My water broke at 2 am yesterday, and Alexander William made his grand appearance at 4:57 am, just two days before my due date! It was MUCH faster than I expected! We didn't have time to fill up the birthing pool, so I ended up getting in the bathtub. The midwife's apprentice, Ally, kept talking me through contractions and keeping me calm.
I admit: I had some serious doubts about my ability to do this. Ally and Kristen (the midwife), keep reassuring me that yes, I COULD do this, that my body was made for this.
I asked Kristen to check me after I got into the tub because if I was still a 3 or a 4, I was threatening to quit and go to the hospital for an epidural.
Totally irrational threat on my part, since I could not have gotten out of that tub by myself, much less gotten dressed and gone to a hospital. Fortunately for everyone involved, I was 8+ centimeters, and in no time at all, I was pushing.
I pushed mostly on my knees, bent over the side of the bathtub, where I could reach down and feel his head. I did lay back in the tub for a while, but then I had to be pulled into a semi-squatting position so Kristen could apply pressure on my bottom and help get Alex out. The cord was around his neck once, and he was pretty floppy when he was born. As soon as he was out, I reached into the water, grabbed him, and flopped onto my back in the water. Alex needed some oxygen from both the cord being around his neck and from the fast trip down the birth canal - I pushed for less than 20 minutes!
It was scary, but the midwives were able to get him breathing good on his own very quickly, and then I was able to deliver the placenta and get out of the tub.
I'm hanging out now in the bed with Alex beside me. He is such a laid back baby, and he's already nursing like a champ. I have DH and my mom here taking care of me. Seriously, homebirth ROCKS. So far, recovery has been so much easier than it was in the hospital with Meredith.
Oh, and for the important details: our "monster" fetus turned out to be THE biggest baby my midwife has EVER delivered: Alex was born weighing in at 11 pounds, 6 ounces. He is 22 inches long, with an almost 15 inch head circumference. Yeah, he's huge. He's WAY bigger than we thought he'd be. Despite the size, he came out relatively easily - no stuck shoulders or anything, and only a small tear for me. Wooo hoo!
I admit: I had some serious doubts about my ability to do this. Ally and Kristen (the midwife), keep reassuring me that yes, I COULD do this, that my body was made for this.
I asked Kristen to check me after I got into the tub because if I was still a 3 or a 4, I was threatening to quit and go to the hospital for an epidural.
Totally irrational threat on my part, since I could not have gotten out of that tub by myself, much less gotten dressed and gone to a hospital. Fortunately for everyone involved, I was 8+ centimeters, and in no time at all, I was pushing.I pushed mostly on my knees, bent over the side of the bathtub, where I could reach down and feel his head. I did lay back in the tub for a while, but then I had to be pulled into a semi-squatting position so Kristen could apply pressure on my bottom and help get Alex out. The cord was around his neck once, and he was pretty floppy when he was born. As soon as he was out, I reached into the water, grabbed him, and flopped onto my back in the water. Alex needed some oxygen from both the cord being around his neck and from the fast trip down the birth canal - I pushed for less than 20 minutes!
It was scary, but the midwives were able to get him breathing good on his own very quickly, and then I was able to deliver the placenta and get out of the tub.
I'm hanging out now in the bed with Alex beside me. He is such a laid back baby, and he's already nursing like a champ. I have DH and my mom here taking care of me. Seriously, homebirth ROCKS. So far, recovery has been so much easier than it was in the hospital with Meredith.
Oh, and for the important details: our "monster" fetus turned out to be THE biggest baby my midwife has EVER delivered: Alex was born weighing in at 11 pounds, 6 ounces. He is 22 inches long, with an almost 15 inch head circumference. Yeah, he's huge. He's WAY bigger than we thought he'd be. Despite the size, he came out relatively easily - no stuck shoulders or anything, and only a small tear for me. Wooo hoo!
)
makes my 9lb 6oz son caden seem tiny, deffinately goes to show women are cappable of birthing big babies no matter what some dr's may think, congrats on hb aswell 
It had me intrigued!
. Unbelievable!
