Andre's Birth

All my guesses about baby's birth date were absolutely wrong- I guessed that he would be born 10 days early and my second guess was 3 days early.  When both of those dates passed, I got a little nervous because at my 37 week ultrasound the doc had told me that my placenta was in phase 2 which meant that it was getting old, and was not yet at the phase where baby needed to come out immediately, but it was a concern if I went overdue.  However, every time I put my trust in the Lord and left the worrying to Him, I felt that things would be fine.

The Saturday before my due date, I had woken up around 3 am, having contractions every 5 minutes for about a 30 minute span.  I went downstairs to get something to eat and decided to go back to bed. Surprisingly I went right to sleep and when I woke up, my mucus plug came out.  While I was happy that something was happening, I wasn't sure whether that meant baby would be born in 2 weeks or in several days. 

My brother had hired a massage therapist to come to his house and he invited me to get a massage as his present to me and the baby.  So I went that morning and when I told the masseuse I was only 2 days from my due date, she asked if I wanted to get the induction points done.  Basically she would massage pressure points and if my body was ready to have baby, it could possibly kick start labor, so I said, "Yes, why not?"  I was so ready to have this baby and even Brad was starting to get anxious.

The massage was wonderful and I continued to have "bloody show" all day long, along with regular contractions, and occasionally a "real" contraction that seemed like it was doing something.  I felt inexplicably tired that day and my parents had offered to babysit while Brad and I went on our Valentine's Day date, but I wasn't the best company.

The more I walked, the harder the contractions got, but I was just. so. tired.  My feet were hurting and once we had picked out our See's candy, I was pretty done.  We had a short date and returned home, hoping baby would come that day.

Sunday was much of the same, bloody show all day long, even more hard contractions, but no consistency to anything.  I was just. so. tired.

Monday, February 17th was my due date and early that morning, again I woke seeming to have consistent contractions, but then they went irregular.  Once my brain woke up, I was raring to go- I had a huge burst of energy and was cleaning and doing laundry and doing more than I had done in the past few weeks- it was easier to keep busy as well.  Again, I had bloody show throughout the day, and the contractions that day were consistently hard (I would have to stop and breathe through them) and seemingly real, but there was no regularity to them.  I'd been told to call my midwife when they were 5 minutes apart, lasting 40 sec to 1 minute and were that way for at least an hour, but it seemed like my body was giving me another practice run.

Around 2 pm, I called my midwife and told her what was going on and asked her for some suggestions to get my contractions going in a consistent manner.  She gave me three suggestions and I did all of them.  I really wanted that baby to come!

My parents had taken my kids to the park and had called and wondered if they should come home or go to my brothers house and have dinner and FHE with them.  My Mom was worried about me being alone, since Brad was working on a project in the garage, but I assured her I was fine.  She said they would come home after they were done.  But, the contractions quickly got stronger and I realized that I would not be able to concentrate on getting through them with the kids around so I called my Mom back and suggested they hang out with my brother's family for the night and then come home at bedtime and put the kiddos straight to bed.  I didn't think I was having the baby soon, but I just didn't want any distractions.
From 4:30 to 5:30, I clocked that my contractions were every 5 minutes and were lasting a minute long.  I was excited, but worried that it was another false alarm.  By this time, my back was really starting to ache.

I went out to the garage and asked Brad if he could come in soon and massage my back as it was hurting with each contraction and bothering me in between as well. At this point, the contractions started coming every two minutes and lasting a minute each time.  I was excited but didn't want to get my hopes up.  After about twenty minutes of this pattern, I texted my midwife to let her know what was going on and asked her to please come and check me to see if I was in active labor.  This was around 6 pm.

Brad came in around this time and started setting up soothing music for me and trying to make me comfortable.  About a half hour later, around 6:30 pm, my midwife arrived.  I was so nervous that she would check me and tell me I was only 3 cm dilated or something, but instead I got a wonderful surprise:

"Lady, you're a 7!  We're having this baby tonight!"

Oh, that made me so happy!  Brad and Angie (my midwife) started scurrying around getting the tub ready.  I wasn't sure if a water birth was what I wanted, but I wanted to at least try, and since baby was turned somewhat, he was making my back just ache and I longed to get in a warm tub, even though normally baths aren't my thing.

When they could, Brad or Angie would put pressure on my back as a contraction came and that really seemed to help, at least for awhile.  Another midwife, Sherri arrived and then Felicia who is my midwife's apprentice came.

The tub was finally full enough for me to get in, so I did and felt an instant edge off of the pain in my back.  I relaxed back and during each contraction, Brad and the midwives would push back on my legs which seemed to help me get through the contractions that were growing ever stronger.

I could feel when I went through transition, and since I had mentally prepared for it, I welcomed it, knowing it meant baby was coming soon!  My body shook as I could feel baby making his way down and I knew that soon he would be here.

I kept saying things like, "C'mon baby, we can do this!" Baby had always responded to my worries when he hadn't moved enough, so I hoped he would continue to respond and help me get him out.

It wasn't too much longer when Sherri remarked that I started to seem "pushy".  I actually never felt the urge to push and was wanting to "breathe" the baby down, as I had read about in a hypnobirthing book.  Well, we tried that for about 20 minutes, and let me tell you, for me, it wasn't working.  The midwives let me try it that way and finally as I was starting to get impatient, they told me that he was having a hard time, turning the corner and I needed to help him along.  So, at that point, I started pushing.  As I said, the urge was never there, which Angie told me later happens to a lot of women, so I had them direct me as to what to do.  It took awhile for me to push effectively since I had been practicing the whole "breathing down" thing for so long that I didn't even remember how to push.  At this point, Brad was in the tub with me, which I loved!  He held me in his arms, and I felt so safe and content, knowing we were going through this together and he was doing everything in his power to help me.  He would massage my back in between contractions, which really helped.  At this point, because of the back pain and the pushing, the minute or so I had in between contractions was just exhausting, I could barely talk, I would just catch my breath and try to regroup for the next contraction.

I could feel the bag of waters with my hand, but baby still was having trouble getting around a small turn, so Angie had me get into "prayer position" leaning over the side of the tub.  After one contraction of pushing in that position, Sherri had me get into a lunge.  It was tough, but after a contraction of pushing and then changing legs and pushing through one more contraction, he was finally past that curve and they helped me back into Brad's arms and I laid back, exhausted, but excited to get this baby out of my body and into my waiting arms.

Sherri told me in between a contraction to wiggle my hips like I was doing the hula, and it was crazy how I could feel the baby moving down when I did that!  It was hard to keep going as the pressure increased dramatically as he moved down into the birth canal. Ay yi yi! These midwives are so amazing that they know all these wonderful methods of naturally helping the baby move out of the birth canal- it was awesome!  Felicia helped me deepen my moans with each push and when I finally did it right, I could feel the difference and that the pushing was more effective.

Sherri took my hand and had me feel his head, which was right there!  She could tell I was starting to lose focus as his head moved down farther and farther and I was starting to get overwhelmed by the pressure. She had me look at her and mimic her breathing.  I kept forgetting to inhale- I appreciated her calmness so much.  This whole time we had this soft primary lullabies cd playing, the lights were dim and the midwives were so respectful of my birth. 

They talked quietly, did not chat with each other in between or during contracions, and everything was about me and making me have a safe, beautiful and comfortable birth.  They checked baby's heartbeat regularly with a waterproof Doppler and each time, his heart rate was just perfect.

Two more midwives in training had arrived to observe and help where they could, but even though there were 5 people helping, they were so reverent about the birth process, I didn't mind at all.  

And once I regained focus, it was not too long before I reached down and felt him and they said the head was almost out.  I wanted him out of there with all of my being, the pressure being so great, so I gave it all I had through two contractions and then his head  came out and I gave another big push to get those shoulders out.  As soon as he was out, I felt immediate relief.  It took a moment for him to start breathing, they toweled him off, wrapped him up and handed him to me. Holding him in my arms finally was the sweetest moment.  I leaned back against Brad in that most intimate of moments and we gazed at our baby boy that we had been longing to meet for nine whole months.

It was the sweetest and most beautiful birth ever.  We sat and gazed at him, and shortly after, I was helped out of the tub, and baby and I were wrapped in warm towels straight from the dryer and put into bed to snuggle each other and finally meet face to face.  Brad soon joined us and we enjoyed just lying in bed with our new baby, while the midwives quietly cleaned up our bedroom.

Baby Andre was born at 8:36 pm, and was 7 lbs 8 oz, 20 " long and had a nice head of hair and was very red and cried quite a bit, which never bothers me since I'm told it's good to clear out any fluids from their lungs.

We were just so busy with how quickly my labor went once the contractions became regular and then with studying our beautiful new baby, that we didn't even have a moment to update my parents as to what was going on.  We never called to let them know that I really was in labor, so at around 10:30, I think, they decided to leave our kids at my brother's house and stop by to see what was going on, since they probably tried to call, but I didn't even know where my phone was in all the hubbub.

I could hear my mom exclaim in the hallway when she heard the baby cry, they hadn't expected that he would already be born.  They gently eased open our bedroom door and I said, "Come in, come in," and I could see my mom get emotional when she saw our new baby had been born.  It was wonderful to share that moment with my parents.  I was so glad they were there and could hold their new grandbaby and be there to support Brad and I and our family.

I wanted the kids to come back and meet their new brother but as it was nearing midnight, Brad was reluctant to have them come home, and thought they should just spend the night at my brothers house.  But when my brother called to tell us that Gabe was having a hard time, we sent my Dad to bring them all home.  That was so sweet to have the kids meet their new baby brother.  They had already formed a bond with him while in my belly and couldn't wait to meet this little guy who responded to their words and their songs and their touch.  It was beyond sweet to see the love on their faces for this little guy they finally got to meet face to face.

I loved having a home birth, being surrounded by knowledgeable, supportive midwives who knew how to keep me and baby safe and comfortable, and help me.  I loved that Brad was a huge part of the birth and it was so intimate to feel his support and love, and having the midwives help him know what to do to help me. I feel so blessed that during my pregnancy, as I prayed to know what path to go down to have a safe, beautiful birth, Heavenly Father led me to Angie and Sherri and helped me to have such a wonderful experience!