Heaven's [Home] Birth Story

I was due to have our 4th child on September 29th, but like her oldest brother, Nation, she decided to come 5 days late. Unlike my other births, I spent the previous two weeks before I was due thinking I was in labor on several occasions. Proving by the third time, that my midwife has more patience than Mother Theresa. Each time I'd have contractions in the middle of the night for a few hours, they were mild, but significant enough to worry myself & midwife [1.5 hours away] that I might have another 3 hour birth like Moses'. 

I buy Margaret a "Life is Good" shirt every pregnancy and she wears it to my birth. This year, just so happens, it was pink. Prophetic I guess. Nevertheless, I was sad to see her come and go wearing the shirt twice now. By the time she showed up on this third occasion, I was really hoping THIS time it would end in a baby.

[to the best of my recollection these are the events the took place]

Thursday, Oct 4th [5 days over-due]

3:15 AM 

Having only slept about 2 hours [difficultly sleeping that night] I started having contractions regularly again about 5-10 minutes apart increasing in strength and inability to labor through them in bed. However, still nothing I couldn't talk through. Mild. I jumped in the shower after an hour---they stayed. I walked around downstairs for a little bit to see what would become of them.

6 AM

Margaret arrives and checks me. I am at 4-5 cm. Same as a week previous when we did this whole shenanigan all day. I'd spent the whole day on herbs & exercising from dawn till dusk. Literally. However, this time I was now 100% effaced, but it was unclear if today would in fact end with a baby. I was a bit discouraged at the lack of strength now in the contractions. I decided I would do whatever it took to bring them back on---seemed like using the elliptical at 20 incline and 20 resistance brought them back on the most. So I did. For hours that day---. I still don't know how my legs did it. Still, I was not feeling the bite in the contractions I knew I needed to progress.

I spent the rest of the day switching between elliptical, walking the neighborhood [hill included], up and down both my stairs, and squatting. Unfortunately I was still way to humorous and talkative at this point. At this time, I had not called anyone else who had been invited to the birth as it was such a slow and boring thing to watch. For now, it was just me, Charles, my midwife and her assistant, Brande. My mother had come and picked up the kids when they woke up around 7 AM.

11 AM

Everyone in the house lays down for a nap. I tried to rest, but was too sore. After the only hour I took off my feet that day was over--- I started back again...exercising. If I wasn't exercising I wasn't contracting and even if they were minor, it gave me hope---they would go somewhere.

2 PM

Charles and I take a walk around the block. I hold back huge tears. I am super discouraged. I am well overdue and uncomfortable, clearly my body keeps trying to go into labor [3 different days now over the course of two weeks] and I know that sleeping and going on a few more days like this probably won't happen nicely. In my head I keep saying, "God is good, everything He does is for our good, He has only good for us." I told Charles that it's hard to see what God is doing, but I know He is doing something good, event though this seems like it's going no where. 

Nation's birth was a progressive textbook 12 hours, Solomon's was very similar to this birth---started off strong, dropped off---broke water and baby super quick after that, Moses' birth was just an immediate 3 hours of transition. I was so confused about baby #4. What was happening? We all had a feeling that if my water could just be broken then the head would finally come down fully on the cervix and I could progress, but my bag of waters wasn't really in a good place or bulging so the consensus that day was to wait a little more to be on the safe side. 

3 PM

After the walk, my midwife & I had a talk and she informed me that after seeing us try this for 12 hours and consulting other midwives she felt that it was now a safe option for us to go ahead and try to break my water since nothing else was really working. I became the happiest girl at this very moment. We finished up lunch and then headed upstairs.

3:30 PM

After much effort, my bag of waters was broken, but only a teeny tiny bit. It was the best she could do. It just wasn't the normal water breaking. I was super discouraged at the quarter size drop of water that came out wasn't sufficient to help me progress. I headed to the shower---again---this would be my 5th shower of the day. I was overly clean and ready for a baby. I'd had this lingering cough for about 5 weeks, but it turned out to be a bit of a blessing all of a sudden. After exiting the shower I realized everytime I coughed my water would break more...and more. Then...a contraction, with bite. Yay!

4:17 PM

The above photo was taken just about an hour after having good contractions. Here I'm seen squatting beside the bed on my phone in between contractions. They were just about to get to the point where the phone wouldn't be picked back up again until after the baby arrived.

5:01 PM

Leaning over the ball was new for me, but actually brought on the most contractions next to squatting. However, squatting was a bit hard on my legs at this point since I had been up for 33 hours with only 2 hours of sleep and more hours of exercising that I could count. I really loved this position.

5:25 PM

Thought I felt the urge to push enough, but after a few minutes realized I'd feel more comfortable doing the next few contractions squatting beside the bed.

5:47 PM

Back in the bed to push. I wasn't really having many contractions or urges to push. Apparently I was a little swollen so I had trouble feeling how to push. Margaret held up a little lip and with a few pushes [2?] SHE was out.

6:17 PM

It's a girl. Followed by lots of tears of joy and relief.

Apgar 1 minute: 10
Apgar 5 minute: 10

21 inches
7 pounds 9 ounces
13.5 cm head

Keeping with tradition, Daddy does the first diaper & clothing change.

"The Girls": Brande, myself, Heaven, and the midwife Margaret.

Thankful Thursday #87 [Homebirth Cake]

Thankful This Week For...

#241-260

hosting a going away party for a local homebirth midwife
funny cakes [women giving birth in a kiddie pool...yes it happens]
lots of women in my house [since usually it's just a lot of boys]
Georgia peach salsa
ice water
that the lawn service is back in season
watching my boys dance like Puss in Boots
coke and candy at the movies [even if I did feel a little sick afterwards]
printing over 300+ photos of Moses to scrapbook his first year [finally!]
having a few things around the house put together
yummy healthy food at Costco
before---when Moses use to sleep in #stillondaylightsavings
getting to share about homeschooling with a friend
having our friends come to our boys soccer game
my Kelsyus soccer mom chair
Olive Garden [enough said]
after several weeks of an upset stomach, it going away
a playroom that's stayed clean for one week exactly
our eggs turning into tadpoles...and staying alive [so far]
playing in the dirt with my kids [weather has been sooo nice]


What are you thankful for this week?
Link Up Below

Making my way through my 1000 gift list...

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 30^th, 2006

Delivered: July 5^th, 2006 3:35 PM

Duration of stages:

                1^st stage: 11 hours 38 minutes

2^nd stage: 1 hour 7 minutes

3^rd 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 4^th, 2006

12:00 PM Bloody show (no other labor signs)

July 5^th, 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