All about the birth

So as not to shock anyone with the ending, I will start there....where baby cC was born.  Right there in our master bathroom bathtub.  Yes, it was a water birth. Yes, it was planned.  Yes, I'd do it again.  And yes, the more I read about hospital births vs. home births, the better I felt about my decision.  Admittedly, I thought people who had home births were crazy.  So one of two conclusions can be drawn.  1) They are not crazy.  Or 2)  They are crazy, thus making me crazy, too.

Now, on with the story...

It was Monday, November 5 and I expected NOTHING that day. My estimated due date was November 7, and since jC was born on his due date, and luC 5 days "over due", I only assumed that cC would at least meet his date as well.

jC usually has preschool Mondays but it was a teacher work day. So after I took him and luC with me to my weekly chiropractic appointment at 9:30 am, we headed to to my favorite children's consignment store about 25 minutes away. They have a play area for the kids so I very slowly shopped for what I was looking for, letting them play...until they started leaving the play area and playing with merchandise. As we drove back home I was having contractions but felt like Braxton Hicks. Since we'd been out and I hadn't been drinking water I figured that was why since that's usually when I get them.

We got home, I fed the kids lunch, ate lunch, emailed someone from craigslist about a king size headboard I was interested in and wanted juC to pick up with in the next couple days, put the kids down for quiet time, realized I was having more "Braxton Hicks" so I drank a ton of water. In an effort to stay on top of things until the baby came, I did a couple small loads of laundry. I was still having the contractions after drinking all that water, so I ate thinking maybe it was because I hadn't had enough to eat. (I only had one sandwich for lunch, which is so unlike my 2 sandwich lunch self)

A little after 2 I thought that the contractions seemed a little stronger than Braxton Hicks but other than that I didn't feel any different.  I have this thing where I expect every labor to be the same.  luC's was different than jC's, so I assumed that this labor would either be just like jC's, or just like luC's whose labor starting with my water breaking. 

 I decided to start timing the contractions at about 3 pm, and they were ranging from 2 to 4 mins apart. I got the kids up, and then texted juC at about 3:15 and jokingly said I didn't think he'd make it to work the next day, then told him I was having contractions but didn't really think it was anything. Then I texted my midwife to tell her, but again said i don't think its anything but wanted to let you know just in case. About 3:30 juC asked if he should come home. I said probably sooner than later just in case. Then because the kids were driving me nuts, I said that yes he should come. 

When he got home I was skyping with my mom, who had called at 3:55. I told her that I wasn't sure but I think something was going on. I got a load of laundry and took it upstairs to fold and put away and then laid on the bed to rest for a bit. I told juC to go ahead and make dinner. We had chicken tikka masala from Costco in the fridge. When I went down for dinner around 6, the contractions were definitely stronger, but I was still thinking there should be more side effects or something. We ate dinner, I cleaned up a bit in our bathroom, then I put jC to bed while juC put luC to bed. At about 7 juC and I got the bedroom prepped for everything. Then I got in the bath tub to try to relax. The contractions were getting a bit stronger.  It all felt surreal, and I was mostly just going through the motions of getting things ready even though I wasn't convinced it was happening.  My midwife kept me updated about where she was and kept saying she'd come check on me to see if I was in labor and I kept telling her no, it was fine.  

(This was my last "belly shot", taken at 7:03, whilst I was having a contraction and trying my hardest to stay in a standing, upright position.)

My midwife and assistant got here around 7:45 pm. Soon after I got out of the tub...cant remember why. I still was saying I wasn't sure what was going on and if it was really happening.  But my contractions were definitely getting stronger and I was having to work harder to breath through them.  It was probably around 8:20 that there was a little bit of blood and I was finally like "OK, this is really labor".  I got back in the tub and after a couple intense contractions it got really intense!  juC was sitting at the edge of the tub timing them, and the midwife and her assistant were downstairs. They heard me when the contractions got much more intense and came to see how things were progressing.  I had done pretty good with not "vocalizing" (screaming), like I did with Lula, but when it got to that point, I definitely started getting louder.

I had a super intense contraction where I could feel pushing...not me pushing but my body pushing.  During this time I was on my knees, with my arms resting on the side of the tub, and putting my head down on my arms when I had the contractions.  When my midwife came in, she said I was fine how I was, but because of the position I was in, I'd have to catch the baby myself because they wouldn't be able to reach him.  For some reason the added responsibility of catching the baby seemed too much, so I turned so my back was to them so they could catch the baby. After I moved the contractions came one after the other and my body took over with pushing and it was soooo intense and so surreal. My water broke sometime soon after pushing.  I remember thinking it was weird that I felt something pop and it took me a second to realize what it was. 

 It was the most intense pain ever, and I remember saying "I can't do this!" because, you know...I had a choice at this point. What I'm assuming was about a minute later, cC was born at 9:08 pm.  When he came out apparently his body came up front towards me instead of back towards them (which is what normally happens) so I scooped him up, which I never thought I'd do.  It's kind of amazing to actually get to be the first one to hold him, since my previous two were first held by the midwife at the hospital that delivered them.  
I'm still in awe about how fast it all happened!!  And one of the most amazing things about natural birth...once the baby is out, that intense pain that you imagine couldn't possibly be any worse is just gone...
And it was probably good that I didn't really know for sure it was happening so I could go about my day normally.

Having a baby, in my house, in my own way was absolutely amazing.  juC joked that he wanted his money back because the midwives didn't even do anything, I did it all myself.  (They obviously DID do stuff, like take care of me and the baby after his birth.  And getting me to calm down a bit when I needed a reminder to do so during labor)  There was no checking to see how far dilated I was (Thank goodness, that's one of the worst parts of labor).  There was no one telling me it was time to push.  No sitting in a hospital bed in one of the worst positions to birth.  No one telling me when to push and counting me through it.  It was all me, all my body.  Even though I had luC naturally, this experience was completely different.  I was so aware of every part of my body.  So aware of how amazing it was that my body was doing the work and knew what to do.  So aware of every single aspect of the miracle that childbirth is.  Seriously, how amazing is it that these little humans grow inside you, and one second they are there, a part of you, and the next, they are out in this world. 

It all happened the way I said I wanted it to.  I always told my midwife that my dream would be that I'd go into labor one afternoon, be fine, get the kids in bed, and have them asleep in their rooms when I gave birth.  I didn't really expect it to happen that way, but I'm glad it did.  Although, I think juC and I will both admit that one of the advantages to being in a hospital is having your children taken care of by someone else, so that when you are up all night after giving birth, you don't have to get up with kids the next morning.  

So, with all that said, I guess if I could sum it all up in one word, it would be...amazing!

To see a few more pictures, visit my private blog www.welikeadventures.blogspot.com