Natural Birth Diaries
Abigail Maria

Here's my birth story but I can't tell it without mentioning my previous birth experience. So here it goes.

I was raised in the system if you will. My mom is a nurse - so doctors always had the right answers. Always trust a doctor. Except for the fact that I have a permanent brachial plexus shoulder dystocia birth injury. I still have limited mobility in my left arm.

Her doctors always said that I should have been a C-section because I was too big and my mom was too small. My mom and I always believed it.

Long story short, my first was born naturally at the hospital. I thought it was a good experience. I didn't know better. And honestly, for a hospital birth it couldn't have gone better.

However what I remember from Isaiah's birth was the sea of interns that showed up last minute to watch his birth. That image is what has stuck with me.

In researching natural health after the birth of my first, I came across natural birth moms like myself. It was then that I encountered home birth moms. I thought only crazy people had babies at home.

Then one day on cafemom, I read something from a mom who said that the U.S. has the highest infant and maternal mortality rate in the industrialized world. I didn't believe it but it was true. My research began there. After reading Ina May Gaskin's book: Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, I realized that when I had a baby again, I wanted a beautiful experience just like what she had described.

I interviewed several midwives, chose the one I felt most comfortable with and started to get really excited.

To The Present

My due date was March 14, my mom's birthday.

I started having contractions the week before. I'd have 2 hours of 30 second contractions that were 3 minutes apart, then they'd stop as soon as I laid down to time them. Frustrating.

Saturday night we went to church. My mom and I stayed out in the foyer area during the service with my son since he was not all too thrilled about being put in the nursery. We listened out there. It was there that the contractions started to pick up. I also had a little indigestion and spent a lot of the service in the bathroom.

The contractions were accompanied by a mild backache, which my other contractions had not done. It was about 8:00 pm.

I called my midwife, she said to keep her posted. We went home and put my son down to bed. After that my hubby and I watched two episodes of "Lost" - we downloaded the entire series so we've got about a hundred episodes to watch. I sat on the exercise ball and timed contractions. Increasing in intensity and length, there was no way I'd be able to sleep through them.

At 1 am I called the midwife again. She arrived about 45 minutes later.

The quirky thing about my birth is the time change...

The midwife arrived at 1:45, but then 2:00 became 3:00. Lost an hour.

So, around 4 am - just over two hours later - the tub was filled, my midwife and her assistant had everything set up and contractions were starting to double peak. Oh joy.

I was checked before getting in the pool and I was 5 cm. With the contractions coming the way they were, we decided it was a good time to get in. I'LL NEVER GIVE BIRTH WITHOUT A WATER TUB AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! Talk about the natural pain relief.

Laborland

It's all a blur - where you don't care what sounds come out of your mouth or who sees you do what.

Contractions were intense enough that I needed to vocalize through them. My midwife's assistant is a doula and I really could not have done it without her. She had the right things to say every time.

Here is what is referred to as "laborland."

I started feeling nauseated and Arick - my hubby - had found some information on acupressure points in labor. One was for nausea. It helped so much. After just about throwing up, he started the acupressure and it stopped within minutes and I could focus on contractions.

Around 6 am, I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. I got up and they moved me to the bathroom. Nothing. But I had several contractions sitting there.

Here's the thing. I was still waiting for transition. This was the point where I was dreading having another contraction every time. I didn't get much of a break between contractions for about the last hour. Sitting in the bathroom, my midwife told me to reach down and check if I could feel the baby's head. I could! I could feel the water bag right there! That was one of the coolest things I've ever done.

Labor alone had moved her down my pelvis without me having to push her! I had made it through transition without realizing it!

So I got back in the tub and with the next contraction pushed at the peak, trying to break the water bag. Instead, her head came out! Yes, she was born in the caul - the water bag never broke on its own. I was NOT expecting this to happen so fast and it took me by such surprise.

I wasn't prepared for the sudden change in sensation. I thought it'd be much slower than that. I pushed one more time and out she came! 6:39 am!

Daddy got to catch! What a special time for my hubby to catch his daughter. That is why we named her Abigail - it means "her father's delight." And needless to say it fits since he was the first person to hold her!

She let out a wail of a cry on her own that lasted all of 4 or 5 seconds. When we put her back in the water next to me she was back to a perfectly peaceful state of contentment, breathing regularly just fine. I leaned back in the pool and just visited with the midwife, doula and Arick until the placenta was born.

The midwife gave us an anatomy lesson on the health of the placenta - that was actually really interesting!!! I never thought I'd be so fascinated with it.

They got me out of the tub and put the placenta in some plastic bags to carry around with the baby. We wrapped her up and went to the bed so I could nurse her. She latched right on - 20 minutes after birth! She stayed nursing for about another 20 minutes while the midwife started breaking down the tub doing cleanup.

They checked my vitals and stuff and helped me get into the shower. Arick got to take his baby girl while I got cleaned up. I sat on the bed after my shower and the midwife did the newborn exam: 7 lbs 8 oz, 20 and 3/4 inches long, 13 inch head circumference, super healthy, and apgar of 9.

The whole experience cannot be compared to being in the hospital. How I was treated in labor at home versus at the hospital is apples to oranges. At the hospital I felt like I was at the edge of crisis, like everyone was waiting for something bad to happen so they had to keep coming and checking this machine and that machine, check my vitals, move things along.

At home I was in charge. I was free to move about and do what felt right to me during each contraction rather than laying in a hospital bed like I was sick. The rhythm of labor led the way for everyone involved. I felt that there WAS a rhythm to this labor and that even though I was uncomfortable some of the time, this is how it was meant to be.

Despite the pain, I'll do it like this every time. If we have another, it will definitely be in the peace of my own home.

Leave a comment about Abigail's birth diary.

Abigail's birth diarry - Read others' comments

You Might Also Like

Kathleen	Ava	Naomi

Abigail's Birth Diary: Reviews

Any thoughts? A story of your own? Share with us!