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Welcoming Julian Yale! *Added 2 photos*

737 views 17 replies 15 participants last post by  kismetbaby 
#1 ·
Julian Yale--born May 24 at 2:13 a.m., at home in the water, surrounded by loving parents, grandparents, his new uncle and aunt, and his four kitty protectors! He was 10 lbs. even and 21" long. (Apparently our midwife thought he'd be 10 or maybe even 10.5 lbs., but she didn't tell me this!
)

Sacked out on his birthday with papa
Big smile at 3 days old!

I'd been having prodromal labor for about a week prior, and Saturday morning we'd had guests over so I made buttermilk pancakes and was crampy, but not much more so than usual. My appetite was off a bit, but other than that I didn't notice much difference, until our guests left. About 12:30-1 I thought the contractions were more regular, a bit stronger, and less responsive to changes in position than usual. I wasn't ready to call this labor yet, but they were ranging from several minutes apart to slightly more and lasting varying lengths still, though mostly 1+ minutes each.

About 2:30 I went to the bathroom and found some bright red blood, including a small clot or mucus chunk. Even then I didn't want to say for sure that this was active labor. My husband and I took a mellow stroll in the park and spent the day together quietly, just managing each contraction. About 7:00 or 7:30 my water broke, and it was obvious that this was going to continue. My midwife came over but as my water had broken did not want to do a vaginal exam, and she left for a few hours since we were handling labor so well ourselves and none of us knew how long it would be.

As the sun went down the contractions got much stronger. At some point I started moaning through them and blowing to try to relax, and my wonderful husband joined in to help me feel connected. I felt most of my labor in my back, so he applied counterpressure during each contraction on my lower back and that helped a lot. I labored on hands and knees, standing and swaying, and draped over my birth ball. By 10:00 or so I decided we should call our midwife back. I must have been hitting transition about then; I could hear a bit of panic in my voice during the peaks of the contractions because they were quite intense, but I never did hit the point of wishing actively for an epidural. I think the support of my husband and the mellow birth environment made it possible for me to just focus on the moment and get through each one. My midwife set up our pool and started filling it, and we called our families to come over for the birth. A bit after 11 I got in the pool, and got my first vaginal exam of the whole pregnancy, to hear I was complete and could start pushing.

It took a bit of time to get the hang of it, but the water helped a lot and I was able to relax in between contractions. I counted each push and tried to get at least 4 in per contraction, and that helped me focus. I mostly labored in the pool, but at one point my midwife suggested I try the toilet for a bit as I was having some trouble moving his head down. (It turns out that he might have started out posterior based on his molding, and may have rotated in my pelvis.) This helped me get to right before crowning, when I waddled back to the pool (a very interesting sensation with a baby's head in the middle of your vagina!), and tried to focus on not pushing too fast and tearing. Finally, his head was out, and with one more push he was born! It was a bit scary at first because he wasn't crying or breathing well. He had a ton of mucus in his lungs, so I spent the first hour of his birth lying on a mattress near the pool rubbing his back to get him cleared out. His heartbeat stayed strong and his color was fine, and although tired, he came around just fine, much to our relief.

I don't have pictures posted yet so links will be forthcoming, but he is really a gorgeous baby (this isn't just me saying it, but I know I'm biased
). He's a great nurser although he was too tuckered out to nurse until later in the morning he was born. I kept an intact perineum but had a minor labial tear; I feel really lucky in how his birth went and I feel so wonderful about the experience. Papa and I are head over heels in love with him, and he's been really sweet and mellow so far. He's a big smiler (yes, as a newborn!) and barely ever fusses. We feel so blessed.

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#18 ·
Congrats mama! Was he your first at 10lbs? Wow--you rock! He's beautiful!

I wanted to tell you how inspired I felt by your birth story. I'm expecting my first in Sept (a boy!) and it made my day to read such a peaceful, amazing story. I hope my HB is as lovely as yours.
 
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