I got out of the tub and onto a stool. With a good friend behind me and the midwife in front of me, I started labor on the stool. During the contractions, my friend would hold me down onto the stool while my midwife worked on the cervix and everyone else yelled "push." I didn't think I could do it, but I tried and instead of standing up, like I wanted, I grabbed the stool and pushed. I didn't think I could do it.
It took forever, but finally, he changed position and I could feel that whatever he had stuck was unstuck. Everything calmed down and I started to crown. At that point, the pushing was uncontrollable and I got his head out several pushes. Just his head was like 4 contractions. I felt ripping, but I just pushed through it. His head was out for 2minutes while his shoulders were stuck. While she was working on him, he turned the opposite way all by himself, which freaked the midwife out. She thought that was amazing. So, he corkscrewed himself out of me and was placed on a towel on the floor. His face is covered with bruises, but the rest of him was nice and pink. My body felt like it had been in a wreck and I left him with others and laid down on the bed where I didn't move for over 2 hours...like, didn't move anything, especially not my legs. Someone laid him beside me and he started nursing immediately.
During this whole ordeal, his heartbeat never slowed. He was in perfect position, just huge. HIs head was huge and he's got big shoulders. I had so much water that he couldn't get labor going, so it was really good that we broke his water and got labor started. He was born just before 6am. He was a week overdue according to the midwife. I'm glad I listened to all my little voices, like that I shouldn't birth at home (would have traumatized the kids and inhibited me)and that I needed to get him out yesterday. He's beautiful and we're all so in love with him.
Yesterday, I called the midwife to tell her that I was done. She said that she would break my water that night and get labor started for me. She was supposed to come to my house, but at the last minute, I told her that I wasn't comfortable with a homebirth and that I would prefer to meet her at her birthing center (I listened to the little voice, very important!). At 8, we met and she broke my water. I labored painlessly in the water until fully dialated with a slight lip. When my body started to push at 2:30am, I was excited that I had gotten that far without any pain. I was laughing inbetween contractions saying "we're going to see him soon!" Then, labor slowed waaay down. Confused, I felt up inside of me and there was a cervix again! I told the midwife and she confirmed that I had a swollen cervix. At that point, all hell broke loose.
My rare contractions started throwing me into complete panic and I started pulling him up into me with each contraction. I screamed, cried, shook said I couldn't do it for 3 hours. She had me do some tricks to help the swelling and baby's position, arnicha, pulsita and rescue remedy. He felt like he was in the right position...LOA, so she thought he might have a hand or something causing problems in his descent. I was telling her that I thought I should transfer...I couldn't do it, there was no way. Then, I thought about what a transfer would really mean and got serious. She told me that I'd have to work with her and get through the pain, but that we could get the baby out. My strength renewed and I got out of the tub and onto a stool. With a good friend behind me and the midwife in front of me, I started labor on the stool. During the contractions, my friend would hold me down onto the stool while my midwife worked on the cervix and everyone else yelled "push." I didn't think I could do it, but I tried and instead of standing up, like I wanted, I grabbed the stool and pushed. I didn't think I could do it.
It took forever, but finally, he changed position and I could feel that whatever he had stuck was unstuck. Everything calmed down and I started to crown. At that point, the pushing was uncontrollable and I got his head out several pushes. Just his head was like 4 contractions. I felt ripping, but I just pushed through it. His head was out for 2minutes while his shoulders were stuck. While she was working on him, he turned the opposite way all by himself, which freaked the midwife out. She thought that was amazing. So, he corkscrewed himself out of me and was placed on a towel on the floor. His face is covered with bruises, but the rest of him was nice and pink. My body felt like it had been in a wreck and I left him with others and laid down on the bed where I didn't move for over 2 hours...like, didn't move anything, especially not my legs. Someone laid him beside me and he started nursing immediately.
During this whole ordeal, his heartbeat never slowed. He was in perfect position, just huge. HIs head was huge and he's got big shoulders. I had so much water that he couldn't get labor going, so it was really good that we broke his water and got labor started. He was born just before 6am. He was a week overdue according to the midwife. I'm glad I listened to all my little voices, like that I shouldn't birth at home (would have traumatized the kids and inhibited me)and that I needed to get him out yesterday. He's beautiful and we're all so in love with him.
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What an amazing story, thank you for sharing! tell the kids and your dh I said congrats...can't wait to see pics 
