Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Nation's [Home] Birth Story

This year on Moses' & Solomon's birthdays I wrote out their birth stories, so it only seemed fitting that today when my Nation turned 5, I write out this...

Nation Alexander Georgi
July 5th, 2006

I was 5 days "late" with my first child on July 4th. I remember I sat in a lawn chair near my moms pool holding an umbrella over me and letting the sprinkler spray me from under the chair to keep me cool. I forget why I didn't get in the pool---maybe because we were concerned I'd been leaking a little fluid. Either way, I was hot and overcooked.

We left my moms house late that night and arrived home only to crawl into bed and start contractions---I let Charles sleep a little to see if it was really what it was. I was so excited to finally say the words "It's time". He clocked my contractions while I was in the shower. I was letting the water beat down on my lower back. He was getting so excited that they were getting closer together, I think I shared this excitement with him by telling him to hush it up and stop telling me the minutes. Shortly after, my midwife arrived.




I threw up five times throughout birth. No nausea, just intense cramping that caused vomiting. I did not eat during labor because I did not want to throw anything besides liquids up. Everyone made sure I kept well hydrated though. 

I tried to stay vertical all day to increase the contractions and speed up the process. I would say my labor overall was very textbook---progressing through all the stages that we had learned about in our 12 week Bradley course. I was a very quiet laborer, just breathing loudly during contractions. I would take in a breath and just blow it out slowly, concentrating on emptying my lungs and then repeated. I kept my palms facing up to keep me from grabbing onto anything. I also kept my mouth open to kept from tensing up. I labored with my eyes closed and didn’t like anyone to speak to me or encourage me during contractions. In between contractions I talked with Charles, April and the midwives. I think people commented on how funny I was...just sayin'.





My contractions felt like very intense menstrual cramps. They came and went like a bell curve. I was not able to sleep because my contractions were strong and increasing, but I was able to rest deeply in between contractions. We kept my house dark and quiet. I originally planned on laboring with music and in the water, but enjoyed just squatting or sitting on the yoga ball the most.




April, my best friend, and Charles, my husband, usually sat in the room with me wherever I was and quietly prayed for me all day long [Charles might have been praying so deeply he was snoring]. The midwives would come in every half hour or so and quietly take the babies heart rate and check on me. They often went unnoticed. I also enjoyed laboring in different positions and changing them to keep my mind busy. I even labored on the toilet with Charles sitting on the floor in front me. I would lean on his back and rock his shoulders. The rhythm was soothing to me. Towards the end, she encouraged me to lay on my side as it wouldn't slow the labor down because I was "at the end" and I needed to rest my legs for pushing.




The entire labor was supernatural. I never felt like “I can’t do this”. All of my “pain” was manageable (like my normal bad period cramps) and I felt completely confident in the Lord that I could finish. Transition was not scary like I thought it would be. It was simply contractions quickly following one another. 




Shortly after noon, when I began feeling ready to push, we encountered a small stall. Apparently Nation was ready to come out, but his head hadn’t quite cleared that last centimeter. The midwives tried adjusting him, but it wasn’t until I threw up the last time when I believe that caused my water to break. I will admit for those two hours or so after I thought I was just about to have a baby I began to feel the intensity of a baby wanting to come out and my water not being broken yet. We were about to let them break my water when it broke on it’s own. He came minutes later. 




IT'S A BOY!
[we don't find out the sex]




Pushing was different that I had expected. I don’t remember feeling any pain, but I do remember feeling like I had a baby coming out of a small place! Strong stretching and pressure was what I was feeling. Like I was going to the bathroom. Margaret helped with massage, olive oil and hot compresses to help me not tear. We had not planned to use a mirror, but did at the last minute and it really helped me to see what I was doing. I would simply wait for the contraction and push with it. I had trouble pushing hard enough so I used the bed frame to grab onto and Margaret encouraged me to grunt or yell. I did these things to help bring out the baby, not because I was in agonizing pain. I remember her telling me to keep my chin down and bear down while still keeping my legs spread. It was just a few minutes of pushing in the bed before he came out.


I remember thinking I'd have another baby tomorrow with no hesitation. Laboring in my home, with my husband and best friend, without any pressure or rushing was incredibly relaxing. I share my story and my pictures to encourage all women that they can have a natural [home] birth just like me, or even better!





The Medical Account Overview 
[for anyone overly interested...]

Due: June 30th, 2006
Delivered: July 5th, 2006 3:35 PM

Duration of stages:

                1st stage: 11 hours 38 minutes
2nd stage: 1 hour 7 minutes
3rd stage: 25 minutes

Water broke spontaneously at 3:00 PM. Water was clear.

Cord cut: 3:43 PM

Delivery position: sitting

Blood loss: slight

Nation Alexander Georgi:   8 lbs. 2 oz. (weight)   20.5 in. (length)   13.5 cm (head)

Apgar: 8 (1 min.) 9 (5 min.)

Heart Rate: 140 Color: Good Suction: 3 times, lots of mucus

Latch: initial trouble latching because of mucus
Labor Record
July 4th, 2006
12:00 PM Bloody show (no other labor signs)

July 5th, 2006

 3:00 AM Contractions begin (no sleep previous to contractions)
 4:00 AM Contractions 3 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute (Midwife on the way)
 5:00 AM Hot shower on lower back for 1 hour
 5:00 AM Threw up
 5:30 AM 5 cm. dilated, 80 % effaced, baby heart rate 140, prepare bed & room
 6:00 AM B.h.r. 150, drinking water & sports drink, a few pieces of fruit
 6:30 AM B.h.r. 140, Charles makes bread [his birth ritual] 
 7:00 AM Labor by walking, standing, leaning over kitchen table
 7:40 AM Labor on ball, contractions are long & hard
 8:00 AM B.h.r. 136, labors on birth chair, April gets Starbucks for everyone
 8:30 AM B.h.r. 140
 9:00 AM Contractions 2 minute apart, lasting 1 minute, labor by walking & squatting
 9:30 AM Squatting, one contraction after the other
10:00 AM Contractions lasting 1.5 minutes long
10:30 AM Contractions hard, labor by leaning & walking
10:45 AM Labor on toilet
11:40 AM 9 cm. dilated, baby head at +1, legs shaky
12:00 PM B.h.r. 140, laid in bed on left side, desire to push, lots of pressure
  1:30 PM Hardest part of labor, babies head has not cleared the lip of cervix (last cm)
  2:14 PM B.h.r. 136, threw up, still laboring on left side or on all 4’s
  2:28 PM B.h.r. 140, baby coming down, debate if midwifes should break the water
  3:00 PM Water breaks while squatting & pushing beside bed, contractions hard
  3:15 PM Pushing well in bed sitting up, Charles excited
  3:35 PM Birth
  3:43 PM Cord cut by dad
  4:00 PM Placenta delivered, looks good, 3 vessels

6 comments:

  1. This is an incredible birth story! I will be reccomending it to every pregnant lady I know! :)

    I *love* that you don't find out the sex...we don't either. It's mostly by my hubby's choice, but I happily & willingly follow along. Surprise babies are *so* fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your birth stories are always great to read! Homebirth is such a luxury. I'm so thankful that God has allowed me to have 3 at home. Margaret is such a blessing!

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  3. 1. I'm glad starbucks made it on the official record!
    2. And that you used my very fav pic of you and Nation.
    3. and that I got to be there for sweet Nation's birth!! Love the Birth story and Happy your now a whole hand Nation!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Ladies!

    Yes...Starbucks=A must have for births [unless of course it's Moses' birth and it's not even long enough to run out and get a cup!]

    ReplyDelete
  5. what a great story! thank you for sharing. it was beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love this story, it reminds me of our wonderful homebirth with our first child--so wonderful we were blessed to be able to do it again with #2 and #3. Thank you for sharing what joy birth truly is.

    ReplyDelete

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