Babble

So how about we hear from parents who had good birth experiences.  We all know it's painful, but lets not dwell on all the negatives.  I think we perpetuate our national fear of childbirth far too often.

Lola Sam
8.30.06
6:50 PM
8.97 lbs/oz
Piedmont Hospital ~ Atlanta, GA


Friday, 8/25 My husband & I went to the doctor to figure out how Lola was tracking. I was 39w1d at this point. The decision was made that induction was no longer optional due to the baby’s size and where I was in the pregnancy. We went ahead and set up an induction date of 8.30.06 (her due date) at 7:30 AM. My doctor stripped my membranes in an effort to start labor naturally.
Weekend, 8/26 & 27 I spent the weekend with my husband just enjoying our last moments as a baby-less couple. We went to the mall and walked around to try to get Lola moving. While more mucous was lost no labor action was felt.
Monday & Tuesday, 8/28 & 29 The days leading up to Lola’s Day were agonizing. I was growing incredibly impatient and uncomfortable. By the time packing was finished on Tuesday evening I was about to scream with anticipation. Barely slept a wink!
Wednesday, 8/30 Lola’s Birthday!! YAY! The day is here! I started out the day with a nice long shower, a full face of makeup, and a blowout. I was investing in the future photo opportunities.
7:00 AM We headed out for the hospital. We stopped at Chik-Fil-A for a breakfast snack and made it to the parking deck by 7:20. We ate and then headed in. I preregistered at the hospital so sign in was a breeze. Once we made it to the desk we were in our room by 7:40. The nurse assigned to me set me up with my IV (ouch!!!) and got us settled in.
8:00 AM The doctor came in (Dr. Sternberg with Atlanta Women’s Obstetrics & Gynecology – A+) and checked me. I was still 2cm and 50% effaced. She attempted to break my water with no success. Pitocin was started with growing increments of 2.
9:00 AM – 1:15 PM Contractions started and continued all morning. They were fairly mild and totally able to be talked/breathed through. We watched “Lost In Translation” on DVD and chatted. We IM’d Grandma all day too.
1:30 PM Dr. Sternberg came back to try to break my water again. This time it was successful! At this point I was at the maximum dose of Pitocin (24). By maximum it was the maximum that the nurse could escalate to without further instruction from the doctor.
2:00 PM The pain was steadily increasing so I requested an epidural. The Anesthesiologist promptly arrived and inserted the catheter. It worked 100% initially on the left side but was only partially working on the right. I had to start laying on my right side in an effort to have the medicine work its way down. It didn’t work. After about an hour both sides failed.
3:00 PM I let the nurse know and the Anesthesiologist came back in. He upped the dose of medication. I waited 15 minutes but the epidural still failed.
3:20 PM The Anesthesiologist came in again and changed the medication. Another nurse came in and checked progress because I was having pretty big contractions and she felt very low. I was now at 4-5cm.
3:45 PM The epidural was still failing at this point so the Anesthesiologist pushed even more meds. At this point it was the same medication they give C-Section patients before operating. The epidural still failed.
4:10 PM The Anesthesiologist came in *again* and repositioned (pulled back) the epidural catheter. I felt slight relief but it might have been by power of suggestion. After awhile that “power” wore off. ? The decision was made to redo the epidural. Thankfully it was shift change so another Anesthesiologist came in to do this.
4:45 PM The new Anesthesiologist came in along with a senior nurse. They were both AMAZING! The nurse knew what she was doing and physically helped me arrange my back so that this epidural would be successful. She also was there to help me breathe through the contractions as they were strong & steady at this point. My OB came in as well and decided to stop the Pitocin for the time being. The thought was to try to give some relief by dialing back the medicine while the epidural was taking effect.
5:00 PM FINALLY – Relief!!! I was in heaven! The doctor checked me again and I had made it to 7cm.
5:30 PM My OB decided to start Pitocin again. My contractions kept getting greater and greater but I felt nothing. I didn’t even realize I was having them!
6:15 PM My husband put in another DVD (“Love Actually”). We settled in and started watching.
6:30 PM The baby felt really low to me (like a massive poo) so I let my OB know. She checked again and said I had progressed to 10cm and could begin pushing!
The final preparations were made for labor & delivery. I began pushing on my next big contraction at 6:45 PM. One and ½ pushes later my Daughter, Lola Sam, was born (6:50 PM). I didn’t tear and didn’t need stitches. In fact the delivery was so fast that the setup of nurses and such wasn’t even complete. Thankfully Lola was completely healthy and beautiful. My husband & I were in love instantly.

I can't believe how similar the birth of my daughter, Danika, is to your daughter!

I was scheduled to be induced on 1/28 because they thought Danika was big for how far along I was - at one ultrasound she measured almost 9 lbs.  I went into labor on my own the morning of 1/27 ~ around 4 am.  I had been having contractions on and off for a week or so...but these contractions meant business.  I could tell the difference.  I called into my husband from the bathroom and told him it was time to get ready to go.  He kept telling me we were going tomorrow not today.  I finally had to physically go and grab him and say - "No, we are going today!  I'm in labor."  Then he got it. 

We called my parents ~ my mom was going to come to the hospital with us and my dad was staying with my 14 month old son.  They couldn't get to our house soon enough.  The contractions were steady and getting stronger.  I knew from the beginning that I would be having an epidural with this birth...I had one with my son and it did exactly what it was suppose to ~ I was all for having another one.  :)  To tell you the truth, I think that knowing how much it was going to help kept me some what calm for our 40 minute ride to the hospital. 

It hurt - sure, it's suppose to...right?  I felt like I had to make noise during my contractions.  It helped a lot.  I'm sure everyone thought I was nuts, but the noises made me concentrate on something else.  The only hospital complaint I have is that it took about 20 minutes for them to get someone to take me up to labor and delivery triage.  Once I got there things moved fast and everyone was WONDERFUL!  I had the best labor and delivery nurse, Lisa.  She stayed with me the whole time and even held the bucket when I puked.  :)  Talk about a real trooper.

I was only in triage for 15 minutes.  I was 5 cm and 80% and the baby was still pretty hight.  They moved me to a labor and delivery room and started an IV.  After about a half hour, I was getting prepped for my epidural.  I think I got my epidural around 7:30 am.  At first it worked really well ~ but as the contractions got stronger, it started to "wear off".  Turns out that the epidural was working - it just couldn't get to the place that I was feeling the contractions.   The anestiologist was wonderful.  She kept coming back and trying things to fix my problem.  Eventually, they gave me the medicine they give c-section patients.  I was numb everywhere.  My fingers were even numb - like when your hand falls asleep.  It was at this time I slept...for about a half hour.  I think this was probably around 10 am.

They checked me again and I was 7 cm and still about 80% ~ the baby hadn't really moved down much at all.  It's news like that that makes you realize why some woment tell their doctors they don't want to know how far along they are until the end.  It's kind of discouraging to not make the progress you think you should be making.  But I wasn't really feeling anything at this point...so I was ok with it. 

I started to feel really uncomfortable around 12 noon.  They checked me again and I was 10 cm and 100% but baby still wasn't low enough, so they wanted to wait.  About 15 minutes later I told them I couldn't wait...I wanted to push.  They really didn't think it would do much but told me to try and they'd watch what happened.  Well, with the first push I moved her right to where she needed to be.  Then with 3 more pushes (pushes not contractions) she was born.

Danika Rae * 8lbs 14oz * 20 inches * 12:29pm

I had an episiotomy with my son (14months earlier) so I did tear on my old scar...but I already forget how bad that stunk.  :)  I have a healthy, happy 3 week old.  She's perfect and her birth actually made me think...hmmm...maybe I will have 3! 

Jillian was due 8-12-06.  I went in for my now-weekly checkup on 7-24 and the doctor was feeling around and what I had thought was a baby knee in my ribcage turned out to be her head.  We did a quick ultrasound to confirm and also noted that my amniotic fluid was low AND the placenta was on top of the baby, rather than underneath.  If that weren't enough, her umbilical cord went between her legs (one was bent and the other was straight down).  So, even if it would have been possible to turn her at 38 weeks, not one of the doctors in my practice would even attempt it.  Instead, they told me they'd have their surgery scheduler get me a date and time for a c-section and we'd do that.

I went home, cried for about an hour, then tried a whole load of stuff they suggested to try to get the baby to turn.  First up: an extra-large, extra-caffeine frappuchino, drank while lying with my head on the floor and my ass up on the couch.  They said the caffeine would wake her up and the cold might make her wiggle around.  No dice.

Second try: super-loud heavy-bass house music played to the belly with my ass up in the air and my head on the floor.  No dice.

Third try: The chiropractor.  He did some kind of chiropractor voodoo to maybe get her to turn, but again, nothing doing.  The only thing THAT did was make her wiggle non-stop for three days.

So we scheduled the c-section for the 31st, told our childbirth instructor that we'd be dropping out of Baby Class, and started reading up on c-sections.  Whee!

The morning of the 31st arrived and we headed to the hospital.  I got into the bed and my nurse got me all settled and jacked up with the IVs and other fun stuff.  I can't say enough about my nurse.  She was just so fantastic, talking about what we would be doing and how it all works and generally keeping me from freaking right out.  Then my doctor came in, talked with us a bit, made us sign all the releases (scary!) and then we got ready.

They wheeled me into the OR and my nurse did a great job of keeping me from punching the anesthesiologist when he was looking for a place to insert the epidural.  He said "did you know you have scoliosis?  Your spine curves."   Ok.  Here I am, mostly naked, about to get a NEEDLE in my BACK and he needs to tell me I have scoliosis?  Ass.  But we made it through without incident, the epidural went in, and I could no longer feel my legs.

Woo, catheter!

Then they let my husband in, put the big ol' sheet up, and went to work.  The sensation was a lot like when you go to get your oil changed at the place that doesn't make you get out of your car - you can feel them doing stuff, but you can't really see what's going on.  A lot of it was a blur - I head things like "Get the bucket" and "Do we have any staples?" then "It's a girl!"  and then I heard the beautiful sound of my daughter announcing her arrival. 

 Because she was a c-section, she had a little bit of fluid in her lungs so they whisked her away to the NICU with my husband in tow.  My doctors sewed me up and sent me to the recovery room to hang out with my nurse, where my blood pressure was checked every ten minutes and we chatted about I don't know what until I could feel my legs and they could transfer me to a regular hospital bed.  Whee!

Once that happened, I was able to be wheeled into the NICU to hold my baby girl for the first time and tell her that she had to hang out there for a little while so they could make sure she was good.  Then I went to my room and tried to fall asleep but that damned blood pressure thing was going off every ten minutes, then the nurses were in and out to make sure I could breathe blahblahblah.

 Three days later, my incredibly sore body went home with my totally awesome kid and we're rocking the house six and a half months later.

No, it wasn't the birth I had envisioned, and it definitely wasn't something I would have chosen, but it was what it was, and we all ended up healthy and happy so it's all good.

It had been a tough, draining week.  I was looking forward to my last week before my due date, realizing that our daughter would be arriving any time.  One of my best friends came over that Sunday to help clean my house and finish packing my bag.  We did little cleaning, finished packing, and took my dog and her baby to the park for a long walk while my husband went biking.

At 4:30 that afternoon, just as we went back into my house, I felt my first contraction.  It was like a period cramp, and they kept coming every three to five minutes.  I called my husband to assure he was on his way home but waited until he got here to greet him with "I think I'm in labor!"  I gave a quick call to my midwife, who told me to eat, rest, and wait since I was likely in very early labor.  She thought I wouldn't be ready to get to the hospital before the next morning.  We tried to eat and get a few things together for my husband.  I tried to soak in a bath.  I knew, however, that things were moving faster than the midwife had thought.

Oh, the contractions didn't let up--with only a minute or two in between--and got painful so quickly!  By 7:00, we were on our way to the hospital.  A quick check in, a change of clothes, and I was so happy to be out of the car and in a comfortable bed!  Around 8:30, I was three cm dilated and encouraged to walk around as much as possible.  I couldn't bring myself to walk because during the contractions, I could hardly stand, and there was so little time in between.  I sat in a rocking chair.  I counted in my head as I slowly breathed in and out, listened to Sufjan Stevens, and the hours flew by.

Slowly my thoughts progressed from "I can do this without drugs" both during and in between contractions, to positive thoughts only in between, to "I need help" both during and in between.  My goal had been to go as long as I could without meds, knowing that the pain was nothing to fear, but I was so tired!  I asked for the epidural around midnight.  My midwife strongly advised that I get up and walking for at least a half an hour.  I was so tired and pissed!  I was nearly certain I had reached transition and was progressing rapidly.  Instead of fighting though, I walked circles around my room, returning to lean forward on the bed during every contraction.  My husband and best friend were there to press on my back, which was a slight relief.  Forty-five minutes passed so quickly, but it was the hardest walk I've ever taken, by far.

The epidural did change things greatly for me.  I instantly relaxed and began to joke and get excited!  A quick check, and my new (and wonderful nurse, Naomi) asked if I wanted to be surprised.  I guessed eight cm, she said I was closer to nine.  That sounded right to me.  I was then able to drink some broth and juice and relax while we waited for that last cm.  Although we tried to nap, it was impossible since we were all so excited!

My water never broke, so my midwife broke it for me.  There was some meconium in the fluid, so my baby had be checked immediately after being born.  (She was wonderfully fine.)  Pushing was very exciting for me, as well.  I enjoyed looking in the mirror as her little head became visible.  Perhaps because I wasn't feeling any pain, it felt very surreal, as if I was watching someone else's birth.  That was not an unpleasant feeling for me, however, and I do believe I would have struggled to push for two hours and would not remember the experience as clearly had I been in pain.  Delivery is very clear in my memory, while my labor is mostly a blur.   

Although we spent nearly two hours trying to avoid it, I did need a little episiotomy.  And there were other odd experiences, like peeing all over the floor as I walked to the bathroom for the first time.  Thankfully my sister was there to assure me that I would not be incontinent for long!

Overall, though, I was totally pleased with my experience.  I have never felt so strong or tuned into and amazed by my body.  And Clara Audrey arrived at 5:31 AM on November 6 weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long!  So started our experience with a colicky, high-need infant, but that's another story for another time! 

I had a little girl already,  and was pretty much due in 2 weeks.   I was eating popcorn and laughing with my mom when my husband called from across the road.  (We lived in the country at that time).  Anyway,  my husband had been gone all week at work and was calling to let me know he was home and that he had a friend with him.    Well my daughter wanted to stay with her "Grammy".  So I walked across the road by myself,  flung open the front door,  Said "Hi honey,  Hi Wayne!"  and whooosh,  Imagine wet pants, dripping fluid,  my face red as it could ever be.... my water broke right in front of company!!!   I think our friend Wayne was way more panicked than we were.   So,   I got my bags,  called my mom,  she brought over my little girl,  and we went to the hospital.    Not long after that,  I threw up the popcorn (Trust me,  you never want to throw up popcorn)  Just a few hours later,   here comes the baby,  Dr. still washing his hands....my Husband says  "Is someone going to catch this baby or do I have to!!)   That got the Doctors attention!  No drugs, No fuss, a little snip,  and here was my son.   Really went smoothly and gave me lots to laugh about.

My son was born almost 2 years ago and I still think back fondly of his birth. I woke up 3 days prior to his due date with the telltale sore lower back. I had been told to continue with my day as normal, so I did. I went shopping with my sister as we had planned, all the while feeling these twinges coming stronger and stronger throughout the day.

We trekked all over the city - really something must have been berko in my head because I don't think I really was in labour, I think I just thought it was the Braxton Hicks.. Anyway, I went back to my sisters place and while she went to pick her kids up from school, I watched some videos I had brought over about water births - in the hope that it might speed things up a bit.. All the while these twinges kept going.. I then decided I should probably drive home - about a 20 minute drive, and thought to myself - I really hope my father in law is not home, I don't want to talk to anyone (we live with my parents in law) while I am trying to get through these now insistent twinges. He was standing in the driveway when I drove in - with the handyman, telling me that they were fixing our windows. My thoughts of slinking off into the bath for a while were dashed with the thought that the handyman might waltz in.. Luckily that didn't happen and I melted the afternoon away in our big bath tub.. All the while I didn't call anyone - not even my husband..

He arrived home around 6ish, I remember just hugging him and telling him - this is it! He called this awesome woman who we had done our birthing classes with, who told us to have dinner and go to bed and get some sleep. We did that which was great advice, I kept having stronger and stronger contractions but managed to get some rest. Once it got too unbearable I got up for another candelit bath, my husband stayed in bed to conserve strength.

After a while the bath at home wasn't hot enough, and the contractions were continually getting stronger and stronger. I remember wanting to sit in the dark and Matt kept coming in turning the lights on. GRR! We called my sister who was coming into our labour as support and she drove over. We had been calling the birthing centre at the hospital throughout this time - and they had said stay at home, stay at home, which was fine for a few hours, but when I wanted to go, I knew it was time. Never mess with a woman in labour!

Off we drove for our 40 minute drive to the hospital at 4am in the morning. Lucky it was that time otherwise it would have been considerably longer.

We went through to the birthing centre into our room where the midwife discovered I was 8cm dialated.. She later admitted she thought I would have been 1cm dialated. HA!

I got straight into the bath and whiled away the hours in there until my contractions completely stopped because I was too relaxed!? I had to come out and get going!

Finally things started to happen - and after 2 hours of pushing my beautiful son was born and laid on my chest.  Bliss!

I completely forgot about gas and made it through the birth without anything except feeling incredibly tired (man that pushing really got me!). I feel so very lucky that we had such a beautiful and memorable birth.

Well, I had my whole colon & everything under it taken out in 1996 (One of the best things that ever happened to me; I have Crohn's disease and it had progressed to the point where it was either surgery or maybe death. Now I can eat corn on the cob and everything.)

So when I got pregnant in 2004 (surprise!! I didn't figure it out until I was 3 months along), we were kind of freaked out. So after meeting with the OB, the surgeon, the GI, and the superspecialist in another city, we decided that

1) birth would probably go perfectly normal

BUT

2) if a C-section was necessary, wouldn't it be better to have it planned with docs who knew my history instead of at 3 am with docs who didn't have a clue?

So we opted for a planned C-section 2 weeks before due date.

I worked until 7 the night before and my boss made me go home (big projects). Coudn't eat anything... they wanted my rearranged guts clear, just in case something got nicked.

Soooo we went in at 0-dark-hundred on 6/10/05, got all processed, and waited around in the homey birthing room with my husband, his parents, and my dad. They came & got me, put in my epidural, and off we went.

My surgeon hadn't assisted at a C-section in a few years, so he was tickled to be asked. It was funny hearing them talk shop at one end and having hubby give commentary by my head. The anaestesiologist (sp?) was wonderful... he had this great quiet Chinese accent, and he kept replacing the cool cloth on my forehead and giving me good drugs for nausea.

 It felt soooooo weird, like someone rubbing my belly. I thought that I'd at least feel something like a pencil drawing across.  Oh, and they used my same incision site (vertical), bypassing the belly button because they told me everybody needs a belly button.

So Lena Theora was pulled out without incident, in fact they had a lot of nice room to work around in.  ;)

The epidural held for a few blissful hours, but really, compared to all the surgeries I've had for my Crohn's over the years (Mom used to call me the Scar-Bellied Sneech), this was a frickin' CAKEWALK.

Poor Mom had an ironclad teaching commitment that day so she didn't get back into town until late afternoon.

But there was much love and wonderment, and the hospital staff was so supportive of ANYthing, from breastfeeding help (we eventually flunked) to in-rooming, and hubby was able to stay with me and sleep in the other bed in the room.

Wow.  SO COOL.
 

It's so refreshing to read about parents who consider their birth stories to be good. With all the c-section, labour & hospital horror stories I've heard I was starting to feel guilty for actually having "good" birthing experiences. 

I never saw a doctor or went to the hospital for either of my pregnancies or births.

I had both of my babies in Japan in a midwife's clinic. I put clinic in italic because it was more like being a guest in their home, rather than a clinical experience.

Our first child's labour lasted 22hrs and even though there were no drugs, gas or any form of pain relief, (even when I was being stitched up for a tear) I can honestly say the thing that got me through was the fact that I was in a place where thousands of babies had been born to 3 generations of midwives.(Mother & Daughter team with Grandma still wandering around checking all was well!) These women know their stuff! There were no doctors, no nurses, just me, my husband, a close friend & my Midwives. After finally giving birth I was taken to my room, (one of just 4!) Japanese style with a futon bed on the straw tatami floor.

I then experienced the most relaxing week of my life. I was treated to great food, restful days & nights plus the odd lesson in breast feeding or bathing a newborn etc. Other than that I was left to recover with our baby. We were given ample time to get to know each other before heading home. It was BLISS!

With the birth of our second child we returned to the same Midwives. I was thoughtfully given the same room as before & was able to have a water birth. Everything was on my terms. If I wanted in the pool, I got in. If I wanted out, (which I did for the final pushing stage) I got out. I wanted to sit to give birth so the birthing bed was raised & changed into the sitting position. This labour was much quicker, only 5hrs which really surprised me. It all felt a little too easy!

Once again I had my week of bliss. This time, being a second time Mum the Midwives left me & the baby pretty much to our own devices, except to check everything was O.K. about three times a day. They were always available downstairs & all I had to do was call if I needed anything. Again, there was great food & tons of time alone with my new baby.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. No pain relief or English for that matter but all went well. I loved my time at the clinic & I absolutely love my Midwives. I just don't think things could have been better!

 

Mine is a Homebirth story, I've been lurking here for a while but I felt like I should add it because there didn't seem to be another one here.

My daughter was born March 1st 2006, her exact due date, after 2 days of labor in our railroad apartment in Brooklyn, NY. 

It all started late Monday night  when the BH contractions I had been having for the last couple of months developed a decidedly more serious tone.  I hemmed and hawed around as the night got darker and the window of time to call in a replacement for my husband at work got shorter.  Finally at nearly midnight I determined that this was no joke and he better make the call.  We got what sleep we could.

We woke plenty early and it was immediately clear that I had made the right call.  I had some expectations about what birthing would be like for me that in the long run turned out to be more of a hindrance than a help, but I initially thought I would be in for quick one.  I called my midwife who determined from my very collected attitude that I had miles to go yet before I slept ( I was pretty pleased with myself for being so calm while in labor, HA!). She told me to keep her updated and we settled in to wait.

Then we waited.  and waited... and waited....  a full day of strong regular contractions, every 10 to 12 minutes... on and on and on.  Not so uncomfortable as to be a real nuisance, not so easy as to be ignorable....  by 8 pm I was frustrated and annoyed and a little concerned.  My midwife reassured me and advised a hot bath, some wine, and some sleep, i substituted scotch (my first blessed sip since the double pink line) and tried to gird myself for day 2.

 No mistake this time, a woke up with a popping sensation and a sense of relief as my water broke around 6 am.  We called the midwife again and she arrived about an hour later with her lovely assistant and the two of them settled into the living room to knit and to wait.  I paced around and tried in my inexperience to gauge my progress.  At one point in the morning I felt sure we had really gotten somewhere, I felt like I had to poop!  That means time to push, right?  turns out it meant time to poop and my first internal exam of the whole experience revealed that I was at 1 or 2 ish.  Damn. I was pissed, and freaked out. The midwife sat me down for a little chat and encouraged me to let go of my expectations, then the two of them left to have some lunch and give us some space to make progress.

This was a really important moment for me because I think its when I really internalized the fact that in childbirth there can't be plans or expectations and that there is no easy way around the hard work of it, you can't go around, you have to go through.  I had been a someone reluctant expectant mother, nervous, unsure, in the midst of a relatively easy but unplanned pregnancy.  This was the moment I had to embrace motherhood and the child that was coming to us.  I took my new revelation as my mantra and began to pace the length of our apartment muttering "you can't go around, you must go through", pausing to hang on my husband as the waves passed over me.  I rapidly reached a new level of intensity and realized why the midwife had been so sure that we had lots of time the day before.  By the time they returned a few hours later I had progressed to 7cm and man, was I feeling it!

 At that point walking wasn't working for me anymore and I holed up in the bedroom rocking through the contractions.  My husband and sister were getting excited and supporting me with good words and touch but I was in a world of my own focusing every last spark of neural energy on riding out each contraction to drift in the open ocean on the other side.  The last 3 centimeters went out in an hour or so and I, who had been so carefully monitoring my progress and speculating on my condition 10 hours before suddenly found myself pushing and grunting loudly without even realizing it.  The midwife and her assistant must have recognized the sounds I was making because they dashed back to our room and confirmed that we were ready to go.  It was such a moment of triumph and from that point the real pain was over.  I pushed mightily for about and hour and a half until I was almost falling asleep between pushes.  I was fortified with a couple of spoonfuls of honey and after a couple more pushes there was a sharp pain and our little maggie grace slid out into the world with a little meconium.  The Midwives handed her to me and instructed me to hold her head down and rub her with a towel while one of them suctioned her airway.  She perked right up and started to cry, joining her father and her aunt who were already in tears. 

 I got up to go to the bathroom and by the time I got back the bed had been stripped and we all reconvened there to drink champagne and eat cupcakes in celebration.

 

Maggie weighed 8lbs 7oz and was 21 inches long at birth.

 

Chris
 

I love these posts!  With all the animosity that sometimes exists between moms who have chosen and experienced different methods, it's great to read so many different perspectives with one major commonality--we've all loved our challenging and wonderful births.

 

That's beautiful, Chris.  I'll tell my homebirth story too. 

Since my mother is a midwife and I was labor support for a few hospital births, I had no illusions about what I was going for with a homebirth, although the first homebirth I attended was my own.  I was overdue - telling myself over and over that "a due date is just an estimate, normal to be more or less 2 weeks" blah, blah.  But still...I was in the dumps, feeling like I would always be pregnant and feeling guilty for keeping my sister from her family while she waited to help me.  Mom pulled out every midwife trick in the book (herbals, castor oil, even stripping membranes), but I really think it just happened when it was time.

Finally I started having contractions that actually hurt.  For about a day it went on, rising and falling in intensity and not getting into a pattern.  The night of December 13th (due date was the 3rd) everyone went to bed but me.  I was getting increasingly uncomfortable, but was trying to save my strength for when "real" labor started, so I read a book and tried to take a bath.  I then tried to get some sleep, but now lying on my side was too painful.  I went downstairs and woke Mom up and she timed my contractions at 5 minutes apart and declared us "on."  She woke up my sister and my husband, Tim, and he started getting the birth tub ready while I tried to find a good position and my sister helped me through contractions. 

At some blessed moment the tub was ready.  I cannot say enough about the birth tub!  I got an inflatable model with tall, thick, soft sides.  It was my lifeline and salvation and once I had it, getting out of it to do anything was almost too much.  It certainly did not make the pain go away, but in the water, I was on top of it.  I didn't have to do anything but get through each contraction.  No standing, no sitting, no balancing, no nothing but resting my head back on the side and floating.  At times Tim would be holding my head, at times it was my sister.  For many hours I was in "laborland," very unaware of what was going on around me and as they checked heart tones and such.  I slept between contractions and felt safe and cocooned.  At some point I realized my other midwife was there (since Mom is licensed in another state, I had a local one to team up).  When I was aware of using a pain management technique it was non-focused awareness that worked best. 

 One of the clearest memories I have must have been going into transition.  The contractions were coming on intensely and I remember gasping instead of breathing and feeling like I was about to totally lose it and thinking, "Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic."  And then, with calm resignation, I thought, "I can never have another child."  (Makes me laugh to think about now.)  That had to have been the worst of it, because then my head started clearing up and there was a long break in contractions and then I wanted to push.  I actually checked myself without really meaning to, and felt the bag bulging out.  I told the midwives and they told me to go ahead and push.  Pushing contractions were such a relief!  The pain was not the same at all - I remember it as this deeply uncomfortable fullness that compelled me to act.  My water broke soon after that and there was a small amount of meconium, so they had me get out of the water for the rest of it, in case they needed quick access. (Was no problem, just a late baby.)  I had an hour of pushing and by the end of it, I thought I was REALLY getting the hang of this pushing thing and using all my POWER, and I totally didn't listen when I was told "little pushes."  My baby girl was at a small crown when I pushed her out with one big squirt. (That was a mistake I seriously regretted while healing from the tear!)  I remember feeling this whoosh and a strange empty feeling, then a rush of activity and she was crying, then I was taking her goopy, bloody little body and holding her close and I'll never in my life forget how she stopped crying and looked up at me while I held her and talked to her.  It was 10:42 on the morning of December 14th.  They could have told me it was 10 at night and I wouldn't have known the difference. :)

It was the hardest thing I've ever done and totally surpassed all my hopes.  To have my mother there, delivering my child...there are no words for how amazing it was. 

Evangeline Mary was 8 lb. 14 oz. 

My son's birth: somethings went as planned. somethings didn't go as planned. In the end it is a good birth story... why? Because from it I got my WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY, HAPPY son. Tristan John Rennie 7 lbs 14 oz and 22 inches long. little string bean!

Dear Zella's Muma,

Your story was so beautifully written. You had a little tear in my eye. I would recommend using water during birth to any 'about to be' Muma. Whether you use a birthing pool or you just find a way to be near it. For me, it seemed to help speed things up a little & helped oh so much with the pain of contractions. Go as natural as possible girls, if you can, 'cause recovery & breast feeding are so much easier! In the end though, a loving Muma is a loving Muma. Enjoy!