This is great! I get to blather on about my birth without boring my family and friends with all the details they don't want to hear.
Little Elizabeth Renee was born 10/30. She was only a week late, but it felt much later! When I went for my appt. with the midwife at 37 weeks, she said, "You're at 5 centemeters! We'll see you before the end of the week!" (This was the young midwife. When I saw the experienced midwife at 41 weeks, she said "You're a tight three. Go home and vacuum the house."
After yet another day of feeling sorry for myself, I sent my kids off to a slumber party at my sister's house, and told my husband to take me for Mexican food. I stopped at the potty on the way out the door, and felt a "pop." A bloody show! Surely my waiting was over.
My husband was very nervous because I had been dilated for weeks, this is our fourth child, and my body is a stretched out 38 years old. He didn't want to catch her on the kitchen floor. (He's a traditional guy. No unassisted childbirth for him!) I told him to relax, we had a while. I strolled around the yard and living room from 6:30 to 10:00, while he hollered, "Let's go! Let's go!" (What a wimp!)
We left at 10 pm for the birthing center, and the car ride certainly had an impact on the contractions. We arrived at 10:30, and I climbed into the tub. I could still carry on a conversation, and joke between contractions at this point. We called my mom and sister, and they arrived with my kids around 12:30 am. They brought pillows and blankets and watched movies in the living room. About that time, I was getting serious, and felt like a change. I needed to pee, so I got out of the tub, visited the facilities, and lay down across the edge of the bed. The intensity was setting in, and for some reason, I started a complicated series of hand movements to help me cope. I counted my fingers in different sequences. I made hand routines out of stroking the sheets and my face and my hair. Whatever works! My midwife and my husband were carrying on quiet conversations in the background. Instead of being annoying, I actually found them a source of focus. I felt like I was answering and contributing to the conversations, but of course I was lying there with my eyes closed, performing my "hand routines" and not saying a word. The whole time my husband rubbed my lower back, and my midwife rubbed lotion on my feet! I so wanted to thank her, but talking was beyond me at that point.
My midwife left the room for about 45 minutes. My mom said she went into the office and did paperwork. At the time I wasn't happy about her absence, but looking back, I can see it gave me time to finish getting ready for the birth. I knew I wouldn't allow myself to be "ready" until she returned, so I concentrated on my preparation, mentally and physically. Birth hurts. You think you will die. Or lose your mind from the pain. Really. My angel husband rubbed and rubbed and rubbed my back without a word from me. I was silent for about 2 or 3 hours. I think he wanted the midwife back in the room more than I did!
When she returned, she suggested I empty my bladder. I knew if I got up to go to the toilet, it was all over, and the baby would come. I got up, and they helped me to the toilet. On my way back to the bed, I got down on my knees on the floor and rested my elbows and face on the mattress. I think I bit the mattress! It's funny how you forget what birth really feels like. I remember this very calm voice talking to me in my head at this time. It was saying, "Damn, this hurts! Don't you remember this! Oh yeah! What the hell were you thinking! Let's stop this nonsense and go home!"
About this time, my midwife asked if I felt like pushing. About the same time, I let out a grunt after hours of silence. "I'll take that as a yes," she said. I had had episiotomies with my other three children (hospital births) so when the "ring of fire" set in I said, "Cut me!" (I wanted that baby out! If I had had a knife, I would have done it myself.) "What?" she said. "Episiotomy" I said. She said, "No, I don't think so." What do you know, I birthed my first baby without an episiotomy. Only 7 minutes of pushing. Perfectly round, beautiful head. (Small tear but nothing like stitches.) What did surprise me was the amount of blood. Plus, my water didn't break until minutes before she was born. I guess at hospitals they have hygenic little buckets and people and etc. that take care of all that unsightly stuff. I'm afraid I made a sloppy mess out of the birthing center. My husband calls the footwear he had on that evening his "birthing shoes" and proudly shows off the blood stains. (Sure, like it was HIS blood! Give me a break!) Elizabeth was and is perfect. I am blessed.
I'm glad we decided not to have the kids in the room. It would have been kind of scary for them. They got the major mess cleaned up, I delivered the placenta, and my older babies came in to meet our newest one. It was 3 am. We were all on an adrinaline high. We laughed, took pictures, and ordered breakfast from IHOP. Those were the best damn pancakes I ever tasted. She was born at 2:20. I was home in my own bed by 6:20. My husband said it felt like we went to the store and bought a baby because we were home so quickly. I said "speak for yourself!"
Little Elizabeth Renee was born 10/30. She was only a week late, but it felt much later! When I went for my appt. with the midwife at 37 weeks, she said, "You're at 5 centemeters! We'll see you before the end of the week!" (This was the young midwife. When I saw the experienced midwife at 41 weeks, she said "You're a tight three. Go home and vacuum the house."
After yet another day of feeling sorry for myself, I sent my kids off to a slumber party at my sister's house, and told my husband to take me for Mexican food. I stopped at the potty on the way out the door, and felt a "pop." A bloody show! Surely my waiting was over.
My husband was very nervous because I had been dilated for weeks, this is our fourth child, and my body is a stretched out 38 years old. He didn't want to catch her on the kitchen floor. (He's a traditional guy. No unassisted childbirth for him!) I told him to relax, we had a while. I strolled around the yard and living room from 6:30 to 10:00, while he hollered, "Let's go! Let's go!" (What a wimp!)
We left at 10 pm for the birthing center, and the car ride certainly had an impact on the contractions. We arrived at 10:30, and I climbed into the tub. I could still carry on a conversation, and joke between contractions at this point. We called my mom and sister, and they arrived with my kids around 12:30 am. They brought pillows and blankets and watched movies in the living room. About that time, I was getting serious, and felt like a change. I needed to pee, so I got out of the tub, visited the facilities, and lay down across the edge of the bed. The intensity was setting in, and for some reason, I started a complicated series of hand movements to help me cope. I counted my fingers in different sequences. I made hand routines out of stroking the sheets and my face and my hair. Whatever works! My midwife and my husband were carrying on quiet conversations in the background. Instead of being annoying, I actually found them a source of focus. I felt like I was answering and contributing to the conversations, but of course I was lying there with my eyes closed, performing my "hand routines" and not saying a word. The whole time my husband rubbed my lower back, and my midwife rubbed lotion on my feet! I so wanted to thank her, but talking was beyond me at that point.
My midwife left the room for about 45 minutes. My mom said she went into the office and did paperwork. At the time I wasn't happy about her absence, but looking back, I can see it gave me time to finish getting ready for the birth. I knew I wouldn't allow myself to be "ready" until she returned, so I concentrated on my preparation, mentally and physically. Birth hurts. You think you will die. Or lose your mind from the pain. Really. My angel husband rubbed and rubbed and rubbed my back without a word from me. I was silent for about 2 or 3 hours. I think he wanted the midwife back in the room more than I did!
When she returned, she suggested I empty my bladder. I knew if I got up to go to the toilet, it was all over, and the baby would come. I got up, and they helped me to the toilet. On my way back to the bed, I got down on my knees on the floor and rested my elbows and face on the mattress. I think I bit the mattress! It's funny how you forget what birth really feels like. I remember this very calm voice talking to me in my head at this time. It was saying, "Damn, this hurts! Don't you remember this! Oh yeah! What the hell were you thinking! Let's stop this nonsense and go home!"
About this time, my midwife asked if I felt like pushing. About the same time, I let out a grunt after hours of silence. "I'll take that as a yes," she said. I had had episiotomies with my other three children (hospital births) so when the "ring of fire" set in I said, "Cut me!" (I wanted that baby out! If I had had a knife, I would have done it myself.) "What?" she said. "Episiotomy" I said. She said, "No, I don't think so." What do you know, I birthed my first baby without an episiotomy. Only 7 minutes of pushing. Perfectly round, beautiful head. (Small tear but nothing like stitches.) What did surprise me was the amount of blood. Plus, my water didn't break until minutes before she was born. I guess at hospitals they have hygenic little buckets and people and etc. that take care of all that unsightly stuff. I'm afraid I made a sloppy mess out of the birthing center. My husband calls the footwear he had on that evening his "birthing shoes" and proudly shows off the blood stains. (Sure, like it was HIS blood! Give me a break!) Elizabeth was and is perfect. I am blessed.
I'm glad we decided not to have the kids in the room. It would have been kind of scary for them. They got the major mess cleaned up, I delivered the placenta, and my older babies came in to meet our newest one. It was 3 am. We were all on an adrinaline high. We laughed, took pictures, and ordered breakfast from IHOP. Those were the best damn pancakes I ever tasted. She was born at 2:20. I was home in my own bed by 6:20. My husband said it felt like we went to the store and bought a baby because we were home so quickly. I said "speak for yourself!"
baby Elizabeth!
