Saturday afternoon two days before my Edd Eric Hunter and I spent the day at home together. Hunter(21 months)was acting very badly the entire day..he fought us for everything changing him, eating, even playing with him did not make him happy...around noonish he went down for a nap that lasted three hours. Eric and I also decided to nap as the night before Hunter had not slept well so we were all tired. We first decide to BD as the day before at our midwife visit I caved and allowed myself to be checked and was told my cervix was very soft and I was 1.5-2 cm. Our midwife Marie-Claude seemed very upbeat about this so I left feeling very positive labour would start on its own this time.
Eric and I napped for two hours until Hunter woke and then I started to get really grumpy..Hunter was acting out and Eric was not dealing with it in I way I thought was appropriate. So Eric and I started to get snippy with each other. This was around 430 and I started to feel crampy and unwell.
By 5pm we were getting Hunter's supper ready I was feeling contractions but did not mention it to Eric as earlier in the week I had had them but they fizzled out so wanted to be sure it was the real deal this time. Eric decided to eat supper but I only felt like eating some toast and decided to start organizing some kitchen cupboards such as the shelf where we keep Hunter's sippys etc.
IL's called around this time to let us know they would drop by on their way home form the movies to see if they could distract Hunter from his bad mood. I was happy they were coming to occupy Hunter as he was more then I could handle but was scared that having someone in the house would stop my contractions..although I was not timing them I knew they were coming often. Eric also had figured out by this time that I must be having contractions.
While they were here I would leave the room to deal with the contractions and was completely in a zone...I took the garbage out and gave the birds extra food.
Il's figured this might be the real thing and offered to take Hunter for the night just in case...so I packed helped pack a bag for him..making sure his I'm maybe little but I am the Big Brother shirt was in it.
After they left I ate some rice cakes and drink some orange juice.
Eric suggested I take a bath to see if the contractions stopped...I sat in a nice warm bath with some nice smelling Dead Sea salts in the candlelight and only had one small contraction so decided to get out and see they continued...they did and continued to get stronger so I had to vocalize through them. Eric put on some music and by candlelight rubbed my belly with some Belly Jelly and I stayed in front of the fireplace as the heat was soothing.
I asked Eric to call the downstairs neighbors Seb and Chantal(who Eric has been friends with since high school) if I could borrow some nail polish remover as we had run out and I wanted to do my toenails...Seb brought it up and apparently I scared him while I was dealing with the contractions. We also asked if they had a watch with a second hand as we had none...neither did they. I painted my tails nails a pretty lilac. Later Chantal dropped by to see how things were going, she was very excited.
Around 850pm I decided to call Karine(our back-up midwife who was on call that weekend)and Sarah our Doula to let them know that something was happening so they could be prepared...I figured the contractions were every 5-10 minutes at this point and lasting 30 seconds so thought I had a while to go.
An hour later they started to get more intense and I decided to call Karine to let them know we wanted to come in as it was a 45 minute drive and it was starting to snow and I really did not want to have hard labour hit while in the car. I also call my parents to let them know we are leaving for the Birth House and will call them when the baby is born or in the morning if nothing has happened by then. I got dressed and Eric took some last minute items out to the car, we had put our bags in the day before so we would be ready to go if labour started when we were away from home.
Eric realizes at this point that we need gas and decides to swing by a house to show me that is for rent that he had called about that evening..needless to say I am not impressed about this.
At the gas station he starts in on a conversation with someone and I have to remind him hey might be in labour here..this from the man who was panic ed about me being in labour and the drive into the city now that is seems to be happening he acts like there is no big rush.
I was fearful at first that the drive would knock me out of my zone but they continued to come and were quite manageable even while being in the car.
Shortly before we arrive the birth house I have Eric call our Doula Sarah to say we are going to be at the Birth House in a few minutes and will see if its real labour and will give her a call so she can come.
Karine meets us at the side door around 1130 and we head upstairs...another Birth took place earlier in the evening so there are a few staff there..also we had saw a ambulance in the driveway and was told it was another woman who was being transfered. We leave the bags in the car until we know for sure what is going on.
Karine leads us to the room that since I took the tour when pregnant with Hunter that I wanted to give birth in..it was large and had a big round tub for labouring and birthing in. Karine lights a candle and what lights were on were kept dim...she checked my heart rate, blood pressure took my temp and then checked me and found me to be 6-7 cm much to our surprise as I was still not sure it was the real thing and expected to be maybe a three or even less. She mentions that the head is still high and to start trying to work it down by walking, sitting on the birth ball etc.
Eric called Sarah and she said she was heading out the door. Eric and I discuss how shocked we are that I made it to 6-7 so easily and Eric gets our bags and Karine shows me where our washroom is down the hall.
Eric come back with our bags and he gets the Cd's out and puts in Notre Dame de Paris Act 1 and I help him prepare the video camera..othrewise he would have forgot to put film in it as well we also get out the one time use cameras as our digital still had not arrived. I change into a tank,some panties, and a robe and slippers.
The contractions were still easy to deal with and I had breaks in between so it was easy to recover. Sarah and later our other Doula Sharon arrived and I passed some time chatting and holding onto the near-by radiator when a contraction hit (the house is old and heated by those old fashioned water radiator's) I sit on the ball for a few minutes but decide not to once things get way more intense. Eric helps me to the washroom to go pee and I mention that maybe I would like to get into the tub.
So they start running the water and I get in and wow it is nice and big I tell Eric we need one of these at home. It also has a whirlpool but I say no as it did not appeal to me. At one point they check me and I am 9cm. Then 10 cm within a hour of arriving at the birth house. My water still had not broken at this point and Karine suggested that we break it so things would move along faster...I knew that they would bit also knew that it would be a whole lot more painful so decided to wait and see how the pushing went first.
Soon after I was complete I semi felt the urge to push...it was different feeling then with Hunter as I had such a a strong urge with him and it felt good to work with the contractions..this time it didn't.
In hindsight I started to push sooner then I should have..I should have used this time to rest and gather my strength but I was just too anxious to get it over with.
I really can]t recall who was in the room...I remember at times talking to Eric about a Cat Stevens song that was playing. Telling him to remove his watch in case it got wet.
I remember my doula's encouraging me and massaging my hips, as well as the student midwife Danielle trying to take the baby heart rate every so often I am afraid I made that hard for her as I was constantly changing place.
I mainly pushed on my hands and knees or holding onto the side of the tub.
I also was not contracting on pushing as much as I could have been, my mind kept wondering on silly things now I can not remember what they were but at the time I was thinking about them I was like Hello Terri you are pushing a baby out here FOCUS!!.
I also think I had a fear of the head crowning as I remembered the feeling when Hunter was born and although I had many more painful things done to me during his birth and I knew that it would only last a few seconds I was hesitant to push fully.
I do remember telling everyone that I could not do this I just needed a break and that the head was so close couldn't someone just help me. The phrase Just get it out might have been said a few times
At some point I asked for the waters to be broken so Karine got out the needle and I flipped to a sitting position, when they broke it was an amazing amount of pressure and Eric said he was able to see the waters coming out into the tub. When my next contraction started they helped moved me upright and I started to push squatting as I knew that would move things along. Now Karine advised me that after the head come out to stop pushing as she did not want the shoulders to come out too quickly and for me to tear.
Sadly I did not listen as the urge to get the rest of the baby out was too great and i did end up with some second degree tears which required some stitches.
Once the head came out they flipped me back to semi-sitting and I pushed the shoulders out and pulled the baby onto my stomach. It was a short cord so we could not move her up any further.
I thought I heard someone say Welcome to the world little girl but am sure that no one there would have given away the gender so am not sure what I heard but I moved the cord and said Its a girl.
Eric and I ended up checking three times as to if it was a girl or not as we had been so sure it was a boy. She pinked up nicely right away while we waited for the cord to stop pulsing and they did not even have to clear her nose or throat.
Eric cut the cord after it stopped pulsing and I delivered the placenta 10 minutes after Novia was born. She was handed off to Eric who removed his shirt for some skin to skin contact and I stood up and was hosed down so I could get out of the tub. I kept saying how amazing I felt that I felt so great. It was a completely different experience from our DS's birth.
I went to the bed and Eric gave me Novia while they brought us some fruit plates and juice and I nursed her. Karine also examined me to see if I had tore which I had but she said she would stitch it later.
After a while the doula's left Eric and I alone and I called my parents to let them know that their granddaughter had been born..we held off calling Eric's as we did not want to risk waking Hunter.
After a while Karine and the Doula's came back to the room and Karine showed us the placenta..Eric took a picture, not something that we will show most people .
She also stitched me up after numbing the area with a spray and then by needle. The room was still kept dark and they used a single bright light to work by. Sharon held my hand and Eric held Novia. The cleaned up my bed afterward and I was able to walk around easily etc but got a little dizzy spell so got back onto bed with Novia shortly after.
The Doula's left and around 430am Karine started her exam of Novia who was in perfect health. I ordered a breakfast for myself of toast and oatmeal and chowed down..the food is so yummy there we ate so well in the short amount of time we stayed there.
By 6am Karine was finished and Eric, Novia and i lay down to sleep. Eric slept on a pull out chair as a double bed is too small for three of us. I slept well until around 8am when we awoke and ordered a second breakfast and started to make our calls. First to his Mother and then his sister who both were in complete disbelief that the baby was a girl. This baby is the last grandchild on either side. Eric's parents have three grandsons already and my parents have Hunter. I could hear Eric's Mother crying and laughing from across the room.
We spent the next hour or so making our calls, eating lunch etc.
Karine came back around 2pm to check us out one last time before sending us home. Our friend's Jennifer and Julie and Michel came by for a quick visit during this time.
We went over the paperwork etc that we needed to take care of with the Aide Natal and got the car seat and our bags ready and by 430pm was on our way home. So far Novia has been a easy baby and we introduced Hunter to her yesterday(he had a bad cold so stayed with his grandparents for a few days)He seems to like her and really would love to play with her..he already has his own name for her Via.
She nurses like a champ and at three days had only lost 6 Oz's off her birth weight. We go to see the the midwife tomorrow for our 5 day(or in this case 6 day) visit.
It was a dream birth and we had all that we could ask for. It was the birth we had planned with our DS that went so wrong..but this birth has been an healing experience and a good way to end our childbearing years as she is our last child.
NAME NOVIA BLUE LAURENCE DORION
GENDER FEMALE
DOB 01/08/06 140AM
EDD 01/09/06
WT 8 LBS 1OZ
LENGTH 20.5 INCHES
Eric and I napped for two hours until Hunter woke and then I started to get really grumpy..Hunter was acting out and Eric was not dealing with it in I way I thought was appropriate. So Eric and I started to get snippy with each other. This was around 430 and I started to feel crampy and unwell.
By 5pm we were getting Hunter's supper ready I was feeling contractions but did not mention it to Eric as earlier in the week I had had them but they fizzled out so wanted to be sure it was the real deal this time. Eric decided to eat supper but I only felt like eating some toast and decided to start organizing some kitchen cupboards such as the shelf where we keep Hunter's sippys etc.
IL's called around this time to let us know they would drop by on their way home form the movies to see if they could distract Hunter from his bad mood. I was happy they were coming to occupy Hunter as he was more then I could handle but was scared that having someone in the house would stop my contractions..although I was not timing them I knew they were coming often. Eric also had figured out by this time that I must be having contractions.
While they were here I would leave the room to deal with the contractions and was completely in a zone...I took the garbage out and gave the birds extra food.
Il's figured this might be the real thing and offered to take Hunter for the night just in case...so I packed helped pack a bag for him..making sure his I'm maybe little but I am the Big Brother shirt was in it.
After they left I ate some rice cakes and drink some orange juice.
Eric suggested I take a bath to see if the contractions stopped...I sat in a nice warm bath with some nice smelling Dead Sea salts in the candlelight and only had one small contraction so decided to get out and see they continued...they did and continued to get stronger so I had to vocalize through them. Eric put on some music and by candlelight rubbed my belly with some Belly Jelly and I stayed in front of the fireplace as the heat was soothing.
I asked Eric to call the downstairs neighbors Seb and Chantal(who Eric has been friends with since high school) if I could borrow some nail polish remover as we had run out and I wanted to do my toenails...Seb brought it up and apparently I scared him while I was dealing with the contractions. We also asked if they had a watch with a second hand as we had none...neither did they. I painted my tails nails a pretty lilac. Later Chantal dropped by to see how things were going, she was very excited.
Around 850pm I decided to call Karine(our back-up midwife who was on call that weekend)and Sarah our Doula to let them know that something was happening so they could be prepared...I figured the contractions were every 5-10 minutes at this point and lasting 30 seconds so thought I had a while to go.
An hour later they started to get more intense and I decided to call Karine to let them know we wanted to come in as it was a 45 minute drive and it was starting to snow and I really did not want to have hard labour hit while in the car. I also call my parents to let them know we are leaving for the Birth House and will call them when the baby is born or in the morning if nothing has happened by then. I got dressed and Eric took some last minute items out to the car, we had put our bags in the day before so we would be ready to go if labour started when we were away from home.
Eric realizes at this point that we need gas and decides to swing by a house to show me that is for rent that he had called about that evening..needless to say I am not impressed about this.
At the gas station he starts in on a conversation with someone and I have to remind him hey might be in labour here..this from the man who was panic ed about me being in labour and the drive into the city now that is seems to be happening he acts like there is no big rush.
I was fearful at first that the drive would knock me out of my zone but they continued to come and were quite manageable even while being in the car.
Shortly before we arrive the birth house I have Eric call our Doula Sarah to say we are going to be at the Birth House in a few minutes and will see if its real labour and will give her a call so she can come.
Karine meets us at the side door around 1130 and we head upstairs...another Birth took place earlier in the evening so there are a few staff there..also we had saw a ambulance in the driveway and was told it was another woman who was being transfered. We leave the bags in the car until we know for sure what is going on.
Karine leads us to the room that since I took the tour when pregnant with Hunter that I wanted to give birth in..it was large and had a big round tub for labouring and birthing in. Karine lights a candle and what lights were on were kept dim...she checked my heart rate, blood pressure took my temp and then checked me and found me to be 6-7 cm much to our surprise as I was still not sure it was the real thing and expected to be maybe a three or even less. She mentions that the head is still high and to start trying to work it down by walking, sitting on the birth ball etc.
Eric called Sarah and she said she was heading out the door. Eric and I discuss how shocked we are that I made it to 6-7 so easily and Eric gets our bags and Karine shows me where our washroom is down the hall.
Eric come back with our bags and he gets the Cd's out and puts in Notre Dame de Paris Act 1 and I help him prepare the video camera..othrewise he would have forgot to put film in it as well we also get out the one time use cameras as our digital still had not arrived. I change into a tank,some panties, and a robe and slippers.
The contractions were still easy to deal with and I had breaks in between so it was easy to recover. Sarah and later our other Doula Sharon arrived and I passed some time chatting and holding onto the near-by radiator when a contraction hit (the house is old and heated by those old fashioned water radiator's) I sit on the ball for a few minutes but decide not to once things get way more intense. Eric helps me to the washroom to go pee and I mention that maybe I would like to get into the tub.
So they start running the water and I get in and wow it is nice and big I tell Eric we need one of these at home. It also has a whirlpool but I say no as it did not appeal to me. At one point they check me and I am 9cm. Then 10 cm within a hour of arriving at the birth house. My water still had not broken at this point and Karine suggested that we break it so things would move along faster...I knew that they would bit also knew that it would be a whole lot more painful so decided to wait and see how the pushing went first.
Soon after I was complete I semi felt the urge to push...it was different feeling then with Hunter as I had such a a strong urge with him and it felt good to work with the contractions..this time it didn't.
In hindsight I started to push sooner then I should have..I should have used this time to rest and gather my strength but I was just too anxious to get it over with.
I really can]t recall who was in the room...I remember at times talking to Eric about a Cat Stevens song that was playing. Telling him to remove his watch in case it got wet.
I remember my doula's encouraging me and massaging my hips, as well as the student midwife Danielle trying to take the baby heart rate every so often I am afraid I made that hard for her as I was constantly changing place.
I mainly pushed on my hands and knees or holding onto the side of the tub.
I also was not contracting on pushing as much as I could have been, my mind kept wondering on silly things now I can not remember what they were but at the time I was thinking about them I was like Hello Terri you are pushing a baby out here FOCUS!!.
I also think I had a fear of the head crowning as I remembered the feeling when Hunter was born and although I had many more painful things done to me during his birth and I knew that it would only last a few seconds I was hesitant to push fully.
I do remember telling everyone that I could not do this I just needed a break and that the head was so close couldn't someone just help me. The phrase Just get it out might have been said a few times
At some point I asked for the waters to be broken so Karine got out the needle and I flipped to a sitting position, when they broke it was an amazing amount of pressure and Eric said he was able to see the waters coming out into the tub. When my next contraction started they helped moved me upright and I started to push squatting as I knew that would move things along. Now Karine advised me that after the head come out to stop pushing as she did not want the shoulders to come out too quickly and for me to tear.
Sadly I did not listen as the urge to get the rest of the baby out was too great and i did end up with some second degree tears which required some stitches.
Once the head came out they flipped me back to semi-sitting and I pushed the shoulders out and pulled the baby onto my stomach. It was a short cord so we could not move her up any further.
I thought I heard someone say Welcome to the world little girl but am sure that no one there would have given away the gender so am not sure what I heard but I moved the cord and said Its a girl.
Eric and I ended up checking three times as to if it was a girl or not as we had been so sure it was a boy. She pinked up nicely right away while we waited for the cord to stop pulsing and they did not even have to clear her nose or throat.
Eric cut the cord after it stopped pulsing and I delivered the placenta 10 minutes after Novia was born. She was handed off to Eric who removed his shirt for some skin to skin contact and I stood up and was hosed down so I could get out of the tub. I kept saying how amazing I felt that I felt so great. It was a completely different experience from our DS's birth.
I went to the bed and Eric gave me Novia while they brought us some fruit plates and juice and I nursed her. Karine also examined me to see if I had tore which I had but she said she would stitch it later.
After a while the doula's left Eric and I alone and I called my parents to let them know that their granddaughter had been born..we held off calling Eric's as we did not want to risk waking Hunter.
After a while Karine and the Doula's came back to the room and Karine showed us the placenta..Eric took a picture, not something that we will show most people
.She also stitched me up after numbing the area with a spray and then by needle. The room was still kept dark and they used a single bright light to work by. Sharon held my hand and Eric held Novia. The cleaned up my bed afterward and I was able to walk around easily etc but got a little dizzy spell so got back onto bed with Novia shortly after.
The Doula's left and around 430am Karine started her exam of Novia who was in perfect health. I ordered a breakfast for myself of toast and oatmeal and chowed down..the food is so yummy there we ate so well in the short amount of time we stayed there.
By 6am Karine was finished and Eric, Novia and i lay down to sleep. Eric slept on a pull out chair as a double bed is too small for three of us. I slept well until around 8am when we awoke and ordered a second breakfast and started to make our calls. First to his Mother and then his sister who both were in complete disbelief that the baby was a girl. This baby is the last grandchild on either side. Eric's parents have three grandsons already and my parents have Hunter. I could hear Eric's Mother crying and laughing from across the room.
We spent the next hour or so making our calls, eating lunch etc.
Karine came back around 2pm to check us out one last time before sending us home. Our friend's Jennifer and Julie and Michel came by for a quick visit during this time.
We went over the paperwork etc that we needed to take care of with the Aide Natal and got the car seat and our bags ready and by 430pm was on our way home. So far Novia has been a easy baby and we introduced Hunter to her yesterday(he had a bad cold so stayed with his grandparents for a few days)He seems to like her and really would love to play with her..he already has his own name for her Via.
She nurses like a champ and at three days had only lost 6 Oz's off her birth weight. We go to see the the midwife tomorrow for our 5 day(or in this case 6 day) visit.
It was a dream birth and we had all that we could ask for. It was the birth we had planned with our DS that went so wrong..but this birth has been an healing experience and a good way to end our childbearing years as she is our last child.
NAME NOVIA BLUE LAURENCE DORION
GENDER FEMALE
DOB 01/08/06 140AM
EDD 01/09/06
WT 8 LBS 1OZ
LENGTH 20.5 INCHES
