Birth story

We are all home now after this morning went as planned. Staying at the birth center overnight alone was fine, and Sedric kept me awake by wanting to nurse and talk and cuddle until about 1 or 2 am, but I expected this since he slept most of the first 24 hours. He was really sweet and I loved spending time with him last night even if I had to be awake. :o). Marcus and Gemma came to pick me up, and we were home by 10:30am.

Hannah came at 11am and Marcus left for VBS. I holed up in the nursery (front room upstairs, with the queen bed and now rocker and changing table), nursed my little one, and then promptly took a nap while Hannah babysat Gemma. Marcus and kids came home at 2pm, Hannah left, and now we are all just hanging out and resting. Sedric is in daddy's arms as he takes a business call. :o). Gotta start that salesman drive young.

The birth story is pretty simple and straight-forward, textbook really. It starts on Tuesday after my 40 week 2 day midwife appointment. We discussed what would happen if I continued to be overdue (monitoring starting at 10 days late) but we "knew" we wouldn't get that far. Well, at that point I was feeling great so I didn't "know" anything! But that afternoon I felt suddenly tired and the baby's head felt really low, so I took a long nap before dinner and continued on with the evening.

The night was fine but by morning I was experiencing some real, but not painful, contractions. I waddled through my routines of VBS, chores, etc. and still not in pain and with no need to stop what I was doing. Even had the cousins over to play, since I knew it could be a while before I could host another playdate. Meghan and Nicole did all the work so it was very enjoyable for me. :o)

By 4pm I thought, gee, maybe I should time these. I sat down on the couch with a magazine and timer and found the contractions to be averaging 5 minutes apart. Ok, time to call the midwife and get going. We left at 6 or 6:30pm. Just like with Gemma's birth, we were greeted by my midwife Tracy and 2 apprentices, a peaceful ambiance, and a full candlelit tub. This may sound like some obnoxious VIP treatment but truly this is how birthing is supposed to be: supported, quiet (the area, not the mom!), beautiful, cherished.

We hung out with our iPads, catching up on emails and websites until I got bored and started moving around. I was assured there was no hurry and no reason to try to make things go fast, especially since I had been fast for past births. Still I wanted to see...what if I walked? What if I laid down?

I found that laying down was really relaxing and I even dozed off a bit until I thought, wait a second, this is slowing the labor down! Right when I decided that I should get up, my water broke with a loud pop. Marcus even heard it; he thought that I had popped my hip like I sometimes do. That was the first real pain I felt. It was about 8pm.

They got me in the tub (it was a group effort) and a normal labor continued. Nothing much to tell. I remember being warm, and uncomfortable, and just wanting to be in a nice cool bed (not in labor). I wondered how long it would take, when would I feel like pushing, etc. I got a little light-headed when I would go through a now-strong contraction. It was not fun. But I guess that's normal.

Finally and suddenly I felt the baby descend and burn so I pushed like I remembered. Lots of yelling and screaming but that's how I roll. The head came out but soon we realized that the rest of the baby wasn't! Tracy had me turn over to my knees (up until this point I was unassisted except Marcus being at my head, out of the tub) and when that didn't work after a few seconds she had me stand up (!!??!!??!!). I protested (how could a woman -stand up- with a -baby- half out her???) but Marcus and the assistant pulled me up, Tracy got in the tub, and manipulated/turned the baby's head and shoulders and he finally came out. I was so immediately relieved and grateful! My midwife is amazing. Turns out she has great experience with "shoulder dystocia" and knew just what was going on and what to do. I do, however, wonder if this counts as a water birth since I was standing up in the tub, out of the water. A technicality.

So that was the adventure. I sat back in the tub with my baby boy in my arms, so happy and relieved. I never was scared but I was relieved the pain was over. After a while Marcus cut the cord and took Sedric, and I washed off and climbed into bed to snuggle with my men. Tracy and the apprentices left us alone, a doula stepped in to take care of us if we needed it (we didn't) and we all slept. That was that.



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