Well, I think this is it...

[Mrs Dimples]

Well, it's 5:30 am where I am, and I've been up for about 2.5 hours with some pretty businesslike contractions. :lol They're still kind of irregular, about 5-8 minutes apart, but they are definitely NOT like what I have been feeling until now. They are painful, I am sorry to say - not just intense like they have been until now. I have really sharp pain on my cervix, I'm sure it's the baby's head and so that's kind of a nice thought to keep me company. :love

*yikes, I tell you what though, she feels like she has a really sharp head!*

And now it's almost 6...it's wierd, I will have like 8-10 minutes in between them once in awhile, and then I get three all strung together and that SUCKS! No fair, I need at least a minute to regroup in between...

Anyway, I don't know how much more I'll be posting, but I just wanted to say HOORAY for me! :) I have called my MW to let her know what's going on, but I don't want her to come over yet. I'm doing fine on my own so far.

[etoilech]

Good for you! I hope you have a quick and safe birth with a beautiful, healthy baby! When you're done witht he labour vibes... send them this way!:lol

Keep in touch when you can.

Olivia

[Daisie125]

Woo-hoo! I hope this is finally it for you! Can't wait for an update!

[KaliD]

Horray for you too! Here's to a peaceful labor and birth!

[Epiphany]

I just posted on the other board, but I wanted to check here too. :) Congrats on going into labor and I am so excited to hear all about your wonderful home birth experience!!

Sending you joyous labor vibes!

[InochiZo]

I hope your labor is progressing well. Hope to hear about baby soon!!!

[willow659]

Keep in touch when you can. :dust Here's to a peaceful and calm labor and delivery

[Mrs Dimples]

She's here! Can't talk now, will C&P birth story from other board in a little while. HB went absolutely perfectly, she's here and just not a scratch on her, beautiful. More later! :love

[HappiLeigh]

Wonderful!!! Can't wait to hear the full story! :thumb :D :love

[Mariposa]

congrats!!! can't wait to hear your HB story!

[InochiZo]

Congrats!!! I too am having trouble waiting.

[ssolberg99]

Congrats! Hope to read your story soon.

[Kam]

Great news! Congratulations!!

warmly,
Kam, mamamama! to Meg and one more, due March 20

[Lucky Charm]

Congratulations!

[Mewsin]

Hey Rachel I read your story on SK and I just wanted to say congratulations!!

You did great! I'm so proud of you, and I totally wish you could come here and be my doula ;)

[Mrs Dimples]

UPDATE: Ok, here's my story basically C&P'ed from my other board. I included some more birth details for you all that I forgot in there.

Quick version: you can all read the thread to see how it was going up until about 6 am or so. I called the MW at 5:30 and just let her know that I was pretty sure I was in labor but not to worry about coming yet. I labored for about another hour in my bed upstairs (a Tempurpedic pillow was my best friend, because it felt really good to ram my head into the headboard, lol, and that pillow was a very nice cushion!) I called her again at 6:30 and told her that I was ready for her to come over, but there was no rush, just in the next hour or so.

My husband left then to go to Lowe's to get some plastic sheeting for the bed and a hose to fill the pool (no, we STILL didn't have that stuff, because I wasn't going to have the baby this weekend, remember? ) He was only gone for about 20 minutes, and by the time he got back I was really glad to have him there. Devlin had just woken up and was walking down the stairs when my husband got home, so that was just in time!

My MIL came and picked up Devlin about 7:30, amd Wendi (MW) got there right about the same time. Boy, was I glad to see her! What a wonderful woman. She kept telling me how great I was doing and how she loved how I was dealing with the contractions (I know some people like to call them rushes, but that's NOT how they felt for me. They were very sharp and painful, albeit to a purpose, YK?) I was on my knees, on the bed, ramming my head into the headboard as previously mentioned and saying "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPEN" in a low voice, rocking my hips back and forth. That was what seemed to work - it became my strategy, and I basically did some variation of that coping mechanism the entire labor. It was really hard because my contractions continued in thr pattern of three all strung together, then a break for a couple of minutes. It was very intense and hard to cope with the long ones.

I got into our bathtub somewhere in there, maybe about 8 am? That was good, the contractions felt best in there and it was like I was able to cope with them better in a small space if that makes sense. I laid on my side and put my mouth right up against the tub and yelled really low and progressively louder "Open" and sometimes just "Oh" but I just tried to keep my mouth really relaxed so my cervix could open easily. The tub helped my voice echo really loud in my ears so I could focus on my sounds and not on the pain - mostly. A couple of times my MW had to kind of bring me back to reality and remind me to keep the voice low because I felt really out of control if I let it get too high and screamy. My first bag of water broke in the tub here somewhere - I didn't feel it, but at some point I noticed that the water was a little warmer in one place and I asked Wendi if it had broken and she said yes, she could see vernix floating in the water.

The birth pool (the real one, lol) was filling up all this time, and about 9 am I think it was done. I was really feeling like I was glad I was at home because I know I would have asked for an epidural in the hospital. I had no idea how far along I was, I had never had an internal exam and I still didn't have one all this time. I was dying of curiosity but I knew that if she checked me and I was a 2 I was going to totally shut down and be too discouraged to keep going. So I got out of our tub, peed, had a contraction on the toilet which I thought was going to do me in since I wasn't able to use my established "routine" there.

Wel, I lived and I made it into the fishy pool. That felt GOOD! For about 10 seconds until I had another contraction, that is. I labored in the fishy pool for awhile, and I had been having lots of pressure in my butt and feeling quite nauseated for at least an hour. Finally, I asked Wendi to check me, bracing myself for the worst.

*okay, have since had visitors and nursed again, so it's like 2 hours later when I'm finishing this...*

She poked around for awhile, and then she said "I'm just making sure you don't have any cervix left". NONE? Sweet! So I can push? I didn't really feel like pushing, but sometimes my body kind of did it on its own, just little grunting ones. That felt SO much better than moaning through them. The midwives were checking her heartbeat with the pushes, and she was doing great, until her head started to descend and then her heartrate slowed quite a bit. I could hear it and asked about it, and my MW said it was totally normal because her head was coming through my pelvis. But she suggested that I really try to curl up and push through the next contraction.

I did, and it was INCREDIBLE. I could absolutely feel her head come through my bones, but it didn't hurt. It felt so good, honestly. A million times better than the contractions. My second bag of waters broke as I pushed, and I definitely fel that! It was a good thing I was in the tub because it exploded and it would have been really messy anywhere else. I didn't get the hang of pushing until I felt her head begin to descend through the canal, and then it was SO easy because I could feel everything and it was obvious what worked and what didn't. Much different from my son, obviously, where I pushed for hours and was ineffective because I couldn't move my legs or feel anything. Her head came out easily, and it didn't burn the way I thought it would - maybe because of the water. Her head was out for a minute, and then her shoulders came next, and then she was out! She cried right away, and she was covered with really thick vernix. She was so much smaller than I was expecting - I thought she would be about 9 pounds and she felt so tiny to me.

I tore a little tiny bit, but had no stitch since the MW said it was just on the surface and it just lays itself back together really nice with no help. I feel really good, emotionally and physically. My son loves to give her hugs and kisses and is fascinated with her nursing.

Well, this is getting way too freaking long, so I'll suffice it to say that her name is Eve Marian, 7 pounds 10 ounces, 19.5 inches, born on her EDD of March 4th at 9:56 am. She loves nursing and sleeping on your chest. She has dark blonde hair and dimples. Life is good.

[HappiLeigh]

:champagne :balloons Wonderful, mama! Beautiful story, I'm so glad everything went well! :balloons :champagne
Welcome, baby Eve!

[nubianamy]

So happy for you and your wonderful homebirth experience, Rachel!! You are a brave beautiful mama. Congrats on your daughter. Post pics when you can!!

[Metasequoia]

Awesome birth story, Rachel!! And only about 4-5 hrs after you posted that morning!! Yay Baby Eve! :love

BTW, just had to ask.....I'm clueless about the "first & second bag of waters" I thought you were having twins! I only had one gush per babe...????

[honeybee]

Congratulations!:balloons What a beautiful homebirth story! I can't wait!

[Mrs Dimples]

BTW, just had to ask.....I'm clueless about the "first & second bag of waters" I thought you were having twins! I only had one gush per babe...????

Well, my MW told me a little bit about it (but understandably I wasn't paying TOO much attention ;)) and evidently there's an amnion and a chorion bag...???...Also maybe referred to as a forebag and a hindbag? I don't think they usually break separately but evidently mine did. She was almost born in the second bag, that would have been kind of cool!

I can't imagine laboring without the cushion of the bag, though. It must really suck for people who start labor with ROM, or who get it done partway through! I don't know how much more intensity I could have handled, the pressure was SO much almost right from the beginning.

I feel really good, I can hardly believe it. I just feel so blessed. :love

[Ell-Bell]

What an amazing story! I wanna be just like you. :love Congratulations, and welcome baby Eve!

[Metasequoia]

Well, my MW told me a little bit about it (but understandably I wasn't paying TOO much attention ;)) and evidently there's an amnion and a chorion bag...???...Also maybe referred to as a forebag and a hindbag? I don't think they usually break separately but evidently mine did. She was almost born in the second bag, that would have been kind of cool!

I can't imagine laboring without the cushion of the bag, though. It must really suck for people who start labor with ROM, or who get it done partway through! I don't know how much more intensity I could have handled, the pressure was SO much almost right from the beginning.

I feel really good, I can hardly believe it. I just feel so blessed. :love

Oh, never heard of that! I had a "sub chorionic hemorrhage" at 12.5 wks, didn't realize it was a second bag....I'd love to see a picture explaining it.

Thanks for explaining! :)

[nikisager]

Happy labor dust to you! Keep us updated when you get a chance!

[shelbean91]

Congrats!!