Okay, here goes.
I started getting contractions around 7:30 PM while Craig had Shaun in the shower. They were about 7 mins apart but I wasn't having to work through them at all so didn't think too much. Just figured it was false labor... again. I finished up the dinner dishes and played around on the computer for a while.
Around 9:30 PM I told Craig I thought I may be in labor but to wait and see what happened in the next little while. I still wasn't having what I thought should be 'working' contractions. By now they're 5 mins apart.
By 10:30 I had Craig call Pooja, my midwife. She offered to come here to the house to check me but I was still joking around between contractions and they were coming as a strong one, then a weak one so still not serious. I didn't want her to waste her time coming just to tell me it wasn't true labor. We agree to meet at the hospital once my contractions are 3 mins since my intention was to labor at home as long as possible.
11:00 Pooja calls back and says she's coming to the house anyway. She reasons that Craig sounded more serious on the phone than I did and she wanted to know how far dilated I was. I tell Craig to call the family and tell them I'm in labor then I jump in the tub to try and get some relief.
11:30 Pooja arrives and I'm really having to work through the strong contractions but I'm still getting a pretty good break between them. By now I'm out of the tub and Craig is running around gathering everything to put in the van to head to the hospital. She wants to check me right away and I joke with her that if I haven't made any progress from the 4cm I was on Tuesday that I'm going to slap her. She checks me and says "we're not going". I almost cried: that meant nothing was going on; no progress. Craig came into the bedroom and Pooja told him the same thing then asked him to find something plastic to put on the bed because I was 9cm. We weren't going to the hospital. I panicked.
Around midnight the back-up midwife arrived and she and Pooja finished setting up their stuff. In the meantime Craig and I had remade the bed with the shower curtain protecting the mattress. As soon as I laid back down I felt the urge to push. I gave 3 not-so-good pushes and then my body remembered how to actually do it. Three more good pushes and Ian was here at 12:21 AM, 21 minutes overdue.
I ended up having a minor tear that needed 2 stitches. Ian nursed right away and I got to hold him for a full 30 minutes before anyone took him off my chest: while birthing the placenta and getting stitched. My parents arrived about 5 minutes after he was born (they were driving in from an hour away to be with Shaun while we went to the hospital). Shaun slept through the whole thing and Craig woke him up at 1:30 AM to meet his new baby brother.
My next birth will undoubtedly be another homebirth although next time we'll plan it that way.
Around 9:30 PM I told Craig I thought I may be in labor but to wait and see what happened in the next little while. I still wasn't having what I thought should be 'working' contractions. By now they're 5 mins apart.
By 10:30 I had Craig call Pooja, my midwife. She offered to come here to the house to check me but I was still joking around between contractions and they were coming as a strong one, then a weak one so still not serious. I didn't want her to waste her time coming just to tell me it wasn't true labor. We agree to meet at the hospital once my contractions are 3 mins since my intention was to labor at home as long as possible.
11:00 Pooja calls back and says she's coming to the house anyway. She reasons that Craig sounded more serious on the phone than I did and she wanted to know how far dilated I was. I tell Craig to call the family and tell them I'm in labor then I jump in the tub to try and get some relief.
11:30 Pooja arrives and I'm really having to work through the strong contractions but I'm still getting a pretty good break between them. By now I'm out of the tub and Craig is running around gathering everything to put in the van to head to the hospital. She wants to check me right away and I joke with her that if I haven't made any progress from the 4cm I was on Tuesday that I'm going to slap her. She checks me and says "we're not going". I almost cried: that meant nothing was going on; no progress. Craig came into the bedroom and Pooja told him the same thing then asked him to find something plastic to put on the bed because I was 9cm. We weren't going to the hospital. I panicked.
Around midnight the back-up midwife arrived and she and Pooja finished setting up their stuff. In the meantime Craig and I had remade the bed with the shower curtain protecting the mattress. As soon as I laid back down I felt the urge to push. I gave 3 not-so-good pushes and then my body remembered how to actually do it. Three more good pushes and Ian was here at 12:21 AM, 21 minutes overdue.
I ended up having a minor tear that needed 2 stitches. Ian nursed right away and I got to hold him for a full 30 minutes before anyone took him off my chest: while birthing the placenta and getting stitched. My parents arrived about 5 minutes after he was born (they were driving in from an hour away to be with Shaun while we went to the hospital). Shaun slept through the whole thing and Craig woke him up at 1:30 AM to meet his new baby brother.
My next birth will undoubtedly be another homebirth although next time we'll plan it that way.
3 comments:
What beautiful pictures! I think Ian looks just like you, Michelle. Take lots of time to rest and enjoy your lovely family. -Kate
What a wonderful birth story, Michelle! Take care, and enjoy your new addition - Ian is a real cutie! - Olivia
Such a beautiful new son, Michelle! Congratulations on your new addition AND your beautiful birth story.
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