ChrissiK
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I woke up on March 15th (39w+4) at 5:30am because the increasing "tummy pains" made it impossible for me to continue sleeping. It felt like they had been going on for maybe 40min until I was fully awake.
I went downstairs, whipped out my iphone with the handy contraction timer app "just to try it out", not fully convinced I was in labor. Contractions were noticeable and crampy, but not to the extent that I had to stop what I was doing. I proceeded with making the kids breakfast and school lunches and by 6am looked at the contraction summary - apparently they were coming every 2.5min and lasted 45sec. Time to wake DH and call the midwives! DH started filling the pool. The first midwife arrived at 6:30am and by now contractions were intense enough I had to concentrate on them. The midwife examined me and declared me 5cm dilated and waters still intact. The second midwife arrived and they set up in the nursery where we also put the pool, while I stayed in the bedroom close to the bathroom door. Both of the boys (10 and 7) had woken up by now and stuck their nose in the door, excited to hear their sister would be coming soon, but then going downstairs to have breakfast, supervised by my dad. I got a bit irritated that the midwifes were chatting away "so loudly" and complained to DH. However, at 7am a powerful contraction came and I instinctively squatted next to the bed - and my waters broke in a big gush! I shuffled the couple of steps to the bathroom and the head REALLY came down in a big second gush of water. I yelled "The baby is coming, I need to get in the pool", stripped off all clothes except for my bra and made it in the water before the next contraction hit. The second midwife said she needed me to stick my belly out of the water soon so that she could monitor the heart beat. But I simply ignored her. I knew there would be little time until this baby would be born (and sure enough she never checked again in the end). I sat on the little seat in the "Birth Pool in a box" and with every contraction the head moved down noticeably, the burn started increasing, but I let my body do all the guidance. No forced pushing on my part and no coaching from the midwifes, who just stood there quietly with DH while the head in about 10 powerful contractions worked together with the water to soften the pernineum and Slowly come out. And while it burned and stung, I felt completely in control. DH was the first to spot the head almost out and when the head was delivered I told him to get the boys. Both boys ran upstairs in time to see me push out the body and lift our daughter to my chest. It was 7:21am, 2 hours from getting up and 20 min after getting in the pool.
Lilo immediately locked eyes with me and DH, who was now by our side. While we waited for the cord to stop pulsating, she attempted to nurse a little and just looked around in awe. The cord took a long time to quiet down, it was 8am when DH cut it. I could tell the midwives were getting nervous about the placenta, which they like to have delivered within an hour from birth. With Lilo detached, I decided to get out of the pool and stood there and squatted, but no placenta. So we settled into the chair and Lilo nursed. This got things going and at 8:15am the placenta was delivered. "Fine minutes to spare" commented the second midwife. I just nodded, knowing I would have waited even longer if necessary and there was nothing they could have done about it (thanks to my home birth support group discussions!).
Lilo was then finally weighed (8lbs 15 oz / 3150g), measured (21 1/4 in / 54 cm) and dressed. My final examination revealed no tear, not even a graze! While the midwives packed up and filled out paperwork, DH snuggled with Lilo and I went downstairs to have my well-deserved breakfast. The midwives could not believe their ears when I offered to make them a cuppa, I guess usually they make them for the mothers.
After this birth I can only recommend laboring and birthing in water. It was not pain-free, but very manageable. The best part however was that there was no frantic drive to the hospital which usually had coincided with my transition. At no point in time during this home birth did I feel like I could not do it. I was in control of my birthing experience the entire time.
I went downstairs, whipped out my iphone with the handy contraction timer app "just to try it out", not fully convinced I was in labor. Contractions were noticeable and crampy, but not to the extent that I had to stop what I was doing. I proceeded with making the kids breakfast and school lunches and by 6am looked at the contraction summary - apparently they were coming every 2.5min and lasted 45sec. Time to wake DH and call the midwives! DH started filling the pool. The first midwife arrived at 6:30am and by now contractions were intense enough I had to concentrate on them. The midwife examined me and declared me 5cm dilated and waters still intact. The second midwife arrived and they set up in the nursery where we also put the pool, while I stayed in the bedroom close to the bathroom door. Both of the boys (10 and 7) had woken up by now and stuck their nose in the door, excited to hear their sister would be coming soon, but then going downstairs to have breakfast, supervised by my dad. I got a bit irritated that the midwifes were chatting away "so loudly" and complained to DH. However, at 7am a powerful contraction came and I instinctively squatted next to the bed - and my waters broke in a big gush! I shuffled the couple of steps to the bathroom and the head REALLY came down in a big second gush of water. I yelled "The baby is coming, I need to get in the pool", stripped off all clothes except for my bra and made it in the water before the next contraction hit. The second midwife said she needed me to stick my belly out of the water soon so that she could monitor the heart beat. But I simply ignored her. I knew there would be little time until this baby would be born (and sure enough she never checked again in the end). I sat on the little seat in the "Birth Pool in a box" and with every contraction the head moved down noticeably, the burn started increasing, but I let my body do all the guidance. No forced pushing on my part and no coaching from the midwifes, who just stood there quietly with DH while the head in about 10 powerful contractions worked together with the water to soften the pernineum and Slowly come out. And while it burned and stung, I felt completely in control. DH was the first to spot the head almost out and when the head was delivered I told him to get the boys. Both boys ran upstairs in time to see me push out the body and lift our daughter to my chest. It was 7:21am, 2 hours from getting up and 20 min after getting in the pool.
Lilo immediately locked eyes with me and DH, who was now by our side. While we waited for the cord to stop pulsating, she attempted to nurse a little and just looked around in awe. The cord took a long time to quiet down, it was 8am when DH cut it. I could tell the midwives were getting nervous about the placenta, which they like to have delivered within an hour from birth. With Lilo detached, I decided to get out of the pool and stood there and squatted, but no placenta. So we settled into the chair and Lilo nursed. This got things going and at 8:15am the placenta was delivered. "Fine minutes to spare" commented the second midwife. I just nodded, knowing I would have waited even longer if necessary and there was nothing they could have done about it (thanks to my home birth support group discussions!).
Lilo was then finally weighed (8lbs 15 oz / 3150g), measured (21 1/4 in / 54 cm) and dressed. My final examination revealed no tear, not even a graze! While the midwives packed up and filled out paperwork, DH snuggled with Lilo and I went downstairs to have my well-deserved breakfast. The midwives could not believe their ears when I offered to make them a cuppa, I guess usually they make them for the mothers.
After this birth I can only recommend laboring and birthing in water. It was not pain-free, but very manageable. The best part however was that there was no frantic drive to the hospital which usually had coincided with my transition. At no point in time during this home birth did I feel like I could not do it. I was in control of my birthing experience the entire time.
