AKA My HUGE plug for homebirth!
After K was born we had major nursing issues that made her first year a pretty rocky experience. Once we cleared some of the big hurdles at about 4 months, I started really researching breastfeeding and how it works, what can mess it up, yada, yada. That research led me to researching birth and how intervening in the process of birth leads to issues with breastfeeding. After about a year of researching, DH and I made the decision that any more children would be born naturally at home. With that in mind, I worked to loose weight and stay as healthy as possible so that I would remain low risk and be able to homebirth safely.
Sunday morning, it all payed off!! I had been dealing with prodromal labor for about 3 or 4 weeks, so when i started with cx again Saturday night, I ignored them and went about my evening. I went to bed a bit early, then woke up around 12:30 feeling pretty icky. I sat up and watched tv for a while, then headed back to bed. I noticed the cx were a little stronger than they had been, but they were not in a regular pattern at that point(around 1:30). I went back to bed, but could not get really comfy. The cx started to pick up, so I just puttered around the house, got on cm, stuff like that for about an hour. At this point, they were about 6-7 min apart, and a little more intense than they had been. I went back to bed around 4, and dozed between them.
By about 5 I realized that I was having to concentrate on breathing through them, and they were getting a little closer together. I began to think that this may actually be labor! (Remember, I'd had cx for WEEKS, many times 3-4 min apart for several hours, only to have them putter out and be disappointed. With K, the same thing happened, and I only went to the hospital when I woke with cx and blood pressure issues that caused visual disturbances, so I was a good bit conservative on saying "This is it!") I started timing the cx about 5:30, and by then they were 3-4 min apart, and were starting to become pretty intense. At 6 I called my MW and let her know that it was time. At that point I got up and woke DH. He started setting up the pool, and I picked up the house a bit btwn cx.
At 7 my MW arrived, and once she was unpacked she checked me. I was at 8 1/2 - 9 cm already! I labored a bit more either sitting on the coffee table or leaning over the back of the sofa. By about 8, I got into the pool. The cx slowed in pace a little, but gradually picked up in intensity. I felt like I got a break for about an hour, then close to 9:45 I started feeling like I was loosing a bit of control, and they got really intense. After about 20 minutes of that, I told my MW that I needed to know what was going on and where I was, so she checked me. I had a tiny lip left, so she held it out of the way while I did a gentle push, and with that my water broke. At that point, I started to really need to push. I was sitting/leaning back on the side of the pool, and pushed like that for about 10 minutes. I felt like nothing was happening, and felt a huge need to get on my knees. I leaned on the side of the pool on my knees, and pushed through about 3 cx and she was born.
It was the most wonderful experience all around. With K, I had an epidural, and ended up pushing on my back for 3 1/2 hours and needing a vacuum to help deliver her. When I was pushing her, I instinctively needed to get on my knees or change position, but had an epi and could not. This time, I let my body do what it needed to, and it was so much easier on both me and the baby. With K, I had a second degree episiotomy that left a couple nerves damaged. This time, with pushing in a vertical position, and having a baby that was over a pound bigger, I ended up with a couple "skid marks" that have almost already healed. With K, I had a baby that would not latch(quite the opposite, she would rear her head back and SCREAM any time I tried to nurse her for the first 9 weeks), Erin latched within an hour, and has nursed so much I already have a surpluss of milk in the freezer.
There is also a ton to be said for being in my home and my environment. Once the cx got strong enough for me to realize I was in labor, I NEVER once laid down or got into any of the positions you normally are put in in a hospital. Most of the time I was either hanging on the back of the sofa squatting, or sitting on the coffee table edge and leaning back on my hands relaxing through the cx. It was intense, but b/c I could let my body work on its own, it did not actually hurt until right at the end. It was also very freeing not to be hooked up to machinery, or depending on a machine to tell me when a cx was coming. (the MW did have a doppler, and checked heart tones routinely, just not continuously). Although we made the decision to homebirth b/c it was the safest and best based on research, all in all, it was also an absolutely wonderful experience. Not only do I have a healthy baby girl who has had a completely drug free start in life(the main goal and reasoning behind doing this), but I also feel like I have conquered the world and can do anything now!!
After K was born we had major nursing issues that made her first year a pretty rocky experience. Once we cleared some of the big hurdles at about 4 months, I started really researching breastfeeding and how it works, what can mess it up, yada, yada. That research led me to researching birth and how intervening in the process of birth leads to issues with breastfeeding. After about a year of researching, DH and I made the decision that any more children would be born naturally at home. With that in mind, I worked to loose weight and stay as healthy as possible so that I would remain low risk and be able to homebirth safely.
Sunday morning, it all payed off!! I had been dealing with prodromal labor for about 3 or 4 weeks, so when i started with cx again Saturday night, I ignored them and went about my evening. I went to bed a bit early, then woke up around 12:30 feeling pretty icky. I sat up and watched tv for a while, then headed back to bed. I noticed the cx were a little stronger than they had been, but they were not in a regular pattern at that point(around 1:30). I went back to bed, but could not get really comfy. The cx started to pick up, so I just puttered around the house, got on cm, stuff like that for about an hour. At this point, they were about 6-7 min apart, and a little more intense than they had been. I went back to bed around 4, and dozed between them.
By about 5 I realized that I was having to concentrate on breathing through them, and they were getting a little closer together. I began to think that this may actually be labor! (Remember, I'd had cx for WEEKS, many times 3-4 min apart for several hours, only to have them putter out and be disappointed. With K, the same thing happened, and I only went to the hospital when I woke with cx and blood pressure issues that caused visual disturbances, so I was a good bit conservative on saying "This is it!") I started timing the cx about 5:30, and by then they were 3-4 min apart, and were starting to become pretty intense. At 6 I called my MW and let her know that it was time. At that point I got up and woke DH. He started setting up the pool, and I picked up the house a bit btwn cx.
At 7 my MW arrived, and once she was unpacked she checked me. I was at 8 1/2 - 9 cm already! I labored a bit more either sitting on the coffee table or leaning over the back of the sofa. By about 8, I got into the pool. The cx slowed in pace a little, but gradually picked up in intensity. I felt like I got a break for about an hour, then close to 9:45 I started feeling like I was loosing a bit of control, and they got really intense. After about 20 minutes of that, I told my MW that I needed to know what was going on and where I was, so she checked me. I had a tiny lip left, so she held it out of the way while I did a gentle push, and with that my water broke. At that point, I started to really need to push. I was sitting/leaning back on the side of the pool, and pushed like that for about 10 minutes. I felt like nothing was happening, and felt a huge need to get on my knees. I leaned on the side of the pool on my knees, and pushed through about 3 cx and she was born.
It was the most wonderful experience all around. With K, I had an epidural, and ended up pushing on my back for 3 1/2 hours and needing a vacuum to help deliver her. When I was pushing her, I instinctively needed to get on my knees or change position, but had an epi and could not. This time, I let my body do what it needed to, and it was so much easier on both me and the baby. With K, I had a second degree episiotomy that left a couple nerves damaged. This time, with pushing in a vertical position, and having a baby that was over a pound bigger, I ended up with a couple "skid marks" that have almost already healed. With K, I had a baby that would not latch(quite the opposite, she would rear her head back and SCREAM any time I tried to nurse her for the first 9 weeks), Erin latched within an hour, and has nursed so much I already have a surpluss of milk in the freezer.
There is also a ton to be said for being in my home and my environment. Once the cx got strong enough for me to realize I was in labor, I NEVER once laid down or got into any of the positions you normally are put in in a hospital. Most of the time I was either hanging on the back of the sofa squatting, or sitting on the coffee table edge and leaning back on my hands relaxing through the cx. It was intense, but b/c I could let my body work on its own, it did not actually hurt until right at the end. It was also very freeing not to be hooked up to machinery, or depending on a machine to tell me when a cx was coming. (the MW did have a doppler, and checked heart tones routinely, just not continuously). Although we made the decision to homebirth b/c it was the safest and best based on research, all in all, it was also an absolutely wonderful experience. Not only do I have a healthy baby girl who has had a completely drug free start in life(the main goal and reasoning behind doing this), but I also feel like I have conquered the world and can do anything now!!
