 |
| Photo Credit: Midwife Bree :) |
 |
| The first glimpse of our BOY |
 |
| First family photo. Ignore the exhaustion and horrible camera angle |
(The following is written to Owen.)
Owen’s Birth Story
Bringing you into this world was an
amazing and challenging experience that will forever change the way I feel
about motherhood, strength, and what the human body is capable of doing. According
to your due date, which is really a guess, you were running a little behind. To
kill time, I worked from home, had your Grandma Diana come into town, got a
pregnancy massage, walked at the mall and beach, etc. I was dodging the phone
like crazy too because everyone’s constant questions about whether you had been
born yet were making me super anxious and frustrated.
On Friday August 29 at about 9 p.m.
I lost my mucous plug, which was extremely exciting because everything seemed
to be remaining status quo up to that point, with sporadic pressure waves (to
the non-Hypnobabies world pressure waves are contractions). The next day, Grandma
Diana helped to distract me with a pedicure, but very late that night I lost
the mucous plug again. At that point, I was certain I’d be seeing you some time
very soon, and I was right, as my pressure waves started getting closer e
closer together preventing me from sleeping.
On August 31 at 4
a.m. my pressure waves were 7 minutes apart so I woke your dad up to help me
fill the birthing tub. Anthony was so good about getting up and helping me. He
didn’t complain about the lack of sleep or anything and cared for all of my
needs. As the tub was filling, I popped into the guest room to let your Grandma
Diana know we were filling the tub because I hadn’t slept a wink and needed
some relief. Grandma was unable to return to sleep after that and joined us in
the living room where I’d breathe through the birthing waves that were
beginning to speed up.
At about 7:30 a.m.
our doula, Sita Romero, arrived at the house and assessed the situation,
offering different support options. The Hypnobabies
Relaxation CD was playing throughout the day but I had a hard time keeping my
light switch turned Off so I tried to stay in Center (I’ll explain this part of
hypnosis to you if you’d like). I remember being relieved when Sita told me
that the midwives would definitely recommend peeing in the tub, because getting
out of the tub was both cold and presented me with lots of pelvic pressure. When pressure waves were roughly three to six
minutes apart, I asked for them to call the midwife and we quickly got a
response from the on-call midwife, Bree Moses.
It was appropriately
Labor Day weekend, and in that spirit, Bree had already caught three babies and
you got to be lucky number four for her that weekend. She stopped for Dunkin
Donuts coffee and donuts and then arrived at about 9:30 a.m. with Christie (a midwife-in-training)
and Amy (a birth assistant). I remember telling Amy to get some pillows because
she looked tired lying near the piano. They quickly set everything up and
prepared to check me on the couch. I was not fond of the idea of getting out of
the tub, but did as they asked, and Christie checked me at 10:20 a.m. I told
them I didn’t want to know where I was at because I thought it might hold me
back mentally, like running a marathon (no, I’ve never done this but I think it
is a relatable metaphor) and finding out you are only halfway through when you thought
you were farther along, so after that I jumped back in the tub to continue laboring.
I found out after you were born that I was 6 cm dilated.
Things began to
pick up steam after they checked me and much of the next few hours were a blur
to me. At 2:30 p.m. Bree checked me and
I was fully dilated except for the anterior lip of the cervix, which was 100%
effaced, and you were at a +1 (of course, I found this all out after the fact).
Sita then made me walk around outside and do squats and lunges to encourage
things along. Outside of the tub, I was not a huge fan of your birth team
because I was pretty much through with transition and had just a little ways to
go to be able to push you out. It was a very intense feeling and in retrospect, I'm glad they had me working to get you out. I would get hot
and then cold within seconds of each other. And I remember getting fed leftover
ribeye steak, watermelon, banana, string cheese, apple juice, and water. I
hated eating but did feel like I had a bit more energy when I did. Sita was
probably the most helpful during transition, and I remember feeling bad for
snapping at your grandmother when she tried to rub my back but her hands were
freezing.
Sita joked as she
was leaving that she knew I wouldn’t lose my wit during the birth. Being able
to laugh about things during certain points did make things feel easier. For
example, I looked up at your dad and the
women in the room and remarked that I was sorry I was poor entertainment.
Apparently, I also offered people drinks… wouldn’t want to be a bad hostess
just because I was in active labor or anything.
At 4 p.m. I was
back in the tub and learning how to push. Your dad was a rock star; he gave me
water, offered encouraging words, and helped me focus during the pushing phase.
We weren’t sure if my water had broken or not, but at 4:20 p.m., we got
confirmation that it hadn’t broken when Bree saw your amniotic sac. The
pressure was intense when it was visible, so I asked her to just pop it for me,
at which Bree laughed and told it would probably burst in the next push or two.
I made the next one count and felt a bit of relief when it popped like a
balloon and released a clear white fluid into the tub. (Imagine tossing flour
into the air and watching it fall, except in the water.) Bree had been helping
me move the baby down with her hands, and it was an intense feeling (I can’t
think of better way to describe it but I know there probably is one).
After a lack of desire
to push in the tub, they encouraged (forced) me to get out of the tub and move
to the bed for pushing. I remember liking the way Bree dried me off when I got
out of the tub; it was nice, the way a mom dries after you get of the tub as a
toddler, but I was cold again. I felt exhausted in every way possible and there
was so much pressure with your head in my groin, but we were almost there. On
the bed, they wanted me to push you down and out. It wasn’t too bad once I knew
what I was supposed to be doing and understood the sensations they taught me in
the tub. On my back with Sita holding my right leg, your daddy holding my left
leg, and Bree and Christie at the end of the bed, it was time to give it all I
had, which didn’t feel like much (look at the pictures and you’ll see I was
tired–no sleep the night before and a lack of food because of all the nausea I
was feeling).
The final pushes
felt good, but brought a wild stretching sensation. At 5:58 p.m., you entered
the world. Your cord wrapped around your neck three times, but the midwives
calmly unlooped it, wrapped you in a towel, and placed you on my chest. You
were so calm and peaceful, as if you knew us already. I remember staring at you
trying to decipher your face to see if I could recognize you. It took a few
seconds for someone to ask, “What is it?” but I had already seen that you are a
boy. While you were on my chest, your dad counted your fingers and toes. After
the cord stopped pulsing, your dad cut the cord and carried you around the
house skin-to-skin getting to know you, singing “The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi”
and telling you about the world he was going to show you. We were in love and
you were ours. It will forever be the most amazing experience of our lives
(obviously pending the birth of any siblings). Thank you for making us parents.
 |
| Owen Hiram |
A special thank you to my wonderful husband and mother, my doula Sita, and my amazing Fruitful Vine Birth Team (Bree, Christie, and Amy). We will definitely do another home birth in the future. :)
