Well, I figured I should post my birth story. I've been meaning to do it for a week or so now, but have just not felt like sitting at the computer for longer than 5 minutes at a time. Just long enough to check my e-mail and check up on all the new mommy's here for a second.
So, my due date was September 20th, and my dh and I decided to go for a walk that day in hopes of moving things along. We ended up going for a 3 mile walk. Nothing happened except a lot of sore muscles and a few sporadic contractions. We decided to go for another walk 2 days later; again in hopes of moving things along, and again....sore muscles and sporadic contractions. I called my mom the next day and asked her if she'd come watch our ds so we could go for another walk, and this time just have some alone time to do so. When she got here, we went for a short drive and went to Fort Vancouver Park and walked about a mile (maybe a little more). This time even less happened. I thought, "this is insane! I'm not going for any more walks until this baby is born...it's not doing anything anyway!" Well, we decided to sleep in our living room together that night (Saturday night) since I just couldn't get comfortable in bed and he wanted to be close to me.
At about 3:00am I started having contractions about 6 minutes apart. They were painful, but not so painful I couldn't handle them. They stayed about 5 to 6 minutes apart until about 7am when they started getting closer together. I spent a lot of time in the shower until 7am. That's when I woke up dh and told him what had been happening and that I was nervous to say anything or to call our midwife because I still wasn't sure if this was it or not. We ended up calling her at 8 because the contractions were getting stronger and harder to deal with. The midwife told us to come on in, that it sounded like this might be it from what my dh told her. We called my mom and told her to please come as soon as possible to watch our son so we could head to the birth center. She got to our place about 35 minutes later and we headed out the door with all our supplies.
The drive to the birthing center was the worst and longest drive ever! We got there about 9:10 or so, and just as we were walking in the door I collapsed to the floor with another very painful contractions. I ended up laboring in the nice big jetted tub, on the toilet, in the bed, and just standing up hugging my dh until about 11:30. That's when I told my midwife that I felt the urge to push. She asked if I wanted her to check me and I said yes. For the first time ever she checked me, and said I was at 9cm. She told me that if I needed to softly push with my contractions, that it would be okay to do so. She walked out of the room, and with my next contraction I tried pushing a little and it felt relieving. That's when I heard my dh call the midwives saying that there was something coming out. That ended up being blood and mucous. I told her that I really needed to push now, and couldn't stop myself from doing it when I was contracting. I pushed on the bed for about 20 minutes with my dh on one side and the midwife on the other. I finally got so completely uncomfortable there, I just HAD to move. I didn't really care or know where I had to move to, I just had to get off the bed. My midwife asked if I wanted to try the birthing stool or the tub, and I decided to try the stool. I LOVED that thing by the way. I sat down and pushed a few times through my first contraction which made my water break. He started crowning with the next contraction, and within 10 minutes of sitting on the stool, our new beautiful baby boy was with us! He was born at 12:05pm on September 24th. He was 8lbs 12oz, 21.5" long and had a 14" head.
The afterbirth process was so beautiful and magical for us. I was so much more relaxing and bonding than it was with my first son's birth in the hospital. I was able to sit in the bathtub with our new son to give him his first bath, and it was amazing!! I had so much love in my heart! I don't really know what else I can say about it except that I'd choose this way over the epidural I had with my first one any day. Even with all the pain involved and the feeling of "OMG I'm not going to be able to get through this", I think if we were to ever have another one, it would be this way again.
Anyway, sorry so long, and thanks for taking the time to read it.
So, my due date was September 20th, and my dh and I decided to go for a walk that day in hopes of moving things along. We ended up going for a 3 mile walk. Nothing happened except a lot of sore muscles and a few sporadic contractions. We decided to go for another walk 2 days later; again in hopes of moving things along, and again....sore muscles and sporadic contractions. I called my mom the next day and asked her if she'd come watch our ds so we could go for another walk, and this time just have some alone time to do so. When she got here, we went for a short drive and went to Fort Vancouver Park and walked about a mile (maybe a little more). This time even less happened. I thought, "this is insane! I'm not going for any more walks until this baby is born...it's not doing anything anyway!" Well, we decided to sleep in our living room together that night (Saturday night) since I just couldn't get comfortable in bed and he wanted to be close to me.
At about 3:00am I started having contractions about 6 minutes apart. They were painful, but not so painful I couldn't handle them. They stayed about 5 to 6 minutes apart until about 7am when they started getting closer together. I spent a lot of time in the shower until 7am. That's when I woke up dh and told him what had been happening and that I was nervous to say anything or to call our midwife because I still wasn't sure if this was it or not. We ended up calling her at 8 because the contractions were getting stronger and harder to deal with. The midwife told us to come on in, that it sounded like this might be it from what my dh told her. We called my mom and told her to please come as soon as possible to watch our son so we could head to the birth center. She got to our place about 35 minutes later and we headed out the door with all our supplies.
The drive to the birthing center was the worst and longest drive ever! We got there about 9:10 or so, and just as we were walking in the door I collapsed to the floor with another very painful contractions. I ended up laboring in the nice big jetted tub, on the toilet, in the bed, and just standing up hugging my dh until about 11:30. That's when I told my midwife that I felt the urge to push. She asked if I wanted her to check me and I said yes. For the first time ever she checked me, and said I was at 9cm. She told me that if I needed to softly push with my contractions, that it would be okay to do so. She walked out of the room, and with my next contraction I tried pushing a little and it felt relieving. That's when I heard my dh call the midwives saying that there was something coming out. That ended up being blood and mucous. I told her that I really needed to push now, and couldn't stop myself from doing it when I was contracting. I pushed on the bed for about 20 minutes with my dh on one side and the midwife on the other. I finally got so completely uncomfortable there, I just HAD to move. I didn't really care or know where I had to move to, I just had to get off the bed. My midwife asked if I wanted to try the birthing stool or the tub, and I decided to try the stool. I LOVED that thing by the way. I sat down and pushed a few times through my first contraction which made my water break. He started crowning with the next contraction, and within 10 minutes of sitting on the stool, our new beautiful baby boy was with us! He was born at 12:05pm on September 24th. He was 8lbs 12oz, 21.5" long and had a 14" head.
The afterbirth process was so beautiful and magical for us. I was so much more relaxing and bonding than it was with my first son's birth in the hospital. I was able to sit in the bathtub with our new son to give him his first bath, and it was amazing!! I had so much love in my heart! I don't really know what else I can say about it except that I'd choose this way over the epidural I had with my first one any day. Even with all the pain involved and the feeling of "OMG I'm not going to be able to get through this", I think if we were to ever have another one, it would be this way again.
Anyway, sorry so long, and thanks for taking the time to read it.
: thanks for sharing diana.
