Ever's Story: A beautiful home water birth

Ever's Story
April 27, 2012
Submitted by Autumn 
Originally published on at Playing House Full Time

On Thursday April 26th we did it all… pineapple eating, stair climbing, sex, super long walk, spicy thai food, evening primrose oil and raspberry leaf tea. I was 40 weeks 3 days and feeling beyond finished. We put Nolie to bed and around 9pm I started having a few easy peasy contractions. They didn’t feel painful, at all, but were consistent. They stuck around at around 6-9 minutes apart but didn’t feel like much of anything. They were stronger than braxton hicks but not painful.

I tried to go to sleep but was too excited. Charlie slept and I watched TV just passing the time, keeping one eye on the clock.

At about 4am they started to get stronger. I felt that even though these were very manageable that they were the real deal. I woke Charlie up to tell him…

He was excited too. I told Charlie to go back to sleep and I started to get ready.

I started praying and praising God. I couldn’t believe that we were at this point. That I was close to that Moment. We were going to do this. I started praying about her position. Worrying about her position. Fearing what might happen. I didn’t want to call the midwives. I was terrified that they would come, check me and send me to the hospital. I was anxious about ending up having the rug pulled out from under me all over again.

I did what I always do when I am overwhelmed, worried or anxious- I got into the shower. It was about 7am. While I was in the shower Charlie called the midwife. She decided to head over and check me and then get all of the supplies set up and then head to the Birth Center for her days appointments and come and check in on me in between.

Nolie woke up. My contractions stayed very manageable and about 5 minutes apart, lasting about a minute. They still didn’t hurt, they felt like a very tight and long braxton hick. When Nolie awoke Charlie went into her room ” Nolie, this is it! This is the day Mama is going to push the baby out!” …she was so excited. She and Charlie sat on the bed and cuddled while I stood and swayed through contractions. Nolie was darling through it all “Mama you are working hard. Your body does it.” Those sweet words spoken so truthfully from two year old lips were the perfect ‘birth coaching’. My body kept going and it felt easy. This was so different than last time.

At about 8am the midwife showed up and while she was checking me my parents showed up too. It was a whirlwind. Our tiny home was bursting now. E, our midwife, checked me and found that I was 4cm, 75% effaced and that the baby was in the perfect position (!!!!). The joy, relief and excitement was palpable. I said hi to my parents and stayed in my bedroom, starting to want to be alone. Everything got stronger. My baby was in the right position, my Nolie was cared for by people I wholly trust and my body was trudging ahead slowly. I was only 1cm more dilated than I had been the week before but I felt like this was the real deal.

E noticed that I was sounding a lot different than I had only moments before. She let me know that she didn’t feel comfortable leaving me unless she checked me again. It had only been about 30 minutes since the last check so I didn’t really expect much change. She found that I was now 5(stretchy to 6)cm and fully effaced with the baby low. She decided to stay since that change all happened so fast. We were now officially in “active labor” (5-10cm).

I was done having our house so full. I felt strong and ready but was starting to have to really pray and focus through each contraction as it happened. My parents left to take Nolie to Seattle to await our call (thinking it would be hours and hours away, if not overnight).

As soon as they were out the door I started to feel very different. I stood pushing down on Charlie and looking at him in hopes of finding some relief in his calm- instead I threw up. That lasted two contractions (they were close together but very short). The force of throwing up caused my water to break. I headed into the tub.

Charlie was cooling it off with cold water- it was still hot from filling it moments before. This was the opposite problem than what we thought was going to happen. I was so worried it would be too cold by the time I could get into it. Instead he was putting cold water into it as I was gingerly stepping in.

I felt calm for an instant and then it immediately got intense and so hard again. Our Doula showed up just after I got into the tub and started rubbing my face with a cold cloth. I said ” Nothing is comfortable” and then “she is low, she feels very, very low!” the baby was moving down and I could feel it.

I didn’t feel any of pushing with Nolie. I was aware of when I was having a contraction but I didn’t feel her move through my pelvis or crown. I just pushed hard for the 10 seconds that they counted for me and that was that. This time was far, far different.

I felt like my body was opening up and pushing her down and out. I had no control over it. ” I think I am kind of … pushing?” was all I could manage to say and my midwife just said “that is fine, just go with it” and I did. I moaned, yelled, sang a deep and loud song. And without giving a single decided push our sweet girl came right out.

“Charlie, her head it out!” Our midwife said this and it was a shock to me. I didn’t realize she was already out! With the next contraction the rest of her came out and we met her.

I was so shocked. So in love.

I just kept saying. “She’s here. So fast, this was so fast.” She was born at 10:06am only half an hour after my parents left. I progressed from 5-10cm in an hour and a half and my body pushed for less than 8min. The whole birth was a dream come true. A huge answer to my biggest prayers and felt like an endless miracle.

I called my Mom from the birth tub and they hadn’t left town yet. I was so thankful- Nolie got to meet her sister before she was even 30min old. And both girls wanted to nurse immediately… it was just right.

We ended the morning by sharing a meal with everyone who was there. My parents, Nolie, our doula, our three midwives and our photographer (who didn’t get there till just after the birth because everything moved so fast!). My favorite meal. My Mom’s veggie lasagna and a big glass of our favorite champagne.

I can’t even begin to say how incredible and different Home Birth is. I feel like it contributed so wholly to why our birth experience was so calm and easy. I felt at ease to labor and as soon as Nolie was cared for and I didn’t have a worry about her I was able to just have the baby… no fuss. I was checked twice total and pretty much never left the comfort of my own bedroom.

This birth was the redeeming and encouraging experience I have dreamt of prayed for and prepared for. I cannot encourage other expectant Moms enough to research, read, pray, talk to everyone you can and make every effort you can to have the birth you want. You can be your own advocate and go into birth informed and ready to make decisions.

If you have any questions about why we chose home birth, our experience or anything else… please ask! I am an open book and would love to share more. Here is a link to our birth video made by our awesome photographer, Merrilee there is no nudity or blood (a placenta picture though!) but the photos of my pushing and laboring are very intense.

Nolie's Story: How the Nurse Saved Thanksgiving

Noele's Story
November 26, 2009 (Thanksgiving!)
Submitted by Autumn
Originally published November 30, 2008 at Playing House Full Time

I feel like I should write this all out while it is still relatively fresh in my memory, but forgive me for mistakes with time and all that- I don’t really feel like I had a handle on time at all.

 On Tuesday I had a midwife appointment, when they did my internal exam she found that I was two cm and very thin – she then swept my membranes and let me know that this can cause contractions but that typically they aren’t anything real, just your bodies reaction to the exam. So, immediately following my exam the contractions started and continued through the afternoon and evening. They were not timeable or painful at all so I figured they weren’t really anything. Charlie on the other hand was convinced I was in labor and about to pop out a kid every five minutes or so.

Then on Wednesday afternoon my parents came up to help get everything prepared for Thanksgiving dinner (that we were hosting the next day…hah). Starting around 8 pm my contractions were starting to get pretty regular, about 5-7 min apart and lasting for around a minute, but not painful or anything that I had to stop and breath through. Around 10:30ish they started to get more intense and were every three minutes apart. At that point I breathed through them a little bit in bed until they got too intense (around 12:30). I sat out in our living room from 12:30 till 1:30 while they picked up in intensity a bit. Then I went back to bed so that Charlie could help me breath through them. And let me just say, he is my hero. Breathing through each contraction with me and being so encouraging and believing in what my body could and would do, even when I was losing faith.

OK, at about 2:30 they got much, much stronger and I decided to call the midwives and see what I should do next. I called and they told me to take a shower and call as soon as the contractions were 5 min apart, lasting a minute and for an hour duration. So I went to the shower to try and relax and get labor to slow down, so I could sleep but had no luck. The contractions slowed when I was in the shower but were just as intense as soon as I got out. Then things started to change quickly. My contractions were consistently 3 min. apart and lasting a minute, and at about the 45 minute mark I started to shake and throw up. So we called back the midwife and told her what was going on and she told us to meet her at the birth center in 50 min. (6am).

I was still thinking that this was probably nothing big (Deny deny deny) and that they would send me home to labor longer, Charlie was convinced and started packing the bags (that were yet to be packed) and getting everything all ready and loaded. We arrived at the birth center and they did my exam and, as I thought, I was still at two centimeters. However, as they were examining me (btw: nothing makes a contraction worse than getting an internal DURING it….nothing tops that) the midwife said “I don’t think that is a head…” and went to go and wake up another midwife to come and feel and see what she thought was presenting. The other midwife (who lives in the basement of the birth center) came up and felt the baby, both were sure it wasn’t the right part of the head but they couldn’t tell what part of her face they were feeling. After about half an hour of internal exams I had gone from two cm to three.

Then I had a few contractions without internals and then the second midwife went in to check once more to see if she could tell if she was feeling a chin or a nose or brow and during this exam my water broke, soon after that there was an audible crack and kind of snapping feeling in me and I went from three cm to five in one contraction. At that point both of the midwives left and Charlie and I labored through a few more very painful contractions. When they came back in they delivered the news, “we need to transfer to the hospital”. These were the words I was horrified of hearing, she might as well have said “time for your c-section” and truthfully, that is what she was thinking (she told me later). The baby was presenting face first and that is not legal for them to deliver and is a 90% chance of cesarean, not to mention more painful (back labor) and very, very rare.

 We were kind of in shock at this point, there was nothing to do but go. But still, I felt defeated at that moment. So we got me dressed (a feat with contractions one minute apart) and into the car (easily the WORST place to be with contractions). Once we got the hospital we got checked in (another post in and of itself, because the people at front desk of labor and delivery are stupid and ignore hard labor because they are used to it and ask you dumb questions like “what is your religious preference” in the midst of some LOUD and painful contractions..ahem) and waited to find out what doctor was on call (another one of my big fears was the baby being delivered by someone I have never met). We found out it was Dr. Cook and our midwife was super relived, saying that he was one of the only doctors at the hospital who would let me labor at all and not just send me directly into a c-section.

We met Dr.Cook (old as dirt, wears a bow tie and drives a smart car…) and he told me I couldn’t have as much time to labor as women typically get and that I needed to progress quickly, because of her position- he told me that if she didn’t turn he would have to send me in for a c-section and that would be sooner rather than later. This was the theme of my interactions with him each time. Every visit went with the threat of ‘progress faster or we will have to send you in’. Also, this was the first face presentation he had seen in 10 years. After he tried to turn our baby (pull her chin down) basically every nurse and other doctor wanted to come in and feel her to see what a face first presentation felt like. I was totally pro anyone and everyone trying to turn her, thinking that was my only shot at a vaginal birth.

So, as time went on the contractions got more and more painful and closer and closer together, until they were on top of each other. Around one in the afternoon the nurse let us know that if I hadn’t progressed allot by the time the next check came that she though the doctor would probably section me fast. Side note: our nurse was awesome. She was on our side the whole time, telling me how I could totally do this and that the baby would def turn for us. She also was great at down playing any negatives to the doctor and waiting to call him until it was the last possible moment so that I could get the most time to labor possible.

Anyway, around one I was starting to hit a wall was convinced that my body would never relax enough to open up. I had power over relaxing my neck and arms and upper back but I could feel that during each contraction I was tightening my hips and my back and thighs really hard. This feeling started as soon as I got to the hospital, I am fairly sure it was all in my head but regardless I was getting too stressed from all the c-section talk and I was letting it affect my ability to progress and cope. I talked with my midwife to tell her that I was hitting a wall and she told me to let the doctor check me to see how much I had progressed since he had checked me last (she thought it would be quite a bit because of how close together and strong my contractions were) and then to think about an epidural because it might buy me some more time and if done right it could make my muscles relax without me having to try. So we went with that plan.

The doctor came back and gave me another internal (maybe, my 100th by then- no joke). He found that I hadn’t gotten any further (still 5cm). At this point the choice was epidural for time and hope that it would be done well and work or a c-section in the very, very near future. The anesthesiologist was called and she went through her whole talk and it felt like it took an hour (at this point we had decided on the epidural so I just wanted to get it done, I was mainly horrified by the procedure). Charlie told me it only took about 2 minutes, but it was an eternity. Then she did the epidural and it was perfect. She was very fast and was able to give me a lower dose than typical. I was numbed to the pain in my back but could still feel every contraction and could walk and use my legs. It was just exactly what I needed, and 45min later I was at 7cm, about an hour after that I was at an 8. The nurse checked me to find out how dilated I was and then waited another half an hour or longer to let the doctor know, she was incredible.

Now, after the epidural I got a pretty high fever (102) and started to shake (more than I had been before)- this is usually a sign of an infection but the nurse down played it because we were pretty convinced it was just a side effect of the epidural. After being at 8 for a little while I started to feel allot of pressure in my butt (over share?) and I knew this was the beginnings of wanting to push- believe me when you want to push you will know. I waited a few contractions of this and then told the nurse. She examined me and said I was at a 10 and the baby was right there. At this point she let Charlie feel the baby, so cool. She told me “don’t push, we have to wait for the Dr. to say that he will deliver the baby even though she hasn’t turned. But, if you ignore what I am saying and let your body push, the baby will come out.” Then she left.

At this I looked over at Charlie and said “so, we push then right?” So for the next hour or more I didn’t actively push but I let my body push and didn’t hold back. Then the nurse came back and taught me how to push (a practice push). Then she told the Doctor that “the baby is coming!” and got everything set up and me all rigged (stirrups and all). Once the doctor came in he had me push once and I guess I did well because all of a sudden everything changed in the room and he said “whoa whoa stop stop or the baby will come out!” so I waited and then with his coaching and some serious finessing of Nolies face (popping out her chin after her lips and so on…) came out! It took just 20min of pushing and our little one was here. All 6lbs 11oz of her. And we were instantly in love with out little pirate looking baby.