Hayden

Well, after three weeks of prodromal labor - pre-labor - Hayden Dwayne has made his debut!

He was born AT HOME on May 28th at 4:22am after 5 hours of labor. He weighs 7lbs 14oz and is 21'' long. He has a head full of long dark hair.

The 27th was my 42nd week prenatal checkup and my blood pressure was high, I had protein in my urine and had significant swelling...suddenly! This alarmed my midwife because everything had been very normal at every appointment.

I had also been under extreme emotional stress over the past week and I felt like that had a lot to do with my issues. So, at this point instead of praying for the patience that Hayden would come when he was ready....it was time to pray for labor to start.

Well, that night around 8pm, I started having mild, regular contractions...I really did not think of them too much because I had been doing that for three weeks.

At 9pm, I had to take my blood pressure and call my midwife.

At that time, I let her know about my contractions. Sometime after that I did my EPO - evening primrose oil - vaginally and went to bed. I can't say exactly what time that was, but I would have to say around 10pm.

At 11:30pm, a contraction woke me up and it was uncomfortable. My husband was just coming to bed and I was getting up. I told him I was kind of hurting and was going to go sit in the bath tub for a little while.

12am comes and I tell him to call midwife and doula.

12:30am I have real labor pains!

Everyone arrived and got everything set up. Midwife did a check to have a starting point and said I was a 6-7 cm.

At this point, I was getting nauseous and shaky...transition. With each contraction the nausea grew and grew. I could not help but to throw up...twice.

A couple of hours later, I was showing signs of completion so my midwife did a check and said I was nearly complete, just had a touch of anterior cervix left.

My water still had not broken so my midwife felt with a few contractions to see if the water bag was restricting my cervix. It was determined that my cervix would not go back with the water intact and with my permission she broke the bag. Well, that did the trick and in just a few contractions my cervix was complete.

I did not feel like I needed to push right away, but it came in a just a short while.

The pushy feeling was not in my bottom - like it is most often described - but I felt it in my vagina like I needed to push out something. I pushed on hands and knees for a few contractions, then I sat on the birth stool and leaned back against my doula and then gave birth to my son.

Right when I started pushing, my daughter woke up and my husband was holding her so she got to see the birth.

I only pushed for 30 minutes.

The cord was short so I could not pull him up very far, but far enough to offer my breast.

My first reaction was:

"I did it, I had a baby without drugs."

We sat for a few moments while the cord pulsated and when it was finished my husband cut the cord...his cord was so fat that the midwife had a hard time getting the clamp to shut. Just a few minutes later, I delivered the placenta. It was very healthy and HUGE!...My midwife was shocked at how big it was.

My midwife got me into bed and assessed me. I did tear, but not enough to need stitches. However, I was bleeding A LOT. She had me try and nurse again as well as nipple stimulation. The bleeding seemed to slow down, so she said I could shower, but while I was showering it was pouring.

She did some uterine massage and had me pee. While I was on the toilet I passed a HUGE clot...Felt like it was as big as the placenta. She got me a methergine shot, but it did not have the effect she liked...I bled through three pads, and soaked three undies in about 30 minutes. So it was suggested that I get a pitocin shot...I was totally ok with that because I was starting to feel weak and light headed.

The pitocin shot helped and got the bleeding under control. My midwife made me eat and drink, since I really had not eaten in over 24 hours.

When we were all settled and doing good everyone packed up and left, I would say around 6-7am. I tried to sleep, I was so tired, but my adrenaline was so high that I could not sleep for hours and hours. I just laid in bed and bonded and nursed my baby.

I pondered over how my birth went as I wanted - except for the bleeding part, but that is kinda hard to predict. I had found the perfect labor position and did that for nearly every contraction. I am so happy we chose a home birth this time.

Recovery is going great. I am already getting up and trying to do some things - do not tell my midwife. Nursing is getting better and better each time. My nipples are sore, but he is latching well. I just need to toughen up. He is ready for my milk to come in and I would think tomorrow or so it should.

The after pains are a little hard to deal with, but they seem to be getting better. I truly believe - baring major health issues - any woman can do this with the proper education and support!