Friday, July 8, 2011
I sometimes think I take on too much......
But our family has really gone through a lot in the last year. Midwifery is still very much a passion of mine, so I'll be blogging again soon. :)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Ella ~ May 26, 2009
Ella was born at 11:17am 5-26-09 on her due date! She was 7lbs 5 ozs and 19 inches long.
I woke up on May 25th and noticed I had some “bloody show” and was losing my mucus plug. I was pretty excited but realized it could still be days. However, at about 11am I started to get contractions every 20 minutes apart or so. They were intense and at the time I would have said somewhat painful. In retrospect they were a piece of cake!
We visited with friends and toured DC. At 11pm we decided to get some sleep. However, as soon as I laid down my backed started to kill me! As long as I was standing or leaning over my ball, I was okay. At about 1am I realized I wouldn’t sleep and we called the midwife. My contractions were varied (between 5-10 minutes) and the midwife told me to try to rest. When this did not work she told me to come in to get checked. She said she’d likely give me a sleeping pill and send me home.
I arrived at 3am and I was 2 cm dialated but 90% effaced. I did not know the midwife and had had trouble getting ahold of the doula. I was afraid I’d have to labor with all strangers. As I was examined, I stretched to 3cm and I immediately went into intense one on top of another back labor until Eleanor was born at 11:17am. I didn't even have a long enough break to remember to call my Mom or Dad!
We tried to walk to the car to get my stuff and I could not even make it there. The pain was completely in my back and terrible. I could not find any relief.
I decided I needed to have a bowel movement so Tom and I went into the public bathroom. It was a very traumatic experience for both of us. I was unable to sit because the contractions hurt too much, so I finally dangled from the handicap bar and would tried to poo on the floor! When it was time, I’d jump on the toilet. Tom put paper towels on the floor and was so great. I spent an hour in there and with each contraction started making “ooooooo” sounds. I swore I wouldn’t be a lady that made crazy labor sounds . . . but I was! After the hour, my bowels were completely cleared and I was at 4cm.
I was so miserable at this point and half crawled to the labor room. Once there I was allowed to get into the tub. It was heavenly! The pain melted away for about 20 minutes. At this point we remembered to call the doula (who we reached!) and Tom’s parents. We were never able to call anyone else until the next morning!
Basically the pain would subside for 5-10 minutes in the tub, then would slowly get worse and worse, until I would stand, walk around the room with ice on my back, do a few standing contractions, lay down for a bit, then get back in the tub. I did this the whole labor.
After the first 2 hours I felt like I couldn’t go on. I asked to be checked to see how far I was. I was only 5 cm. However, the midwife said “well, you are 5cm . . .hmm . . . maybe 6cm . . you know it is possible you are 7cm. I’m going to call it 5-7cm” I knew I was only 5cm but she was trying to encourage me. I was still feeling dejected and did the math that if it took 2 hours to go 1cm then it would take me at least 10 more hours of labor! I was so upset I asked what I needed to do if I wanted to go get drugs. She said she’d check and disappeared for about an hour! Haha. It was great stalling tactic! By the time she came back, I had hit a rhythm and didn’t ask her what she found out.
Everytime I had a contraction, I would make my “ooooo” sound. I needed pressure on my back because of the pain and Tom spent most of the labor in the tub with me pushing on my back. The doula was incredible and would use her hands as well. Every once and awhile my mother-in-law would grab my hand too. It was all so helpful. I often had to direct them to move their hands and at the labor progressed I couldn’t talk so I would say “ooo” if what they were doing helped and “noooooooo” of what they were doing didn’t help and they would try something new. It was a great system. A few times people tried to get me to imagine I was on a roller coaster or something but that didn’t work. I dealt with the pain by trying to control it by directing them what to do. I think that is kind of funny.
At about 7am, I was not doing very well. I was screaming instead of “ooooing” and asked for “something to take the edge off”. The midwife again vanished. This was funny because I was essentially asking for Demoral, which I throw up whenever I take. I was honestly out of my mind. I made it through the next hour thinking “okay 15 more minutes then I’ll go to the hospital to get my epidural”. One thing that kept me from asking to go was the thought of being in the car for 20 minutes without people helping me through my contractions. When she came back I didn’t ask her what she found out again.
At shift change at around 8am, the new midwife came in and sternly said, “Saundra! You need to stop yelling! You are going to lose your voice and it isn’t helping! Do that ‘ooo’ thing again!” Having 2 new midwives (both of which I knew very well and liked a lot) gave me a second wind. Plus, I asked to be checked and I was at 8 cm. I was in transition!! This was about 8:30am. I was so excited to be in transition and it made me get focused again. I hoped transition would be short for me but it lasted 2 hours!
At about 10:30am, I was out of the water leaning over the bed. I started to push a little during the contractions, which helped ease some of my pain. I was checked and the midwives said I was fully dialated and could start pushing. My water still had not broken and the midwife asked if I wanted her to break it. Tom and I had discussed not having it broken before hand but I just said “yes”. I would have agreed to anything! I can easily see how women can get bullied into procedures while in labor. My water was broken and I laid down on the bed.
I planned to birth in the water. While I labored much of the time in the tub, when it came time to push I laid down on the bed! Who would have thought that Ella would get pushed out with me on my back in bed! I had some useless pushes at first. I was trying to use my Kegel muscles. Once I realized I needed to pretend I was pooping on the table, I did great! I held onto Tom’s hand and the doula’s hand and pulled myself up on them while I pushed. In between pushes I feel asleep. At one point Tom suggested going back to the water, but I was so tired I didn’t want to move. I pushed for 45 minutes and at one point wanted to ask for a vacuum to help pull her out (but I didn’t)! She was born as the Brandi song “Baby Baby” was playing on the IPod. She was beautiful and perfect and was rated perfect on her APGARS. She was born sunny-side up and with her arm over her face so it probably would have been even faster if she’d been in the proper position.
There was some trouble getting all of my placenta out so she was given to Tom after her cord was cut to do skin to skin. Then, we tried to do an infant lead nursing but she took too long so we helped her.
All in all, I had 3 stitches and a broken tailbone. I felt good and was so high from the endorphines of my natural childbirth.
We had trouble nursing because she was tongue-tied. After 10 days of sore nipples, tears, and pumping we had her tongue clipped and now everything is perfect (except my broken tail bone, Plantar facistis, and carpal tunnel!) Ella is 9 months old and a super nurser and a perfectly healthy baby.
Overall, I am so happy! Labor was hard and at the time I was miserable. But, I really did have my perfect natural childbirth. I was in active labor for a little over 8 hours and feel so lucky to have my baby girl! I would do it again without changing a thing.
I woke up on May 25th and noticed I had some “bloody show” and was losing my mucus plug. I was pretty excited but realized it could still be days. However, at about 11am I started to get contractions every 20 minutes apart or so. They were intense and at the time I would have said somewhat painful. In retrospect they were a piece of cake!
We visited with friends and toured DC. At 11pm we decided to get some sleep. However, as soon as I laid down my backed started to kill me! As long as I was standing or leaning over my ball, I was okay. At about 1am I realized I wouldn’t sleep and we called the midwife. My contractions were varied (between 5-10 minutes) and the midwife told me to try to rest. When this did not work she told me to come in to get checked. She said she’d likely give me a sleeping pill and send me home.
I arrived at 3am and I was 2 cm dialated but 90% effaced. I did not know the midwife and had had trouble getting ahold of the doula. I was afraid I’d have to labor with all strangers. As I was examined, I stretched to 3cm and I immediately went into intense one on top of another back labor until Eleanor was born at 11:17am. I didn't even have a long enough break to remember to call my Mom or Dad!
We tried to walk to the car to get my stuff and I could not even make it there. The pain was completely in my back and terrible. I could not find any relief.
I decided I needed to have a bowel movement so Tom and I went into the public bathroom. It was a very traumatic experience for both of us. I was unable to sit because the contractions hurt too much, so I finally dangled from the handicap bar and would tried to poo on the floor! When it was time, I’d jump on the toilet. Tom put paper towels on the floor and was so great. I spent an hour in there and with each contraction started making “ooooooo” sounds. I swore I wouldn’t be a lady that made crazy labor sounds . . . but I was! After the hour, my bowels were completely cleared and I was at 4cm.
I was so miserable at this point and half crawled to the labor room. Once there I was allowed to get into the tub. It was heavenly! The pain melted away for about 20 minutes. At this point we remembered to call the doula (who we reached!) and Tom’s parents. We were never able to call anyone else until the next morning!
Basically the pain would subside for 5-10 minutes in the tub, then would slowly get worse and worse, until I would stand, walk around the room with ice on my back, do a few standing contractions, lay down for a bit, then get back in the tub. I did this the whole labor.
After the first 2 hours I felt like I couldn’t go on. I asked to be checked to see how far I was. I was only 5 cm. However, the midwife said “well, you are 5cm . . .hmm . . . maybe 6cm . . you know it is possible you are 7cm. I’m going to call it 5-7cm” I knew I was only 5cm but she was trying to encourage me. I was still feeling dejected and did the math that if it took 2 hours to go 1cm then it would take me at least 10 more hours of labor! I was so upset I asked what I needed to do if I wanted to go get drugs. She said she’d check and disappeared for about an hour! Haha. It was great stalling tactic! By the time she came back, I had hit a rhythm and didn’t ask her what she found out.
Everytime I had a contraction, I would make my “ooooo” sound. I needed pressure on my back because of the pain and Tom spent most of the labor in the tub with me pushing on my back. The doula was incredible and would use her hands as well. Every once and awhile my mother-in-law would grab my hand too. It was all so helpful. I often had to direct them to move their hands and at the labor progressed I couldn’t talk so I would say “ooo” if what they were doing helped and “noooooooo” of what they were doing didn’t help and they would try something new. It was a great system. A few times people tried to get me to imagine I was on a roller coaster or something but that didn’t work. I dealt with the pain by trying to control it by directing them what to do. I think that is kind of funny.
At about 7am, I was not doing very well. I was screaming instead of “ooooing” and asked for “something to take the edge off”. The midwife again vanished. This was funny because I was essentially asking for Demoral, which I throw up whenever I take. I was honestly out of my mind. I made it through the next hour thinking “okay 15 more minutes then I’ll go to the hospital to get my epidural”. One thing that kept me from asking to go was the thought of being in the car for 20 minutes without people helping me through my contractions. When she came back I didn’t ask her what she found out again.
At shift change at around 8am, the new midwife came in and sternly said, “Saundra! You need to stop yelling! You are going to lose your voice and it isn’t helping! Do that ‘ooo’ thing again!” Having 2 new midwives (both of which I knew very well and liked a lot) gave me a second wind. Plus, I asked to be checked and I was at 8 cm. I was in transition!! This was about 8:30am. I was so excited to be in transition and it made me get focused again. I hoped transition would be short for me but it lasted 2 hours!
At about 10:30am, I was out of the water leaning over the bed. I started to push a little during the contractions, which helped ease some of my pain. I was checked and the midwives said I was fully dialated and could start pushing. My water still had not broken and the midwife asked if I wanted her to break it. Tom and I had discussed not having it broken before hand but I just said “yes”. I would have agreed to anything! I can easily see how women can get bullied into procedures while in labor. My water was broken and I laid down on the bed.
I planned to birth in the water. While I labored much of the time in the tub, when it came time to push I laid down on the bed! Who would have thought that Ella would get pushed out with me on my back in bed! I had some useless pushes at first. I was trying to use my Kegel muscles. Once I realized I needed to pretend I was pooping on the table, I did great! I held onto Tom’s hand and the doula’s hand and pulled myself up on them while I pushed. In between pushes I feel asleep. At one point Tom suggested going back to the water, but I was so tired I didn’t want to move. I pushed for 45 minutes and at one point wanted to ask for a vacuum to help pull her out (but I didn’t)! She was born as the Brandi song “Baby Baby” was playing on the IPod. She was beautiful and perfect and was rated perfect on her APGARS. She was born sunny-side up and with her arm over her face so it probably would have been even faster if she’d been in the proper position.
There was some trouble getting all of my placenta out so she was given to Tom after her cord was cut to do skin to skin. Then, we tried to do an infant lead nursing but she took too long so we helped her.
All in all, I had 3 stitches and a broken tailbone. I felt good and was so high from the endorphines of my natural childbirth.
We had trouble nursing because she was tongue-tied. After 10 days of sore nipples, tears, and pumping we had her tongue clipped and now everything is perfect (except my broken tail bone, Plantar facistis, and carpal tunnel!) Ella is 9 months old and a super nurser and a perfectly healthy baby.
Overall, I am so happy! Labor was hard and at the time I was miserable. But, I really did have my perfect natural childbirth. I was in active labor for a little over 8 hours and feel so lucky to have my baby girl! I would do it again without changing a thing.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Lacey's here - HBAC - 10lbs!! - January 18, 2005
I had a very "not ok" pregnancy and labour with my first baby - Hunter. At 34 weeks I developed PIH and lost my chance to have a home birth. I was induced at 37 weeks against my wishes because of my blood pressure and after three attempts with Prostin Gel I finally started into active labour... as soon as we moved to the hospital I stalled, however there was a rip in my bag of waters so I was on the clock... 34 hours later (50 hours in total) I had to have a c-section birth... I was devastated.. I felt like a failure immediately.. I don't even remember Hunter's birth.. holding him the first time, seeing him during those first few hours.. it's all lost to fatigue and starvation...
However, my labour with Lacey and her birth were a completely different story.. so here it is...
Lacey Suzanne was born on January 18, 2005 at 04:35 hrs. I had had prelabour for about five weeks off and on... I was tired of the start and stop and had posted on the Midwifery Today forum asking how to safely enourage my baby to come out... lol Everyone there reminded me that babies choose their own birthdays and to just relax and trust my body. At my midwife's appointment on the 17th (41weeks 1 day) I asked them to do an internal to check dilation and to do a quick sweep. I was 2cm easily stretching to 3cm and it didn't hurt at all.
We left the midwife's office and went for a long walk. Then my husband and I left Hunter at our home with Grandma and did a quick grocery shop on our own, enjoying being alone together for the first time in a long time. At dinner my back was aching badly, I had a glass of wine and used the magic bean bag warmed up against my back. I left the table at 8:30pm and headed for a nice warm bath thinking this was just more prelabour stuff. In the tub I noticed my contractions were about 9 minutes apart, but again felt it really wasn't that painful or regular. I climbed into bed with hubby and Hunter just before 10pm, right away I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. I told hubby I would get Hunter down and then get up and see if moving changed anything. I told Hunter that I thought I might be having the baby that night and that hopefully when he woke up in the morning we would have his little sister or brother... I know he heard what I was saying.
When I got up just after 10pm I went to the bathroom and had some show. I went back and told hubby that I thought I really was in labour but that he should sleep for a while, I would get him when I needed him. I called our Doula and gave her a "heads up" for about the sixth time in the last four weeks.. she suggested that I call our midwife too, at this point the contractions were speeding up to about 3-5 minutes apart and getting a little more serious. By 11pm when I spoke with Jennesse my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I didn't want her to come yet, I thought I would be 12 hours or more in labour and I wasn't sure I really was in serious labour yet... however we had had some flooding in our area and she was concerned about having enough time to get to us.. smart midwife!! By the time I got off the phone with Jennesse my next contraction was a doozy and I called our Doula back and said "ok, I'm serious and I need you". I got hubby out of bed too.. and got him to start timing me.
By midnight everyone was here.. we had our Doula, our midwife - Jennesse and our midwife in training - Susan. I laboured down stairs for a while, had one vag check (4-5 cms) and within the hour asked to go to the bathtub. We have a lovely old claw foot cast iron tub which was wonderful. Very quickly after I got in the tub I felt "pushy". My waters broke in the tub with a great "pop", it was an amazing feeling. Baby was doing well in the tub and I was happy too... after a while it was suggested that I get out to have a pee... while on the toilet our baby had some decels so midwives wanted me in the bedroom to see if we could get me into a better position for the baby.
Hubby moved Hunter from our bed to the spare bed with Grandma, this room is right beside the bathroom and we have paper thin walls. Hunter was a champ and slept right through my entire labour, it was like he knew it was ok, mommy was just having her baby, sniff sniff.
I somehow got to the bedroom and ended up on hands and knees on the side our bed (mattress on floor). The baby seemed to be doing much better and the decels stopped. However Jennesse was concerned about the amount of show I was still having and was worried there was a cervix lip I was pushing against... she asked if they could do another internal and I can't remember now if they did or not. I knew the baby was only a couple off inches of my perineum at that point, I could feel exactly where she was... however she wasn't moving very quickly down and hands and knees wasn't helping. I was having a difficult time talking at this point and really felt like I went "within".. this was a completely different experience from my labour with Hunter where I felt completely outside and needed a lot of outside support and feedback.
I flopped around on the bed in a few different positions before I ended up in a supported sitting position with help with my legs. She finally came down and started to pop out, however she was having intermittent decels again, with one contraction and then not with the next. I think (I don't know for sure) that she sat on my perineum for over an hour. Our midwives were just about to do an episiotomy when one of them put some pressure on me instead and I tore and she popped out. Hubby had been asking if the episiotomy could wait, I couldn't talk but I didn't care what happened I just wanted her out.. although the idea of them cutting me with scissors was making me very nauseous.. I almost did throw up at that point.
I only "freaked" out a couple of times during the whole labour and overall it was an amazing, empowering experience. I felt that our baby was fine during the whole labour, I never was worried about her. I was worried about me, I was scared that my body couldn't really be doing this.. that somehow it was going to fail me and I was going to have to go to the hospital. It took me completely by surprise that I started labour at 9pm and she was born by 4:30am.
When she finally popped out they put her on my chest. I finally peaked down and saw what I thought was a baby boy, however on further inspection a penis could not be found and she was declared 100% female. We waited until the cord stopped pulsing and then clamped and cut. Our placenta was huge and felt like birthing another baby, however not a 10lb baby!! She latched on well right away and has been a nursing champ ever since. She had some breathing problems for the first couple of hours - breathing too quickly but it all calmed down by 7:30am and the midwives were allowed to finally go home.
I knew that she was a little crooked before I went into labour, I also knew that I would probably tear as I had had venereal warts when I was a teenager and had some scar tissue on my perineum from the cryno-therapy. I was prepared to tear that way, however the tear at top next to my urethra outwards and upwards has been very painful and uncomfortable with zings and zangs.
Lacey has been a perfect angel baby ever since we've had her. Hunter and hubby have been very sick with the flu and teething (Hunter not hubby, hehehe) every since her birth so it's been a little crazy with that. However, she sleeps at least one five hour stretch at night which is awesome, usually stays asleep all night except to nurse. Loves being cuddled in the sling or on my chest and never fusses much if she's there.
Hunter is doing very well being the big brother and is very kind and concerned with her. He has 99% weaned himself since her birth, although he reserves the right to have "snackies" if he wants.. I'm sad that he's weaned, however, I'm glad he's done it on his own time schedule...
I can't thank our midwives and our Doula enough for all their love and support. I really needed this birth experience after Hunter's birth. It's so nice to cry tears of joy and love while writing and reading this instead of tears of pain and frustration and loss when I think about Hunter's birth. I have learned a lot from this pregnancy and birth, I would like to be a doula and maybe a midwife one day when our children are older. Both of my birth experiences are valuable and have lessons for me to learn from them... I am a better person for having them... I feel so lucky to have two healthy amazing children and to be blessed with such a beautiful and healing birth experience with Lacey is just icing on my cake!! Thank you so much Jennesse, Susan and J, you are so loved and appreciated and I am so thankful that you were able to help me birth our baby "our way". It was the perfect birth experience for me.. I wouldn't change one thing.
Thank god for home births...
Love and hugs,
Michelle
However, my labour with Lacey and her birth were a completely different story.. so here it is...
Lacey Suzanne was born on January 18, 2005 at 04:35 hrs. I had had prelabour for about five weeks off and on... I was tired of the start and stop and had posted on the Midwifery Today forum asking how to safely enourage my baby to come out... lol Everyone there reminded me that babies choose their own birthdays and to just relax and trust my body. At my midwife's appointment on the 17th (41weeks 1 day) I asked them to do an internal to check dilation and to do a quick sweep. I was 2cm easily stretching to 3cm and it didn't hurt at all.
We left the midwife's office and went for a long walk. Then my husband and I left Hunter at our home with Grandma and did a quick grocery shop on our own, enjoying being alone together for the first time in a long time. At dinner my back was aching badly, I had a glass of wine and used the magic bean bag warmed up against my back. I left the table at 8:30pm and headed for a nice warm bath thinking this was just more prelabour stuff. In the tub I noticed my contractions were about 9 minutes apart, but again felt it really wasn't that painful or regular. I climbed into bed with hubby and Hunter just before 10pm, right away I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. I told hubby I would get Hunter down and then get up and see if moving changed anything. I told Hunter that I thought I might be having the baby that night and that hopefully when he woke up in the morning we would have his little sister or brother... I know he heard what I was saying.
When I got up just after 10pm I went to the bathroom and had some show. I went back and told hubby that I thought I really was in labour but that he should sleep for a while, I would get him when I needed him. I called our Doula and gave her a "heads up" for about the sixth time in the last four weeks.. she suggested that I call our midwife too, at this point the contractions were speeding up to about 3-5 minutes apart and getting a little more serious. By 11pm when I spoke with Jennesse my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I didn't want her to come yet, I thought I would be 12 hours or more in labour and I wasn't sure I really was in serious labour yet... however we had had some flooding in our area and she was concerned about having enough time to get to us.. smart midwife!! By the time I got off the phone with Jennesse my next contraction was a doozy and I called our Doula back and said "ok, I'm serious and I need you". I got hubby out of bed too.. and got him to start timing me.
By midnight everyone was here.. we had our Doula, our midwife - Jennesse and our midwife in training - Susan. I laboured down stairs for a while, had one vag check (4-5 cms) and within the hour asked to go to the bathtub. We have a lovely old claw foot cast iron tub which was wonderful. Very quickly after I got in the tub I felt "pushy". My waters broke in the tub with a great "pop", it was an amazing feeling. Baby was doing well in the tub and I was happy too... after a while it was suggested that I get out to have a pee... while on the toilet our baby had some decels so midwives wanted me in the bedroom to see if we could get me into a better position for the baby.
Hubby moved Hunter from our bed to the spare bed with Grandma, this room is right beside the bathroom and we have paper thin walls. Hunter was a champ and slept right through my entire labour, it was like he knew it was ok, mommy was just having her baby, sniff sniff.
I somehow got to the bedroom and ended up on hands and knees on the side our bed (mattress on floor). The baby seemed to be doing much better and the decels stopped. However Jennesse was concerned about the amount of show I was still having and was worried there was a cervix lip I was pushing against... she asked if they could do another internal and I can't remember now if they did or not. I knew the baby was only a couple off inches of my perineum at that point, I could feel exactly where she was... however she wasn't moving very quickly down and hands and knees wasn't helping. I was having a difficult time talking at this point and really felt like I went "within".. this was a completely different experience from my labour with Hunter where I felt completely outside and needed a lot of outside support and feedback.
I flopped around on the bed in a few different positions before I ended up in a supported sitting position with help with my legs. She finally came down and started to pop out, however she was having intermittent decels again, with one contraction and then not with the next. I think (I don't know for sure) that she sat on my perineum for over an hour. Our midwives were just about to do an episiotomy when one of them put some pressure on me instead and I tore and she popped out. Hubby had been asking if the episiotomy could wait, I couldn't talk but I didn't care what happened I just wanted her out.. although the idea of them cutting me with scissors was making me very nauseous.. I almost did throw up at that point.
I only "freaked" out a couple of times during the whole labour and overall it was an amazing, empowering experience. I felt that our baby was fine during the whole labour, I never was worried about her. I was worried about me, I was scared that my body couldn't really be doing this.. that somehow it was going to fail me and I was going to have to go to the hospital. It took me completely by surprise that I started labour at 9pm and she was born by 4:30am.
When she finally popped out they put her on my chest. I finally peaked down and saw what I thought was a baby boy, however on further inspection a penis could not be found and she was declared 100% female. We waited until the cord stopped pulsing and then clamped and cut. Our placenta was huge and felt like birthing another baby, however not a 10lb baby!! She latched on well right away and has been a nursing champ ever since. She had some breathing problems for the first couple of hours - breathing too quickly but it all calmed down by 7:30am and the midwives were allowed to finally go home.
I knew that she was a little crooked before I went into labour, I also knew that I would probably tear as I had had venereal warts when I was a teenager and had some scar tissue on my perineum from the cryno-therapy. I was prepared to tear that way, however the tear at top next to my urethra outwards and upwards has been very painful and uncomfortable with zings and zangs.
Lacey has been a perfect angel baby ever since we've had her. Hunter and hubby have been very sick with the flu and teething (Hunter not hubby, hehehe) every since her birth so it's been a little crazy with that. However, she sleeps at least one five hour stretch at night which is awesome, usually stays asleep all night except to nurse. Loves being cuddled in the sling or on my chest and never fusses much if she's there.
Hunter is doing very well being the big brother and is very kind and concerned with her. He has 99% weaned himself since her birth, although he reserves the right to have "snackies" if he wants.. I'm sad that he's weaned, however, I'm glad he's done it on his own time schedule...
I can't thank our midwives and our Doula enough for all their love and support. I really needed this birth experience after Hunter's birth. It's so nice to cry tears of joy and love while writing and reading this instead of tears of pain and frustration and loss when I think about Hunter's birth. I have learned a lot from this pregnancy and birth, I would like to be a doula and maybe a midwife one day when our children are older. Both of my birth experiences are valuable and have lessons for me to learn from them... I am a better person for having them... I feel so lucky to have two healthy amazing children and to be blessed with such a beautiful and healing birth experience with Lacey is just icing on my cake!! Thank you so much Jennesse, Susan and J, you are so loved and appreciated and I am so thankful that you were able to help me birth our baby "our way". It was the perfect birth experience for me.. I wouldn't change one thing.
Thank god for home births...
Love and hugs,
Michelle
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Maren ~ December 14, 2009
My best friend Kristy had her third baby in December. I just LOVE this story! And she's a great-story teller! This is straight from her blog. Enjoy!
It's a GIRL! We decided on Katie Maren DeGraaf and are going to call her by her middle name...but we are now rethinking the first name....We are going to sleep on it and will let you know if anything changes. She was 7 lbs 14 ounces and 20 inches long, born at 9 AM this morning, 8 days early. For those of you that don't want any more gory details that should sum it up, but it's a pretty good story if you want to stick around. And I think this story beats Kelley's...as funny as THAT was. (For those of you that missed it I wrote about it here.)
Many of you know that I was SURE this baby would be early. Kelley was 10 days early on her own, Tyler was 2.5 weeks early. I had to be induced with him because of preeclampsia and almost was with Kelley for the same thing. I also have been having Braxton-Hicks with this baby for months and almost thought I might end up with a preemie! So we passed the preemie mark, 2.5 weeks came and went, 10 days early came and went and I was starting to think I might end up with a Christmas baby after all. It seemed like the one time we really wanted an early baby we weren't going to get one. My due date was the 22nd, but I thought it would be so ironic if I ended up overdue with this one.
At my 37 week appointment I hadn't made ANY progress, but was dialated to a 2 + last Thursday, so was hopeful at that point. My midwife offered to strip my membranes to see if we could encourage things to start on their own, so that was tentatively planned for tomorrow morning. In the meantime I was taking warm baths, eating spicy foods, trying to encourage the natural process along. Last night I finally finished typing up arrangements for the daycare kids and put the finishing touches on the Christmas program I was in charge of for church. The kids rooms were switched, my house was cleaner than it has been in a LONG time, I was actually feeling like I was ready to go. I put on my facebook status that the 14th seemed like a good day, but figured that was probably just more wishful thinking.
This morning I woke up at 1:30 AM, 3:30 AM, 4:30 AM...like most nights lately. I couldn't get back to sleep and so finally decided to just go shower. I started to have a few painful contractions, but they didn't last long. Still I had this feeling I'd better get my hair fixed and makeup on if I was going to. Right before 6 AM I started to have more regular contractions. They were painful and 4-5 minutes apart, but not very long in duration and still bearable. At 6:45 I told Joey he might want to get up and get showered because we'd probably end up at the hospital this morning. I also texted my sister and told her I might need her at the daycare this morning. About 7:20 I decided to lay down and see if they went away. They didn't go away completely, but slowed down to almost 10 minutes apart, so I figured we could wait until it was time to take Kelley to school at 8:30 AM. Karmin showed up, Joey got up and dressed. Contractions were still bearable. Just before 8:30 AM I had one or two contractions that were pretty painful and so we started shuttling kids out the door. Joey gave me a blessing before we left. It very quickly went to the point I was thinking there was no way I was going to get through the natural labor I had planned.
I had another contraction hit me as I was getting in the car. It was all I could do to crawl up onto the seat kneeling backwards and within the two blocks it takes to get to the school I'm yelling at Joey "get the kids out of the car NOW!" We had Kelley and the other 7 year old neighbor girl from across the street with us and luckily they thought it was pretty funny and so were just giggling the whole way. I'm glad it wasn't traumatizing for them :) We stopped at the school and my water broke and then there was all this pressure at one time. I crawled out of the car thinking there was no way I was going anywhere else. Joey kept telling me "you have to get in the car". I insisted I couldn't two or three times, but finally crawled back in. We headed off to the hospital and by this time I was certain I was going to die. Joey turned on Lund Highway instead of Airport Road like he was supposed to. Luckily it wasn't right in the middle of a contraction, or I might have killed him. Traffic was CRAZY though...I mean for Cedar City. There was three or four people ahead of us the whole drive, so he couldn't just pass them all. (Had I been thinking I would have told him to just put on his flashers and gun it). He was thinking though and trying really hard to get us to the hospital in one piece. Of course everyone ahead of us was taking their sweet time.
Funny side note here...I will freely admit I was yelling my guts out in the middle of those contractions. I kept thinking about my mom. She had all five of us naturally and whenever we would see a movie with a women screaming during labor she says "That's not really how it is..." Apparently she was not a screamer. I was thinking about this as I could think of nothing else to do besides scream and hold Joey's hand. I didn't want to break the windshield or something and so was trying to be as still as I could. So at one point in the middle of a contraction Joey says "your pushing....don't push...just breathe". I said "I CAN'T, I'm pushing I don't care!!!!" I also told him "If I'm not at least an 8 when I get there I've got to have an epidural!" So much for the natural birth...or so you would think....
Well we finally made it to the hospital and he pulled up to the ambulance entrance thinking it would be faster. There was no one there though, so I hopped out of the car. I had kicked my shoes off, so only had socks on, walking through the snow around the corner to the ER entrance. There was a wheel chair in the front entrance and Joey got me to sit down. He wheels me in and I'm yelling "This baby is coming now! Laurie...." Laurie is my midwife and luckily her office is in the hospital right next to the ER entrance. Her staff saw me come in and everyone is staring at us, but a few people in their right mind wave us down the hall to labor and delivery.
I have to admit at this point I thought I was probably being a little melodramatic. I wasn't sure the baby was coming right away, but that was all I could think to yell. Joey got me down to L & D and they directed us right to a room. I ran in the room and dropped my pants as fast as I could kneeling by the side of the bed in the middle of another contraction. Probably the biggest relief of my life was when I asked "is the baby coming?" I got a big fat YES! I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't at that point. The nurse kept telling me "Laurie's on her way, do what you have to do. I don't want to deliver this baby on my own, but I can...." Laurie walked in, I pushed maybe two or three times and she was here. Apparently she was already more than crowning when I got into my room. That was 9 AM.
It was really cool because almost before I realized that she was out Joey saw her and told me it was a girl. I was standing up next to the bed and I think he was behind me, so he had the perfect view as soon as she was born. It was neat to have him see that and let me know. No one else even thought about it until later. Of course most of the people there didn't even know my name, let alone that I didn't know my baby's gender yet.
And that was that. Five hour labor with Kelley, Tyler's was four, Little Maren was only about 3 hours total and nearly born on the highway at that. It was funny because I kept telling people I was afraid I wouldn't know when to go to the hospital and that something like that would happen, although I didn't REALLY think it would. That happens in the movies..yeah, just like people's water doesn't ever break in public places.... Kelley and Tyler were both pretty much no question as to when I needed to go in. People kept telling me "oh you'll know". Well I'll tell you what, until about 30 minutes before I delivered I didn't "know" for sure! My contractions weren't consistent or very long. Laurie told me afterwards, "Next time, you come in when you START having contractions...." Ya, that's a good bit of advice I think I'll follow!
Well, she's perfect. I feel great! It is true that recovery is SO much easier with a natural birth! I will have to write more later, but for now, I think I'll get back to my baby. :)
It's a GIRL! We decided on Katie Maren DeGraaf and are going to call her by her middle name...but we are now rethinking the first name....We are going to sleep on it and will let you know if anything changes. She was 7 lbs 14 ounces and 20 inches long, born at 9 AM this morning, 8 days early. For those of you that don't want any more gory details that should sum it up, but it's a pretty good story if you want to stick around. And I think this story beats Kelley's...as funny as THAT was. (For those of you that missed it I wrote about it here.)
Many of you know that I was SURE this baby would be early. Kelley was 10 days early on her own, Tyler was 2.5 weeks early. I had to be induced with him because of preeclampsia and almost was with Kelley for the same thing. I also have been having Braxton-Hicks with this baby for months and almost thought I might end up with a preemie! So we passed the preemie mark, 2.5 weeks came and went, 10 days early came and went and I was starting to think I might end up with a Christmas baby after all. It seemed like the one time we really wanted an early baby we weren't going to get one. My due date was the 22nd, but I thought it would be so ironic if I ended up overdue with this one.
At my 37 week appointment I hadn't made ANY progress, but was dialated to a 2 + last Thursday, so was hopeful at that point. My midwife offered to strip my membranes to see if we could encourage things to start on their own, so that was tentatively planned for tomorrow morning. In the meantime I was taking warm baths, eating spicy foods, trying to encourage the natural process along. Last night I finally finished typing up arrangements for the daycare kids and put the finishing touches on the Christmas program I was in charge of for church. The kids rooms were switched, my house was cleaner than it has been in a LONG time, I was actually feeling like I was ready to go. I put on my facebook status that the 14th seemed like a good day, but figured that was probably just more wishful thinking.
This morning I woke up at 1:30 AM, 3:30 AM, 4:30 AM...like most nights lately. I couldn't get back to sleep and so finally decided to just go shower. I started to have a few painful contractions, but they didn't last long. Still I had this feeling I'd better get my hair fixed and makeup on if I was going to. Right before 6 AM I started to have more regular contractions. They were painful and 4-5 minutes apart, but not very long in duration and still bearable. At 6:45 I told Joey he might want to get up and get showered because we'd probably end up at the hospital this morning. I also texted my sister and told her I might need her at the daycare this morning. About 7:20 I decided to lay down and see if they went away. They didn't go away completely, but slowed down to almost 10 minutes apart, so I figured we could wait until it was time to take Kelley to school at 8:30 AM. Karmin showed up, Joey got up and dressed. Contractions were still bearable. Just before 8:30 AM I had one or two contractions that were pretty painful and so we started shuttling kids out the door. Joey gave me a blessing before we left. It very quickly went to the point I was thinking there was no way I was going to get through the natural labor I had planned.
I had another contraction hit me as I was getting in the car. It was all I could do to crawl up onto the seat kneeling backwards and within the two blocks it takes to get to the school I'm yelling at Joey "get the kids out of the car NOW!" We had Kelley and the other 7 year old neighbor girl from across the street with us and luckily they thought it was pretty funny and so were just giggling the whole way. I'm glad it wasn't traumatizing for them :) We stopped at the school and my water broke and then there was all this pressure at one time. I crawled out of the car thinking there was no way I was going anywhere else. Joey kept telling me "you have to get in the car". I insisted I couldn't two or three times, but finally crawled back in. We headed off to the hospital and by this time I was certain I was going to die. Joey turned on Lund Highway instead of Airport Road like he was supposed to. Luckily it wasn't right in the middle of a contraction, or I might have killed him. Traffic was CRAZY though...I mean for Cedar City. There was three or four people ahead of us the whole drive, so he couldn't just pass them all. (Had I been thinking I would have told him to just put on his flashers and gun it). He was thinking though and trying really hard to get us to the hospital in one piece. Of course everyone ahead of us was taking their sweet time.
Funny side note here...I will freely admit I was yelling my guts out in the middle of those contractions. I kept thinking about my mom. She had all five of us naturally and whenever we would see a movie with a women screaming during labor she says "That's not really how it is..." Apparently she was not a screamer. I was thinking about this as I could think of nothing else to do besides scream and hold Joey's hand. I didn't want to break the windshield or something and so was trying to be as still as I could. So at one point in the middle of a contraction Joey says "your pushing....don't push...just breathe". I said "I CAN'T, I'm pushing I don't care!!!!" I also told him "If I'm not at least an 8 when I get there I've got to have an epidural!" So much for the natural birth...or so you would think....
Well we finally made it to the hospital and he pulled up to the ambulance entrance thinking it would be faster. There was no one there though, so I hopped out of the car. I had kicked my shoes off, so only had socks on, walking through the snow around the corner to the ER entrance. There was a wheel chair in the front entrance and Joey got me to sit down. He wheels me in and I'm yelling "This baby is coming now! Laurie...." Laurie is my midwife and luckily her office is in the hospital right next to the ER entrance. Her staff saw me come in and everyone is staring at us, but a few people in their right mind wave us down the hall to labor and delivery.
I have to admit at this point I thought I was probably being a little melodramatic. I wasn't sure the baby was coming right away, but that was all I could think to yell. Joey got me down to L & D and they directed us right to a room. I ran in the room and dropped my pants as fast as I could kneeling by the side of the bed in the middle of another contraction. Probably the biggest relief of my life was when I asked "is the baby coming?" I got a big fat YES! I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't at that point. The nurse kept telling me "Laurie's on her way, do what you have to do. I don't want to deliver this baby on my own, but I can...." Laurie walked in, I pushed maybe two or three times and she was here. Apparently she was already more than crowning when I got into my room. That was 9 AM.
It was really cool because almost before I realized that she was out Joey saw her and told me it was a girl. I was standing up next to the bed and I think he was behind me, so he had the perfect view as soon as she was born. It was neat to have him see that and let me know. No one else even thought about it until later. Of course most of the people there didn't even know my name, let alone that I didn't know my baby's gender yet.
And that was that. Five hour labor with Kelley, Tyler's was four, Little Maren was only about 3 hours total and nearly born on the highway at that. It was funny because I kept telling people I was afraid I wouldn't know when to go to the hospital and that something like that would happen, although I didn't REALLY think it would. That happens in the movies..yeah, just like people's water doesn't ever break in public places.... Kelley and Tyler were both pretty much no question as to when I needed to go in. People kept telling me "oh you'll know". Well I'll tell you what, until about 30 minutes before I delivered I didn't "know" for sure! My contractions weren't consistent or very long. Laurie told me afterwards, "Next time, you come in when you START having contractions...." Ya, that's a good bit of advice I think I'll follow!
Well, she's perfect. I feel great! It is true that recovery is SO much easier with a natural birth! I will have to write more later, but for now, I think I'll get back to my baby. :)
Friday, March 5, 2010
Meredith's birth ~ August 22, 2006
I was due Sunday, August 20th and I really didn't think I'd go overdue since everyone in my family had their babies on or before their EDD. So right before I went to bed on Monday night (my husband had already bet me I was going to go into labor that night) I got up from the couch and realized my SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) pain had almost totally dissapeared. I had been dealing with this pain for MONTHS so it was very strange, and I definately thought it could be a good sign. Went to bed around 11pm and started getting kind of crampy right away but was able to sleep through it for an hour or so. I decided to get up and walk around to see if it was false labor- so got up, walked around the house, went to the bathroom, had some food... and ctx started being real instead of just crampy. They were only 15-30 seconds long, but coming every 3 minutes on the dot! My husband got up since I wasn't in bed but I told him I was still feeling ok and wasn't sure it wasn't false labor... so he went back to bed.
He got up again at 6am and my ctx were pretty much the same, maybe a little stronger, but still short with really short intervals. We sat and talked for a little while and I decided to take a shower since we were almost sure it was real labor. The shower really got things going and when I got out I layed down on the bed and started getting much stronger ctx. My husband started timing them and they were getting longer with longer intervals (1min long, 5-7min intervals) but getting a lot stronger. He started making the phone calls to his family and the hospital.
We wanted to stay home as long as possible, but since my ctx had started so close together it was hard for us to gauge where in the process I was. At about 9am we decided to at least go in and check since there were some ctx I was actually sweating through. And they were lasting a long time... they'd go down but not go away all the way and were lasting a few minutes long with one big one during that time and a couple small ones.
We got checked in right around 9:30am and they checked me... I was at a 5-6 already!! Brian & I were THRILLED but I was already ctx'ing pretty hard and they were coming every 2 min or so. My doc came in to check on us and said he'd see us later. The anesthesiologist came in and we told him we weren't interested!
So.... just kept ctx'ing every 2 min or so... they were pretty strong but not unbearable. I was just breathing through them and slightly groaning with the ctx but not too bad. I started feeling the need to push so we called the nurses in and I was at a 7. Next time they checked I was at an 8 and was in the full throes of transition. They were right on top of each other and SO strong. The nurse came in and got me to stand up and lean over the bed and that's when my water broke. I was in transition for about 2 hours and groaning really loudly with each breath. I was having urges to push, but since I was still at 8 they told me if I needed to push just to kind of grunt through it (yeah right).
Oh yeah, and when I was standing the nurse figured out baby was sunny side up so she made me get back into bed and lay on my side/belly to help the baby turn a little.
It finally got so bad that we made them check me again and sure enough, I was at 10 and baby's head was right there. They called my doc but he was in a hysterectomy since he didn't think I was going to progress THAT quickly. He said to call the on call doc, so they called him and told me not to push. They had started me pushing and I had 2 pushes where I could feel her crown then slip back under my pubic bone. They
realized how strong my pushes were and so told me to try not to push while we waited for the on call doc. But I couldn't not push. I got a huge push in (no one was even helping hold my legs up!) and the nurse at my feet was telling me to try to hold off and literally pushing on the baby's head to keep her from coming out!!!! I couldn't stop pushing.... my body was basically just doing it for me and they couldn't keep her in! I got another push in and out she came.... head, one push, shoulders another, and the rest of her another. I literally only pushed like 6 times and only SEVEN minutes after they told me I was at 10cm, our little girl was born!!!!
I was in absolute shock that it happened so fast. The dr never had a chance to make it there so she was delivered by the nursing staff! They put her right on my belly and I was just in total disbelief that it had happened SO quickly!
The on call dr finally made it and he delivered the placenta and stitched me up. I had a small tear since she came so fast and also her hand was up behind her head. They took her and cleaned her up in the room... she didn't leave our sight the entire time we were in the hospital. They brought her back and she nursed for an hour and a half
straight!!!!
I think that's about it. We stayed one night in the hospital and got discharged yesterday. She's been sleeping non-stop and has attempted nursing again but only really had one good session since that first one. I keep saying this is just the calm before the storm!
I am just thrilled I had a quick labor, VERY quick delivery, and was able to do it all without drugs the way I wanted. I couldn't have done it without the 12 weeks of Bradley classes we took... and my wonderful husband who was an amazing coach!!!
Oh yeah, and her stats:
August 22, 12:57pm
8lb 8.2oz, 20.5 inches long
Such a perfect round head... didn't spend much time in the birth
canal!!!
Thank you Kim! Kim is expecting baby #2 in July and I look forward to being able to share another wonderful story with you!
He got up again at 6am and my ctx were pretty much the same, maybe a little stronger, but still short with really short intervals. We sat and talked for a little while and I decided to take a shower since we were almost sure it was real labor. The shower really got things going and when I got out I layed down on the bed and started getting much stronger ctx. My husband started timing them and they were getting longer with longer intervals (1min long, 5-7min intervals) but getting a lot stronger. He started making the phone calls to his family and the hospital.
We wanted to stay home as long as possible, but since my ctx had started so close together it was hard for us to gauge where in the process I was. At about 9am we decided to at least go in and check since there were some ctx I was actually sweating through. And they were lasting a long time... they'd go down but not go away all the way and were lasting a few minutes long with one big one during that time and a couple small ones.
We got checked in right around 9:30am and they checked me... I was at a 5-6 already!! Brian & I were THRILLED but I was already ctx'ing pretty hard and they were coming every 2 min or so. My doc came in to check on us and said he'd see us later. The anesthesiologist came in and we told him we weren't interested!
So.... just kept ctx'ing every 2 min or so... they were pretty strong but not unbearable. I was just breathing through them and slightly groaning with the ctx but not too bad. I started feeling the need to push so we called the nurses in and I was at a 7. Next time they checked I was at an 8 and was in the full throes of transition. They were right on top of each other and SO strong. The nurse came in and got me to stand up and lean over the bed and that's when my water broke. I was in transition for about 2 hours and groaning really loudly with each breath. I was having urges to push, but since I was still at 8 they told me if I needed to push just to kind of grunt through it (yeah right).
Oh yeah, and when I was standing the nurse figured out baby was sunny side up so she made me get back into bed and lay on my side/belly to help the baby turn a little.
It finally got so bad that we made them check me again and sure enough, I was at 10 and baby's head was right there. They called my doc but he was in a hysterectomy since he didn't think I was going to progress THAT quickly. He said to call the on call doc, so they called him and told me not to push. They had started me pushing and I had 2 pushes where I could feel her crown then slip back under my pubic bone. They
realized how strong my pushes were and so told me to try not to push while we waited for the on call doc. But I couldn't not push. I got a huge push in (no one was even helping hold my legs up!) and the nurse at my feet was telling me to try to hold off and literally pushing on the baby's head to keep her from coming out!!!! I couldn't stop pushing.... my body was basically just doing it for me and they couldn't keep her in! I got another push in and out she came.... head, one push, shoulders another, and the rest of her another. I literally only pushed like 6 times and only SEVEN minutes after they told me I was at 10cm, our little girl was born!!!!
I was in absolute shock that it happened so fast. The dr never had a chance to make it there so she was delivered by the nursing staff! They put her right on my belly and I was just in total disbelief that it had happened SO quickly!
The on call dr finally made it and he delivered the placenta and stitched me up. I had a small tear since she came so fast and also her hand was up behind her head. They took her and cleaned her up in the room... she didn't leave our sight the entire time we were in the hospital. They brought her back and she nursed for an hour and a half
straight!!!!
I think that's about it. We stayed one night in the hospital and got discharged yesterday. She's been sleeping non-stop and has attempted nursing again but only really had one good session since that first one. I keep saying this is just the calm before the storm!
I am just thrilled I had a quick labor, VERY quick delivery, and was able to do it all without drugs the way I wanted. I couldn't have done it without the 12 weeks of Bradley classes we took... and my wonderful husband who was an amazing coach!!!
Oh yeah, and her stats:
August 22, 12:57pm
8lb 8.2oz, 20.5 inches long
Such a perfect round head... didn't spend much time in the birth
canal!!!
Thank you Kim! Kim is expecting baby #2 in July and I look forward to being able to share another wonderful story with you!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
So, for the past few weeks, I've been contemplating what I should blog about, that isn't about my family. I really felt like I needed a separate blog, but I wasn't sure why. So, I've finally figured it out.
I had back-burnered this blog and wasn't really thinking about it. And in the mean time, a string of events brought to my attention that I need to start my Midwifery studies. After all, I've known for years that I want to be a midwife. It just seemed that there were so many reasons that "now isn't a good time to start". So this blog is a start to my midwifery journey. It's also an educational tool for those wanting a natural birth. I know that some take offense to the term "natural birth", so I will clarify what I mean by a natural birth. Med-free, intervention-free, gentle birth.
I watched a video last night of Ina May Gaskin. I guess you might say she's a Midwifery pioneer and she's fantastic! In this video she was talking about how women are afraid of birth because they never get to see one! WOW!!!!! I know that for me, the first birth I attended was the birth of my own first son. And there was some fear there because I had only an idea of what to expect from my reading. Ina May's book Spiritual Midwifery was the first midwifery or birth book that I ever read. It was amazing! Anyway, back to the point at hand. This thought intrigued me, so in my sleep, as so often happens, I got the idea to post as many birth stories, pictures, and videos as I possibly can so that I can assist you, my readers in demystifying birth and empowering you to be able to have the birth(s) that God intended you to have.
I have a deep trust in God's masterpiece of the human body and all that we are capable of. At least all that I can now comprehend. I have 5 beautiful sons, all of whom were natural births, and 4 of them at home. That includes one really long labor after my water broke, a posterior labor and delivery, a really FAST labor, a "perfect" labor, and a breech delivery. I joke sometimes that I've just about experienced it all. My dear friend and midwife J keeps reminding me that I haven't yet done twins. I've experienced for myself the beauty and miracle of birth, and so can you. Enjoy my journey.
I had back-burnered this blog and wasn't really thinking about it. And in the mean time, a string of events brought to my attention that I need to start my Midwifery studies. After all, I've known for years that I want to be a midwife. It just seemed that there were so many reasons that "now isn't a good time to start". So this blog is a start to my midwifery journey. It's also an educational tool for those wanting a natural birth. I know that some take offense to the term "natural birth", so I will clarify what I mean by a natural birth. Med-free, intervention-free, gentle birth.
I watched a video last night of Ina May Gaskin. I guess you might say she's a Midwifery pioneer and she's fantastic! In this video she was talking about how women are afraid of birth because they never get to see one! WOW!!!!! I know that for me, the first birth I attended was the birth of my own first son. And there was some fear there because I had only an idea of what to expect from my reading. Ina May's book Spiritual Midwifery was the first midwifery or birth book that I ever read. It was amazing! Anyway, back to the point at hand. This thought intrigued me, so in my sleep, as so often happens, I got the idea to post as many birth stories, pictures, and videos as I possibly can so that I can assist you, my readers in demystifying birth and empowering you to be able to have the birth(s) that God intended you to have.
I have a deep trust in God's masterpiece of the human body and all that we are capable of. At least all that I can now comprehend. I have 5 beautiful sons, all of whom were natural births, and 4 of them at home. That includes one really long labor after my water broke, a posterior labor and delivery, a really FAST labor, a "perfect" labor, and a breech delivery. I joke sometimes that I've just about experienced it all. My dear friend and midwife J keeps reminding me that I haven't yet done twins. I've experienced for myself the beauty and miracle of birth, and so can you. Enjoy my journey.
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