LENA'S HOME BIRTH STORY

 

I know there are at least a few people who think I'm kinda crazy for having a home birth.  I know this because people told me I was crazy for having a natural birth with Violet.  To be fair though, I did tell people that I was bringing a hot-plate to the hospital so I could cook up my placenta afterwards and never mentioned I was joking.

It wasn't until we moved to Texas that I even considered having a home birth.  Our home in Louisiana was just a little too far from a hospital to feel comfortable about giving birth at our house, but our new home is less than 5 minutes away, so I decided to start researching the possibility.  It really didn't take much convincing though, because I hate hospitals.  There were a few months during my pregnancy where I was under the care of a high-risk OB because of a low-lying placenta and I feared that not only would I have to deliver in a hospital, but I might need to be induced, or worse have a c-section.  Thankfully though, my placenta moved to where it needed to go and I was cleared for a home birth.  Hooray!

Two weeks before my due date, I got a call from my midwife.  She needed some unexpected surgery and wouldn't be able to deliver my baby.  Had this been my first pregnancy, this is probably where I would have freaked out.  Being my second though, I really didn't care who delivered my baby, as long as they knew what they were doing. 

A week before my due date, I woke up around 1:00 a.m. with mild contractions that felt like menstrual cramps.  The day before, I had my 39 week appointment and we were trying to guesstimate when I might go into labor because my in-laws were coming in town in a few days to help with Violet.  I was only dilated 1 cm and my midwife said, "Well, I don't think you'll go into labor tonight or even tomorrow."  That's called irony, folks.

I tried to sleep through contractions until I went into active labor, which was about five hours later.  Contractions during this time felt stronger, longer, and more painful, but definitely bearable.  One thing I learned during my labor with Violet was the more you tense up during contractions, the longer labor will last.  When the contractions got to the point where I needed to brace myself, I tried to calmly breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth until it had passed.

At 6:00 a.m., I called my midwife, or rather my back-up midwife, and let her know it was game time. Also at this time, Jon started getting the inflatable birthing pool ready.  It took about five minutes to inflate.  While it was inflating, Jon removed the shower head and connected a long hose to it that fed the water into the pool.  In total, it took a little over an hour to fill the birthing pool.  Jon also laid down some plastic sheets on the floor and a canvas drop-cloth on the bed to protect it from water and possibly blood.

At about 7:30 a.m., I was finally able to get into the birthing pool.  I'm not sure why, but it just feels more comfortable to be in labor in warm water, so it was a relief to finally get in.  I knew that I had about two hours until Violet would be waking up, and since there was no way Jon's mom would make it in time, I felt an urgency to deliver before she woke up.

At about 8:30 a.m., I started to go into the transition phase of labor.  Contractions were long, intense and definitely painful (though not as painful as I remembered them being with Violet), with about a minute's break between them.  While I tried to find a comfortable position to labor in, my midwife told me that if I could bear it, kneeling in a lunge position would speed things up.  This position was definitely more painful.  I could feel Lena squirming and it caused some intense pressure in my pelvic region.  My midwife showed Jon how he could help relieve some of this pain by hold my hips with an inward pressure while I rocked side-to-side slightly as I went into a contraction.  Despite the intensity of this position, I chose to be in it because I knew I couldn't delay the inevitable.  I've been through a 12 hour labor before, and if I could do anything to speed things up this time, I was all for it.  I'd say that this part of labor was the most painful.  In fact, I may have dropped the f-bomb a few times.

At 9:29 a.m., after eight hours of labor, I began pushing.  I don't really remember much about this time because it all happened so quickly.  As Lena was crowning, my midwife asked if I wanted to feel her head.  I said no, because I wanted to just get this over with.  As Lena's head was coming out, my midwife told me to try to push very gently, allowing my contraction to push her out, which prevents tearing.  Once her head was born, my midwife told me to give one more big push for her body.  I remember thinking, "This is going to hurt," and I pushed with every ounce of energy left in me.  After only six minutes of pushing, Lena Rose emerged, and I reached down and pulled her onto my chest.

 

During this pregnancy, one of my biggest concerns was what to do with Violet when I went into labor.  We'd recently moved to Texas and our closest family was six hours away.  We had friends who could help with Violet if there was an emergency, but at the time Violet seemed to be going through separation anxiety.  I was really worried about how traumatic it could be for her if she had to go with people she didn't really know well.  I tried to put these worries at the back of my mind though, and just pray for the best.  And really, things could not have happened more perfectly.  I went into labor in the middle of the night while Violet was sleeping and literally while I was pushing, she woke up and I could hear her singing her ABC's.  I'm so thankful things went so smoothly, but I'm mostly thankful to be able to have given birth in my own home, in my own room, while my daughter slept soundly in hers.

P.S.  I always get excited when I hear someone wants to have a natural birth, so if anyone has any questions, feel free to comment or e-mail!

MISS LENA ROSE

Miss Lena Rose arrived a week ahead of schedule.  She was born at home on Wednesday, November 18th at 9:27 a.m. weighing 6 pounds, 9.5 ounces, 20 inches long, and she is just perfect with all ten fingers and ten toes.

Violet has been a pretty super big sister.  She calls Lena "Nee-na" or just refers to her as "Baby".  She is very gentle when she holds her, gives her sweet kisses, and tries to rock her when she's in her Rock 'n Play.  Most of the time though, she's off doing her own thing, trying to get away with way more mischief than before.

 

As for me, I've just been trying to adjust to much less sleep, which sometimes feels kind of like I'm collapsing into myself like a dying star.  So until my girls are teenagers and sleeping in, I just gotta drink some coffee and say kumbaya.

VIOLET'S WATER BIRTH STORY

As Violet's 1st birthday approaches, I wanted to make sure and take the time to put my experience giving birth to her in writing.  It's easy to forget the little details as time goes by and I want her to know everything about the wonderful day she was born.

Anytime someone hears that I had a natural, drug-free delivery, they always want to know the details, but quickly follow up with a comment about if it's too personal, I don't have to share.  I personally think giving birth naturally is an absolutely beautiful thing and am always happy to share my experience in the hopes that I can convince another woman that she too is more than capable of doing it herself!

I really hadn't thought much about giving birth until a few years ago when I saw the documentary, The Business of Being Born.  I only knew two ways women were delivering: with an epidural or a c-section (whether planned or unplanned).  In fact, I don't actually know anyone in my age bracket who has given birth without some form of labor assisting medication.  It was after watching that documentary, that I really began doing a lot of my own research about giving birth and I wasn't even pregnant!

A few years later when I did become pregnant, I had already researched what was available to me locally.  I could give birth without drugs in a hospital with an OBGYN.  However, given the c-section rates, I felt sure drugs would be pressured, which can often lead to a c-section.  (Eeek!---Here's some articles if you're interested: Why is the national U.S. c-section rate so high?, possible delayed milk production after c-sections, pros and cons of epidurals)  I could deliver with a midwife (either in a bathtub or not) in a hospital that encourages natural birth, or I could have a home birth with a midwife (also either in a kiddie pool or not).  Given that this was my first go-round, I was a little nervous about having a home birth and decided to go with the water birth delivered by a midwife in a hospital option.  

Now for the actual events....

It was Tuesday October 29th, two days before my due date.  I had already taken off of work because I had this horrible feeling that my water would break while I was teaching and my favorite student would have to deliver my baby.  That evening I was up late making a plethora of pumpkin bread.  I can't really explain it, but I felt different that night.

I started having contractions sometime around midnight.  Every time I tried to go to sleep, a contraction would wake me up.  Jon was also up timing my contractions.  Some time around 4 a.m., my water starting leaking.  By 5 a.m., it seemed my contractions were close enough to make the hour drive to the hospital.  Ugh, I remember every single bump in the road.  So uncomfortable.  Despite this, we were obviously so excited.  Our baby was coming!  And the most exciting part---we were finally finding out if our baby was a boy or girl!

When we arrived at the hospital, they confirmed that my water was leaking and I was admitted into the hospital.  Several times I was told, "It's going to be a loooonnnggg day."  (My midwife warned me most first time moms are usually in labor for 18 hours or more.)  I was then moved into the birthing room, which was like the hotel suites of birthing rooms.  

Once we were in the room, we got to relax a bit.  I was starving and was so excited when they told me I could order food from the menu.  Then I saw the menu basically consisted of chicken broth and honeydew melon.  I've never been so disappointed in my life.  So instead of eating a delicious club sandwich, we took naps.  At this time, contractions were pretty uncomfortable, but I somehow managed to sleep through them for about an hour.

When I woke up, I was able to move around, which was nice.  The only comfortable position I could seem to find was awkwardly resting my arms and head on the rolling bedside table.  The baby monitors that were wrapped around my belly were seriously uncomfortable every time I had a contraction, so I was able to take them off and they just checked our baby's heartbeat every 15 minutes or so.  Again, awesome.  The nurses were super accommodating.

Once I was dilated 5 centimeters and in active labor, I was allowed in the birthing tub.  Yay!!!  It was so much more relaxing being in the tub.  We had been told Jon could get in the tub with me during delivery if we wanted.  We even packed his swim trunks.  However, once in the tub, I realized I wanted needed my space.  Contractions were still a couple minutes apart and I was just breathing through them.  I was told that tensing up during contractions could delay labor and I was ready to meet my baby, so I just tried to stay calm and control my breathing.

I spent about two and half hours in the tub.  Truthfully, labor wasn't really unbearable until the last 20 minutes.  Then I went into transition.  Here's what happened during transition.  I was naked and didn't care nor notice who or how many people were in the room.  I could barely talk, but was able to say three things: "I can't do this," the "F" word (but only once), and I told my dear, sweet husband to "Shut-up!" when he was just being supportive.  My legs were shaking uncontrollably.  And I remember thinking that each contraction felt like torture and that this must be what it feels like to be electrocuted over and over again.  While this phase was anything but enjoyable, it wasn't exactly painful.  I didn't cry out for drugs.  And I didn't regret my decision to have a drug-free delivery.

I remember asking when it would be time to push and I was told, "You'll know."  And I did.  It kind of felt as if I had to....how do I say this nicely...it felt as if I really had to go to the bathroom (numero dos).   When I was told to go ahead and push, I was so excited.  Our baby was about to be here!  It was also such a relief on my body to push.  Compared to the contractions I was feeling, it actually felt pretty good to push.

Violet was so low, I only pushed for about five minutes, though it felt like less to me.  This part of the delivery was almost a blur, but I do remember the commands I was given.  Breathe.  So I did.  There was a quick, sharp, burning pain as Violet started to crown.  (This part of delivery is dubbed "the ring of fire.")  Don't scream.  Focus your energy on pushing.  So I did.

The way I was sitting, I could actually see Violet coming out.  That might sound kinda freaky, but it was actually pretty motivating.  Once Violet's head was out, the rest of her body just slid out.  The midwife said to me, "Reach down and grab your baby."  So I did.  "It's a Violet!" Jon said.  I pulled Violet up onto my chest and just held her there for I don't know how long.

Violet Leslie was born at 2:21 p.m. on Wednesday, October 30th, 2013.  She weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

If I'd known then I'd be putting this picture on my blog, I probably would have worn a little make-up!  Ha!  

Giving birth naturally was definitely painful.  I'd be lying if I said it wasn't.  However, it was also the most awesome experience I've ever had.  It was such an adrenaline rush and so empowering.  When I was getting out of the bathtub, I remember thinking, "Holy crap, I can't believe I just did that!"  I don't have an amazingly high threshold for pain, so if you think a natural birth is something you'd like to do, then just know you are completely capable of it!