The unassisted birth of DS3
Birth Story-(written about one month after his birth)
On Friday June 18th, 2010, I was having more braxton hicks than usual and some back pain with each one so I knew something was up. I was still 3 days away from my due date and my other 2 kids were 10 and 5 days late so I figured I would have another week of this. I went shopping with my mom and had a VERY short fuse with my kids(another sign of impending labour) so I ended up coming home around 4pm. I called my hubby on the way home and asked him to come home. I also had a doctors appt. for my youngest that day at 4:30pm which I called to cancel as well. The receptionist had asked if it was baby #1 on the way and I had told her it was #3...she had said to "hurry to the hospital" cause you never know how fast it'll be....LOL I giggled to myself and was relieved that I would most likely be nowhere near the hospital for this birth.
My hubby was home helping me by 6pm. I told him that it might be something but really I just wanted his company. I went out to my garden and weeded while he took care of the kids and made dinner. I ate a huge portion of dinner, as I was starving...and then I kissed my kids goodnight before heading back out to my garden.
My hubby put the kids to bed, as I had a few more things to plant and I had a feeling that this might be the last time I would sit in my garden with a baby in my belly. I cried as I thought about that. It was such a great pregnancy and I wasn't really "ready" to be done. I had all my supplies, I had read everything I could but emotionally I wasn't there yet. I knew that this might be our last and it was VERY hard to think about not being pregnant again-EVER. By this time it was 930pm and my neighbor K came over and we chatted about what was going on. I let her know that something was different and that she should put her phone by the bed, just in case. She's a very close friend and I knew that if I felt I needed extra support or someone to come over and sit with my children, she would be the one. She knew of my plans to go unassisted and she was very supportive.
At 10pm I went inside and cleaned up. The cx seemed to be getting closer and every once in awhile they would become much stronger and wrap around my tummy. The pain in my back was still there and it was starting to really annoy me so my hubby got the rebozo out and tried to jiggle the little one into a better position. I had kicks at the front of my belly and I knew by palpation that he was posterior.
(My 2nd was born OP/face presentation in 1.5hrs and the back pain I had with his birth was overwhelming- so I wanted to do everything I could to get this little one to turn)
By 1030pm I had a feeling that this was the real deal but I didn't want to get my hubby too excited. After a few strong cx's I finally told my hubby to inflate the birth pool and set up our living room for the birth. Once it was inflated we sat down with a tea and started to watch a movie. I still had some pain in my lower back so when I had a cx, every 8 minutes or so, I would press my back against the bottom of couch while I sat cross legged on the floor. I have to say that I was still in denial that I was actually in labour. My last labour had taken off like a freight train so I was expecting the same thing.
By 11pm it was getting hard to concentrate on the movie and I was also asking my hubby to press on my lower back to help relieve the pressure. The cx's were still coming 8 minutes apart and by 1130pm I was getting a bit bummed that it hadn't picked up in intensity. We decided to head to the bedroom(about 10 feet away)and try to get some rest. I walked into the room and had a very strong cx while leaning over the bed. It lasted about 30 seconds(the longest one yet)and made me close my eyes. YAY!!! I knew that things were going to pick up at this point. After it was done I went to stand up and had another one right away. I told my hubby to start filling the birth pool.
At 1145pm I called K and she made her way over. After I got off the phone with her I needed to puke. This was something I did at the 4cm mark with every birth and I knew that my labour was going to speed up very soon. K came over a few minutes later and lit candles, put plastic on the bed, set up the video camera, and made sure everything was set up for the birth. By midnight I needed my hubby to press on my back with each cx which were now coming every 3 minutes. At 12:15am I decided to strip down to my sports bra and hop into the tub to relieve my back pain...and wowsa did that work!! I still needed my hubby to press on my back with each one but it was much more manageable.I told K to turn the video camera on shortly after I got into the tub, and my hubby got into his swim shorts so he could get into the tub with me. I checked myself(my waters were intact) and I felt his head quite high up and found myself to be about halfway dilated.
At around 1230am my oldest son(4) woke up to my moans(I'm VERY loud when I labour and birth)and came downstairs to watch. He sat on the couch with K and quietly took it all in.
I ended up hanging over the edge of the birth pool through my labour which was a great position. I felt the baby start to descend at some point after DS1 arrived(it gets a little foggy at this point). My body started to grunt and bear down slightly with each cx. I kept checking myself to see if I could feel a head but the only thing I felt was the bag of waters bulging. I know that I start to push before I'm fully dilated-about 7cms or so-but I just went with my body and it felt great.
The cx's never got that long-about 45 seconds max- but they came very close together. I had about 20 seconds between each to relax and gather myself which was a little scary as it was similar to my 2nd birth.
At about 12:45am I really started to bear down with each cx and I could feel his head just inside of me. This was when his water broke. My hubby was right behind me the entire time- rubbing my back, whispering sweet things into my ear and being a wonderful support
I had a massive cx and his head crowned. I felt his hair and kept my hand on my perineum. With the next one his head slowly emerged. I kept my hand on his head as he was born to make sure I pushed him out slowly. I felt both of his ears and his nose as they came out of me. It was an incredible moment. I whispered to my husband that his head was out.
(My hubby then asked if I "wanted him to check"....Well in the moment I had thought he meant "check to see that the head was actually out" LOL!! I just shook my head "no" and thought to myself "I'm pretty darn sure that a head just came out of my vagina...thanks though....". But what he actually meant was "check for a cord". I never did check to see that the cord wasn't wrapped but I feel that the reason I never had the urge to check was because it wasn't there in the first place. Intuition :)
K and DS1 then came and sat down beside the tub to see him being born.
I felt his shoulders turn and start to apply pressure to my perineum. About 10 seconds later I had another cx and on the second push his shoulders were born and I found his little armpits and pulled him up, out of the water. It was a beautiful moment, seeing his sweet face, smelling him, rubbing his vernixy bum, watching my oldest see his brother for the first time. I was ecstatic. I had done it!!! I layed back against the tub and soaked up the sights of my new baby. About 3 mins later I checked to see what we had....A boy!
When the water had cooled down in the tub, about 20 minutes later, I got out. I was amazed that the tub was basically as clean and clear as when I got in! I sat down outside the edge of tub holding him while the cx's for the placenta started. My hubby then called the MW and let her know that I had had the baby. She knew what our plans were and while not totally comfortable with it she had said that she would care for us in the PP period.
The cord was short and I could barely get him to my breast without bending uncomfortably, so about 35 mins after he was born I decided to cut the cord. My hubby got our supplies and tied the cord off with some braided DMC. He then cut the cord and held him while I tried to push the placenta out. 45 minutes after the birth it finally appeared. Nearly as long as it took for the labour! I then palpated my uterus and felt a lump on the right hand side. I was a bit worried but my bleeding was minimal so I just waited to see what would happen. I nursed baby as K helped with the kids(my middle boy had woken within minutes of the birth)and my hubby tidied the birth room. My MW arrived and checked out the baby and my placenta. Everything looked good to her. She then took my vitals, filled out her paperwork and then left.
Everything went smoothly for the birth and I honestly can't imagine never doing this again. I have since told my hubby that I really don't feel "done" and he has mentioned that he would be ok with another one in a few years. You have no idea how happy this makes me. I know that we will try to have a UC again and most likely a UP(unassisted pregnancy) as I know my MW would not take me on knowing full well that I would not call her for the birth again. Oh well. Oh and about that lump....About 3 days PP I had a massive cx while nursing and a 4 inch chunk of placenta came out....It was after this that my afterpains finally kicked in and my uterus started to really shrink.
Anyway, that's my story. It was such a crazy, empowering, life altering experience. I will never view birth the same way. Being a doula, it has altered the way I would "help" a woman with her birth. My hubby has since changed his mind and loves the idea of totally unhindered birth. He was so stoked after this birth- he told everyone that he tied and cut the cord, and that it was amazing.
It has also brought us closer together as a couple. I feel very in love with him and our sweet family.
Thanks for reading!
:DS:1 '06(hospital birth-natural) 7lbs 7oz
:DS:2 '08(mw home water birth)8lbs 7oz
:DS:3 '10(UC water birth)8lbs 6oz
