I became pregnant in Indiana, where I grew up. My boyfriend and I wanted a homebirth and were looking for ways for financial assistance for a midwife. All we found were dead ends. We figured this would be a good time to travel before the baby was born and let Jah (or whatever you prefer to call the Great Spirit) take care of us. We ended up in Arcata, California and joined Earth First to help save what was left of the ancient redwoods. The winter rains came around and I was 5 months pregnant. A guy we met said that there was a cabin for rent 9 miles past a town in the middle of nowhere. It sounded better than nothing, so we went. On the way there, 4 other guys and 2 big dogs decided they were going to live there as well. Well, it didn't last too long. This was a single room cabin. I lived there with no running water, or electricity. Our water supply was 2, 5 gallon buckets and a spring. Toilet-out house. Bath-pot of water on the wood stove. Cooking, heat-wood stove. Living on potatoes, rice, onions, and occasionally oranges and greens.
Anyway, about a month earlier, I had met a wonderful woman, my angel
, Rosemary, who gave me a leather pouch necklace with a crystal inside and her address and phone number. I got tired of the super rustic life, and hitchhiked out of there to go to Rosemary's house. 
We were out of a car and money by this point. I showed up on her doorstep and she took me in as her own. 2 weeks later, my boyfriend moved in too. It was December of 1996, the year of El Nino.
I'll move on to the birth now. April 1, 1997. That morning, the cat just kept laying on my belly and didn't want to get up, just pawing at my belly. I also lost my mucous plug that morning after peeing. I wondered if these were signs that this would be the big day. As the day progressed, I kept feeling like I was on a different plane. As if someone had slipped me some acid. At 8:00 that evening, I had my first contraction, and knew this was it. We prepared the bed, and gathered all of our necessary utensils (Rosemary was a retired RN and had access to whatever we needed, scissors, umbilical clamp, etc.) I labored all night long, taking baths, and receiving massages from another angel friend of mine, Janice
. In the afternoon of April 2, I felt like I had to push, Rosemary thought that I wasn't dilated enough and said that I should hold back, so as hard as it was, I did. I kept feeling like I had to take a humongous poo. They inserted a suppository, which only made things messier. I needed some fresh air, so I went outside, and rested under a Black Walnut tree. It was a perfect day 
, not too hot or cold, and no wind. It was getting closer and I wanted to stay, so they brought out the necessities. I began pushing, going back and forth between all fours and on knees. I started pushing out what we thought was the head, but it was the water bag. I pushed this out until it was the size of a tennis ball. It was really wearing me out, and I was beginning to feel like I wasn't going to be able to do much more. Rosemary, popped it, with a sterilized needle, and things really progressed from there. Meconium (sp?), was seen through the water bag, Rosemary began to get really worried, and said that if the baby doesn't come out in 10 minutes, that we were going to the hospital. I so did not want to go to the hospital. I gave those last 2 pushed my all. I roared and the whole neighborhood probably heard me, but I didn't care of course. He finally came out a slippery baby boy. I cut the cord, and then they wrapped him up, because by this time the westerly winds had started up a little. They brought him inside and I followed with the umbilical cord hanging in between my legs. I proceeded up stairs, and gave birth to the placenta, which we planted in our summer garden under a summer squash plant. He had a hard time breathing for about an hour, but when I was finally able to get him to the breast his breathing kicked right in. He's now, a healthy bright, 7 year old boy.
Although, I don't recomend this route to having a homebirth, because occasionally, thing do happen that we don't plan on, this story does show that you can make the best out of nothing. We had no money, no family support, yet we were still able to have a wonderful homebirth.
Every year, at his birthday, I tell him that I went into labor on April Fool's Day, and thought he was going to be born, but he fooled me and came the next day. He gets a big kick out of that.
I'll post my second homebirth sometime soon. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!
Anyway, about a month earlier, I had met a wonderful woman, my angel
, Rosemary, who gave me a leather pouch necklace with a crystal inside and her address and phone number. I got tired of the super rustic life, and hitchhiked out of there to go to Rosemary's house. We were out of a car and money by this point. I showed up on her doorstep and she took me in as her own. 2 weeks later, my boyfriend moved in too. It was December of 1996, the year of El Nino.I'll move on to the birth now. April 1, 1997. That morning, the cat just kept laying on my belly and didn't want to get up, just pawing at my belly. I also lost my mucous plug that morning after peeing. I wondered if these were signs that this would be the big day. As the day progressed, I kept feeling like I was on a different plane. As if someone had slipped me some acid. At 8:00 that evening, I had my first contraction, and knew this was it. We prepared the bed, and gathered all of our necessary utensils (Rosemary was a retired RN and had access to whatever we needed, scissors, umbilical clamp, etc.) I labored all night long, taking baths, and receiving massages from another angel friend of mine, Janice
. In the afternoon of April 2, I felt like I had to push, Rosemary thought that I wasn't dilated enough and said that I should hold back, so as hard as it was, I did. I kept feeling like I had to take a humongous poo. They inserted a suppository, which only made things messier. I needed some fresh air, so I went outside, and rested under a Black Walnut tree. It was a perfect day , not too hot or cold, and no wind. It was getting closer and I wanted to stay, so they brought out the necessities. I began pushing, going back and forth between all fours and on knees. I started pushing out what we thought was the head, but it was the water bag. I pushed this out until it was the size of a tennis ball. It was really wearing me out, and I was beginning to feel like I wasn't going to be able to do much more. Rosemary, popped it, with a sterilized needle, and things really progressed from there. Meconium (sp?), was seen through the water bag, Rosemary began to get really worried, and said that if the baby doesn't come out in 10 minutes, that we were going to the hospital. I so did not want to go to the hospital. I gave those last 2 pushed my all. I roared and the whole neighborhood probably heard me, but I didn't care of course. He finally came out a slippery baby boy. I cut the cord, and then they wrapped him up, because by this time the westerly winds had started up a little. They brought him inside and I followed with the umbilical cord hanging in between my legs. I proceeded up stairs, and gave birth to the placenta, which we planted in our summer garden under a summer squash plant. He had a hard time breathing for about an hour, but when I was finally able to get him to the breast his breathing kicked right in. He's now, a healthy bright, 7 year old boy.Although, I don't recomend this route to having a homebirth, because occasionally, thing do happen that we don't plan on, this story does show that you can make the best out of nothing. We had no money, no family support, yet we were still able to have a wonderful homebirth.
Every year, at his birthday, I tell him that I went into labor on April Fool's Day, and thought he was going to be born, but he fooled me and came the next day. He gets a big kick out of that.
I'll post my second homebirth sometime soon. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!
:
I wish you had pictures!
