David Livingstone was born yesterday morning, December 30 at 6:04 am. After 3 days of weakish, irregular contractions on and off, I finally woke up at 3am on Sunday the 30th with yup-this-is-really-it-now contractions. I worked through them in bed for an hour without waking up DH, but at 4 I decided I needed some help. I woke up DH, and for about 30 min, he would shake my bootie through the ctx (a tip I learned from Ina May -works great!) and then drift back off to sleep until the next contraction.
At 4:30 the ctx got so strong I didn't want to deal with them in bed anymore. Knowing that my last homebirth was only 3 hours of labor and that I'd already put in an hour and a half with this one - I had 3 things on my mind: call the midwife/get her here ASAP, fill the pool, and get my mom up (she was staying in the guest room).
As soon as DH got on the phone with the MW, the ctx went from about 5 min apart to 2 min apart. They were very strong, but thankfully, I was able to relax and deal with them. DH got the pool filling, and when it was only a few inches deep, I couldn't help myself - just had to get in. That was about 4:45am. MW arrived at 5am.
Getting in the pool was just heaven. It was funny, but at my last birth, I was planning a waterbirth, but just couldn't get comfortable in the pool, so birthed right next to it. This birth wasn't a planned waterbirth, I was just planning on using the water for labor, but figured I'd probably want out again for the pushing.
Not so. Transition was so much easier to deal with in the water. I found a great position kneeling with my knees far apart, my chest resting on the side of the pool, and my arms dangling out the outside. I knew I was in transition because I started dry heaving. I always vomit my way through transition, for some reason. (In my entire pregnancy and labor, I never had a vag/cervical check, BTW).
After about 3-4 strong transition contractions, my water broke, and baby dropped forcefully into the birth canal and right up against my perineum. This is where labor gets challenging for me. The force is so powerful and painful, I just lose all control. Thankfully, this phase only lasts about 3-4 minutes. A couple of pushes, and little David Livingstone was swimming between my legs. No tears; just a couple of skid marks. After the cord stopped pulsing, we cut it and weighed and measured him. 8lbs;12.5oz; 21.5 inches, 14.5 in head. =)
He's such a sweet little charmer. Nursing is going very well; the best of my four so far. I'm so grateful for a beautiful birthing and a healthy baby!
A couple more pics:
Waiting in bed for the placenta to be delivered (babe still attached to me)
Fully dressed except for a hat
Thanks for reading my story, and happy laboring to all of you still in waiting!
At 4:30 the ctx got so strong I didn't want to deal with them in bed anymore. Knowing that my last homebirth was only 3 hours of labor and that I'd already put in an hour and a half with this one - I had 3 things on my mind: call the midwife/get her here ASAP, fill the pool, and get my mom up (she was staying in the guest room).
As soon as DH got on the phone with the MW, the ctx went from about 5 min apart to 2 min apart. They were very strong, but thankfully, I was able to relax and deal with them. DH got the pool filling, and when it was only a few inches deep, I couldn't help myself - just had to get in. That was about 4:45am. MW arrived at 5am.
Getting in the pool was just heaven. It was funny, but at my last birth, I was planning a waterbirth, but just couldn't get comfortable in the pool, so birthed right next to it. This birth wasn't a planned waterbirth, I was just planning on using the water for labor, but figured I'd probably want out again for the pushing.
Not so. Transition was so much easier to deal with in the water. I found a great position kneeling with my knees far apart, my chest resting on the side of the pool, and my arms dangling out the outside. I knew I was in transition because I started dry heaving. I always vomit my way through transition, for some reason. (In my entire pregnancy and labor, I never had a vag/cervical check, BTW).
After about 3-4 strong transition contractions, my water broke, and baby dropped forcefully into the birth canal and right up against my perineum. This is where labor gets challenging for me. The force is so powerful and painful, I just lose all control. Thankfully, this phase only lasts about 3-4 minutes. A couple of pushes, and little David Livingstone was swimming between my legs. No tears; just a couple of skid marks. After the cord stopped pulsing, we cut it and weighed and measured him. 8lbs;12.5oz; 21.5 inches, 14.5 in head. =)
He's such a sweet little charmer. Nursing is going very well; the best of my four so far. I'm so grateful for a beautiful birthing and a healthy baby!
A couple more pics:
Waiting in bed for the placenta to be delivered (babe still attached to me)
Fully dressed except for a hat
Thanks for reading my story, and happy laboring to all of you still in waiting!
...I am very moved at the moment. What a wonderful story, I hope so bad mine goes like that!
