i'm not a regular poster on mdc, but a regular lurker and want to share the story of my recent hbac. the birth stories here that others have posted encouraged me to believe in my body and my ability to birth after an unexpected csection with my son, who is now 26 months old. my daughter was recently born at home, my hbac dream come true!
lucy june, born at home in sunderland, vermont on march 16th, 2010 at 5:14 AM.
on monday the 15th, i went to work like always and was stoked it was my last monday until june - friday was my due date and i wasn't working past that whether the babe was here by then or not. so the day was uneventful and i left at 4 to go pick up jude at school. on the drive i was feeling kind of weird, not lightheaded exactly but sort of in an alternate universe for a few seconds at a time. i think i must have been having a hormonal surge but didn't recognize it as that at the moment.
so i picked up jude and we came home and i started having mild but noticeable contrax around 5. they were short (30-45 second) but definitely not braxton hicks. i actually didn't think it was the real deal, figured they would just end at some point, more of a warmup than anything else. so i called troy and told him but told him not to worry. the contrax continued while i hung out with jude until troy got home - he was later than usual, 7:30 maybe. i called my friend andrea, who was our doula, just to say, hey i'm having contrax, no biggie but wanted to give you a heads up bc she lives about 2 hours away. i was still convinced that it wasn't the real thing. so after making breakfast dinner (waffles which i tried to but couldn't eat) troy got jude in the bath and to bed here rather than sending him over to troy's sister. after jude was out of the bath, i got in to take my own. my contrax were getting a little stronger and coming every 2 or 3 minutes but still shortish. but "just in case" troy got the tub filling and a nice fire going in the woodstove, turned down the lights and put a bunch of candles in the fireplace where he had set up the tub.
andrea called back around 830ish to say she was driving down to spend the night at her mom's (10 minutes from us) just to be safe and i finally admitted that might not be a bad idea bc maybe this was the real deal. at around 9 i called helena our mwife just as a heads up. guess what? her only other client due this month was also in labor! i told her we didn't need her yet anyway and she said her other client would likely go fast so she was headed there and would check in with us in a little while. i got in the tub shortly after which was divine. i had been managing contrax by standing and leaning on something and rocking my hips but knew i couldn't stand all night long. sitting or kneeling or on all 4s was not working at all on land, but in the water, i could sit and lounge back relatively comfortably.
around 10ish i told troy to call andrea and have her come straight to our house instead of to her mom's. she got here between 10:30 and 11. i was managing pretty well in the tub for the most part but on occasion, i really wasn't sure if i could deal with the labor for a long time. i had no idea how dilated or anything i was so thinking about jude's labor (36+ hours), it was hard to know how long i was going to have to deal with this one. at some point, i had to get out of the tub bc i felt overheated and tried the bed but that was not at all working for me. i remember at more than one point thinking, just take me to the hospital and cut this baby out. i got back in the tub pretty quickly and around 11:30 helena called to check in, her other client would be pushing soon so did i want to wait for helena to be done there or did i want her to call the backup mwife (who had come to our house for the visit)? i think i said, just get me an effing midwife already.
adrienne, the backup, showed up 45 minutes to an hour later and things had been getting more and more intense for me with every contrax. i just tried to focus on my breath, remembering each contrax was opening me up further for my baby to pass through and letting my hips float up in the water and rock back and forth with the wave of each contraction. andrea and troy took turns rubbing my shoulders and putting cold compresses on my neck and face and getting me to take sips of liquids. earlier i had troy put on jerry and david grisman - been all around this world and not for kids only was the soundtrack all night long. it was not even on my radar screen when thinking about music for labor but in the moment, seemed exactly right.
so adrienne checked me soon after she arrived and i was 7 centimeters! i never got past 6 with jude so at that point i knew i could do it. i stayed in the tub, troy sat across from me so i could look at him - he's so calm and mellow and i needed that in my sight line. andrea and adrienne took turns rubbing my neck or just resting their hands on my shoulders, i need the physical contact too. every once in a while, they would check the baby with the doppler and she was tolerating labor just fine. helena arrived and she and adrienne chatted and i kept doing my thing in the tub.
my water broke in the tub at some point shortly after helena got there, and i remember saying, shit here comes the really intense stuff. but i have to say transition was probably the best part of labor for me. i had a rhythm, my support people were AMAZING. i had the best team i ever could have assembled there helping me. helena's apprentice got there shortly after helena (2 back to back births in one night!) and everyone was so encouraging and the whole experience was pretty mellow and peaceful.
transition:
http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...0_218968_n.jpg
then i felt an urge to push. WOWZA. that certainly is an undeniable and unique feeling. i was in the tub still, supporting myself on my arms, bc i couldnt really sit down all the way, letting my hips and bottom float up and try to move with the contrax. then some poop slipped out a couple of times. i was apologizing and the mwives were saying this is great news, the baby is moving down. poor troy got scooper duty with a colander. the mwives were periodically checking me with a flashlight, but no head was appearing yet. at first the urge to push wasn't constant with every contraction, and the mwives just encouraged me to go with what my body was telling me to do. i only got checked for dilation that one time. they just trusted me to know what my body was telling me to do. so awesome! at some point during pushing the mw's apprentice fed me some yogurt which i'm sure gave me some much needed nourishment.
when i finally was feeling the urge to push every time, i was in the tub for probably 45 minutes in the same sort of sitting position supporting myself on my arms. i knew after a while i had to change positions. i was comfortable, but the baby was not getting the benefit of gravity like that. so i got out of the tub and stood by it, leaning on troy for support and squatting with the now very strong pushes. after about 10 minutes, i felt the head start to crown! i reached down and touched the head and there she was, right there. holy sh*t i was doing it!!!!!!! another push or two and her head was out and then i just pushed harder than i probably should have and got her body all out at the same time. no way was i waiting for another contrax and letting the ring of fire be any longer than necessary. i reached down and held her head as it was coming out and helena jumped in to grab the baby bc no one was expecting her to come so quickly when i announced i felt the head right there.
and there she was, in my arms! I DID IT!!!!!! she was born with her eyes wide open and not crying at all. i kept asking why she wasn't crying but she was nice and pink and doing great, just not much of a crier. her cord was a little short so i bent over and sort of waddled over to the bed and she laid on my chest while the cord pulsing slowed down and everyone checked me and her and we were both perfect and healthy. i delivered the placenta about 20 minutes later. jude slept through the whole thing and troy brought him down about an hour after she was born to meet his new sister. she's been nursing like a champ since right after she was born.
welcome lucy june, my little perfect hbac angel baby girl.
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._4853665_n.jpg
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._5716927_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs482...._6798353_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs482...._8022554_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs482...._4127291_n.jpg
lucy june, born at home in sunderland, vermont on march 16th, 2010 at 5:14 AM.
on monday the 15th, i went to work like always and was stoked it was my last monday until june - friday was my due date and i wasn't working past that whether the babe was here by then or not. so the day was uneventful and i left at 4 to go pick up jude at school. on the drive i was feeling kind of weird, not lightheaded exactly but sort of in an alternate universe for a few seconds at a time. i think i must have been having a hormonal surge but didn't recognize it as that at the moment.
so i picked up jude and we came home and i started having mild but noticeable contrax around 5. they were short (30-45 second) but definitely not braxton hicks. i actually didn't think it was the real deal, figured they would just end at some point, more of a warmup than anything else. so i called troy and told him but told him not to worry. the contrax continued while i hung out with jude until troy got home - he was later than usual, 7:30 maybe. i called my friend andrea, who was our doula, just to say, hey i'm having contrax, no biggie but wanted to give you a heads up bc she lives about 2 hours away. i was still convinced that it wasn't the real thing. so after making breakfast dinner (waffles which i tried to but couldn't eat) troy got jude in the bath and to bed here rather than sending him over to troy's sister. after jude was out of the bath, i got in to take my own. my contrax were getting a little stronger and coming every 2 or 3 minutes but still shortish. but "just in case" troy got the tub filling and a nice fire going in the woodstove, turned down the lights and put a bunch of candles in the fireplace where he had set up the tub.
andrea called back around 830ish to say she was driving down to spend the night at her mom's (10 minutes from us) just to be safe and i finally admitted that might not be a bad idea bc maybe this was the real deal. at around 9 i called helena our mwife just as a heads up. guess what? her only other client due this month was also in labor! i told her we didn't need her yet anyway and she said her other client would likely go fast so she was headed there and would check in with us in a little while. i got in the tub shortly after which was divine. i had been managing contrax by standing and leaning on something and rocking my hips but knew i couldn't stand all night long. sitting or kneeling or on all 4s was not working at all on land, but in the water, i could sit and lounge back relatively comfortably.
around 10ish i told troy to call andrea and have her come straight to our house instead of to her mom's. she got here between 10:30 and 11. i was managing pretty well in the tub for the most part but on occasion, i really wasn't sure if i could deal with the labor for a long time. i had no idea how dilated or anything i was so thinking about jude's labor (36+ hours), it was hard to know how long i was going to have to deal with this one. at some point, i had to get out of the tub bc i felt overheated and tried the bed but that was not at all working for me. i remember at more than one point thinking, just take me to the hospital and cut this baby out. i got back in the tub pretty quickly and around 11:30 helena called to check in, her other client would be pushing soon so did i want to wait for helena to be done there or did i want her to call the backup mwife (who had come to our house for the visit)? i think i said, just get me an effing midwife already.
adrienne, the backup, showed up 45 minutes to an hour later and things had been getting more and more intense for me with every contrax. i just tried to focus on my breath, remembering each contrax was opening me up further for my baby to pass through and letting my hips float up in the water and rock back and forth with the wave of each contraction. andrea and troy took turns rubbing my shoulders and putting cold compresses on my neck and face and getting me to take sips of liquids. earlier i had troy put on jerry and david grisman - been all around this world and not for kids only was the soundtrack all night long. it was not even on my radar screen when thinking about music for labor but in the moment, seemed exactly right.
so adrienne checked me soon after she arrived and i was 7 centimeters! i never got past 6 with jude so at that point i knew i could do it. i stayed in the tub, troy sat across from me so i could look at him - he's so calm and mellow and i needed that in my sight line. andrea and adrienne took turns rubbing my neck or just resting their hands on my shoulders, i need the physical contact too. every once in a while, they would check the baby with the doppler and she was tolerating labor just fine. helena arrived and she and adrienne chatted and i kept doing my thing in the tub.
my water broke in the tub at some point shortly after helena got there, and i remember saying, shit here comes the really intense stuff. but i have to say transition was probably the best part of labor for me. i had a rhythm, my support people were AMAZING. i had the best team i ever could have assembled there helping me. helena's apprentice got there shortly after helena (2 back to back births in one night!) and everyone was so encouraging and the whole experience was pretty mellow and peaceful.
transition:
http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...0_218968_n.jpg
then i felt an urge to push. WOWZA. that certainly is an undeniable and unique feeling. i was in the tub still, supporting myself on my arms, bc i couldnt really sit down all the way, letting my hips and bottom float up and try to move with the contrax. then some poop slipped out a couple of times. i was apologizing and the mwives were saying this is great news, the baby is moving down. poor troy got scooper duty with a colander. the mwives were periodically checking me with a flashlight, but no head was appearing yet. at first the urge to push wasn't constant with every contraction, and the mwives just encouraged me to go with what my body was telling me to do. i only got checked for dilation that one time. they just trusted me to know what my body was telling me to do. so awesome! at some point during pushing the mw's apprentice fed me some yogurt which i'm sure gave me some much needed nourishment.
when i finally was feeling the urge to push every time, i was in the tub for probably 45 minutes in the same sort of sitting position supporting myself on my arms. i knew after a while i had to change positions. i was comfortable, but the baby was not getting the benefit of gravity like that. so i got out of the tub and stood by it, leaning on troy for support and squatting with the now very strong pushes. after about 10 minutes, i felt the head start to crown! i reached down and touched the head and there she was, right there. holy sh*t i was doing it!!!!!!! another push or two and her head was out and then i just pushed harder than i probably should have and got her body all out at the same time. no way was i waiting for another contrax and letting the ring of fire be any longer than necessary. i reached down and held her head as it was coming out and helena jumped in to grab the baby bc no one was expecting her to come so quickly when i announced i felt the head right there.
and there she was, in my arms! I DID IT!!!!!! she was born with her eyes wide open and not crying at all. i kept asking why she wasn't crying but she was nice and pink and doing great, just not much of a crier. her cord was a little short so i bent over and sort of waddled over to the bed and she laid on my chest while the cord pulsing slowed down and everyone checked me and her and we were both perfect and healthy. i delivered the placenta about 20 minutes later. jude slept through the whole thing and troy brought him down about an hour after she was born to meet his new sister. she's been nursing like a champ since right after she was born.
welcome lucy june, my little perfect hbac angel baby girl.
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._4853665_n.jpg
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._5716927_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs482...._6798353_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs482...._8022554_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs482...._4127291_n.jpg
you both look great, congratulations you did it!
