Matt was predicting a Hallowe’en baby since we first figured out a November 7th due date. At 39 weeks, after a relatively comfortable pregnancy, I was sure that I would be overdue- I was much too comfortable still, and convinced that misery was actually what started labour. Plus the baby was pretty consistently posterior, had not yet dropped, and there were NO signs at all of impending labour. My “just curious” self-exam a couple of days before found a soft but long, closed and very posterior cervix.
Hallowe’en morning came with a different discovery- baby’s back on the left side, and lots of kicks on the right. I went for a wonderful swim that afternoon, and had a quiet hallowe’en evening while Matt worked late. It was a stormy evening with lots of fireworks outside. I went to bed early, after joking to Matt that he was wrong with his predictions, and that I thought the baby would probably turn OP again overnight. At 11:55 pm, I rolled over and felt a little wet. I got up to the ensuite bathroom, leaving the door open. As I sat on the toilet, there was a big gush as my waters broke completely. Matt woke up as I was sitting on the toilet, and asked if I was okay. I told him my water had broken- he said “really?”, then “I told you so”. While we weren’t having a hallowe’en baby, he was closer than anyone else with his prediction. We were both kind of nervous and excited, so we got up and had a bowl of cereal and played a game of cribbage (I lost). I had a few mild cramps during the game, then after organizing the last of the birth supplies, we went back to bed to try to get some sleep. I think I dozed on and off, but some mild cramps and a lot of excitement kept me awake.
By 5 am the contractions were uncomfortable in bed, so I got up and had some oatmeal and sat on the birthing ball. Matt woke up at 7 am, and made toast and peanut butter for me. After breakfast I called Patti, the midwife on call, to let her know that things were happening. The contractions were still mild, and short- though they were coming every 4 or 5 minutes now. We called some family, including Tina (my mother-in-law), who was arranging things at home to take the ferry over to Vancouver. Matt and I decided to go for a walk to the corner store to buy a newspaper. Contractions continued through the morning, and anticipating a long labour, I tried to have a nap. I dozed again between 9 and 9:30, but was awakened by a strong contraction that made me want to be out of bed. I continued through the morning, mostly leaning forward over the birthing ball or leaning on the wall or counter with contractions. Sitting made them much worse- one contraction came while I was in the rocking chair, which made me call out that it really sucked. Around noon contractions were getting stronger, so I tried getting in the shower. It felt great, but things really intensified when I got out. I was vocalizing through the stronger contractions, and getting kind of worried about how long and intense the labour might be. Just before 1 pm we called Patti and asked her to come to check things out (she had called me at about 11, and I told her I was happy on my own still). When she and Ruth (a student midwife) arrived at about 1:30 I was on the bed with my butt in the air- which made the contractions more spaced apart, but stronger. They listened to the baby, checked my vital signs, and did an internal exam: my cervix was 2 cm dilated, almost fully effaced and the head was at –1 station. Just having them check me and knowing that things were progressing well helped me to cope better. Patti and Ruth left, and we told them we’d call back when we needed them.
Matt and I went for a walk around the block, and it felt good to get some fresh air. After once around the block, I suggested a second trip- but a really strong and vocal contraction made me change my mind, so we headed back inside. Some of my contractions felt like intense pressure in my hips and pelvis, and Matt helped with some great hip squeezes. We spent the rest of the afternoon around the house- I’d call out for hip pressure with the stronger contractions. We played another game of cribbage, which took longer because of pauses for contractions. I won this time- skunked Matt. As we finished the game at around 3 pm, Tina arrived and settled in. She had brought a cooler full of food that she didn’t want to go bad at home. At this stage I was mostly just drinking- labourade that I had made and some sips of water. I got in the shower again, and Tina stayed at home with me while Matt and his brother Toby went out to run some errands. By 5pm contractions were very intense. I knew that Patti was off call at 6 pm (she was moving into her new apartment that night), so I was trying not to call until Liz came on call at 6. At 5:30 I started throwing up, and feeling more pressure in my pelvis with contractions- even after the contractions ended there was a burning stretching feeling in my bones that lasted a few seconds longer. Matt called Patti, who called Liz and asked her to come over soon. Liz arrived shortly after 6, and Ruth a few minutes after that. I really wanted to get in the tub, but wanted to be re-assessed first, since my water had been broken for quite a while. Ruth re-examined me, and I was disappointed to hear that I was “only” 4 cm dilated, though fully effaced and baby’s head was at spines. I was also a little bit dehydrated, so was encouraged to drink more. Liz asked me if she wanted them to stay or leave us alone a bit longer, and I couldn’t decide what to do. Matt asked them to stay for a while.
I decided to get in the shower instead of the tub. I told Matt that he should eat- since the shower was the only place that I didn’t need his support and hip squeezes through every contraction. I spent a while in the shower feeling kind of paranoid- at some point someone refilled my water bottle, and I thought they were trying to prove that I wasn’t drinking enough. I imagined that everyone was in the living room talking about how I was only four centimeters and already very distressed. I contemplated going to the hospital for pain relief, but decided that the prospect of driving there was worse than the pain of labour. I decided that if it was still really bad in another hour without some good progress, I’d make them take me to hospital in an ambulance- I think this is quite funny in retrospect. I tried kneeling, squatting, stading and crouching in the shower, but couldn’t find a position to stay comfortable in. I got out of the shower and onto the bed in my knee-chest, butt in the air position again. I felt like it was an illogical position (working against gravity), but it felt better than most. Matt was awesome- kept telling my how well I was doing, and anticipating my needs when I was feeling very distressed and discouraged with contractions. I felt like I was really losing control- I was swearing instead of moaning through contractions, and there was a burning stretching pain in the front of my pelvis that stayed even after the contractions ended. I also had some nausea, and was throwing up and retching. Matt was awesome through all of this- really reassuring with his complete faith in me and my ability to birth our baby naturally, even when I was having doubts. I decided to try to get into the tub to see if it would help. Ruth gave me some rescue remedy, because I was kind of panicked and having trouble relaxing even in between contractions. After three or four contractions thrashing around in the tub and complaining about how it wasn’t nearly as relaxing as I expected (I had been dreaming about the relaxation of labouring in water through my entire pregnancy- I am a swimmer and love being in the water), I realized that I was pushing a bit with the contractions. I got out of the tub and sat on the toilet to try to pee, and by the next contraction my body was really uncontrollably pushing. Liz looked and told me my perineum was bulging as I pushed with the contractions, and told me to “do what your body tells you”. At that point, it felt like my body wanted to escape the whole situation. I was having a really hard time getting out of my head- I couldn’t figure out what to do because I thought that it was too soon for me to be fully dilated.
With the next pushing contraction I reached down, and called out “I can feel my baby’s head”- I could feel the top of the head at my perineum. (Reading the notes later I saw that this was 7:55 pm- but I had no concept of time) Suddenly everyone jumped into action- the backup midwife was called, and Ruth and Liz prepared the birthing supplies. The bathroom felt really crowded, so I moved to the bed and back to my favourite “butt in the air” position. Pushing felt soooo good compared to transition- I could communicate more easily again, and felt way less afraid and discouraged. The pain in my pubic bone was still there, but felt much more manageable. After a while, I turned over and pushed lying on my left side. I could see all of my “team” that way- Tina and Kat the backup midwife were both at the foot of the bed, Ruth and Liz on my right side, and Matt holding my hands and sitting in bed beside me on my left. We actually chatted between some of the contractions- Matt was given some rescue remedy, which I joked about being homeopathic Ativan. Everyone was also betting about time of birth, but I refused to look at the clock- so I didn’t know if they thought things were close or not. Crowning was less fun than the rest of pushing- the baby had her hand up by the side of her head (I think that was the reason for all of the pelvic pain- her little arm or elbow must have been pushing up against my pubic bone), and I had a couple of small tears at the top of my inner labia. Once her head was out I said “that feels so good”. Ruth slipped a loose loop of cord over her head, then I pushed the rest of her body out- Matt helped to catch her body and passed her up to my chest. She was born at 8:50pm, and it took me about a minute to think to check her gender- it was a girl. We named her Neela right then. Neela breastfeed really well soon after birth, and the placenta came easily about 5 minutes after she was born.
Normally the midwives call the back-up hospital to notify them of a home birth in progress, and they had agreed to call late in my case because I work at the hospital. Because things went so quickly in the end, they hadn’t yet called. I made the phone call myself about 20 minutes after she was born, to notify my friends and co-workers of a successful homebirth. They were surprised, because I had mostly kept my plans for a homebirth secret at work.
The midwives checked Neela out and weighed her- 6lbs14oz after she was finished feeding. They sutured my tears and helped me have something to eat, then get up to have a shower and use the bathroom before they left. Then Matt, Neela and I all tucked into bed for the night.
Hallowe’en morning came with a different discovery- baby’s back on the left side, and lots of kicks on the right. I went for a wonderful swim that afternoon, and had a quiet hallowe’en evening while Matt worked late. It was a stormy evening with lots of fireworks outside. I went to bed early, after joking to Matt that he was wrong with his predictions, and that I thought the baby would probably turn OP again overnight. At 11:55 pm, I rolled over and felt a little wet. I got up to the ensuite bathroom, leaving the door open. As I sat on the toilet, there was a big gush as my waters broke completely. Matt woke up as I was sitting on the toilet, and asked if I was okay. I told him my water had broken- he said “really?”, then “I told you so”. While we weren’t having a hallowe’en baby, he was closer than anyone else with his prediction. We were both kind of nervous and excited, so we got up and had a bowl of cereal and played a game of cribbage (I lost). I had a few mild cramps during the game, then after organizing the last of the birth supplies, we went back to bed to try to get some sleep. I think I dozed on and off, but some mild cramps and a lot of excitement kept me awake.
By 5 am the contractions were uncomfortable in bed, so I got up and had some oatmeal and sat on the birthing ball. Matt woke up at 7 am, and made toast and peanut butter for me. After breakfast I called Patti, the midwife on call, to let her know that things were happening. The contractions were still mild, and short- though they were coming every 4 or 5 minutes now. We called some family, including Tina (my mother-in-law), who was arranging things at home to take the ferry over to Vancouver. Matt and I decided to go for a walk to the corner store to buy a newspaper. Contractions continued through the morning, and anticipating a long labour, I tried to have a nap. I dozed again between 9 and 9:30, but was awakened by a strong contraction that made me want to be out of bed. I continued through the morning, mostly leaning forward over the birthing ball or leaning on the wall or counter with contractions. Sitting made them much worse- one contraction came while I was in the rocking chair, which made me call out that it really sucked. Around noon contractions were getting stronger, so I tried getting in the shower. It felt great, but things really intensified when I got out. I was vocalizing through the stronger contractions, and getting kind of worried about how long and intense the labour might be. Just before 1 pm we called Patti and asked her to come to check things out (she had called me at about 11, and I told her I was happy on my own still). When she and Ruth (a student midwife) arrived at about 1:30 I was on the bed with my butt in the air- which made the contractions more spaced apart, but stronger. They listened to the baby, checked my vital signs, and did an internal exam: my cervix was 2 cm dilated, almost fully effaced and the head was at –1 station. Just having them check me and knowing that things were progressing well helped me to cope better. Patti and Ruth left, and we told them we’d call back when we needed them.
Matt and I went for a walk around the block, and it felt good to get some fresh air. After once around the block, I suggested a second trip- but a really strong and vocal contraction made me change my mind, so we headed back inside. Some of my contractions felt like intense pressure in my hips and pelvis, and Matt helped with some great hip squeezes. We spent the rest of the afternoon around the house- I’d call out for hip pressure with the stronger contractions. We played another game of cribbage, which took longer because of pauses for contractions. I won this time- skunked Matt. As we finished the game at around 3 pm, Tina arrived and settled in. She had brought a cooler full of food that she didn’t want to go bad at home. At this stage I was mostly just drinking- labourade that I had made and some sips of water. I got in the shower again, and Tina stayed at home with me while Matt and his brother Toby went out to run some errands. By 5pm contractions were very intense. I knew that Patti was off call at 6 pm (she was moving into her new apartment that night), so I was trying not to call until Liz came on call at 6. At 5:30 I started throwing up, and feeling more pressure in my pelvis with contractions- even after the contractions ended there was a burning stretching feeling in my bones that lasted a few seconds longer. Matt called Patti, who called Liz and asked her to come over soon. Liz arrived shortly after 6, and Ruth a few minutes after that. I really wanted to get in the tub, but wanted to be re-assessed first, since my water had been broken for quite a while. Ruth re-examined me, and I was disappointed to hear that I was “only” 4 cm dilated, though fully effaced and baby’s head was at spines. I was also a little bit dehydrated, so was encouraged to drink more. Liz asked me if she wanted them to stay or leave us alone a bit longer, and I couldn’t decide what to do. Matt asked them to stay for a while.
I decided to get in the shower instead of the tub. I told Matt that he should eat- since the shower was the only place that I didn’t need his support and hip squeezes through every contraction. I spent a while in the shower feeling kind of paranoid- at some point someone refilled my water bottle, and I thought they were trying to prove that I wasn’t drinking enough. I imagined that everyone was in the living room talking about how I was only four centimeters and already very distressed. I contemplated going to the hospital for pain relief, but decided that the prospect of driving there was worse than the pain of labour. I decided that if it was still really bad in another hour without some good progress, I’d make them take me to hospital in an ambulance- I think this is quite funny in retrospect. I tried kneeling, squatting, stading and crouching in the shower, but couldn’t find a position to stay comfortable in. I got out of the shower and onto the bed in my knee-chest, butt in the air position again. I felt like it was an illogical position (working against gravity), but it felt better than most. Matt was awesome- kept telling my how well I was doing, and anticipating my needs when I was feeling very distressed and discouraged with contractions. I felt like I was really losing control- I was swearing instead of moaning through contractions, and there was a burning stretching pain in the front of my pelvis that stayed even after the contractions ended. I also had some nausea, and was throwing up and retching. Matt was awesome through all of this- really reassuring with his complete faith in me and my ability to birth our baby naturally, even when I was having doubts. I decided to try to get into the tub to see if it would help. Ruth gave me some rescue remedy, because I was kind of panicked and having trouble relaxing even in between contractions. After three or four contractions thrashing around in the tub and complaining about how it wasn’t nearly as relaxing as I expected (I had been dreaming about the relaxation of labouring in water through my entire pregnancy- I am a swimmer and love being in the water), I realized that I was pushing a bit with the contractions. I got out of the tub and sat on the toilet to try to pee, and by the next contraction my body was really uncontrollably pushing. Liz looked and told me my perineum was bulging as I pushed with the contractions, and told me to “do what your body tells you”. At that point, it felt like my body wanted to escape the whole situation. I was having a really hard time getting out of my head- I couldn’t figure out what to do because I thought that it was too soon for me to be fully dilated.
With the next pushing contraction I reached down, and called out “I can feel my baby’s head”- I could feel the top of the head at my perineum. (Reading the notes later I saw that this was 7:55 pm- but I had no concept of time) Suddenly everyone jumped into action- the backup midwife was called, and Ruth and Liz prepared the birthing supplies. The bathroom felt really crowded, so I moved to the bed and back to my favourite “butt in the air” position. Pushing felt soooo good compared to transition- I could communicate more easily again, and felt way less afraid and discouraged. The pain in my pubic bone was still there, but felt much more manageable. After a while, I turned over and pushed lying on my left side. I could see all of my “team” that way- Tina and Kat the backup midwife were both at the foot of the bed, Ruth and Liz on my right side, and Matt holding my hands and sitting in bed beside me on my left. We actually chatted between some of the contractions- Matt was given some rescue remedy, which I joked about being homeopathic Ativan. Everyone was also betting about time of birth, but I refused to look at the clock- so I didn’t know if they thought things were close or not. Crowning was less fun than the rest of pushing- the baby had her hand up by the side of her head (I think that was the reason for all of the pelvic pain- her little arm or elbow must have been pushing up against my pubic bone), and I had a couple of small tears at the top of my inner labia. Once her head was out I said “that feels so good”. Ruth slipped a loose loop of cord over her head, then I pushed the rest of her body out- Matt helped to catch her body and passed her up to my chest. She was born at 8:50pm, and it took me about a minute to think to check her gender- it was a girl. We named her Neela right then. Neela breastfeed really well soon after birth, and the placenta came easily about 5 minutes after she was born.
Normally the midwives call the back-up hospital to notify them of a home birth in progress, and they had agreed to call late in my case because I work at the hospital. Because things went so quickly in the end, they hadn’t yet called. I made the phone call myself about 20 minutes after she was born, to notify my friends and co-workers of a successful homebirth. They were surprised, because I had mostly kept my plans for a homebirth secret at work.
The midwives checked Neela out and weighed her- 6lbs14oz after she was finished feeding. They sutured my tears and helped me have something to eat, then get up to have a shower and use the bathroom before they left. Then Matt, Neela and I all tucked into bed for the night.
Sounds like a great birth!
