Saturday, January 15, 2011

My home birth story August 2007

I woke up at about 6am on Aug 6th. I was bummed because I thought that I might wake up in the middle of the night with contractions, but no not even one. So I got up and went to the bathroom and there it was a little bit of bloody show. I felt all kinds of emotions at the same time. I was happy, excited, and scared.

Then came the contractions every 6-10 min. I didn't really believe they were contractions. All they felt like were Braxton Hicks (kinda like practice contractions), then when they kept coming I thought I better call my midwife. She said to go on a walk then take a bath then call her and let her know what was going on. I did that and things kept moving along, so I knew this was the real deal. I called Lia back and she said she would be out at 1pm to see if I was dilating any or if she could help get things going faster.

At about 12:30 we decided to go for a walk to see if we could get things moving faster. It all felt like Braxton Hicks to me (a tight winding up feeling then loosening) so I thought it was all just going to stop. At 1:00 Lia got there and checked me I was already at 5cm. Wow I thought nothing was going on and surprise I'm 1/2 way there. I started taking some herbs to keep things going and went out walking to keep my mind occupied and my body working. After this walk I knew what real contractions were. There was no turning back.

When I got home we decided that Lia would stick around for a while. I then took some more herbs and went back out to walk (again). I didn't make it that far this time. Every walk I was sent out on got shorter and shorter as the contractions got stronger and stronger.

At about 3:00pm I found my self on my hands and knees trying to get comfortable. When Lia saw me doing that she called Lisa and told her she better make her way out. I then got in the shower to see if this would help dilate me further. This is really what sent me over the edge and things started moving fast and kept coming stronger and closer together.

I totally lost my usually calm and collected personality. I could barely utter a word and if Keith got too close to me I would freak out. I love him so much and think he is a wonderful man for putting up with the way I treated him during all this. He told me I had no idea what I wanted. I would tell him to get away, then I would yell at him for going to far away, then he would try to give me water and his hand would be in my face and I would freak out because his hand was in my face. Anyway he put up with me and I love him very much for it.

While I was in the shower Lisa showed up and checked me. 7 1/2cm cool almost there is all I thought, but was still in a silent mood and couldn't say it out loud. The midwifes left the room and left me and Keith alone to labor together. It was so nice to have this experience together even though I wasn't very interactive with Keith at this time. Keith told me later after baby was born that during this time he knew exactly when I would start and end a contraction because the ceiling fan that was on would start to surge and go faster and then slow down when it would end. Weird how powerful all that energy must have been in that room at that time, all coming from me, my body and the baby.

I then got back in the shower at about 6:00 to try and get comfortable. It helped some what. As I leaned over the edge of the tub I put my self into a meditative state and felt like I was out of body and then come back in when I would have a contraction. My perception of time was all messed up in the shower it felt like a few minutes, but was really an hour.

7:10pm I started to feelt extreme pressure and asked to be checked. I was 9 1/2cm. Lisa thought maybe if I pushed a little I would go to 10 cm so I did and I heard a very loud pop and a huge gush of fluid came pouring out of me. My water broke and I made it to 10cm all at the same time. As they checked for the babies heart beat I positioned my self on the middle of my bed so I could start pushing. I started pushing while lying some what on my side. The heart rate kept dipping a little bit and I could tell by the sound in Lisa's voice that she was getting anxious. She looked directly into my eyes and said “if you don't get this baby out we may have to transfer to the hospital”. I was determined for that not to happen. I completely trusted my ability and pushed with all my might and reached down and felt the ooy gooy crown of my babies head. I was relieved it was almost over. Next I got the urge to push it felt like a semi truck was driving through me and "I started yelling I gotta push now, I gotta push" and I did. Out came my little girl with blond hair and the cord wrapped in all kinds of crazy directions. It was across both shoulders and around her neck twice. I got to hold her immediately and herd her tiny little voice and I knew everything was perfect.

Having a home birth was so wonderful and having my midwifes, my mom, Robbie, and Keith all there was so much nicer than having the janitor taking out the trash in the middle of the labor like in the hospital with Robbie. Being surrounded by people I love and who love me was the only drug I needed to get me through. I will for sure do a home birth the next time around.

Baby girl was born at 7:19pm, 7lbs 10oz, 18 1/2 inches long, ten fingers, ten toes, and perfect. After 4hrs off active strong labor and 4 1/2 minutes of pushing. Oh man I think I need a drink after all that hard work. :)

THE END


PS. Here are a couple funny side stories from when I was in labor.

1)
During the first few hours of labor I had to get my older son to pre school. I drove there while timing my contractions and thinking about all the food we needed to get for when the midwives got there. I got to the school and checked him in. The teacher asked me when I was going to pop, I told her "oh I think today is a good day" (I was bracing my self for the next contraction). She gave me a funny look when she realized I was already in labor. LOL.

2)
In between walks in the neighbourhood I went inside to hang out with my mom. Keith went out side to do some last minute gardening. The neighbour drove by the house and asked what we were up to. Keith answered "I'm just doing some gardening, Kiri is in the house in labor." He was totally cool and calm. The neighbour just about freaked thinking that we should be on our way to the hospital or keith should be in the house with me.
I really wish we had a picture of this guys face when Keith said that to him.

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