I'm posting this story really, really late because I wasn't on MDC back when I had her. I still wanted to share though, so here ya go:
My water broke around 9:15 pm, 5 long days after the due date of my second child. I was lying in bed about to go to sleep when I felt a somewhat painful pop then another and a small leaking of fluid. I said to my dh, "I think my water just broke." He helped me to the empty bathtub where I stood for a bit waiting for a big gush of fluid to come out. Only small amounts came out at a time. I moved to the toilet and waiting a bit longer. Still only a little bit of fluid would occasionally come out, and loose bowel movements started. I had him call our midwife. She asked if the fluid was clear (it was) and if contractions had started yet (they had not). She suggested I try to get some sleep and she would go to bed early anticipating that she'd have to get up later that night to make the 30 minute trip to our home.
About 15 minutes after my water broke I finally began to feel contractions. They weren’t overwhelmingly painful at first, but they definitely hurt. I tried to lie down in bed in the side-lying position but found this so painful that I couldn’t bear it. Dh set up some pillows at the foot of the bed for me and I sat there for awhile, moving to the toilet now and then. Meanwhile, he began filling the tub we had rented. We knew that our hot water would run out before the tub was filled so he threw 4 pots of water on the stove and began heating the water.
After feeling about 3 contractions he asked if he should call the midwife back. I said I wanted to time a couple more, just to be sure. With my first labor, I had only felt the pain in my back and had been unable to time the contractions. This time they hit me hard and strong, along with the ache in my back that I had experienced before. The contractions were varying in length from about 3 to 5 minutes apart so I told him he could call her back now. It took her about 15 minutes to get our page and call us back, then she was on her way. We let her know we’d leave the front door unlocked.
My plan was to wait for the mw to arrive, check me, then give me the okay to get into the tub, but I could wait no longer. I knew from my first labor that the tub had helped so much with the pain. I entered the tub and it was only filled about half way when we ran out of hot water. As I labored there dh ran back and forth to the stove, bringing more and more hot water. It helped, but the sensations were intense.
I was in the tub no longer than 10 or 15 minutes when I announced to him, "I’m pushing!" He said to me, "Well, don’t!" and I told him that I wasn’t trying to - my body was just doing it. I tried to give myself an internal exam to see if I could feel the head at all. I didn’t think I could (although looking back I think I actually did - it just feels so different inside - soft and mushy). My body kept on pushing without me even trying. A few minutes later I felt the burning sensation that I knew meant the baby was crowning. This was the first time that I actually understood that I was having this baby very fast! I felt again for the head and this time it was right there. My husband ran around trying to get everything prepared for the birth. I knew exactly where everything was, but he just wasn’t prepared to have to do this by himself. He is a firefighter & paramedic and is trained in emergency childbirth, but this was different. This was HIS child, and he found himself a little flustered and without his usual supplies. Somehow I managed to stay calm & in total control, telling him just what he needed to do and where to find everything, meanwhile chanting inside of my own head "You can do this. You know how to do this. You're body was designed for this," as the contractions continued.
In no time at all the head was out. I had kept my right hand on it as it emerged and I gently stroked the hair. I looked down and it was floating in the water right there! I asked him what time it was and it was exactly 11:00pm. I told him to check for a cord around the neck, which he attempted to do, but the pain was too much. I had to push her out now. It had been perhaps a whole minute that the head was delivered before I pushed her body out, but I knew that she’d be just fine, breathing through the cord still and in no danger of drowning. Finally she was out and he brought her up to my chest. She lay on me silent. She was pretty and pink - no vernix left at all - totally ready to be born, but there was no other sign of life. She seemed to be sleeping. I had wanted to hold her there in the tub for awhile after the birth, but with no midwife support there yet and my baby not crying, moving, or opening her eyes, I told him he’d need to cut & clamp the cord, get her out of the tub and try to stimulate her (in retrospect I wish I had just let her stay there and continue to breathe through the cord, but I just wasn't thinking so clearly in this unexpected moment). He did just that, laying her out on an ordinary bath towel (we hadn’t had time to warm blankets for her) and he rubbed her down, flicked her feet, anything he could think of to get her moving. I remember how I felt as I leaned forward in the tub watching my dh try to get our dd to take her first breath. "Come on, breathe! You can do it - breathe for me, please!" he kept repeating. I was calm though and just knew she was fine. I wanted to ask him if she was indeed a girl but I thought I should wait until he got her crying to have him check. I really knew that she was okay. Finally, after about a minute of stimulation she was crying. I then asked him to check her sex and he said that she was indeed a little girl. We realized later that she must have been breathing just fine all along because she never lost her great color - we just hadn't thought to check!
He brought her to our bed and wrapped her in a blanket. I asked him to call my mom, who lived just 5 minutes away, and then hand me the phone. We had no plans for her to be at the birth, but we thought we could use an extra pair of hands now. "Mom, I just had the baby and the midwives aren’t here yet. Come now." She was on her way. I was ready for this to be done with and wanted to get out of the tub and deliver the placenta. I figured I’d try to breastfeed her to stimulate the contractions which would release the placenta. He helped me to the bed, and just as I was about to try to feed her, we heard a ‘thunk!’ as our bedroom door swung open and my mw rushed in saying "I heard the baby!"
She checked her over (9 pounds, 8 ounces, and 21 inches long!), told us how great we did, drew my baby’s cord blood (which we had wanted to bank, but I didn’t think I’d be able to at this point), then coached me to deliver the placenta. I had one small tear which needed to be stitched and another two on the side which did not. She wanted to know what time the baby had been born and we agreed that it must have been about 11:02pm - just an hour and a half after contractions had begun!
Throughout the course of this pregnancy I had developed the desire more and more to really birth my own baby. I wanted the absolute minimal amount of intervention possible from my midwives. I knew and believed that birth was the most beautiful and natural of all of life’s experiences and I fully wanted to have it as my own. This birth gave me, in a very unexpected way, exactly that and I’m so happy and proud of the experience.
My water broke around 9:15 pm, 5 long days after the due date of my second child. I was lying in bed about to go to sleep when I felt a somewhat painful pop then another and a small leaking of fluid. I said to my dh, "I think my water just broke." He helped me to the empty bathtub where I stood for a bit waiting for a big gush of fluid to come out. Only small amounts came out at a time. I moved to the toilet and waiting a bit longer. Still only a little bit of fluid would occasionally come out, and loose bowel movements started. I had him call our midwife. She asked if the fluid was clear (it was) and if contractions had started yet (they had not). She suggested I try to get some sleep and she would go to bed early anticipating that she'd have to get up later that night to make the 30 minute trip to our home.
About 15 minutes after my water broke I finally began to feel contractions. They weren’t overwhelmingly painful at first, but they definitely hurt. I tried to lie down in bed in the side-lying position but found this so painful that I couldn’t bear it. Dh set up some pillows at the foot of the bed for me and I sat there for awhile, moving to the toilet now and then. Meanwhile, he began filling the tub we had rented. We knew that our hot water would run out before the tub was filled so he threw 4 pots of water on the stove and began heating the water.
After feeling about 3 contractions he asked if he should call the midwife back. I said I wanted to time a couple more, just to be sure. With my first labor, I had only felt the pain in my back and had been unable to time the contractions. This time they hit me hard and strong, along with the ache in my back that I had experienced before. The contractions were varying in length from about 3 to 5 minutes apart so I told him he could call her back now. It took her about 15 minutes to get our page and call us back, then she was on her way. We let her know we’d leave the front door unlocked.
My plan was to wait for the mw to arrive, check me, then give me the okay to get into the tub, but I could wait no longer. I knew from my first labor that the tub had helped so much with the pain. I entered the tub and it was only filled about half way when we ran out of hot water. As I labored there dh ran back and forth to the stove, bringing more and more hot water. It helped, but the sensations were intense.
I was in the tub no longer than 10 or 15 minutes when I announced to him, "I’m pushing!" He said to me, "Well, don’t!" and I told him that I wasn’t trying to - my body was just doing it. I tried to give myself an internal exam to see if I could feel the head at all. I didn’t think I could (although looking back I think I actually did - it just feels so different inside - soft and mushy). My body kept on pushing without me even trying. A few minutes later I felt the burning sensation that I knew meant the baby was crowning. This was the first time that I actually understood that I was having this baby very fast! I felt again for the head and this time it was right there. My husband ran around trying to get everything prepared for the birth. I knew exactly where everything was, but he just wasn’t prepared to have to do this by himself. He is a firefighter & paramedic and is trained in emergency childbirth, but this was different. This was HIS child, and he found himself a little flustered and without his usual supplies. Somehow I managed to stay calm & in total control, telling him just what he needed to do and where to find everything, meanwhile chanting inside of my own head "You can do this. You know how to do this. You're body was designed for this," as the contractions continued.
In no time at all the head was out. I had kept my right hand on it as it emerged and I gently stroked the hair. I looked down and it was floating in the water right there! I asked him what time it was and it was exactly 11:00pm. I told him to check for a cord around the neck, which he attempted to do, but the pain was too much. I had to push her out now. It had been perhaps a whole minute that the head was delivered before I pushed her body out, but I knew that she’d be just fine, breathing through the cord still and in no danger of drowning. Finally she was out and he brought her up to my chest. She lay on me silent. She was pretty and pink - no vernix left at all - totally ready to be born, but there was no other sign of life. She seemed to be sleeping. I had wanted to hold her there in the tub for awhile after the birth, but with no midwife support there yet and my baby not crying, moving, or opening her eyes, I told him he’d need to cut & clamp the cord, get her out of the tub and try to stimulate her (in retrospect I wish I had just let her stay there and continue to breathe through the cord, but I just wasn't thinking so clearly in this unexpected moment). He did just that, laying her out on an ordinary bath towel (we hadn’t had time to warm blankets for her) and he rubbed her down, flicked her feet, anything he could think of to get her moving. I remember how I felt as I leaned forward in the tub watching my dh try to get our dd to take her first breath. "Come on, breathe! You can do it - breathe for me, please!" he kept repeating. I was calm though and just knew she was fine. I wanted to ask him if she was indeed a girl but I thought I should wait until he got her crying to have him check. I really knew that she was okay. Finally, after about a minute of stimulation she was crying. I then asked him to check her sex and he said that she was indeed a little girl. We realized later that she must have been breathing just fine all along because she never lost her great color - we just hadn't thought to check!
He brought her to our bed and wrapped her in a blanket. I asked him to call my mom, who lived just 5 minutes away, and then hand me the phone. We had no plans for her to be at the birth, but we thought we could use an extra pair of hands now. "Mom, I just had the baby and the midwives aren’t here yet. Come now." She was on her way. I was ready for this to be done with and wanted to get out of the tub and deliver the placenta. I figured I’d try to breastfeed her to stimulate the contractions which would release the placenta. He helped me to the bed, and just as I was about to try to feed her, we heard a ‘thunk!’ as our bedroom door swung open and my mw rushed in saying "I heard the baby!"
She checked her over (9 pounds, 8 ounces, and 21 inches long!), told us how great we did, drew my baby’s cord blood (which we had wanted to bank, but I didn’t think I’d be able to at this point), then coached me to deliver the placenta. I had one small tear which needed to be stitched and another two on the side which did not. She wanted to know what time the baby had been born and we agreed that it must have been about 11:02pm - just an hour and a half after contractions had begun!
Throughout the course of this pregnancy I had developed the desire more and more to really birth my own baby. I wanted the absolute minimal amount of intervention possible from my midwives. I knew and believed that birth was the most beautiful and natural of all of life’s experiences and I fully wanted to have it as my own. This birth gave me, in a very unexpected way, exactly that and I’m so happy and proud of the experience.
