Oliver's Natural Birth Diary

Oliver Franklin was born on November 18, 2009 at 10:48. He is my fourth baby, and the first one to be born at home. He was born in the caul after a short and nearly painless labor and delivery.

Oliver went 6 days past his due date. I was a little discouraged and frustrated by this as the weekend slipped by, because with both of my younger kids I had gone into labor the day after their due dates.

But Sunday night, I got really sick with the flu. I was sick in bed from Sunday night through Tuesday night, and I was pretty glad I didn't have a newborn to take care of right about then.

In the middle of the night on Tuesday, my fever spiked and I got chills and shivers all through my body. This started up my contractions, and by about 3 am I was sure I was in labor. It felt better to be upright and walking and moving and swaying through contractions, so I got up and took a shower and did some housework and paced around the house until it was time to put the kids on the bus. I didn't tell them I was in labor because all 3 of my other labors took about 24 hours each so I didn't think I'd have the baby before late evening and didn't want them distracted all day at school.

I called my mom and my midwife at 8 am to let them know it had started but wasn't too intense yet. My mom told me she'd be there about ten to hang out with me and help out with the kids through my labor. My midwife said she'd feel better if she came over and checked my progress before she started her scheduled appointments so she'd know where I was at.

I went upstairs and opened my curtains and laid down on my bed to try to nap between contractions because I was tired from being sick for a few days and being up since one am. My midwife came by at a little after nine am, took one look at me and said, "Honey, I think you are a lot further into this than you think you are."

My contractions were right on top of each other, and I hadn't really noticed because I'd been sleeping in between. I was already 6 cm dilated. She went downstairs and told my husband I was going to have this baby pretty fast. We were both pretty shocked and had been expecting things to be much more painful and take much longer. I was a little sweaty from sleeping in a patch of sunlight, and decided to take another shower.

After about 20 minutes in the shower, I was feeling pushy. I got out and my midwife's assistant had just arrived with all her gear. I got on to the birth stool and my husband sat behind me with his arms around me. I leaned into him and he leaned into me for each of the contractions. I barely had to push, and several contractions later Oliver slipped out into the world, still in the caul. My mom arrived right as he was coming into the world. He is a beautiful, perfect baby boy and he's sleeping and nursing wonderfully.

I'd always said that transistion labor is the only really painful part of the delivery experience, and with Oliver's delivery, I would really even describe that only as uncomfortable. It was an amazing birth, and I think so much of that had to do with having him at home. My husband has been such a rock through this, taking care of me and the kids and the house through 3 days of illness and a birth, and it's spotless and beautiful and peaceful in here. I love him more every day and he's such a wonderful husband and a great dad. This is our 5th child but our first baby together and he is such a blessing to us and our family.

Welcome baby Oliver!!

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