I haven't been around in a while, but have some time now, so I thought I would drop in a share Magdalen's birth story.
My pregnancy with her was uneventful. Magical, yes, but with nothing out of the ordinary. I shared happily with my family and friends the joy of watching my belly grow, feeling babe move, and listening to the heartbeat with a feto-scope I had purchaced so we could listen in. Towards the end, I had the usual pregnant woman's complaints. I was terribly insomniac, and would wake for hours at a time in the night. I would spend this time communing with my baby within and bouncing on my birth ball. We had some wonderful moments, quietly enjoying each other.
My "due date" came and went. On the friday following, April 30th, at six a.m. I woke feeling wet and sticky. Realizing my water had broke, I made my way to the bathroom, changed my underwear and put on a pad. My 11 month old DD woke and started crying, bringing my sister out into the hall to see what was going on. While I cleaned up the floor, she went to attend DD. None of us could go back to sleep, so we all got up.
Later on, when the whole household had gotten up (including out of town birth support, was about 10 people) and was moving about, I found myself getting more and more irritable and cranky. Nearly in tears, I pulled my sister aside and told her I needed everyone to go away. Within a half hour, we were alone. Everyone left with instructions to not come back till called. ~sigh~
Then we cleaned. Yes, I was a near insane nester for the last couple of months, so there wasn't much to do, but we did anyway, as I found it calming. The whole house, from top to bottom. In each room, I blessed my way through the dusting and washing, asking for a safe place for my baby to be born into.
We set up the birth supplies, made the bed with old sheets, and I was ready. Two days later, not even a mild contraction. I drank liters of water and ate nothing dehydrating. I walked and walked and walked. And cleaned. Finally, on Sunday, I started some nipple stimulation (owie), got the contractions going, but they stopped a couple hours later. I decided to get a good rest and see what tomorrow would bring.
The next morning, Monday the 2nd, I woke feeling rested. I decided to find an acupucturist and a chiropracter. Apparently, acupuncturists do not work Mondays in my city, but we manged to find one who would take me last minute, and a chiro recommended by my local AP group for pregnant mums. By the time we got to the chiro's office, I was having contractions, but I was also experiencing severe sciatica pain. The pain was so accute, I would 'dance' through it the way I did my cx.
Through out the intake part of the appointment, I often had to stop and 'dance'. When the chiro finally got me on the table, I couldn't tell the cx from sciatica. He sent me off 20 minutes later with instructions to walk for 15 min and come back so he could make sure it had stuck. The cx slowed a bit, and I felt like I had a new set of hips.
My sister and I walked to a store and got a snack, then headed back. The chiro did a couple more adjustments, happily informing me that the ones he did now were the ones that could put a woman into labor. We never made it to the acupuncturist, as we now headed home. As we neared our house and I had a couple more intense cx, I commented to my sister that I did not understand why a woman in labor would strap herself into a car. I couldn't get comfortable.
Once in the house, I went directly to my "nest" in my sister and BIL's room. At my request, my sister checked me. I was 3-4 cm and babe's head was high. My aunt came in to keep me company, then later my mother and sister, where we watched a DVD of Russel Peters (he is the funniest stand up comedian I have ever seen). I knew I was headed into more serious labor when I became unable to laugh and had drawn completely inward. For a while I was so cold. I wanted heat, heat and more heat. As the cx became more intense, I warmed up and soon I lost my top. I stood in front of the open balcony door not caring who saw me - I just needed fresh cool air. I spent some time on the birth ball with my aunt in front holding my hands for support. I would pull down on her as the cx started, then lean back and hold onto my mother's hands on either side of me, pressing down on her hands. For the next few hours my mother and aunt held my hands, put warm compresses on my back, gave me water and loved me.
I paced, and at the peak of a cx would stop and dance like a stork- from one foot to the other, knees coming up to my shoulders. With one on either side of me holding my hands, my aunt and mother would pull up while I pushed down and danced. It was around 9:30 when I asked my sister to check me a second time, I took off my pants, which never went back on. I was now 4-5 cm and babe was now definatly engaged. Progress! I needed to know we were getting somewhere, and now I knew. It was around now when I asked about the birth pool. I knew I couldn't get in due to my water being broken for so long, unless I was truly in labor. I was reminded that I couldn't get in until there was absolutely no danger of my labor stalling.
My sister then left to put my DD to bed. She brought DD in for me to say goodnight. Fresh from her bath, and looking sleepy, I kissed her goodnight, and they left as I started having another cx. What felt like moments later, I wanted to push. The birth pool was still too hot (we had filled it half way with very hot water and were waiting to add the cool), so I continued to stork dance. When my sister returned, less than half an hour later, and I told her I was feeling pushy, the cx were really intense now, and I wanted some of that relief that I had read about- from being immersed in water. She started cooling down the pool, and I jumped in.
It is at this point that I lost all concept of time. I was told later that the cx slowed down. It didn't feel that way to me. I was so deep inside, I hardly remember there being people present. I remember hands being offered for support when I wanted to brace myself, or stand. I didn't know I drank water while in there until I saw it on the birth video. This was transition. I rocked and moaned, massaged my belly. apparently I cursed while beating the side of the birth pool! At one point I wanted to bite something, had to remember not to bite the pool, almost bit a hand that was offered and you can see on the video how I stopped just short, and bit a towel instead. Then I would remember to relax my face muscles and jaw. I 'swam', and draped myself over the edge of the pool at one point, trying to get away from the cx. And I roared. I didn't know I could make such sounds.
I could now feel the head moving down and checked myself to make sure my cervix was out of the way. But I had to push so badly that I really didn't care. My sister at this point asked me if I was pushing, to which I replied while roaring "YES I'M PUSHING!!!" sounding like my head should have been spinning, and my eyes glowing red. With my next roar, I could feel my face completely open up, and the sound the just kept coming from deeper and deeper inside. I could feel it reach down through my chest, into my belly, and echo in the birth canal. I felt my hips release and start spreading. When I reached down I could feel the head. I was suddenly now very calm. I remembered to support my perineum during crowning, and even stretched myself a little. I gave a very gentle push, and the head popped out so fast it pushed my hand out of the way. I checked for the cord, it wasn't there. I gave one more little push, and my baby shot past my waiting hands into the pool. I scooped babe up onto my chest, and sat back in the water.
Within a few seconds there was a small cry, then nothing. We waited with bated breath, then there was a good lusty yell. (It took my first 7 minutes to breath on her own, so there was some tension waiting for that yell) Time showed that she had been born at 10:51. My elation at holding my new babe with a deep sense of calm and well being took over as I enjoyed the feel of holding this new little body in my arms. It wasn't until several minutes had past that my sister asked if we had a boy or girl. A quick check revealed girl. We welcomed Magdalen Audrée officially.
Within moments I could feel the placenta coming out, and when I stood, it just plopped into the water a few seconds later. I fished it out, and we made our way to the bed. It looked whole and complete. My sister looked at it carefully but could not see if there was any of the amniotic sac missing.
The next couple of hours were a bit unnerving as I was bleeding excessively and was having a hard time stopping it. We massaged the fundus, my sister cut off 2 pieces of the placenta for me to put under my tongue and also tried nursing. I still bled. My sister was very worried and after checking my pulse and finding it a 'might bit' elevated, wanted to take me to the hospital. I asked for a bit more time, as I could feel it slowing. I asked for water and drank as much as I could. I had this deep sense that I would not need to go to the hospital, if I could just let my body do what it needed to. I couldn't pee, I tried on the toilet with water running and I tried in the shower, neither worked very well. I felt like there was something that needed to come out still. The bleeding slowed enough that they were willing to give me some time. Magdalen and I then slept for an hour or so. When I woke, I had bad cramping. A few moments later someone came into the room, and while they held the baby, I went to the toilet. Something fell out into the toilet, and then I could pee. What RELEIF!
Because there was also blood in the bowl, we couldn't see what had fallen out. My sister bravely put on a glove and fished. She pulled out a large clot with what looked like tissue and blood the size of a man's fist. At this point the bleeding slowed to a light period, and the after pains I had were worse than the whole labor. But the worry was now just making sure I regained to fluid I had lost, and trying to get Magdalen to nurse, as she was having a hard time.
The next couple of days were up and down as I rebuilt my blood and tried to stay off my feet. Magdalen cried most of the time. Uncomfortable and spitting up. (I have since quit dairy, and she is doing better, but is still colicky) I did end up in emergency with abdominal swelling and extreme discomfort, concerned about an infection as I was still passing what appeared to be tissue. Most everyone was friendly after getting over their astonishment that she was a planned unassisted home birth. The first doctor in the room wanted to know who caught her, when I replied that I had, he was perplexed, and asked "Isn't that physically difficult?" There was actually a little stream of staff that came through under the pretense to see me, but were really there to gawk at her, as if she might have physical abnormalities because of it (WARNING: UC'ed babies may be born with green and purple spots!). We were home within a few hours (11, actually) exhausted, but relieved to know that I did not have an infection. It was actually air in the uterus which gained access through the open cervix... who knew? The doctor who finally came in at 2:30am was completely unconcerned about it. She was, however, very concerned that a woman would have a home birth when 'our country makes medical care available to every woman', my sister kept saying in response to that, '...should the woman choose it'.
Magdalen is now 5 months old (jeez, time has flown!) and we have since figured out that she had severe reflux. Those first few weeks were hell as I tried to figure out what was going on for her. She cried nearly constantly, and at times, I along with her. As she healed, she came into her own, and is now a sweet little thing that laughs at everything!
I want to send out a special thanks to all the women that hang out here in the UC forum. While I seldom posted, I spent alot of time here reading and learning. Many times I would come with a question and would find my answers by just following these threads. Many thanks!!!
My pregnancy with her was uneventful. Magical, yes, but with nothing out of the ordinary. I shared happily with my family and friends the joy of watching my belly grow, feeling babe move, and listening to the heartbeat with a feto-scope I had purchaced so we could listen in. Towards the end, I had the usual pregnant woman's complaints. I was terribly insomniac, and would wake for hours at a time in the night. I would spend this time communing with my baby within and bouncing on my birth ball. We had some wonderful moments, quietly enjoying each other.
My "due date" came and went. On the friday following, April 30th, at six a.m. I woke feeling wet and sticky. Realizing my water had broke, I made my way to the bathroom, changed my underwear and put on a pad. My 11 month old DD woke and started crying, bringing my sister out into the hall to see what was going on. While I cleaned up the floor, she went to attend DD. None of us could go back to sleep, so we all got up.
Later on, when the whole household had gotten up (including out of town birth support, was about 10 people) and was moving about, I found myself getting more and more irritable and cranky. Nearly in tears, I pulled my sister aside and told her I needed everyone to go away. Within a half hour, we were alone. Everyone left with instructions to not come back till called. ~sigh~
Then we cleaned. Yes, I was a near insane nester for the last couple of months, so there wasn't much to do, but we did anyway, as I found it calming. The whole house, from top to bottom. In each room, I blessed my way through the dusting and washing, asking for a safe place for my baby to be born into.
We set up the birth supplies, made the bed with old sheets, and I was ready. Two days later, not even a mild contraction. I drank liters of water and ate nothing dehydrating. I walked and walked and walked. And cleaned. Finally, on Sunday, I started some nipple stimulation (owie), got the contractions going, but they stopped a couple hours later. I decided to get a good rest and see what tomorrow would bring.
The next morning, Monday the 2nd, I woke feeling rested. I decided to find an acupucturist and a chiropracter. Apparently, acupuncturists do not work Mondays in my city, but we manged to find one who would take me last minute, and a chiro recommended by my local AP group for pregnant mums. By the time we got to the chiro's office, I was having contractions, but I was also experiencing severe sciatica pain. The pain was so accute, I would 'dance' through it the way I did my cx.
Through out the intake part of the appointment, I often had to stop and 'dance'. When the chiro finally got me on the table, I couldn't tell the cx from sciatica. He sent me off 20 minutes later with instructions to walk for 15 min and come back so he could make sure it had stuck. The cx slowed a bit, and I felt like I had a new set of hips.
My sister and I walked to a store and got a snack, then headed back. The chiro did a couple more adjustments, happily informing me that the ones he did now were the ones that could put a woman into labor. We never made it to the acupuncturist, as we now headed home. As we neared our house and I had a couple more intense cx, I commented to my sister that I did not understand why a woman in labor would strap herself into a car. I couldn't get comfortable.
Once in the house, I went directly to my "nest" in my sister and BIL's room. At my request, my sister checked me. I was 3-4 cm and babe's head was high. My aunt came in to keep me company, then later my mother and sister, where we watched a DVD of Russel Peters (he is the funniest stand up comedian I have ever seen). I knew I was headed into more serious labor when I became unable to laugh and had drawn completely inward. For a while I was so cold. I wanted heat, heat and more heat. As the cx became more intense, I warmed up and soon I lost my top. I stood in front of the open balcony door not caring who saw me - I just needed fresh cool air. I spent some time on the birth ball with my aunt in front holding my hands for support. I would pull down on her as the cx started, then lean back and hold onto my mother's hands on either side of me, pressing down on her hands. For the next few hours my mother and aunt held my hands, put warm compresses on my back, gave me water and loved me.
I paced, and at the peak of a cx would stop and dance like a stork- from one foot to the other, knees coming up to my shoulders. With one on either side of me holding my hands, my aunt and mother would pull up while I pushed down and danced. It was around 9:30 when I asked my sister to check me a second time, I took off my pants, which never went back on. I was now 4-5 cm and babe was now definatly engaged. Progress! I needed to know we were getting somewhere, and now I knew. It was around now when I asked about the birth pool. I knew I couldn't get in due to my water being broken for so long, unless I was truly in labor. I was reminded that I couldn't get in until there was absolutely no danger of my labor stalling.
My sister then left to put my DD to bed. She brought DD in for me to say goodnight. Fresh from her bath, and looking sleepy, I kissed her goodnight, and they left as I started having another cx. What felt like moments later, I wanted to push. The birth pool was still too hot (we had filled it half way with very hot water and were waiting to add the cool), so I continued to stork dance. When my sister returned, less than half an hour later, and I told her I was feeling pushy, the cx were really intense now, and I wanted some of that relief that I had read about- from being immersed in water. She started cooling down the pool, and I jumped in.
It is at this point that I lost all concept of time. I was told later that the cx slowed down. It didn't feel that way to me. I was so deep inside, I hardly remember there being people present. I remember hands being offered for support when I wanted to brace myself, or stand. I didn't know I drank water while in there until I saw it on the birth video. This was transition. I rocked and moaned, massaged my belly. apparently I cursed while beating the side of the birth pool! At one point I wanted to bite something, had to remember not to bite the pool, almost bit a hand that was offered and you can see on the video how I stopped just short, and bit a towel instead. Then I would remember to relax my face muscles and jaw. I 'swam', and draped myself over the edge of the pool at one point, trying to get away from the cx. And I roared. I didn't know I could make such sounds.
I could now feel the head moving down and checked myself to make sure my cervix was out of the way. But I had to push so badly that I really didn't care. My sister at this point asked me if I was pushing, to which I replied while roaring "YES I'M PUSHING!!!" sounding like my head should have been spinning, and my eyes glowing red. With my next roar, I could feel my face completely open up, and the sound the just kept coming from deeper and deeper inside. I could feel it reach down through my chest, into my belly, and echo in the birth canal. I felt my hips release and start spreading. When I reached down I could feel the head. I was suddenly now very calm. I remembered to support my perineum during crowning, and even stretched myself a little. I gave a very gentle push, and the head popped out so fast it pushed my hand out of the way. I checked for the cord, it wasn't there. I gave one more little push, and my baby shot past my waiting hands into the pool. I scooped babe up onto my chest, and sat back in the water.
Within a few seconds there was a small cry, then nothing. We waited with bated breath, then there was a good lusty yell. (It took my first 7 minutes to breath on her own, so there was some tension waiting for that yell) Time showed that she had been born at 10:51. My elation at holding my new babe with a deep sense of calm and well being took over as I enjoyed the feel of holding this new little body in my arms. It wasn't until several minutes had past that my sister asked if we had a boy or girl. A quick check revealed girl. We welcomed Magdalen Audrée officially.
Within moments I could feel the placenta coming out, and when I stood, it just plopped into the water a few seconds later. I fished it out, and we made our way to the bed. It looked whole and complete. My sister looked at it carefully but could not see if there was any of the amniotic sac missing.
The next couple of hours were a bit unnerving as I was bleeding excessively and was having a hard time stopping it. We massaged the fundus, my sister cut off 2 pieces of the placenta for me to put under my tongue and also tried nursing. I still bled. My sister was very worried and after checking my pulse and finding it a 'might bit' elevated, wanted to take me to the hospital. I asked for a bit more time, as I could feel it slowing. I asked for water and drank as much as I could. I had this deep sense that I would not need to go to the hospital, if I could just let my body do what it needed to. I couldn't pee, I tried on the toilet with water running and I tried in the shower, neither worked very well. I felt like there was something that needed to come out still. The bleeding slowed enough that they were willing to give me some time. Magdalen and I then slept for an hour or so. When I woke, I had bad cramping. A few moments later someone came into the room, and while they held the baby, I went to the toilet. Something fell out into the toilet, and then I could pee. What RELEIF!
Because there was also blood in the bowl, we couldn't see what had fallen out. My sister bravely put on a glove and fished. She pulled out a large clot with what looked like tissue and blood the size of a man's fist. At this point the bleeding slowed to a light period, and the after pains I had were worse than the whole labor. But the worry was now just making sure I regained to fluid I had lost, and trying to get Magdalen to nurse, as she was having a hard time.
The next couple of days were up and down as I rebuilt my blood and tried to stay off my feet. Magdalen cried most of the time. Uncomfortable and spitting up. (I have since quit dairy, and she is doing better, but is still colicky) I did end up in emergency with abdominal swelling and extreme discomfort, concerned about an infection as I was still passing what appeared to be tissue. Most everyone was friendly after getting over their astonishment that she was a planned unassisted home birth. The first doctor in the room wanted to know who caught her, when I replied that I had, he was perplexed, and asked "Isn't that physically difficult?" There was actually a little stream of staff that came through under the pretense to see me, but were really there to gawk at her, as if she might have physical abnormalities because of it (WARNING: UC'ed babies may be born with green and purple spots!). We were home within a few hours (11, actually) exhausted, but relieved to know that I did not have an infection. It was actually air in the uterus which gained access through the open cervix... who knew? The doctor who finally came in at 2:30am was completely unconcerned about it. She was, however, very concerned that a woman would have a home birth when 'our country makes medical care available to every woman', my sister kept saying in response to that, '...should the woman choose it'.
Magdalen is now 5 months old (jeez, time has flown!) and we have since figured out that she had severe reflux. Those first few weeks were hell as I tried to figure out what was going on for her. She cried nearly constantly, and at times, I along with her. As she healed, she came into her own, and is now a sweet little thing that laughs at everything!
I want to send out a special thanks to all the women that hang out here in the UC forum. While I seldom posted, I spent alot of time here reading and learning. Many times I would come with a question and would find my answers by just following these threads. Many thanks!!!
Thanks for sharing your story!
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