Hi all!
Just wanted to let you know that our dear daughter Zoe Mae arrived yesterday, Aug. 11, at 11:49 am. I had a 10-hour labor and she was born at home into Daddy's hands with big sister watching. It was hard but awesome...I almost want to do it again, odd as that sounds...and we're all happy and healthy.
She was 5 days early, 8 lbs 7 oz, and 21.25 inches long. Nursing great and sleeping well!
Here's the story....
Wednesday, the day before the birth….I had a crying meltdown in the morning because I was nervous/anxious/overwhelmed. We went to our midwife appointment at 2 pm, only to find out that the midwife and senior apprentice were at a birth! The junior apprentice checked me out though, and we made an appointment for the following week. Then we headed to a natural foods store where I picked up some evening primrose oil to soften my cervix and hopefully "get things going". I had one softgel orally and used 3 vaginally before I went to bed (around 11 pm).
Thursday, 1:40 am - I wake up to a gush of fluid! I head for the bathroom - more fluid. I wake up Matt and tell him my water just broke. Then we wait to see if anything else happens. I start to have surges (contractions) about 5 minutes apart. They're very manageable and I don’t know how long they last because we can't find anything with a second hand. Matt finally gets my laptop from the office and sets it up by the bed so we can use the clock to time contractions.
Around 2:30 am I page the mw and she calls back a few minutes later, sounding tired. (It turns out that the birth they attended Wednesday lasted a long time and they were there from 7:30 am to 11 pm!) We decide it's too early but that I'll call back when I feel like it's time for them to come.
I call her again at 4:30 am and tell her the surges are still regular, 4-5 min apart and almost a minute in length. I can't talk through some of them, but they are still manageable.
Mw and apprentice show up around 5:15-5:30 am. I'm outside walking around on the sidewalk, because it's really nice out there. They bring in all their gear; Emily sets everything up and mw goes to sleep in our guest room.
Sascha wakes up about 6:30 am. I'm still laboring alone at this point, walking up and down the hall or around the downstairs.
Mw checks me about 7:30 or 8 am…by now, things have gotten more intense. I'm 5 cm, she says. I'm a bit disappointed, though I've only been in labor for about 6 hours.
Matt and I are upstairs after this - I definitely need him with me at this point. I'm either on the toilet or just standing in the bedroom, and when a contraction hits I lean on him and make noise. I do try lying on the bed at one point, and take some Rescue Remedy…this is the only time I can sort of sleep between contractions.
Around 10:30 am mw checks me again - I'm about 8 cm. "I feel a bulging bag," she says. So my water must have not broken, just leaked. The bag is in front of the baby's head, just like with Sascha, and it's preventing her from moving down very far.
I labor another hour, and this is the most intense time - definite transition. I'm moaning, yelling, singing with every contraction and I start to tell Matt I can't do it anymore and I want it to stop. He is awesome, making noise with me and telling me I'm strong and I've gotten through another one. I feel sort of pushy at this point but not a lot. Still mostly standing, but around 11:30 or so I get on my hands and knees on the bed, supported by several pillows under my chest. Matt asks if I want the mw to break the bag and I say yes.
I push a couple of times and she breaks the bag at 11:40 am. The pushing sensations definitely overtake me then - I can't NOT push. And it feels really good to push, unlike my first labor. I feel like something's happening. After about 4 pushes I feel a head start to come out! Mw tells me to puff, not push, so the head can come out slowly and I won't tear. I try really hard to do this, and I do only wind up with a very small tear. After the head is completely out she tells me to push the rest of the baby out…but I'm not having a pushing contraction. In a few seconds I do, and I can feel her work the shoulders out…and then there's this huge relieving GUSH as the rest of Zoe's body comes out, along with a LOT of fluid. Turns out Zoe had one hand up by the opposite ear, which made her "stick" a bit on the way out.
As soon as she's out I'm laughing and looking down and saying "Hello, hi, you're finally here!" I move onto my back and take her on my chest. She has some fluid in her lungs because her trip was so quick, so we pat her back to help it come up. Her head is purplish (from being out by itself for a bit) and she's covered in vernix. Her eyes are puffy and she has long, delicate fingers, just like Sascha. I have no idea at this point how big she is, whether she's bigger than Sascha or not (though I'm pretty sure she's not smaller).
Sascha, who watched the birth, gets up on the bed with us right away and says "Hi Binky". Later I will find out she was very worried about me during late first stage and transition - she didn't want me making all those loud noises. But after the birth she's awesome.
The placenta comes out soon after and is now in our freezer in a grocery bag.
They ask her name and we tell them Zoe, but aren't sure about the middle name yet. Later we decide on Mae.
Zoe latches on eventually and has a good snack. After a couple of hours they weigh and measure her- 21.25 inches and 8 lbs 7 oz! Much bigger than I thought she would be.
I have to say that this birth experience exceeded all my expectations. Everyone was so amazing. Matt and I didn't really talk about his role or what I might want, but once I needed him it was just instinctive - he was everything I needed and nothing I didn't.
The mw and apprentice were incredible. The apprentice was awesome with Sascha and explained everything to her so that when it was time for the birth, Sascha could be there. She came in to check the baby's heart rate every 30 min or so, and made sure I had what I needed. I never felt intruded upon.
The mw was incredible too. She was in the house but not in the room with us most of the time, yet I knew if I wanted her to be there she would be instantly. She made sure I was as comfortable as possible, had enough to drink, and of course was there at the end to help deliver Zoe into Matt's hands.
And Sascha was amazing…I really didn't think she'd stick it out the whole time. I was expecting to have to send her to someone else's house. But she was so comfortable with the mw and apprentice, doing puzzles with them and reading stories and playing trains…and then when the time came she watched and then got right up on the bed with us and has been wonderful ever since - helpful and interested and asking lots of questions (though she was really tired today - as we all are!).
It almost makes me want to do it again!
Nancy
Just wanted to let you know that our dear daughter Zoe Mae arrived yesterday, Aug. 11, at 11:49 am. I had a 10-hour labor and she was born at home into Daddy's hands with big sister watching. It was hard but awesome...I almost want to do it again, odd as that sounds...and we're all happy and healthy.
She was 5 days early, 8 lbs 7 oz, and 21.25 inches long. Nursing great and sleeping well!
Here's the story....
Wednesday, the day before the birth….I had a crying meltdown in the morning because I was nervous/anxious/overwhelmed. We went to our midwife appointment at 2 pm, only to find out that the midwife and senior apprentice were at a birth! The junior apprentice checked me out though, and we made an appointment for the following week. Then we headed to a natural foods store where I picked up some evening primrose oil to soften my cervix and hopefully "get things going". I had one softgel orally and used 3 vaginally before I went to bed (around 11 pm).
Thursday, 1:40 am - I wake up to a gush of fluid! I head for the bathroom - more fluid. I wake up Matt and tell him my water just broke. Then we wait to see if anything else happens. I start to have surges (contractions) about 5 minutes apart. They're very manageable and I don’t know how long they last because we can't find anything with a second hand. Matt finally gets my laptop from the office and sets it up by the bed so we can use the clock to time contractions.
Around 2:30 am I page the mw and she calls back a few minutes later, sounding tired. (It turns out that the birth they attended Wednesday lasted a long time and they were there from 7:30 am to 11 pm!) We decide it's too early but that I'll call back when I feel like it's time for them to come.
I call her again at 4:30 am and tell her the surges are still regular, 4-5 min apart and almost a minute in length. I can't talk through some of them, but they are still manageable.
Mw and apprentice show up around 5:15-5:30 am. I'm outside walking around on the sidewalk, because it's really nice out there. They bring in all their gear; Emily sets everything up and mw goes to sleep in our guest room.
Sascha wakes up about 6:30 am. I'm still laboring alone at this point, walking up and down the hall or around the downstairs.
Mw checks me about 7:30 or 8 am…by now, things have gotten more intense. I'm 5 cm, she says. I'm a bit disappointed, though I've only been in labor for about 6 hours.
Matt and I are upstairs after this - I definitely need him with me at this point. I'm either on the toilet or just standing in the bedroom, and when a contraction hits I lean on him and make noise. I do try lying on the bed at one point, and take some Rescue Remedy…this is the only time I can sort of sleep between contractions.
Around 10:30 am mw checks me again - I'm about 8 cm. "I feel a bulging bag," she says. So my water must have not broken, just leaked. The bag is in front of the baby's head, just like with Sascha, and it's preventing her from moving down very far.
I labor another hour, and this is the most intense time - definite transition. I'm moaning, yelling, singing with every contraction and I start to tell Matt I can't do it anymore and I want it to stop. He is awesome, making noise with me and telling me I'm strong and I've gotten through another one. I feel sort of pushy at this point but not a lot. Still mostly standing, but around 11:30 or so I get on my hands and knees on the bed, supported by several pillows under my chest. Matt asks if I want the mw to break the bag and I say yes.
I push a couple of times and she breaks the bag at 11:40 am. The pushing sensations definitely overtake me then - I can't NOT push. And it feels really good to push, unlike my first labor. I feel like something's happening. After about 4 pushes I feel a head start to come out! Mw tells me to puff, not push, so the head can come out slowly and I won't tear. I try really hard to do this, and I do only wind up with a very small tear. After the head is completely out she tells me to push the rest of the baby out…but I'm not having a pushing contraction. In a few seconds I do, and I can feel her work the shoulders out…and then there's this huge relieving GUSH as the rest of Zoe's body comes out, along with a LOT of fluid. Turns out Zoe had one hand up by the opposite ear, which made her "stick" a bit on the way out.
As soon as she's out I'm laughing and looking down and saying "Hello, hi, you're finally here!" I move onto my back and take her on my chest. She has some fluid in her lungs because her trip was so quick, so we pat her back to help it come up. Her head is purplish (from being out by itself for a bit) and she's covered in vernix. Her eyes are puffy and she has long, delicate fingers, just like Sascha. I have no idea at this point how big she is, whether she's bigger than Sascha or not (though I'm pretty sure she's not smaller).
Sascha, who watched the birth, gets up on the bed with us right away and says "Hi Binky". Later I will find out she was very worried about me during late first stage and transition - she didn't want me making all those loud noises. But after the birth she's awesome.
The placenta comes out soon after and is now in our freezer in a grocery bag.
They ask her name and we tell them Zoe, but aren't sure about the middle name yet. Later we decide on Mae.
Zoe latches on eventually and has a good snack. After a couple of hours they weigh and measure her- 21.25 inches and 8 lbs 7 oz! Much bigger than I thought she would be.
I have to say that this birth experience exceeded all my expectations. Everyone was so amazing. Matt and I didn't really talk about his role or what I might want, but once I needed him it was just instinctive - he was everything I needed and nothing I didn't.
The mw and apprentice were incredible. The apprentice was awesome with Sascha and explained everything to her so that when it was time for the birth, Sascha could be there. She came in to check the baby's heart rate every 30 min or so, and made sure I had what I needed. I never felt intruded upon.
The mw was incredible too. She was in the house but not in the room with us most of the time, yet I knew if I wanted her to be there she would be instantly. She made sure I was as comfortable as possible, had enough to drink, and of course was there at the end to help deliver Zoe into Matt's hands.
And Sascha was amazing…I really didn't think she'd stick it out the whole time. I was expecting to have to send her to someone else's house. But she was so comfortable with the mw and apprentice, doing puzzles with them and reading stories and playing trains…and then when the time came she watched and then got right up on the bed with us and has been wonderful ever since - helpful and interested and asking lots of questions (though she was really tired today - as we all are!).
It almost makes me want to do it again!
Nancy
Congratulations!
