The Birth of Valerie Lynn
Summary:
Thurs 3/6 @ 9:15PM notice first pressure waves 10 mins apart, got to
bed around 11:30PM
Friday 3/7 @ 7:20AM, can't sleep through it anymore.
At 8:49AM I called the midwife to give heads up.
At 11:38AM I called again with no change.
By 1:13PM we decided this was it.
Donna arrived by 5PM, first vaginal check was 5-6cm.
Around 7:45PM second vaginal check was 8-9.75cm
Waters broke on the toilet before 8PM.
Baby born at 8:12PM.
The birth of my daughter began almost unexpectedly. I had just gone to my
38-week prenatal appointment, a few days late actually, and I wasn't expecting
to begin my birthing time until closer to 39 or 40 weeks I was still measuring
3cm. We had just switched care to a homebirth midwife, Donna Galati, CNM and we
were still planning to travel to Louisville, KY to pick up my mom (hopefully)
before everything started.
It was Thursday evening, March 6th and I had just put James to bed. I called my mom back around 9:15PM and while I was on the phone for about 40 minutes, I had three or four mild pressure waves. I figured it was just more pre-birth waves that I had been getting after nursing James to sleep lately and they would go away. I went to bed around 11:30 PM or so feeling good, and not really noticing any more pressure waves, but did notice that my baby had turned into the birthing position.
I woke around 2:30AM ish to more pressures. I had remembered my dream and it
was about me beginning my birthing time, I found it odd, but now I thinking I
should have paid more attention. I got up, went pee and thought, maybe I should
tell Mike to get some sleep. He was still up playing Xbox 360, and didn't go to
bed until after 4AM. I went back to bed and woke again when Mike came to bed,
this time the pressures would not let me get back to a good sleep. I got up and
decided to eat a bit. Apples and peanut butter sounded yummy and I figured it
would give me time to see how close the pressures were coming. As I sat in the
living room eating and timing, James woke up. He wanted to nurse, but that just
made the pressures stronger. He settled for laying next to me and holding the
nursies. I sat there for about 30-40 minutes and the pressures averaged 5-7
minutes apart. Shortly before 5:45AM, James and I went back to bed. I laid down
and listened to my Hypnobabies scripts to try to relax a bit, it worked for a
short while but I wasn't able to get comfortable. I settled for just trying to
sleep through them and I made it until around 7:20AM when the waking every 10
minutes just wasn't cutting it anymore.
I got up, ate a bit of cereal, and started the computer to get the timer program
for my pressure waves. I also thought it would be a good idea to wipe down the
bathtub. I timed them for more than an hour before calling Donna at 8:49 AM to
give her a heads up on what was going on. The pressures averaged 4-5 minutes
apart and lasted a few seconds either side of the one-minute mark. Donna said to
keep an eye on things and call her back in no more than 3 hours for an update. I
sat around, drank water, ate a bit, and James woke up around 9:30AM-ish. I tried
to listen to my Hypnobabies scripts, but James needing me was preventing me from
getting really relaxed and into Center Switch. I settled for slow, controlled,
and relaxed breathing for each pressure.
I called Donna back at 11:38 AM with not much change. At this point I informed Mike that it would probably be a good idea for him to get up and lay on the couch incase James needed anything, because I had to start focusing more on breathing and relaxing though each pressure wave.
At 11:49AM Donna called me to inform me of bad weather in her area. She
didn't want to miss anything or make the nearly 3 hour drive and not be in true
*labor*. By this time, my pressures had slowed a bit, so I said I would watch
the weather and the pressures and call back in an hour.
I called my best friend Ashley that lived out near Donna and asked for her
opinion on what I was having. I told her that since she had had three kids
already and would know more about this, I wanted her opinion. She said under the
weather circumstances and what I was feeling, it would be best to have Donna
come out, because it could take longer than 3 hours for her to get there.
At 1:13PM, I called Donna and talked a bit more. She listed to me during a
pressure wave while we were talking and she decided it would be a good idea to
head out here.
While I was waiting for Donna to arrive, I continued to drink water/juice and
eat as I felt I needed. I also boiled eggs for deviling as nutritious labor food
I had a craving for them and it seamed as good a time as any to make them. As
the pressures progressed, I felt them move from hugging my belly to stretching
my hips and lower back. Mike would press on my lower back each time a pressure
wave was stronger than I could handle on my own. It felt so good and made the
pressure in my lower back seam to float away! I sat a bit on my birthing
ball and rolled my hips around in between waves, and standing while swaying my
hips during a wave felt great too.
Donna arrived at about 4:50 PM and I had her do a quick cervical check before
she brought everything in. I was surprised to hear that I was 5-6 cm dilated
with a bulging bag of waters! Mike helped to being all her equipment in and
James helped set it all up and go through it.
Pressure waves continued and I continued breathing through them. Many times, I
preferred to be on my hands and knees either swaying or having Mike apply
pressure to my lower back. I had a bit more to eat, Mike made me a sandwich, and
Donna and I chatted a bit about how Mike and I got together.
After I was done eating, Donna said we could try to get in the tub to see how
that worked on my pressure waves. I got in and it was so warm and relaxing. All
the positions that I thought would be uncomfortable in there were what worked
for each pressure wave. I spent a little time in there but I kept feeling the
urge to pee or something. I got out and spent a good hour or so on the toilet,
mostly just sitting there with no pressure on my tailbone. I never understood
why women talked about how they enjoyed sitting on the toilet so much before
giving birth, but now I know! I got up a few times, walked a round a bit and
then returned to my birthing *throne*. The pressure had moved from my lower back
to my hips and walking around as if I just got off a horse saddle felt ok, but
the toilet was so much more comfortable!
While I was in the tub and back & forth to the toilet, my mother in law, Kim,
and sister in law, Elaina finally made it to the house to help with James and
watch the birth. Things got somewhat loud here and there, and Donna thought
there was a ton of commotion. Everything settled down after they got the
shhhhhh from me a few times.
At about 15 minutes before 8PM, Donna thought it would be a good idea to check
my dilation again. Before a pressure wave, she said I was 8 cm and during a
pressure wave, I was nearly 9 and 3/4cm with my waters still bulging. She
offered to break my bag of waters to move things along, but I was a little
unsure of just how quickly things would progress. As I thought it over, I
returned to the toilet. Mike came up to me at some point and looked at me long
and lovingly, stroking my face. All of a sudden I was pushing during a pressure
wave and *plop* - *gush* went my waters! It was so strange to hear it! However,
no mess to clean up!
We worked our way in to the living room where we had decided to have our baby. I
chatted with Kim and Elaina on my way there, laughed a little bit, and breathed
through a pressure wave. I made it to the living room and crawled around a bit,
finding the most comfortable position. I tried leaning over my birth ball, Donna
had me try lying on my side with one leg up, but that wasn't for me either. Soon
I was on all fours and getting very primal sounding. It was coming deep from
with in me. Each pressure wave brought up a mother lion throaty moan. Just
before I began consciously pushing, I got a brief break to lay my head down for
a minute or two. I rested my head on my mother in laws lap for that break, and
then here came the baby.
As I was pushing, I felt my hips widen and everything stretch to open and move
my baby out. As she crowned, I felt a sudden openness no warmth, no burning.
For a split second I remember thinking to myself "what am I thinking, why am I
doing this?" Then with two more pushes, she was out! Mike said it took 5-7
pushes to get her out only around 15 minutes. She seamed to have come out all
at once, head AND shoulders.
Both Mike and Donna were there to catch, but Mike did most of that. I rotated
around and sat on the floor, leaning against the couch as Mike and Donna handed
me my baby. After an initial rough start in getting a good first breath, she
latched on to nurse a few times and passed all her meconium poo before the
midwife left that night.
We weighed and measured her there by the couch. She weighed 6 pounds, 12
ounces, 18.5 inches long and head circumference of 13 inches. After nearly three
days of life, we named her Valerie Lynn!
Thinking back after being asked if I was in pain at anytime, I can honestly say,
"No I wasn't in pain!" This was the most intense activity I have ever done and
even though there might have been a TON of pressure in my hips and mild
discomfort as my baby crowned, none of it *hurt* and none of it was
un-manageable. I can honestly say my daughter's birth was pain-free!