Thursday, May 17th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
2nd baby, home hypno-waterbirth
Cast of characters:
Alder is my second child, so I went into this birth with some idea of what I would experience. When I started having some noticeable contractions, some that I would even call uncomfortable, as early as 35 weeks, I felt certain this baby would come early. My first baby was 12 days early and still a respectable 7lbs 4 oz, and my last ultrasound during this pregnancy was predicting an even larger baby, so we just knew he would be early.
From 35-37 weeks I had bouts of prodromal labor. Some days contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart for many hours, but they were never very uncomfortable. Some days they were very uncomfortable (even making me nauseous) but were not consistent. When I hit 37 weeks, I breathed a sigh of relief to officially be “full term.” As far as I was concerned this baby was welcome to arrive anytime now.
On May 15th, I woke with some interesting cramps, but they petered out later in the day. On May 16th, I woke to find my mucus plug was coming out in HUGE chunks. I’d never seen so much mucus. It was astonishing that I had that much stuff stored up inside me. I alerted my midwife and birth team that I was seeing mucus and that I was uncomfortably crampy. In my daughter’s birth, this was a sign that labor was about 1 day away. That evening, Keith and I set everything up, knowing it wouldn’t be long.
I woke at 6 AM on Thursday, May 17 th to moderately uncomfortable menstrual cramps that were consistently 5 minutes apart. After 30 minutes of laying in bed and timing them, I decided to get up and make breakfast. In my daughter’s birth, I got nauseous very early in the labor and wasn’t able to keep anything down so for this birth, I wanted to start with a fully tummy. I also paid a visit to the bathroom where I had some very large and loose stools – a good sign this was the real thing. By 7:15 AM or so I’d had breakfast and fiddled around the house, and the contractions were still the same (ranging from 4-6 minutes apart). I knew this was it. I was 37 weeks 5 days pregnant.
I was pleased that in between contractions, I really felt quite normal. This hadn’t been the case in my last birth, since I’d been nauseous and had a baseline of cramping that never seemed to go away. I started my birth treatments for GBS (Hibiclens wash every 2 hours). Two days ago I learned I was GBS positive again, so as a treatment, I used this wash to reduce my bacterial colonization in my vagina. Because I was positive, I’d also decided not to have any vaginal exams during the labor, unless it was really necessary.
At 8 AM I called Lisa (midwife) to tell her I thought this might be the day. I described my consistent cramps and how I’d lost my mucus plug the day before. She agreed it looked encouraging, especially since I’d been changing my activities through the morning but the contractions had stayed the same. I didn’t feel we needed her at the house yet, so we agreed to touch base again by lunchtime, if not before.
By this point I’d stopped doing chores and started focusing on allowing this birth to happen. I put my headphones on and listened to my Hypnobabies Birth CD. I relaxed on the couch. I posted to some of my internet buddies that I thought perhaps today was the day. I alternated between sitting on the couch, sitting on the floor, kneeling on the floor with my head on the couch, and visiting the bathroom. I guess I zoned out for a bit, cause time just went by.
By 9:30 AM , I guess I was starting to work harder through contractions. At this point, all time gets a little fuzzy for me. Keith was asking me questions about how things were going and whether we should start calling people to come over, and I guess I was getting snappy with him about not asking me questions. So he called Lisa and asked her to come on over. He also called Ellie, Stephanie, and Katie. We also let Kimberly know that the birth would be today, but that it didn’t seem we would need her help at this time.
Lisa arrived at a little after 10 AM . I had my headphones on and was face-down on the couch, but I cracked my eyes to smile at her as she came in with her bags of equipment. I told her that I thought it was still early, but I think she knew it really wouldn’t be that long. I continued to focus on my contractions and began telling the midwife when they started and stopped so that she could time them. Stephanie arrived for our daughter shortly after, and now that Ava was taken care of, Keith could begin setting up the birth pool. I had enjoyed seeing Ava that morning but had been pretty much unable to interact with her since she’d woken up. I wanted to have just 10 or 15 minutes to hug her and love her as my only child one last time, but my contractions wouldn’t give me that luxury anymore.
Lisa took my blood pressure (130/80 – higher than during the pregnancy, but okay) and asked me about what I was feeling. I visited the bathroom frequently and saw mucus on occasion. Sometime around 10:45 AM , Ellie showed up. Because Alder chose May 17th as his birthday, the usual assistant who works with our midwife was not available (just for this one day!). We’d discussed this beforehand and decided that Ellie, who is also an apprentice midwife, would act as assistant. So she arrived, checked in with me, and worked with the midwife to set up for the birth. Around 11 AM Katie showed up to help with Ava and taking video. So now, everyone was here.
Meanwhile, my contractions were really intensifying. I’d switched my music to Dema Premal – something one of my good friends had used during her own birth two years ago. Almost immediately I was overcome with the overwhelming need to cry. I was just feeling so many emotions at once. I found that sitting in lotus position on the floor really brought the contractions on strong. I told Lisa that things were really picking up, and that I might want to get in the birth tub soon. It was being filled with very hot water, and I suggested that it should be cooled down cause I didn’t think it would be that long. Stephanie, Katie and Ava walked to the park for a bit, but didn’t go far.
By noon , I was really struggling. I abandoned my relaxing music. Contractions were so much more intense than I remembered from my first birth – at least at this point in the labor. Some of them were just crazy! I was moaning through them by now. I started verbalizing that I was ready for the birth to be over, and that I was ready to hold my baby. I also started spending more time on the toilet because it gave me a little relief from the contractions. I was also feeling increased pressure down low. It seemed like I might be pretty far along, but the morning had been so short…I didn’t think I could possibly be close to birthing. I wanted to save some good work to be done in the birth tub, but I didn’t want to get in too early. Lisa started spending a little more time checking in with me, especially in the bathroom. I continued to see a little more mucus, and eventually it started taking on the slightest shade of pink. Finally! Evidence that progress was being made. At around this time, Stephanie, Katie, and Ava got back home from the park and started to prepare lunch.
Sometime around 12:40 PM , I was hit by an unbelievable contraction – like nothing I could ever remember feeling. At the peak, I felt an uncontrollable urge to push. Thankfully, it was short and disappeared with the contraction, because I was still sitting on the toilet and didn’t want to have my baby there! Lisa and I walked out to the tub. I climbed in and was instantly welcomed by warm peace. The pool was AWESOME! It reduced my discomfort immensely, and the next several contractions were more spaced out and much gentler. I settled into a kneeling position with my arms and head draped over the side of the soft blue tub. Keith kneeled with me, head-to-head, as we prepared to welcome our son.
Stephanie had put Ava down for her nap but just a few minutes later, she was pulled out again. At right around 1 PM , the full power of my contractions returned. They were incredible – really, it was almost unbearable because of the intensity. I was muttering about pushing soon, but was also worried it was too early. At 1:03 PM , I asked if I could push (saying it more as warning that I was about to push than asking permission if I could push). I remembered that at the last birth I’d attended (as a doula), the mother said she felt relief from her pain when she gave some gentle pushes. I decided to give it a try. It was a confusing sensation for me though – it did seem to relieve my pain a little, but it also was triggering the urge to push, which itself is quite powerful. After only a few gentle pushes of my own, my body took over and pushing began in earnest. About one minute later, I felt my water break in a large bubble, and I could feel burning in my perineum. Lisa reached down to support my stretching skin. Now the pushing was unstoppable. I was really ROARING with each intensive pushing wave. I could feel the baby descending fast. I could feel the twists and the turns he was making as he navigated my pelvic bones. I could feel he would be born any minute. He crowned for only a few seconds, and with one giant push his head was out. Unfortunately, I could feel my skin tear as his head emerged, but it didn’t feel very bad. Very quickly I was hit with another push and his body popped out. It was 1:06 PM . I had pushed for just 3 minutes.
I immediately turned over to sit down in the tub as Lisa brought the baby up between my legs and into my arms. I pulled him to me. I was relieved to feel the cord wasn’t as short as it had been with my daughter, but it was still short and I couldn’t lift him very high. Now that I was sitting up, I could see that Ava was in Stephanie’s arms and that she’d just witnessed the birth of her brother. Katie was wielding the video camera. Keith was at my side, as was Ellie. Lisa was navigating the baby end of things. Alder was in my arms! He was here! I was overcome with relief that the birth was OVER. Wow…it had just rocked my world.
His face and body were perfect. He was covered in thick vernix. His cord was HUGE – Lisa said it was the fattest she’d ever seen. I had an immediate separation bleed in the tub, so the water started turning red. We all just sat and looked at this beautiful creature as Lisa checked him over. The cord was pumping good and strong. He let out a few cries as we checked out his digits and confirmed that yes, he was a BOY! Within a few minutes, I began feeling some cramps and tried gently pushing to expel the placenta. Some clots came first. I latched Alder on, in hopes it would promote more cramping. Thankfully (since it took an hour with Ava’s birth), the placenta arrived about 20 minutes after Alder was born. My bleeding was minimal. The third stage was over and was far better than with Ava. Now that the placenta was out, Keith cut the cord. I climbed out of the tub shortly after that.
The next couple of hours were spent resting, cleaning up, and meeting our new son. Alder’s check-up was great. He weighed in at 8lbs 6 oz, despite being 16 days early. He was 20 inches long, had a 13.5 inch head, and 13.25 inch chest. He latched on and nursed heartily. Finally, the inspection of the torn tissues began. This was the part I was dreading, because I knew from Ava’s birth it would be painful to receive stitches. Unfortunately, I was right. I did tear, and it was towards the front. It was a small tear – first degree only, but because of its location, it begged for stitches. I had a small nick in the back and a skidmark to one side, but these did not need treatment. The tear in the front would make me beg for mercy though. Lisa gave me lidocaine to numb the area, but because lidocaine causes swelling, she couldn’t overdose the area or it would hinder her ability to stitch the tear properly. This didn’t bode well for me, as I’m one of those people who usually needs twice the pain meds to be numb. I could certainly feel every little needle stick. And to everyone’s horror, I could feel every single stitch...every pull of the thread…everything. It was an essentially unmedicated repair, and it seriously has scarred me for life. By the end, I was nearly screaming, whimpering, and telling Lisa to stop. Luckily that was the last stitch. It was over. The faces on everyone in the room told me this was a scene they wouldn’t soon forget. Next time someone brings shark needles anywhere near my genitals, I’ll know better what to tell them to do with them.
The rest of my recovery has been smooth. My tailbone hurt quite a lot the next few days (probably from Alder’s very rapid and powerful descent). My after cramps were CRAZY intense! My stitches have mostly healed on their own, though I think it will be a while before I inspect that area too carefully. Alder is a perfect baby, sleeping with relative ease and being very clear when he wants to feed. We are so happy to have him with us here. Welcome Alder!
Some of the coolest things I liked about Alder's birth:
Of course, being at home the whole time (again)
Wearing my own clothes and being on my own couch (again)
Never riding in the car (I can't even imagine getting near the car)
Having the whole party of birth attendants come to me
No vaginal exams to see how dilated I was
No IV
No interference - I made all my own decisions
Pushing for ONLY 3 minutes - it was crazy fast but then it was OVER
My water actually broke this time, so I got to experience that sensation
Alder was born right in our living room
No suctioning of the baby after birth – he spit everything up just fine
Cord wasn't cut until after the placenta was delivered
No separation of Mom, Dad, and baby
Immediate help with breastfeeding
Cuddling in my own bed with my new family
Next time, I’ll be more mentally prepared for the possibility of an even faster and more intense birth. This birth was definitely more intense and even more painful than Ava's, but it was FAR less tiring because it was only 7 hours long (compared to 17 hours with Ava). Just a few hours after the birth, I was already thinking about how I could do that again...in a few years. (smile)
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