Well, Twyla is sleeping, and I thought I'd post a bit more about our
awesome birth experience.
Last Tuesday morning I woke up and noticed a bit of bloody show, and had
a feeling that things were going to start happening. My dh was on
his way to work, and it just so happened that he had to work in
a town which is a bit of a distance (he's a plumber), and the roads were not
the best. I was concerned with him being too far away, but there
was nothing that could be done about it. I decided to get some
stuff done while I could, and did laundry and made a huge batch of
granola. I kept busy all morning and had a few contractions, but
nothing that I hadn't been having for months. After lunch, I
decided to take a little break, and sat down. Not even five minutes
later, my water broke with what felt like a cannon blast in my
belly. It was really wild, especially because there was no gush of
fluid. I ran to the bathroom and peed, but nothing else came out,
so I wondered for a minute if that sensation could have been
anything else. I called Janice, my midwife, to let her know what I thought had
just happened. I then had a contraction that was noticeably
stronger than my usual ones, and she said that she was in town and
would come over. As soon as I hung up the phone, the floodgates
opened, and I knew then for sure that my water had broke!
That was at about 1:15, and things started happening immediately.
Janice came over and kept my kids occupied while I made calls to
everyone who was supposed to be there for the birth. My husband got
his work van stuck in the snow, and I started to worry that he
wouldn't make it. Thankfully, his boss was able to tow him out, and
he did get here. My mom, my sister, and a friend all made it as
well.
The labor itself was very interesting. I pretty much stood behind a
chair in my living room the whole time and leaned on it through
contractions. I was able to talk in between them the entire time,
and never felt like I was in transition or feeling spacey like I had
experienced with my other births. Every minute is totally clear in
my memory. I suddenly had the urge to be on my knees when a
contraction hit, and then felt like I wanted to push. I told my
husband to tell Janice that the baby was coming. Then I walked into
my bedroom and stripped off my clothes. When the next contraction
hit, I climbed on the bed and started pushing on hands and knees,
which I hadn't imagined I would want to do. I even tried to change
to semi-sitting, but felt like she was too far in my pelvis to
move. Basically, it felt like she kept coming even between the
urges to push. I think it was less than ten minutes of pushing
until she was born at 4:04. She looked so tiny, and her head was
amazingly round! She weighed 5lbs. 8oz., and was 18" long.
Things were pretty crazy for the first few days with our furnace
taking a crap on us and having to relocate the day after giving
birth. I didn't feel like I should be going anywhere, and she
looked WAY too tiny to be in a carseat. Nursing was difficult with
her teeny mouth, and my serious engorgement, but things are going
much better now that the engorgement is gone, and my sore nipples
are getting better. She is super alert when she's awake, and
watches whomever is talking very intently. She also looks exactly
like her big sister, Marley did when she was a newborn, but with
darker eyes.
I miss being on here every day to see what's going on with all you mamas, but I'm finding it hard to get to with three kids! I'm looking forward to things settling down and getting into a good groove so I can get back here and read other peoples' birth stories! This has been such a great experience getting to know all of you, and I'm honored to have been able to share this part of my life with you all.
awesome birth experience.
Last Tuesday morning I woke up and noticed a bit of bloody show, and had
a feeling that things were going to start happening. My dh was on
his way to work, and it just so happened that he had to work in
a town which is a bit of a distance (he's a plumber), and the roads were not
the best. I was concerned with him being too far away, but there
was nothing that could be done about it. I decided to get some
stuff done while I could, and did laundry and made a huge batch of
granola. I kept busy all morning and had a few contractions, but
nothing that I hadn't been having for months. After lunch, I
decided to take a little break, and sat down. Not even five minutes
later, my water broke with what felt like a cannon blast in my
belly. It was really wild, especially because there was no gush of
fluid. I ran to the bathroom and peed, but nothing else came out,
so I wondered for a minute if that sensation could have been
anything else. I called Janice, my midwife, to let her know what I thought had
just happened. I then had a contraction that was noticeably
stronger than my usual ones, and she said that she was in town and
would come over. As soon as I hung up the phone, the floodgates
opened, and I knew then for sure that my water had broke!
That was at about 1:15, and things started happening immediately.
Janice came over and kept my kids occupied while I made calls to
everyone who was supposed to be there for the birth. My husband got
his work van stuck in the snow, and I started to worry that he
wouldn't make it. Thankfully, his boss was able to tow him out, and
he did get here. My mom, my sister, and a friend all made it as
well.
The labor itself was very interesting. I pretty much stood behind a
chair in my living room the whole time and leaned on it through
contractions. I was able to talk in between them the entire time,
and never felt like I was in transition or feeling spacey like I had
experienced with my other births. Every minute is totally clear in
my memory. I suddenly had the urge to be on my knees when a
contraction hit, and then felt like I wanted to push. I told my
husband to tell Janice that the baby was coming. Then I walked into
my bedroom and stripped off my clothes. When the next contraction
hit, I climbed on the bed and started pushing on hands and knees,
which I hadn't imagined I would want to do. I even tried to change
to semi-sitting, but felt like she was too far in my pelvis to
move. Basically, it felt like she kept coming even between the
urges to push. I think it was less than ten minutes of pushing
until she was born at 4:04. She looked so tiny, and her head was
amazingly round! She weighed 5lbs. 8oz., and was 18" long.
Things were pretty crazy for the first few days with our furnace
taking a crap on us and having to relocate the day after giving
birth. I didn't feel like I should be going anywhere, and she
looked WAY too tiny to be in a carseat. Nursing was difficult with
her teeny mouth, and my serious engorgement, but things are going
much better now that the engorgement is gone, and my sore nipples
are getting better. She is super alert when she's awake, and
watches whomever is talking very intently. She also looks exactly
like her big sister, Marley did when she was a newborn, but with
darker eyes.
I miss being on here every day to see what's going on with all you mamas, but I'm finding it hard to get to with three kids! I'm looking forward to things settling down and getting into a good groove so I can get back here and read other peoples' birth stories! This has been such a great experience getting to know all of you, and I'm honored to have been able to share this part of my life with you all.
I LOVE reading wonderful birth stories like this...gets me all the more excited for my own!!!
