A week and a half ago I had a beautiful homebirth. DD #3 was born at home in the water at 10:42 pm on Friday, April 27. Her birth was amazing, incredible, and absolutely natural – vastly different from my two previous births. It was truly a healing balm for my soul…
On that Friday morning, two days past my due date, my husband woke me up at 7:15 as he was leaving for work. My girls were awake, so they came into my room and DH turned on Curious George for them. While lying there in bed, I felt a few mild contractions, much like I had felt off and on for the past few weeks. After a few minutes, I got up and started our daily routine. While preparing the girls’ breakfast, I felt something… different. I went to the restroom and discovered I had lost my mucous plug. Exciting! Although I knew that it could be hours or weeks before I went into labor, at least it was a sign of progress, nonetheless!
I called my husband and D, our midwife, just to let them know what was going on. Then I continued on with my day. We ate breakfast, got dressed, and played for a little while. At around 10:00, I noticed I was having fairly regular (but quite mild) contractions, roughly 7-10 minutes apart and lasting approximately a minute. However, they fizzled out after about 45 minutes.
By this time, I really wanted to work on scrubbing my bathtub and cleaning the house. I called my friend T (who was also going to be taking pictures of the birth) and asked her if she would come over. I didn’t know if I were going to really go into labor or not, but I wanted her there to play with my children for a little while so I could work on the house. She came over and played with the girls in the backyard while I scrubbed, cleaned, picked up, and otherwise nested. I finished up right at lunch time, so T brought the girls in and we ate sandwiches, then put the girls down for naps.
Once the girls were asleep, I decided to get out my breast pump and try a little nipple stimulation to see if I could get my contractions to start back up. Less than 20 minutes later, I decided to stop, as I was getting a little sore. Fortunately, I did feel a few good contractions in that time, irregularly spaced, but stronger, at least.
By 1:45 pm, my contractions were coming at regular intervals, approximately 5-10 minutes apart and lasting 45 seconds to a minute. They were not all that painful yet, but I did have to stop what I was doing and concentrate through them, anyway. My girls woke up from their naps around this time, so we loaded them up into the double stroller and went for a walk to the park. While on our walk, my contractions continued to come every 5 minutes or so. During a contraction, I would stop and lean over the stroller, then continue our walk once it was over. Once we made it to the park, I decided to call D and give her an update, then call Dh and ask him to come on home. By this time, I desperately needed to use the restroom, so T stayed at the park with the girls while I walked back home. Now my contractions were only 3 minutes apart! I walked back to the park and T, the girls, and I all walked back home. DH was at the house by the time we made it back.
I sat on the birthing ball for a while and was a bit discouraged to see that my contractions were only coming every 6 ½ or 7 minutes, although they were not losing any of their intensity. After resting for a while, drinking some Gatorade, and eating another sandwich, I decided to go walking some more. DH and I headed out around the neighborhood. By 6:00, my contractions were approximately 3 minutes apart, lasting a minute, and strong enough for me to have to vocalize through them. I called D and asked her to come on over.
I think D arrived at around 7:00, and C, her partner midwife, shortly after. D checked my blood pressure and listened to fetal heart tones, then she and C started setting up for the birth. At 8:00, D checked me. She said I was around 4 cm dilated, and still a little thick. I wasn’t too discouraged, though – at least this baby was coming tonight!!
Time is a little fuzzy for me from here on out, but I think I spent about an hour laboring on my hands and knees, leaning over the birthing ball. Contractions were getting quite intense. After some time, D asked me if I would mind lying on my left side for a while, as she could feel baby’s back way on my right side, and she didn’t want her to flip posterior. I spent probably the next hour on my bed. Contractions became very painful during this time, almost unbearable at some points. I began to shake all over. I felt like I must be in transition, and asked D if I could go ahead and get in my tub.
The water felt so wonderful. I was a little worried, though, because my contractions seemed to space out a little bit at that time. D checked me, and I was so surprised when she said that I was really close, and possibly complete! They told me not to push, though, until my body told me to, just in case there was a cervical lip. I started noticing that my body was naturally pushing at the end of a contraction. Soon, I couldn’t STOP pushing. My water finally broke with an audible POP and baby began descending much more quickly.
The “ring of fire” was so intense. I felt like I was going to tear in every direction. It hurt so much! D told me to reach down and feel my baby’s head, and I was so surprised to feel her crowning!!! It was just the motivation I needed to get the job done. I pushed her head out, and the rest of her body quickly followed. My little one was here!!! She had her cord wrapped around her neck and her body and took a few minutes to start breathing, but then she pinked up quickly. DH cut the cord after it stopped pulsing, and I delivered the placenta a few minutes later.
My recovery has been quick and easy, nursing is going beautifully, and baby is an excellent sleeper. I feel so very blessed by it all. God is so good, and I thank Him for giving me the opportunity to see birth the way He designed it. I am absolutely thrilled to have had a homebirth. It was an incredible, empowering, beautiful experience, and just what I needed to heal from my past births.
On that Friday morning, two days past my due date, my husband woke me up at 7:15 as he was leaving for work. My girls were awake, so they came into my room and DH turned on Curious George for them. While lying there in bed, I felt a few mild contractions, much like I had felt off and on for the past few weeks. After a few minutes, I got up and started our daily routine. While preparing the girls’ breakfast, I felt something… different. I went to the restroom and discovered I had lost my mucous plug. Exciting! Although I knew that it could be hours or weeks before I went into labor, at least it was a sign of progress, nonetheless!
I called my husband and D, our midwife, just to let them know what was going on. Then I continued on with my day. We ate breakfast, got dressed, and played for a little while. At around 10:00, I noticed I was having fairly regular (but quite mild) contractions, roughly 7-10 minutes apart and lasting approximately a minute. However, they fizzled out after about 45 minutes.
By this time, I really wanted to work on scrubbing my bathtub and cleaning the house. I called my friend T (who was also going to be taking pictures of the birth) and asked her if she would come over. I didn’t know if I were going to really go into labor or not, but I wanted her there to play with my children for a little while so I could work on the house. She came over and played with the girls in the backyard while I scrubbed, cleaned, picked up, and otherwise nested. I finished up right at lunch time, so T brought the girls in and we ate sandwiches, then put the girls down for naps.
Once the girls were asleep, I decided to get out my breast pump and try a little nipple stimulation to see if I could get my contractions to start back up. Less than 20 minutes later, I decided to stop, as I was getting a little sore. Fortunately, I did feel a few good contractions in that time, irregularly spaced, but stronger, at least.
By 1:45 pm, my contractions were coming at regular intervals, approximately 5-10 minutes apart and lasting 45 seconds to a minute. They were not all that painful yet, but I did have to stop what I was doing and concentrate through them, anyway. My girls woke up from their naps around this time, so we loaded them up into the double stroller and went for a walk to the park. While on our walk, my contractions continued to come every 5 minutes or so. During a contraction, I would stop and lean over the stroller, then continue our walk once it was over. Once we made it to the park, I decided to call D and give her an update, then call Dh and ask him to come on home. By this time, I desperately needed to use the restroom, so T stayed at the park with the girls while I walked back home. Now my contractions were only 3 minutes apart! I walked back to the park and T, the girls, and I all walked back home. DH was at the house by the time we made it back.
I sat on the birthing ball for a while and was a bit discouraged to see that my contractions were only coming every 6 ½ or 7 minutes, although they were not losing any of their intensity. After resting for a while, drinking some Gatorade, and eating another sandwich, I decided to go walking some more. DH and I headed out around the neighborhood. By 6:00, my contractions were approximately 3 minutes apart, lasting a minute, and strong enough for me to have to vocalize through them. I called D and asked her to come on over.
I think D arrived at around 7:00, and C, her partner midwife, shortly after. D checked my blood pressure and listened to fetal heart tones, then she and C started setting up for the birth. At 8:00, D checked me. She said I was around 4 cm dilated, and still a little thick. I wasn’t too discouraged, though – at least this baby was coming tonight!!
Time is a little fuzzy for me from here on out, but I think I spent about an hour laboring on my hands and knees, leaning over the birthing ball. Contractions were getting quite intense. After some time, D asked me if I would mind lying on my left side for a while, as she could feel baby’s back way on my right side, and she didn’t want her to flip posterior. I spent probably the next hour on my bed. Contractions became very painful during this time, almost unbearable at some points. I began to shake all over. I felt like I must be in transition, and asked D if I could go ahead and get in my tub.
The water felt so wonderful. I was a little worried, though, because my contractions seemed to space out a little bit at that time. D checked me, and I was so surprised when she said that I was really close, and possibly complete! They told me not to push, though, until my body told me to, just in case there was a cervical lip. I started noticing that my body was naturally pushing at the end of a contraction. Soon, I couldn’t STOP pushing. My water finally broke with an audible POP and baby began descending much more quickly.
The “ring of fire” was so intense. I felt like I was going to tear in every direction. It hurt so much! D told me to reach down and feel my baby’s head, and I was so surprised to feel her crowning!!! It was just the motivation I needed to get the job done. I pushed her head out, and the rest of her body quickly followed. My little one was here!!! She had her cord wrapped around her neck and her body and took a few minutes to start breathing, but then she pinked up quickly. DH cut the cord after it stopped pulsing, and I delivered the placenta a few minutes later.
My recovery has been quick and easy, nursing is going beautifully, and baby is an excellent sleeper. I feel so very blessed by it all. God is so good, and I thank Him for giving me the opportunity to see birth the way He designed it. I am absolutely thrilled to have had a homebirth. It was an incredible, empowering, beautiful experience, and just what I needed to heal from my past births.
