The Birth

Hello everyone! Things have finally calmed down enough here for me to start blogging again. People have been asking me lots of questions about our home birth and how it differed from Isabel's hospital birth. So, here's the story of our home birth ....

On Wednesday, September 19, I had come to the end of my rope. I was sick of being pregnant and ready to try ANYTHING to make the baby come out. So, that night after dinner, Joel, Isabel and I went out for a long walk around the neighborhood. I had strong contractions and was pretty much miserable the whole time, but if it was going to make me go into labor, then I was ready to tough it out. We came back from our walk, I sat on the couch for awhile and then I went to bed. I had a hard time sleeping and got up around 11 to have a wine cooler to help me sleep (I love those wine coolers!!). I finished my wine cooler while catching up on some emails and went back to bed an hour later and had a good cry before drifting off to sleep. At 5:30 the next morning I was woken up by a contraction. I waited a few minutes and had another one. After a couple of these, I woke Joel up to tell him that something seemed to be happening. We timed the contractions and they were coming every 3 to 4 minutes and were lasting at least a minute each. At 6:30 we called Merrie to tell her that I was finally in labor!!!!! Merrie was packing her car up from another birth and said she would be right over. After calling Merrie, we called the parents. Magen's mom was ready to leave for work and made it to our house about 20 minutes later. Joel's mom was just getting out of bed and said she'd be on her way shortly to come and get Isabel for the day. Merrie arrived around 7 am. When she got here, I was still talking and walking around and I think she thought she'd be heading home to wait for me to go into active labor. A quick exam showed that I was 7 cm dilated and things were moving quickly. Another little while on the birthing ball and I was starting to feel like I needed to push. At that point the only thing that sounded remotely relaxing and comfortable was a warm bath. So, Joel drew me a bath and a few minutes after getting in I was pushing. After a few contractions, Merrie informed me that my bags of water were bulging and if she were to pop them his head would come down and it would be over with. That sounded good to me, so on the next contraction she broke my water and I felt his head come down immediately. A few more contractions and some awful burning sensations later, his head popped out followed by the rest of him. I pushed for a total of about 20-25 minutes .. not too shabby. You'll never know relief until you've just pushed a child out of you. Now, when he was born, I was in the water and on my hands and knees so I couldn't see anything but the bathroom wall. So, seconds after giving birth I did some impressive gymnastics which involved swinging my leg over the umbilical cord so that I could sit up and hold my baby! Before Merrie handed him to me she said, "Oh! He's 9lbs or I'm a monkey's uncle!" I wasn't so sure .. he didn't look 9 lbs .. although he kind of felt like it .. well, the scale would tell in a little while. So, I held the baby for a few minutes and then we decided that it was time to get out of the tub and into bed. Before I could get out, however, I had to deliver the placenta because midwives do not cut the cord until it stops pulsing which means that the baby and the placenta are still attached until then. So, once the placenta was out and neatly wrapped in grocery bags, Gabriel (and his placenta) went to see his daddy and I got dried off and crawled into bed. About an hour later Joel cut the cord and Merrie took Gabriel to give him his newborn exam. The first thing we did was weigh him. Merrie was right on! He was 9 lbs even. That is actually bigger than I thought he'd be, but I'm glad I was able to get him out with no problems. Merrie also informed me at this point that she was pretty sure he'd be at least that big, she just didn't tell me that ahead of time .... Thanks, Merrie!!! Then we took his other measurements. He was 21 1/2" long and his head was 14 1/2". He was a big boy. Just for comparison's sake .. Isabel was 7 lbs 11 oz and 20" long and her head was only 13" around. After Merrie checked the rest of him, he was handed over to Magen's mom to get dressed! He was very cute in his new outfit and beanie! Merrie stayed at our house until about 12:30 and once she was sure that me and the baby were doing well, she left to go back and check on the lady who'd had her baby before me (she had been hemorrhaging and wasn't feeling well). She'd be back the next day to check on us again. Once we were alone, Joel, Gabriel and I laid down to take a nap! Later that day the rest of the family came to see the baby. Isabel spent the night with Joel's parents so we didn't have to worry about her and we were able to get a pretty decent night's sleep that night. No nurses or doctors coming in at 2 am to draw blood for unknown reasons. It was a very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere, and if we ever have another child we will definitely have him/her at home too.

Have I talked anyone else into having a home birth?