This is my 3rd pregnancy but my first homebirth. I have 3 dd's all of whom were born in a hospital. Both times I had an epidural and was induced with my second delivery with my twins. I became pg again this past summer and my DBF and I knew we wanted an unmedicated birth with this little one (our first baby together). After seeing Ina May speak at the LLL conference in Chicago this summer, we decided on a homebirth. As the months went by we became more and more excited about our new baby and our birth. We would lay in bed at night and talk about what our dd's birth story would be like...we couldn't want to find out how it all unfolded. It could not have been more perfect....
My edd was 3/17/08. On Monday night (3/3/08 - 38w1d) at a bit after 11:00 DBF and I went to bed and ummm....began doing what we did to make our little one and quickly realized my water had broken. We called the midwife, told her what had happened and that contractions had not started. She told us to get a good night's sleep, to call her if anything changed during the night and if not to be in touch by morning. We also called our doula to give her a head's up.
We did a few things to be ready for the birth and went to bed. I got a few really mild crampy like contractions during the night but nothing big. We kept our girls (I have 3 dd's and he has 1) home from school and got up around 8 to eat breakfast, etc. I called the midwife again and she said it sounded like I was warming up (the mild crampiness was still coming but not intense or any pattern). The doula said to keep in touch with her. I got in the shower around 9:30 a.m. and had a couple of more intense contractions in the shower. At around 10 they really picked up. We called my sister (who was going to take pics) and told her to come then. We also called the doula. DBF's mom came (my mom was out of town) and kept an eye on the girls. My contractions really began picking up and I told him to fill the birth pool. He tried to put me off - thinking it was going to be longer then what it was and didn't want me to get in too soon. I assured him to go ahead and fill it.
Around 10:20 I got in the pool. It felt good but by this time my contractions were every 3 minutes apart and getting much more intense.
He called the midwife to see where she was (she lives 90 minutes from us with NO traffic). She was about 10 minutes away. She asked if I had the urge to push and he told her no. As soon as he got off the phone I said 'I feel like pushing with every contraction.' He said 'Karen just asked that.' Our doula got there about 20 til 11. The midwife came at about 15 til 11. At this point I was on my hands and knees and pushing each time. I asked if that was okay...I didn't want to be pushing too soon. The midwife said to listen to my body and my baby so that's what I did.
Without even thinking about it I got up on my hands and knees and began pushing. I could feel the burn of her head coming down so I reached down once and felt a bulge...I had him feel and he felt it too. The next contraction he felt and could feel her head. The next one she crowned and he could feel her hair. He said 'Baby, reach down! You can feel hair!' I did and let out a cry. He said that was the loudest sound I made the entire time. We knew we wanted our girls there for the birth so I said 'Get the girls!' and the doula went to get them. The midwife said to let my contraction push her head out so with the next one I did....that was hard not to push too! The girls were there when her head came out. He came up to me and whispered in my ear 'Her head is out. You're so strong!!' I kissed him (FYI...kissing during contractions does work!) and said 'Reach down and catch your baby.' The girls were saying 'Ohhh...she has such little ears!' 'Look at her face!' He said the water was so clear and they were standing right next to the tub and could see it all so clearly! The midwife reached down and unlooped the cord from around her neck. The next contraction I pushed out her body and he guided her through my legs and up to me. I sat back and pulled her up to me. The midwife then unlooped the cord the second time (so much for all of the naysayers who said "What will you do if her cord is wrapped around her neck?!").
I held her close and was just amazed!! She was covered in vernix (covered!!) so we knew she was early. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 1/2'. We stayed in the water and she nursed 10 minutes after she was born. I delivered the placenta and then her Daddy cut the cord once it wad done pulsing. I was in my bed less then an hour after having her. My sister made it just in time to hear her first cry. She hadn't thought I was really going that fast so took her time coming. She HATES that she missed it but the doula took some really good pictures for us.
We named our sweet baby girl Willa and she is pure bliss! She is perfection and an amazing blessing and gift to our family! We are so happy that we chose to have her at home! My sister was in awe and kept talking about it being such a peaceful way for a baby to come into the world. We couldn't agree more.
My edd was 3/17/08. On Monday night (3/3/08 - 38w1d) at a bit after 11:00 DBF and I went to bed and ummm....began doing what we did to make our little one and quickly realized my water had broken. We called the midwife, told her what had happened and that contractions had not started. She told us to get a good night's sleep, to call her if anything changed during the night and if not to be in touch by morning. We also called our doula to give her a head's up.
We did a few things to be ready for the birth and went to bed. I got a few really mild crampy like contractions during the night but nothing big. We kept our girls (I have 3 dd's and he has 1) home from school and got up around 8 to eat breakfast, etc. I called the midwife again and she said it sounded like I was warming up (the mild crampiness was still coming but not intense or any pattern). The doula said to keep in touch with her. I got in the shower around 9:30 a.m. and had a couple of more intense contractions in the shower. At around 10 they really picked up. We called my sister (who was going to take pics) and told her to come then. We also called the doula. DBF's mom came (my mom was out of town) and kept an eye on the girls. My contractions really began picking up and I told him to fill the birth pool. He tried to put me off - thinking it was going to be longer then what it was and didn't want me to get in too soon. I assured him to go ahead and fill it.
Around 10:20 I got in the pool. It felt good but by this time my contractions were every 3 minutes apart and getting much more intense.He called the midwife to see where she was (she lives 90 minutes from us with NO traffic). She was about 10 minutes away. She asked if I had the urge to push and he told her no. As soon as he got off the phone I said 'I feel like pushing with every contraction.' He said 'Karen just asked that.' Our doula got there about 20 til 11. The midwife came at about 15 til 11. At this point I was on my hands and knees and pushing each time. I asked if that was okay...I didn't want to be pushing too soon. The midwife said to listen to my body and my baby so that's what I did.
Without even thinking about it I got up on my hands and knees and began pushing. I could feel the burn of her head coming down so I reached down once and felt a bulge...I had him feel and he felt it too. The next contraction he felt and could feel her head. The next one she crowned and he could feel her hair. He said 'Baby, reach down! You can feel hair!' I did and let out a cry. He said that was the loudest sound I made the entire time. We knew we wanted our girls there for the birth so I said 'Get the girls!' and the doula went to get them. The midwife said to let my contraction push her head out so with the next one I did....that was hard not to push too! The girls were there when her head came out. He came up to me and whispered in my ear 'Her head is out. You're so strong!!' I kissed him (FYI...kissing during contractions does work!) and said 'Reach down and catch your baby.' The girls were saying 'Ohhh...she has such little ears!' 'Look at her face!' He said the water was so clear and they were standing right next to the tub and could see it all so clearly! The midwife reached down and unlooped the cord from around her neck. The next contraction I pushed out her body and he guided her through my legs and up to me. I sat back and pulled her up to me. The midwife then unlooped the cord the second time (so much for all of the naysayers who said "What will you do if her cord is wrapped around her neck?!").
I held her close and was just amazed!! She was covered in vernix (covered!!) so we knew she was early. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 1/2'. We stayed in the water and she nursed 10 minutes after she was born. I delivered the placenta and then her Daddy cut the cord once it wad done pulsing. I was in my bed less then an hour after having her. My sister made it just in time to hear her first cry. She hadn't thought I was really going that fast so took her time coming. She HATES that she missed it but the doula took some really good pictures for us.
We named our sweet baby girl Willa and she is pure bliss! She is perfection and an amazing blessing and gift to our family! We are so happy that we chose to have her at home! My sister was in awe and kept talking about it being such a peaceful way for a baby to come into the world. We couldn't agree more.
