copied from my blog...
My pregnancy with Susanna was similar to my pregnancy with Gabriel - easy except for some first trimester nausea. My diet was better with this pregnancy but it was not bad last time. With Gabe, I was in school full time until I graduated at 33 weeks pregnant and I had to make some dietary improvements along the way. Now, I am a stay at home mom, mostly vegan fish eating vegetarian (I know technically not a vegetarian but I say vegetarian because it is easier). I never needed an ultrasound so of course we didn't know she would be a girl! I blogged about my pregnancy all along so I won't go over all that again.
At about 35 weeks, I started having cramping and contractions so I thought perhaps I would go into labor early. I was even concerned that I might go into labor before 37 weeks, which would have meant a hospital birth because 37 weeks is considered "full term" and I have to be full term to have a home birth. That didn't happen and my due date of September 15 came and went! I never thought I'd go over 40 weeks. Gabe was born the day before his due date, which was a Saturday. I practice fertility awareness and both my babies were planned so I know when I ovulated and thus my due dates were accurate.
My due date with Susanna was on a Tuesday and I had a feeling all week that I would go into labor on Friday night just like I did with Gabe. Interestingly, I started getting bloody show on Wednesday morning just like with Gabe. And just like with Gabe, I went into labor on Friday night at bed time. That is where the similarities end! I had a wonderful home birth with Gabe but it was very different, comparatively very difficult. I remember it quite well and honestly, I was not looking forward to going through the pain again. Thankfully, I didn't have to!
I started having irregular but uncomfortable contractions about 10 pm Friday night while nursing Gabe to sleep. I decided to try to sleep. I was awakened by a contraction and the need to pee at least every half hour. It was annoying but I knew I should try to sleep so I slept in short stretches until 1 am. At 1 am, I had had enough of that and got up to set up L&D in my living room. I had a pool, a birth sling, and a futon on the floor with lots of pillows. At 2 am, I woke Ryan up. I was still not in what I would consider pain and I was a little confused as to why. My contractions became regular, about every 10 minutes. At 4 am, Ryan convinced me to page the midwife and he wanted to read the page on emergency childbirth just in case. I knew I didn't need her to come then but she did say to let her know what's going on early. We knew from last time that it was quite possible for me to be nearly ready to push and have no clue. What I need to do is learn to check my own cervix and that will solve this little problem for us in the future.
My midwife said to page her again when my contractions got to be 5 minutes apart and 1 minute long for an hour. Ryan went back to bed and I played on the internet. I'm not one to want or need anyone around me during the first stage of labor. I was still annoyed that my contractions were too frequent and uncomfortable to sleep through, or even lie down during, but yet not painful. I was thinking, okay, this baby is coming out today somehow because I can't just stay awake forever! I was getting bored, like on a long car ride. Every time a contraction started, I would time it on http://www.contractionmaster.com/ (cool, huh?) and run in circles in the living room. For anyone reading this who has not given birth, my contractions felt like lactic acid build up like from a work out in my lower abdomen and hips. Moving makes that feel better!
I woke Ryan up around 7 am when I heard Gabe waking in our bedroom. I went in there and Gabe was very concerned that the "brown bed" (twin futon that is next to our king, one of us sleeps on it) was not in the room. He came into the living room and was quite bewildered at the state of things. Ryan made breakfast, pancakes, and then took Gabe to my mom's apartment across the street. I was okay with him staying but I thought he would be happier with Grandma. He loves to go over there. Plus, I couldn't be bothered during contractions, although I was normal me in between. I was sort of impatiently waiting for the next one as each one ended. Like, okay, let's get things moving. I was already disappointed that I had been up all night, bored and with no baby.
I paged my midwife again at 9 am because I really wanted to get in the pool. Generally, it is best to wait to get in the pool until active labor starts, which is considered about 5-6 cm dilated. The typical pattern is that contractions will be 5 minutes apart at that point. Mine were not. I did know that I was 3 cm dilated two days before at my prenatal appointment and I figured something must have happened over night.
After talking to her, we started filling up the pool and I got in between contractions. This is weird compared to what most women who labor in the water do but it felt great to me. I was starting to feel the after workout lactic acid build up feeling after contractions ended, and if you are an athlete, you know that heat makes that feel so much better. After each contraction, I hopped in the pool and felt instant relief. I would stay in a couple minutes and then get out. When a contraction started, I would lean on the book shelf, sway my hips, and make low deep sounds. Like Ina May Gaskin says, "An open jaw is an open bottom." It is so true. I focused on relaxing my mouth and exhaling out the discomfort, which I still would not call pain.
At 10:15 am, the contractions started coming every 5 minutes or less! I was thrilled - something must be happening! By the way, all this time, Ryan was drawing star ships on the computer while timing my contractions. I am so not into the husband as labor coach thing. Touch me and get swatted. Don't get me wrong - I love my husband dearly and want him to be there while I birth our babies, but I have a problem with the coach thing. Just be there and do what I say, okay?
At 11:15 am I paged my midwife. I told her that most of my contractions in the past 1 hour had been under 5 minutes apart. She asked if I wanted her to come now. I said, well, I'm fine, but I really don't know where I am, I don't think the baby is coming out now, but I just don't know how far along I am. She said that she and her assistant would start heading my way but not in a big hurry. While they were on route, I got this weird sort of might have an urge to push sensation. I think they arrived about an hour later.
When they arrived, I had had enough of the pool and was lying on my left side on the futon with pillows between my legs. I birthed Gabe in that position after 2 hours of pushing. I was still chatting between contractions but they were definitely getting stronger, although not closer together. My midwife did the normal things upon arrival - blood pressure, pulse, temperature, urine sample. Then she did a vaginal exam to check my cervix. She asked me if I wanted to have the baby in the pool. I said I don't know, how far along am I? She said, "Where do you want to have this baby?" Umm, right here I guess? She told me I was completely dilated and the baby was at +2 station. Zero station means engaged and +4 is crowning.
I started to get the urge to push with the next few contractions. That was the beginning of the second stage of labor and it was definitely painful! I felt like turning around on all fours so I tried that for a few contractions. Not so comfy. My midwife suggested I turn back around and get into a supported squat position. I don't like to put any weight on my legs while pushing because my hips really really hurt. I got into a sort of half squatting, half sitting position with Ryan sitting on the couch supporting my arms. I never got the overwhelming urge to push like I did with Gabe but the change in position definitely helped. My midwife told me to hold my breath and push during contractions, which I knew to do but was avoiding because it hurt! My water broke with the first contraction I got while being upright. I thought it would have been kind of cool if she had been born in the caul but really I just wanted her out.
Several more contractions and out she came. Ryan had planned to catch her like he did with Gabe but he was supporting me. My midwife handed her to us before she was all the way out and told us to take her. I said "no" (hey, I was in pain) so Ryan took her and put her on my chest as she came out the rest of the way. My baby! She came out with her eyes wide open and cried immediately. "Is it a girl or a boy?" We looked and found that we have a little girl! Susanna Michelle Stille was born September 19, 2009 at 1:59 pm, about an hour and a half after my midwife and her assistant arrived at my house.
She latched on right away and hasn't let go since. A few minutes later, my midwife cut the cord. Ryan and I didn't care about cutting it ourselves. I started to get more contractions and pushed out the placenta. It was painful pushing out the placenta, unlike after Gabe's birth. Getting the baby out is the best feeling in the world! I can't quite describe how much relief I felt AND I had a beautiful baby girl! What could be better? Getting the placenta out feels pretty good, too. I lost a normal amount of blood so I didn't need pitocin like last time.
A little while later (maybe an hour?), Susanna was weighed and measured. She was 9 lb 7 oz and 22 inches long. Chubbier than Gabe was! Gabe was 8 lb 11 oz. Susanna was indeed 1/3 of the weight I gained.
Susanna's big shoulders gave me a second degree tear, which is not a severe tear but it does require stitches. I don't like the getting stitches part. Ryan made me a bowl of oatmeal with flaxseeds, hempseeds, blueberries, coconut milk, and maple syrup before I got stitches. It was so yummy! I also had lots of Recharge (like Gatorade but made with better ingredients), which I highly recommend for labor and after birth. I think I drank 5 quarts of it in two days, in addition to lots of water.
My mom and Gabe came over a couple hours after Susanna was born. I have never seen Gabe look so bewildered. He didn't have a nap that day so he was tired. He wanted to nurse right away so I nursed my babies together. I explained how this is our baby to take care of like we had been talking about. He has not shown any jealousy at all. He has been very normal and loves Susanna. He likes to hold and hug and kiss her. I think it really helps that I am still nursing him and he still sleeps in the family bed. He didn't lose anything with Susanna being born. He has to be reminded to be careful around her but he's 2 so that is to be expected.
I believe new moms need lots of help for the first 6 weeks and we have arranged to have someone here with me full time for the first 4 weeks. My job is to take care of Susanna and my helper's job is to do the other things I would normally do. I'm not into having visitors unless they are bringing me food and staying less than a half hour.
I'm thankful to have had a relatively easy birth and I am recuperating very well. I'm using a postpartum belly binder this time and I love love love it. I borrowed it from a friend and I just ordered my own. Susanna has been a content baby and has been in my arms or sleeping next to me most of the time since her birth. She hasn't had the newborn crying spells that Gabe did. I think I might have a mild mannered little girl.
As I wrote this, she nursed and slept peacefully in my sling.
My pregnancy with Susanna was similar to my pregnancy with Gabriel - easy except for some first trimester nausea. My diet was better with this pregnancy but it was not bad last time. With Gabe, I was in school full time until I graduated at 33 weeks pregnant and I had to make some dietary improvements along the way. Now, I am a stay at home mom, mostly vegan fish eating vegetarian (I know technically not a vegetarian but I say vegetarian because it is easier). I never needed an ultrasound so of course we didn't know she would be a girl! I blogged about my pregnancy all along so I won't go over all that again.
At about 35 weeks, I started having cramping and contractions so I thought perhaps I would go into labor early. I was even concerned that I might go into labor before 37 weeks, which would have meant a hospital birth because 37 weeks is considered "full term" and I have to be full term to have a home birth. That didn't happen and my due date of September 15 came and went! I never thought I'd go over 40 weeks. Gabe was born the day before his due date, which was a Saturday. I practice fertility awareness and both my babies were planned so I know when I ovulated and thus my due dates were accurate.
My due date with Susanna was on a Tuesday and I had a feeling all week that I would go into labor on Friday night just like I did with Gabe. Interestingly, I started getting bloody show on Wednesday morning just like with Gabe. And just like with Gabe, I went into labor on Friday night at bed time. That is where the similarities end! I had a wonderful home birth with Gabe but it was very different, comparatively very difficult. I remember it quite well and honestly, I was not looking forward to going through the pain again. Thankfully, I didn't have to!
I started having irregular but uncomfortable contractions about 10 pm Friday night while nursing Gabe to sleep. I decided to try to sleep. I was awakened by a contraction and the need to pee at least every half hour. It was annoying but I knew I should try to sleep so I slept in short stretches until 1 am. At 1 am, I had had enough of that and got up to set up L&D in my living room. I had a pool, a birth sling, and a futon on the floor with lots of pillows. At 2 am, I woke Ryan up. I was still not in what I would consider pain and I was a little confused as to why. My contractions became regular, about every 10 minutes. At 4 am, Ryan convinced me to page the midwife and he wanted to read the page on emergency childbirth just in case. I knew I didn't need her to come then but she did say to let her know what's going on early. We knew from last time that it was quite possible for me to be nearly ready to push and have no clue. What I need to do is learn to check my own cervix and that will solve this little problem for us in the future.
My midwife said to page her again when my contractions got to be 5 minutes apart and 1 minute long for an hour. Ryan went back to bed and I played on the internet. I'm not one to want or need anyone around me during the first stage of labor. I was still annoyed that my contractions were too frequent and uncomfortable to sleep through, or even lie down during, but yet not painful. I was thinking, okay, this baby is coming out today somehow because I can't just stay awake forever! I was getting bored, like on a long car ride. Every time a contraction started, I would time it on http://www.contractionmaster.com/ (cool, huh?) and run in circles in the living room. For anyone reading this who has not given birth, my contractions felt like lactic acid build up like from a work out in my lower abdomen and hips. Moving makes that feel better!
I woke Ryan up around 7 am when I heard Gabe waking in our bedroom. I went in there and Gabe was very concerned that the "brown bed" (twin futon that is next to our king, one of us sleeps on it) was not in the room. He came into the living room and was quite bewildered at the state of things. Ryan made breakfast, pancakes, and then took Gabe to my mom's apartment across the street. I was okay with him staying but I thought he would be happier with Grandma. He loves to go over there. Plus, I couldn't be bothered during contractions, although I was normal me in between. I was sort of impatiently waiting for the next one as each one ended. Like, okay, let's get things moving. I was already disappointed that I had been up all night, bored and with no baby.
I paged my midwife again at 9 am because I really wanted to get in the pool. Generally, it is best to wait to get in the pool until active labor starts, which is considered about 5-6 cm dilated. The typical pattern is that contractions will be 5 minutes apart at that point. Mine were not. I did know that I was 3 cm dilated two days before at my prenatal appointment and I figured something must have happened over night.
After talking to her, we started filling up the pool and I got in between contractions. This is weird compared to what most women who labor in the water do but it felt great to me. I was starting to feel the after workout lactic acid build up feeling after contractions ended, and if you are an athlete, you know that heat makes that feel so much better. After each contraction, I hopped in the pool and felt instant relief. I would stay in a couple minutes and then get out. When a contraction started, I would lean on the book shelf, sway my hips, and make low deep sounds. Like Ina May Gaskin says, "An open jaw is an open bottom." It is so true. I focused on relaxing my mouth and exhaling out the discomfort, which I still would not call pain.
At 10:15 am, the contractions started coming every 5 minutes or less! I was thrilled - something must be happening! By the way, all this time, Ryan was drawing star ships on the computer while timing my contractions. I am so not into the husband as labor coach thing. Touch me and get swatted. Don't get me wrong - I love my husband dearly and want him to be there while I birth our babies, but I have a problem with the coach thing. Just be there and do what I say, okay?
At 11:15 am I paged my midwife. I told her that most of my contractions in the past 1 hour had been under 5 minutes apart. She asked if I wanted her to come now. I said, well, I'm fine, but I really don't know where I am, I don't think the baby is coming out now, but I just don't know how far along I am. She said that she and her assistant would start heading my way but not in a big hurry. While they were on route, I got this weird sort of might have an urge to push sensation. I think they arrived about an hour later.
When they arrived, I had had enough of the pool and was lying on my left side on the futon with pillows between my legs. I birthed Gabe in that position after 2 hours of pushing. I was still chatting between contractions but they were definitely getting stronger, although not closer together. My midwife did the normal things upon arrival - blood pressure, pulse, temperature, urine sample. Then she did a vaginal exam to check my cervix. She asked me if I wanted to have the baby in the pool. I said I don't know, how far along am I? She said, "Where do you want to have this baby?" Umm, right here I guess? She told me I was completely dilated and the baby was at +2 station. Zero station means engaged and +4 is crowning.
I started to get the urge to push with the next few contractions. That was the beginning of the second stage of labor and it was definitely painful! I felt like turning around on all fours so I tried that for a few contractions. Not so comfy. My midwife suggested I turn back around and get into a supported squat position. I don't like to put any weight on my legs while pushing because my hips really really hurt. I got into a sort of half squatting, half sitting position with Ryan sitting on the couch supporting my arms. I never got the overwhelming urge to push like I did with Gabe but the change in position definitely helped. My midwife told me to hold my breath and push during contractions, which I knew to do but was avoiding because it hurt! My water broke with the first contraction I got while being upright. I thought it would have been kind of cool if she had been born in the caul but really I just wanted her out.
Several more contractions and out she came. Ryan had planned to catch her like he did with Gabe but he was supporting me. My midwife handed her to us before she was all the way out and told us to take her. I said "no" (hey, I was in pain) so Ryan took her and put her on my chest as she came out the rest of the way. My baby! She came out with her eyes wide open and cried immediately. "Is it a girl or a boy?" We looked and found that we have a little girl! Susanna Michelle Stille was born September 19, 2009 at 1:59 pm, about an hour and a half after my midwife and her assistant arrived at my house.
She latched on right away and hasn't let go since. A few minutes later, my midwife cut the cord. Ryan and I didn't care about cutting it ourselves. I started to get more contractions and pushed out the placenta. It was painful pushing out the placenta, unlike after Gabe's birth. Getting the baby out is the best feeling in the world! I can't quite describe how much relief I felt AND I had a beautiful baby girl! What could be better? Getting the placenta out feels pretty good, too. I lost a normal amount of blood so I didn't need pitocin like last time.
A little while later (maybe an hour?), Susanna was weighed and measured. She was 9 lb 7 oz and 22 inches long. Chubbier than Gabe was! Gabe was 8 lb 11 oz. Susanna was indeed 1/3 of the weight I gained.
Susanna's big shoulders gave me a second degree tear, which is not a severe tear but it does require stitches. I don't like the getting stitches part. Ryan made me a bowl of oatmeal with flaxseeds, hempseeds, blueberries, coconut milk, and maple syrup before I got stitches. It was so yummy! I also had lots of Recharge (like Gatorade but made with better ingredients), which I highly recommend for labor and after birth. I think I drank 5 quarts of it in two days, in addition to lots of water.
My mom and Gabe came over a couple hours after Susanna was born. I have never seen Gabe look so bewildered. He didn't have a nap that day so he was tired. He wanted to nurse right away so I nursed my babies together. I explained how this is our baby to take care of like we had been talking about. He has not shown any jealousy at all. He has been very normal and loves Susanna. He likes to hold and hug and kiss her. I think it really helps that I am still nursing him and he still sleeps in the family bed. He didn't lose anything with Susanna being born. He has to be reminded to be careful around her but he's 2 so that is to be expected.
I believe new moms need lots of help for the first 6 weeks and we have arranged to have someone here with me full time for the first 4 weeks. My job is to take care of Susanna and my helper's job is to do the other things I would normally do. I'm not into having visitors unless they are bringing me food and staying less than a half hour.
I'm thankful to have had a relatively easy birth and I am recuperating very well. I'm using a postpartum belly binder this time and I love love love it. I borrowed it from a friend and I just ordered my own. Susanna has been a content baby and has been in my arms or sleeping next to me most of the time since her birth. She hasn't had the newborn crying spells that Gabe did. I think I might have a mild mannered little girl.
As I wrote this, she nursed and slept peacefully in my sling.
