yesterday morning, we welcomed a baby into our home.
ezra's little SISTER was born at 8:57am after a very intense labor. most people predicted a male gunter but we were sooo pleasantly surprised to see otherwise!
labor picked up for me around 2am early sat morning. that was when i last posted here! so it was rather short from then to 9am, but i have been having lots of warm up action for weeks as you all know. i walked for 2.5 hours on Friday to help the babe's head get locked down, hoping that birth would happen over this weekend (once, again you all know!). i had small contractions off and on all day but that's been pretty common for a while now. after dinner, i went to bed to rest up. at 11pm, i knew that things could really be getting started so i called my birth support people to give them a head's up for the night in case they would be needed.
my family all went to bed. i was pretty restless though and never really got to sleep deeply. i was up moving and grooving to the labor song by 1am and could tell it wasn't merely the beginning of labor but we needed to get our game faces on! the babe was asynclintic during labor, i had a stubborn cervical lip and she was posterior as we headed into the delivery. those things made everything feel way intense and was hard to get her down and out. so, i complained and cried for help from my amazing support people, jesus and the moon. then, i pushed FOREVER (aka about 1.5 hours) feeling unsuccessful 85% of the time. it just felt like she wasn't coming as i pushed. having only barely pushed twice with ezra, i clearly didn't know what i was doing. we tried different positions from the tub, all fours, squatting, to the no-dignity mcroberts, and finally the birthing stool came to the rescue. after a few pushes on the birth stool, our babe decided to be born in that posterior position (aka sunny side up) facing me wide awake! my doula who is a nurse at the birth center said she's never seen a babe born with "eyes wide open" like that, so alert.
i had three baby dreams over the course of my pregnancy. one was that i gave birth to a baby girl with darker hair (ez is a blondie) who was born sunny side up, looking at me. pretty amazing that this actually did happen yesterday morning. we are thrilled that it did! i am still amazed that i got to do it at home and that i am no longer pushing but staring at her preciousness. had i been at a birth center or a hospital, things would have gone very differently for me. i was not mentally or physically strong enough to do this in one of those places. home with my support team was the safest place for me to labor and birth naturally without interventions or harm to me/my baby.
i am beyond words thankful for my people. my husband was again the most fabulous labor support husband a wife could dream about. i feel like we just got re-married as i feel more in love with him. my midwife, CPM, who caught my 27 month old last time and now my youngest babe, has as much patience as a saint and would not let me give up or let me exhaust her with my neediness. you cannot imagine the wisdom this woman has; she was my ever present guide never letting me think i was failing. you know birthdancedoula here on MDC. she is my best friend/doula/photographer/mamatoo to my kids/sutdent midwife/everything else fabulous in my life what an empty place it would have been to give birth without her there. my dear friend who i got to doula for when she had her second babe at home put herself aside to support me in labor and birth (having just lost her babe 7.5 weeks into her pregnancy) prayed for me every single fifteen minutes when i desperately yelled for it, and cleaned my whole house after the birth among a million other things. Anyone else who is pregnant needs the name of my massage therapist...she helped ezra come last time but was beyond crucial to this babe coming, full of patience, quiet support and encouragement through her constant touch. then, there is my toddler, who woke up to people at her house, a screaming mother and a big pool in her room. she quietly said, "is buxton being born?" then got out of the bed to assist us; she kissed me in the tub, told me to relax, and said, "I will help buxton come. i will hold buxton." as she watched from her toddler bed or followed us around the house while i changed positions. she sat perched with quiet delight, watching her little sister be born.
okay, i have said more than enough...but a few more details for you. the babe was born almost two weeks after ezra was (i was just past 39 weeks this time! woo hoo!). this babe was exactly 2 pounds more than ezra. so, she was 7 pounds and 19.5 inches long. she is sleeping lots and nursing very efficiently which we're really diggin' right now. we're probably not naming her buxton although it's hard to stop saying, "buxy" when we refer to her! so, far we have rosa as part of her name. it will probably be combined as rosemercy and we'll add another fitting name to her life soon. just another benefit of having a homebirth is that there's no form to fill out asap with a name on it!
ezra's little SISTER was born at 8:57am after a very intense labor. most people predicted a male gunter but we were sooo pleasantly surprised to see otherwise!
labor picked up for me around 2am early sat morning. that was when i last posted here! so it was rather short from then to 9am, but i have been having lots of warm up action for weeks as you all know. i walked for 2.5 hours on Friday to help the babe's head get locked down, hoping that birth would happen over this weekend (once, again you all know!). i had small contractions off and on all day but that's been pretty common for a while now. after dinner, i went to bed to rest up. at 11pm, i knew that things could really be getting started so i called my birth support people to give them a head's up for the night in case they would be needed.
my family all went to bed. i was pretty restless though and never really got to sleep deeply. i was up moving and grooving to the labor song by 1am and could tell it wasn't merely the beginning of labor but we needed to get our game faces on! the babe was asynclintic during labor, i had a stubborn cervical lip and she was posterior as we headed into the delivery. those things made everything feel way intense and was hard to get her down and out. so, i complained and cried for help from my amazing support people, jesus and the moon. then, i pushed FOREVER (aka about 1.5 hours) feeling unsuccessful 85% of the time. it just felt like she wasn't coming as i pushed. having only barely pushed twice with ezra, i clearly didn't know what i was doing. we tried different positions from the tub, all fours, squatting, to the no-dignity mcroberts, and finally the birthing stool came to the rescue. after a few pushes on the birth stool, our babe decided to be born in that posterior position (aka sunny side up) facing me wide awake! my doula who is a nurse at the birth center said she's never seen a babe born with "eyes wide open" like that, so alert.
i had three baby dreams over the course of my pregnancy. one was that i gave birth to a baby girl with darker hair (ez is a blondie) who was born sunny side up, looking at me. pretty amazing that this actually did happen yesterday morning. we are thrilled that it did! i am still amazed that i got to do it at home and that i am no longer pushing but staring at her preciousness. had i been at a birth center or a hospital, things would have gone very differently for me. i was not mentally or physically strong enough to do this in one of those places. home with my support team was the safest place for me to labor and birth naturally without interventions or harm to me/my baby.
i am beyond words thankful for my people. my husband was again the most fabulous labor support husband a wife could dream about. i feel like we just got re-married as i feel more in love with him. my midwife, CPM, who caught my 27 month old last time and now my youngest babe, has as much patience as a saint and would not let me give up or let me exhaust her with my neediness. you cannot imagine the wisdom this woman has; she was my ever present guide never letting me think i was failing. you know birthdancedoula here on MDC. she is my best friend/doula/photographer/mamatoo to my kids/sutdent midwife/everything else fabulous in my life what an empty place it would have been to give birth without her there. my dear friend who i got to doula for when she had her second babe at home put herself aside to support me in labor and birth (having just lost her babe 7.5 weeks into her pregnancy) prayed for me every single fifteen minutes when i desperately yelled for it, and cleaned my whole house after the birth among a million other things. Anyone else who is pregnant needs the name of my massage therapist...she helped ezra come last time but was beyond crucial to this babe coming, full of patience, quiet support and encouragement through her constant touch. then, there is my toddler, who woke up to people at her house, a screaming mother and a big pool in her room. she quietly said, "is buxton being born?" then got out of the bed to assist us; she kissed me in the tub, told me to relax, and said, "I will help buxton come. i will hold buxton." as she watched from her toddler bed or followed us around the house while i changed positions. she sat perched with quiet delight, watching her little sister be born.
okay, i have said more than enough...but a few more details for you. the babe was born almost two weeks after ezra was (i was just past 39 weeks this time! woo hoo!). this babe was exactly 2 pounds more than ezra. so, she was 7 pounds and 19.5 inches long. she is sleeping lots and nursing very efficiently which we're really diggin' right now. we're probably not naming her buxton although it's hard to stop saying, "buxy" when we refer to her! so, far we have rosa as part of her name. it will probably be combined as rosemercy and we'll add another fitting name to her life soon. just another benefit of having a homebirth is that there's no form to fill out asap with a name on it!
The whole thing. Truly. You are one inspiring birthy-mama-Goddess. 
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I'm glad that she was there with you and for you and helped so much.
I'm still teary eyed after reading it for the 100th time! 
