The Birth of Finley Eliza
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After nearly 4 weeks or prodromal labor (losing mucus plug, cervical pressure, Braxton Hicks, ect.), I finally saw a tiny bit of blood in some lost mucus plug. This was Friday March 11th. I woke up Saturday and had no signs of labor. We decided to get out and walk, so we headed to the Outlet Mall. It was uncomfortable for me, but I walked all over that place and back!
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After a day with no labor signs, I went to bed and woke up at 2:30am Sunday to use the bathroom. Finally I saw a ton of bloody show. I was very excited but went back to bed. By 3:30am contractions started and were distracting and 3-4 minutes apart. I woke my husband up at 4:30am and had him make us some food and do some little things around the house. The contractions slowed to every 7-9 minutes or so by the time our daughter woke up. I had the same pattern all day, and by 8pm we all decided it would be best if our daughter went to stay the night at her Oma’s since she was really trying to disturb me during contractions, and was very upset that I couldn’t put her to bed.
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I had called our midwife at 7pm to let her know that the contractions were getting more intense and a bit closer together. She said they’d head over in an hour but would text first. At around 8pm they did text and I had my husband text them back to hold off for a bit until we got our daughter out the door. At 9:30pm my husband sent her this message “3 ½ - 5 ½ min. apart, 1 ½ min. long”. She replied that they were heading over.
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My friend and apprentice midwife showed up first, and by this point I was facing my closet sitting backwards on a chair breathing through the surges. I headed to the bathroom a few minutes later and noticed my midwife come in, and headed back to my room. Around 10pm they asked if I wanted to get in the tub. I felt like the contractions were still too far apart to be ready for the tub, but since they were very intense I said yes.
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I labored in the tub very peacefully. I was very present in my mind the entire time. I was thinking about welcoming our baby into the world, how other animals give birth, recipes, all sorts of stuff. At one point I told the midwives a little rabbit birth trivia, and they both chuckled. My husband sat by me until I told him to go nap for a while. When things got a little more intense I had the midwives wake him back up to sit by me.
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I could feel that I was getting closer, and remember wondering if I was transistioning, but it just didn’t feel out of control or fast like the last time. I finally told them I felt like I had to go #2, and was concerned that I would push to soon (I did this with DD1 with and incomplete cervix and it caused some issues). They said I would know when it was time and that the feeling I was having was baby’s head. A very short bit later I heard myself get grunty and I knew they heard it too. I sort of pushed a bit, but was still worried it was too easy, too soon. I finally decided to do it since my body was saying yes. I pushed one good push and felt her come down, then briefly felt the “ring of fire”. I paused for a split second to allow myself to stretch then finished the push. My midwife said “There’s your baby”. I looked down and scooped her up. She was born Monday March 14th, 2011 at 12:45am weighing 7lb8oz and 21.5" long.
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This was the most peaceful birth I could have imagined. Finley was a super mellow baby inside, and she entered the world just the same. We are so happy to have had two successful home waterbirths, and this was a perfect birth for our last child.
Edited by forest~mama - 3/17/11 at 9:05am
