Timmy's Birth Story

I have been wanting to post this...I sometimes think that's there's not enough positive birth stories online and especially home births; they really tend to get bad press and I can't imagine why because once you stay home you almost never go back to the hospital! I've seen lots of births at homes and at hospitals and there was never any doubt as to which I was going to do with either of mine. So here's the story of my wonderful boy's birth!

I had a pretty bad night's sleep the night before...not hugely new, but the rushes keeping me awake felt slightly different this time. I got up with Connor at 715 am, and felt this crazy burst of energy. I cleaned the kitchen up and picked up toys, but kept getting interrupted by bathroom trips with an upset stomach.

I kept putting on shows and movies for Connor because I was having a hard time concentrating on playing with him. At 10, there was a rush that around the underside
of my pelvis and up into my back. That's when I started paying attention. They weren't hard at all, just definitely noticeable.

At 12 I noted they were ten minutes apart and a little more difficult to talk through. At 1230 I called Charlie and told him it was a baby day today! I have officially interrupted meetings twice in my entire life...once when Connor shredded the bottom of his feet with broken glass and needed stitches and now with baby news. He was glad because he and the DO were squabbling over who would take afternoon meetings and baby definitely trumped the DO's "I don't wanna" excuse! I called the midwives too, just to give them heads up, thinking I could always cancel baby alert if the contractions petered out. I was so restless, and just wanted to walk and walk...Connor and I strolled around the block once waiting for Charlie to get home. He arrived, changed and we headed out. He started timing the rushes, and
they were 5-7 minutes by the time we got home and I couldn't walk or talk...just tons
of pressure, no pain though.

We got home around 3 from walking all over the base (Connor played at the park for an
hour while I paced the perimeter), and even though the contractions were harder and
closer, I was sure I was wasting the midwives' time in calling them. Charlie started filling the birth tub while I fussed at him for jinxing it! They listened to me in the background as Charlie explained what was happening, and decided they'd come out.

Dana and Joy arrived at around 415 -- I was SOO glad it was Dana, she and I really clicked and Vanessa and I never really did -- and headed upstairs to check me out. I was running a slight fever with elevated pulse and blood pressure from the bouts of diarrhea so they made me drink two glasses of juice and water while they checked my cervix. I was so upset when they said it was only 3 cm...I felt like I was working too hard for just that! They confirmed though that I was indeed laboring, and Dana said she thought some hydration and peace was the best thing for me. I was handed a huge water bottle and told to drink it all in an hour while they went for a long walk to give me and Charlie privacy.

I sat and bounced on my big blue exercise ball while we watched the Return of the King -- just drinking water like mad. The rushes picked up, and by the time the midwives came back, everyone ate dinner except me (I heated up chicken noodle and toscana soup for everyone, and got out a loaf of French bread with cookies) I was REALLY ready to get in the tub...rushes were 2 minutes apart and really intense at 630.

I would NEVER labor without water again. I want to keep that tub and treat it kindly
the rest of its natural shelf life. I grew inordinately fond of it and named it Reliable Jane. I LOVE that tub. The contractions eased up a bit when I got in, and I just hung there, with my shoulders on the edge, free floating and rocking my body weightlessly through the water when rushes came. They spaced out, but got a little stronger; I could totally get ahead of them, moan a bit and talk to Timmy to cheer us both on.

Charlie was a total champ, sprinting up and down the stairs multiple times to fetch me things and keep Connor's videos going. Connor was happy as a clam watching videos and playing with his airplane toys, but he required some attention and mine was elsewhere for the most part. He would come up the stairs every 30 minutes or so, and call, "Mommy okay?" I would say "I'm okay baby doll, mommy's fine!" and he'd trot away happy again.

Dana came and sat in the doorway of the bedroom, then Joy, then Charlie. We'd chat and tell stories in between contractions...I was really needing to moan through them and it was so nice, having everyone just talking normally and chatting like nothing was happening. I got out once or twice to pee...I have a serious mental block about peeing in water, swimming pools gross me out like you read about because I know I'm floating in other people's bodily waste...and at 900 or so, I really needed to go, but hated being out of the water for contractions so I ran in and tried to hurry so I could beat it back. I was shaking and shivering really hard, and a really intense and for the first time painful rush hit. I cried out and the midwife came in and draped me with more towels and stroked my face to help me focus.

I got up and tried to hurry back to the tub, but Dana asked me to lay down first and try a couple out of the water. I scootched into bed on top of some chux pads and the next one hit...it was a DOOZY. That one was actually painful too and I drew up my whole body around it and just couldn't get ahead of it. I was still freezing and shaking, and Charlie walked in to hold my hand and try to help me focus again and vocalize well. I just kept saying loudly that I wanted the tub...Dana told me two rushes, then a check and I could get into the tub again. I said I didn't want a check because if I was only a 6 or 7, I would be discouraged. She said she thought I was in transition and the number didn't matter...it was just for her and she wouldn't tell me what it was. I gutted out one more of those mindblowing rushes still crying for the tub. (I would have sold Charlie to the gypsies for a dip in the tub at that point!) Charlie had to go hug Connor because he was worked up, hearing me cry out.

Dana flipped me over on my back as soon as it was over and checked. She announced, "Well, honey, no wonder you don't feel good, you're a ten!" She was withdrawing her hand when the water exploded out of me...it gushed about two feet away. That was honestly the worst moment -- we figured out later that when the waters broke, the cervix snapped tight around Timmy's head which accounted for the sharp dizzying pain. I yelled at her for breaking it (I think I said, "What the hell?? I don't like you at all right now!"), and she said she didn't over and over again, and said my treat for letting her feel was to get back in the tub.

I hustled to get back in, I tell ya. It was about 910 or so then. As I got in, the urge to push hit like a Mack truck. I never felt like that with Connor -- I think by the time I was ready to push with him, my uterus was already so tired from the powerful but short labor that the pushing contractions were never strong or helpful -- so it was really new and intense. The only way I could describe it was like throwing up downward, where you can't stop yourself and it's completely irresistible. I pushed a bit, but it took me a couple to get into a better rhythm and work with the rushes instead of against them. The only good part about them was the breaks in between. I just kept apologizing to everyone for being loud, for being mean, for bothering everyone. They laughed and told me how great I was doing and how impressed they all were with my vocals and control.

Charlie came in then and told me he got Connor down asleep on the couch, and his presence was like a huge boost. I grabbed his hands at the edge of tub and knelt with my legs spread far apart and pushed with all my might. I reached down and checked, and Timmy's head was only two knuckles' deep inside. I told everyone that and they were praising me big time. I pushed again and he came all the way down to one fingertip length away, but slipped back up. I kept my hand down there and pushed with all my might through two more til his head was right there and stinging like mad. The third one, I pushed harder than ever as I threw one leg up and balanced kneeling on the other and yelled for someone to help me. Charlie asked me what I wanted help with, which was really his only duh moment. I shot him a dirty look and didn't even bother saying, "Umm, the baby coming out of me?" He was my hero really, he just expected two more hours of pushing like with Connor, and didn't realize Timmy was nearly out!

Timmy's head popped out just then and the midwife got a hold of his neck and told me really firmly to push again. So I arched and pushed and his shoulders spun out of me really fast, giving me just a little side tear. The rest of him followed like a bullet and I saw her rolling him over and over in the water -- his cord had wrapped around his neck pretty tightly and he was a little purple. As soon as she had him disentangled, I pulled him up on my chest and just cried over him. That was 948 pm.

I'll spare you the gory afterbirth details but I did indeed bleed a little too much right after the birth so I got some meds to stem the tide.

Charlie went downstairs and laid down with Connor when he woke up at 11, and the midwives did the newborn check. Surprisingly, they said they thought he was not quite 40 weeks because he had so much vernix and a little lanugo left (according to my not so certain dates, he was 1-4 days overdue). He scored 7/9 on Apgars (the cord around his neck didn't help) and measured out 22 inches long, 15 inch head and 9 lbs 3 oz. We just laughed and chatted and had a good time...I was so glad Dana was there, it was like having a girlfriend, mom and real professional all in one to help me through.

I did so much better after Timmy's birth than Connor's until two weeks postpartum. I ended up hemorrhaging, had a course of methergine and ultimately needed a D&C at 4.5 weeks. It was sucky, but I had a wonderful MIL who flew to my rescue and both boys and I have thrived since we got my issues fixed up to some extent. Timmy is our last baby and I'm so grateful it was an ideal experience to remember fondly.