Today is my darling daughter's six-month birthday. To celebrate, I've decided to share my home birth story.
When I was pregnant, I became fascinated by birth stories. I was always hesitant to ask a mother to share her story, but every one seemed extremely willing and excited to talk about it. So, I decided to share our birth story here.
We decided to have a homebirth for many reasons – maybe I’ll post about that decision later. My water broke around 5 p.m. on a Tuesday evening (just two days before my due date, although I felt like I was already past due). My darling husband (DH) and I had gone on a hike (more of a slow walk) that day, and I had just woken up from a nap. I called our midwife and our doula, and they both recommended that I eat a good dinner and get a good night's sleep (as if). I was so excited! I called my mom, and she came over and sat with me for a while. Finally, I decided I should try to get some sleep.
Around 10 p.m. I felt cramping, and by about 3 a.m. my contractions were coming regularly. I've completely forgotten all the pain, but I remember making several mental notes: 1) I worked out almost every day of my pregnancy, why isn’t this easier? 2) this hurts way more than I thought it would, and 3) didn't they tell me I would get a break between contractions?
My doula (doula is Greek for servant) arrived around 3 a.m., and she was incredibly wonderful. She put pressure on my back and feet which made the pain bearable. The pain, which did not let up until I was fully dilated, was so intense that I dealt with it by turning inward. I kept my eyes closed throughout the entire labor. I could not even speak because it took my breath away. My midwife arrived sometime later, although I was so oblivious that I cannot tell you exactly when because I didn't even realize she was there until hours later.
Around 11 a.m. (eight hours later) I was fully dilated and started pushing. My mom and my sister came over, and at this point I thought I was in the home stretch (little did I know I had five more hours to go!). I tried several different positions, walked up and down the stairs (with much assistance), and moved around (very slowly), and finally made some good progress on our bed. We all thought I was close to delivering after three hours of pushing, but when they brought me the mirror I was disappointed to see only the hint of my baby's head (about the size of a nickel). They quickly put the mirror away when it was clear that I thought I was much closer to the end.
After several hours, I was exhausted. I actually fell asleep for about 40 minutes! My midwife and her assistant and my doula worked together to determine the next course of action. They were slightly concerned because the baby's heart rate was low. Every time they monitored the heartbeat I was afraid they were going to transport me to the hospital. They think her umbilical cord was pinched between her head and my pelvic bone.
Finally, around 3 p.m. they recommended that DH sit in a chair and I sat in his lap. The baby's head just didn't want to come out! His energy really helped at the end when I started to be afraid she wasn't going to fit! When she was finally born at 3:43 p.m., we realized that she was 9 lbs! She looked huge. She had a full head of hair and was very alert. She was born right in our bedroom.
Afterward, there were some complications with the placenta (basically, it didn't want to come out), but my midwife was incredible. I ended up losing quite a lot of blood and taking oxygen. They also gave me a shot of pitocin after the labor to stop the bleeding. By that evening I was feeling much better, and it was a completely surreal experience to meet our darling daughter.
For more incredible birth stories, read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.
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