Baby Blake's Home Birth Story

BabyPoints: 23268
Posts: 1825
2/17/12 3:16 P

What a beautiful home birth story! It was very inspiring!

Jaki :)

Posts: 2776
1/9/12 2:20 P

That's a beautiful story! Made me tear up. Good job Mama!

I'd love to sign up for a 4 hour labor! Sounds perfect!

Posts: 2686
1/9/12 1:57 P

On Dec. 15th I was awakened at around 3AM with contractions. They seemed to be progressing so at around 6AM I called my midwife to come as we were having a planned home birth. Given my 1 hour or less active labor history with my other births I did not want to wait too long. I had been joking the whole pregnancy that Ben would have to catch this baby because my labors are too fast for the midwives to be able to make it here on time. The midwives came and we waited. After a few hours it was apparent that this was a false alarm. It's called prodromal labor and is very common, though I had never experienced it before. I felt very bad about wasting my midwives' time. I am a firm believer in babies choosing their own birthdays and since I love being pregnant, I was content to wait for real labor to start, whenever that would be. Exactly one week later, on Thursday December 22nd, I was awakened around 2AM with contractions again. They felt different than they had the week before. They started lower and sent burning sensations up, back, and out. They were slightly painful. I went to the bathroom and then back to bed. A half hour later, the contractions were still there, about 10 minutes apart so I got out of bed again and got a shower. I decided that if this was the day my little boy would be born I wanted to be ready, even though I had spent that last month doing nothing but getting ready! I wanted to have fresh muffins so at 2:30AM I baked a batch of banana muffins. I cleaned the kitchen, swept the floor, and got on my hands and knees to wipe the areas not carpeted. I finished at around 3:30AM all the while having regular, strong, pretty painful contractions. Ben saw the light on and came out to check on me. I told him I was having contractions too strong to sleep through and he wanted to know if we should call our midwife. I said not yet because I wanted to be 100% sure this was real before I wasted another Thursday for her. I really hate inconveniencing people! I went to lay back down and the contractions which had progressed to 3 minutes apart seem to back off to 5 minutes and then to 7 minutes apart. They still felt really strong when they did come and Ben rubbed my back through each one. As they backed off, he fell asleep. Then, they started getting closer together again and much stronger. I knew that this was the real thing by then and that lull that I had experienced was me transitioning into active labor. A big contraction hit and I started to cry. I got off the bed and onto my knees to get through it. Ben was instantly awake and telling me to call my midwife. I rode through a couple more contractions and grabbed my phone to text her. It was 5:29AM and she texted back that she was on her way. I went upstairs to the bathroom again and then back to my knees next to my bed. The contractions were coming really fast…less than 3 minutes. I got back up, and unwrapped a shower curtain and grabbed a chuck pad to put on my floor next to the bed. I changed into a nightgown and got back on the floor to text my mom. She didn't respond so Ben went to the other room to call her. I was on my knees on my floor with my arms on my bed. I didn't want to have the baby on my back in my bed and I knew I was going to have him soon. I felt like I needed to push so I bore down at the next contraction and my water broke. This was at 6:01AM. I yelled for Ben and he came in. I felt the baby twisting into position and moving downward. He wasn't waiting for anyone! I tried breathing deeply and slowly to try and slow things down a bit but he wasn't having it. I wasn't afraid at all, just focused and determined. I knew how to do this! At the next contraction I reached down and felt his head. Ben was behind me by then and I told him that the baby's head was crowning. I asked him to put some oil there to help ease the baby's passage so he did. The baby's head was completely out and Ben asked what to do next. I said that I didn't know but just wait for the next contraction and he would be out. He checked for the cord around the baby's neck and said he was clear. A few seconds later I had another contraction and he was out into Ben's hands at 6:09AM. What a relief for me! Instant relief! I turned my head around to see him laying in Ben's hands behind me. His skin was so beautiful and clean! I was in awe!! I grabbed my shirt and wiped his nose and mouth, he let out a cry and then Ben passed him back to me through my legs so the cord wouldn't tangle. He grabbed a blanket to wrap him in and helped my up into the bed whereI hugged my baby boy to my chest. My midwife got there at 6:11AM. I am sure she was sad that she missed it but said that things went how they were meant too. I was blissfully holding Blake Benjamin Outlaw when she walked in. She had me take off my nightgown so we could be skin to skin, checked him and said he looked perfect. The kids came in to see him as they were now awake with all the commotion and were so excited to see their new baby brother. I delivered the placenta a couple of minutes later and just held Blake for that "golden hour" while we waited for the cord to stop pulsating. He nursed within the first few minutes. He was a hungry little guy! He was so pink and beautiful. He wasn't blue at all and my midwife even commented about how beautiful his skin was. She brought the kids back in to show them the placenta. I had never "inspected" a placenta before. It was fascinating to see what fed my baby for 41 weeks and see the sac where he had grown and lived all that time. She said the placenta was really, really healthy and beautiful. He was weighed and measured. He was 7lbs 9 oz and 21 inches long. I am not sure what time my sister and mom arrived but they missed the birth too. I know they wanted to witness it but things happened the way they needed to. Ben was amazing. I can't tell you how amazing! He was a rock through the whole short process and didn't hesitate or waver at all in the heat of the moment. He said he was scared when we talked about it later, but he never let it show. He has been my "person" for a very long time and that day he became my hero. He delivered his son! How incredible is that?!?! I am happy that it was just him and me. It's been 6 days and we are all doing wonderfully. I am enjoying a *somewhat* uninterrupted "babymoon" and Christmas vacation with my family, which is what I wanted. I may emerge in a month! We spend most of the day staring at this little miracle wondering how we ever go so lucky to have four incredible kids! God is good.

Pregnancy is amazing. Birth is amazing. It is natural. It's a miracle. It is not a fearful time for me. I am so thankful to have gotten my homebirth. What an incredible experience! What a beautiful new life!

*It took me longer to write this birth story than it did to have the baby!