Guest Blog: Birth Story of Mikaela

One of our blog followers and friend had an unplanned homebirth last week! Here's her story (the PG13 version - Ha ha!):

I took a nap while DD was taking a nap, which I normally NEVER feel the need to nap. I have always had tons of energy through out this pregnancy. I woke up at 3:00 pm and felt my stomach muscles tightening. I thought that maybe they were contractions. I told the hubs that we HAD to go to my favorite restaurant one last time to eat before the baby came. We headed there, ate and left. We brought our girlfriends home (they drove with us) and on the way back home (about 7:30 pm) is when I actually started feeling the contractions with the tightening of my muscles. We got home and I drank a glass of my Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, which I drank religiously through out my third trimester. I sat and surfed the web looking for a name for our daughter that I knew would soon be born while sipping my tea and rocking in my recliner. At this point the contractions were about 12 minutes apart.

At about 11:45 pm I thought I should probably go try to lay down and sleep as much as I can before I won’t be able to anymore. I laid on my left side while listening to my labor play list and fell asleep for about 45 minutes. I woke up and timed some contractions and at this point they were about 8 minutes apart. The hubs and I laid in bed while he did counter pressure on my lower back to help with the back labor and gave me a great foot rub.

At about 1:30 am I called my mother and told her I wasn’t sure if this was it, but to come anyway. The contractions were about 6 minutes apart. She said she was packing her things and would be on her way. I just wasn’t sure if this was it, so I called the on call midwife at 2:00 am. She said that I was talking through my contractions just fine, so it would probably be a while and they may even stop all together. I assured her that I thought it would be tonight and she said she would let the nurses know that I would be in before 6 am.

I told the hubs to listen for our daughter while I took a shower. I drained the hot water (about thirty minutes) and then got out and proceeded to get dressed. At this point, things were really moving right along. I started getting the shakes and nauseated. I thought it was just the temperature change and disregarded the classic signs of being in transition. I tried to get dressed, but the contractions were coming so close together at this point. I yelled at the hubs to start the truck, because it HAD to be warm. He insisted I had to get a shirt on to go anywhere. I said I will ‘effin’ go topless - just get the gosh damn truck warm. He ran around getting all the last things ready. I crawled down the hallway (standing up was just not an option at this point). I went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet. As soon as I stood up, I started to bear down. I thought there was no freaking way I could possibly be pushing at this point. My mom just walked in and said, “Oh my gosh Jessilyn! You need to go now.” I agreed.

All of a sudden I could feel her head coming through my cervix. I thought, “Shit, this cannot be happening this fast!” I stuck my finger in to check and see and her head was RIGHT there. My water still hadn’t broken at this point, unless it did in the shower and I didn’t realize it. I told the hubs there was no way we could make it to the hospital and to call 911. He didn’t believe me and said to just stop pushing and he will drive very fast (15-20 minutes away). I assured him there was no way we would make it and her head was coming out now. He got a flashlight while on the phone with dispatch and looked and yelled, “Holy shit! Her head is coming out. You need to hurry!”

I continued to spontaneously bear down while in the hallway outside of the bathroom (carpet seemed more appealing than cold tile) while squatting. I was catching her head in my left hand and I remember feeling my perineum stretching across her head. All I could think was “I am going to tear.” The hubs helped with perineal massage (the best he could) from when he saw the midwife do it when I had ODD. The head was out and the police officers arrived. They didn’t really do anything at all. Then two minutes later, the paramedics arrived. Curt (paramedic) delivered her shoulders and the rest of her body. Curt and Chris (paramedics) were going to cut the umbilical cord right away, but I wouldn’t let them and educated them about delayed cord clamping. I nursed her immediately and I unfortunately was unable to wait until the cord stopped pulsating. Apparently, their goal is to get mom to the hospital before the placenta is delivered because of possible hemorrhaging, etc. I still was able to wait ten minutes before the hubs cut the cord. I was then put on a stretcher with little bean in a thermal blanket (it was negative digits in MN).

We got to the hospital and I was the talk the WHOLE time I was there. Every one kept apologizing and saying "sorry" like it was a traumatizing experience. I LOVED it. It was the BEST experience I have ever had. We were given a good bill of health and we were never really even bothered by staff (not sure if that was because I delivered at home or not - with DD I was bugged every hour). We were let go the next day and she has been nursing like a champ since she came out. Sorry this is so long - I love to blab ;)

Mikaela Ann

2/9/11

7 lb 9.4 oz

20 inches long

Apgar: 8/10

Chicklett Birth Story

Sunday 10/10/10 I was excited to have some noticeable contractions starting around supper time and lasting through most of the night. They were exactly every 30 minutes apart. By Monday morning that was gone and I chalked it up to false labor. I was a little bummed, but I knew that even false labor is doing some good. Getting baby into position!

I had a generally average Monday with Chicken Little and met Rooster for lunch at his work. After putting my son down for his afternoon nap I noticed regular strong contractions exactly 10 minutes apart and lasting about 20-30 seconds long. This most certainly got my attention! But I tried not to get too excited after what had happened on Sunday.

After about 5 hours of 10 minute spread contractions we were at the point of voting whether to try and do things to speed up labor or doing something to slow it down (as if I have complete control over the situation – ha ha ha). Laboring overnight did not sound like fun to me, and I was already tired from the contractions the night before keeping me awake. We went for a short walk around the neighborhood, it seemed to not increase intensity or frequency of the contractions. I was convinced it was probably just more false labor. My friend Meghan told me that taking a bath might reveal the truth in what is happening as her experience as a doula showed that a bath would slow/stop false labor but not the real thing. She also knew what complete and utter denial I’ve been in over going into labor and thought I might be mentally blocking myself. I took a bath, tried to relax, and had a serious talk with my lady parts. I gave myself permission to go into labor and promised that I wouldn’t let bad experiences from the past get in my way anymore. This baby was going to be here soon no matter what, and fighting it wasn’t going to do me any good. I called my mom who was going to be watching my son to see if she wanted to spend the night here just incase this was the real deal rather than risk having to drive here in the middle of the night. She came right over for a sleep over!

I went to bed early with some anticipation of activity overnight. Rooster stayed up late to watch the Vikings football game, something he probably regrets for a number of reasons. Ha! He came to bed close to 11pm and was having an allergy attack and overall annoying me by talking and being loud. I had a real hard time falling back asleep, it dawned on me around 1am that perhaps the reason why I couldn’t fall back asleep is that the contractions were happening closer than 10 minutes apart. I got up and went online to use a tracker. First spacing was 8:22 minutes apart and lasted about 50 seconds, then 6:22, 6:15, 5:45, 5:40… this would be when I started to get nervous. My midwives had instructed me not to “play around” as my first labor was only 4 hours long. I was supposed to go to the hospital when my contractions were 7 minutes apart. Oops! I called the afterhours midwife hotline and spoke with Mary. She thought it best for me to go into L&D and be monitored just incase. I called my doula to give her a heads up, and woke up my husband. We finished packing the labor bag (because I am Queen Procrastinator!) and made it to the hospital around 3:30am. At this point my contractions had gone back to being 10 minutes apart. They did a strip of monitoring baby and me and told us to stay for a few hours for observation. I allowed an internal exam… not even 2 cm dilated. Slightly devastating to hear, even though I KNOW it doesn’t mean I’m not in labor.

We did some walking to try and kick my contractions back up to 5/6 minutes apart, but it didn’t seem to take. Around 5:30 being completely exhausted I voted that we take a nap.

I woke up about 7am and realized that no contractions had really kept me from napping. I was immediately depressed and convinced that we’d be going back home. I kept waiting for a nurse to come in and check on us, no one had checked in since around 5am. My husband woke up around 8am and I told him I thought they had forgotten about me. We pushed the call button several times, no one came. Finally we went out to the desk and asked to be assisted. Ha! I told the nurse that my contractions had disappeared and we probably just needed to be released. They wanted to hook me up to the monitor just to double check. Right before she hooked me up I had a really good contraction and remembered being very upset that she missed it because they had been so spaced out I was afraid the 20/30 minute strip wouldn’t catch any.

I laid in bed feeling overall sorry for myself and was on the verge of crying that all this had been for nothing and I wouldn’t be holding my baby anytime soon. I had my husband call home to let my mom know we’d probably be back there in about an hour. While they were talking I suddenly got very nauseous and threw up several times. Then the contractions came like a huge wave. Very intense and very often. The nurse came in and did an internal check. I was holding my breath imagining her saying 3cm and knew I was just going to lose it. Then came the magic words… 5, almost 6 cm dilated. Say WHAT??? That’s when things got going very fast. We called my doula, who had heard nothing since 2:30 when I initially called her. Karen said she would be there ASAP.

I was aiming at a water birth and the tub takes 45 minutes to fill. They started filling it immediately! Ha! My midwife Mary came within about a half hour and we had everything set up. We had to do a few laps around the hospital as the bathtub ended up being 107 degrees so they had to cool it down. Oops!

I spent about 2 hours in the tub. I found it relaxing, but overall the pressure seemed to be hitting more on my tailbone and I was unable to really get comfortable. I got out to use the bathroom and while sitting on the toilet felt the first “urge to push” wave hit me. I got back in the tub and we tried some different positions, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I suggested the birthing stool as I thought the positioning would be similar to the toilet so maybe I would feel the urge to push again. I stayed on the birthing stool for about an hour and made great progress. I had major contractions and pushed several times. I did my patent pending “mooing” style, it was effective, though not quite as much as with my first labor. Karen was worried about my throat being destroyed and had me try silently pushing. This was just as effective so yay!

My back was starting to get very sore and I had thoughts about getting into bed. It felt a little bit like defeat to end labor in standard position, but something was telling me to do it. I moved over to the bed and my pitiful left leg lasted about 1 minute before starting to shake. My wonderful husband took over that leg and did everything for it.

At this point my water was still intact! I had lots of fun thoughts about my baby being born in the caul, but second or third contraction to the last one that bag popped and shot water about 5 feet across the room! I was so glad I opened my eyes and caught it. I almost started laughing, but then another contraction came fast and stopped that “BWHAHAHAHA” moment temporarily.

Within about ten minutes of being in the bed we got to crowning. My midwife had me touch the baby’s head and let me see everything in the mirror. After the contraction that got us to crowning my midwife explained that with the next one I should take a nice breath and then just go “puh-puh-puh” rather than bearing down. I waiting with anticipating through the ring of fire… and waited… and waited. Suddenly panic struck in… the contraction was not coming. I wasn’t sure what was wrong or why my body wasn’t kicking that final contraction into action. Four minutes past… and then it finally started up. I went to bear down and my midwife held the baby inside while yelling at me to stop! This last part needed to happen slowly for me to avoid tearing. I took a breath and went again to bear down. I couldn’t remember what she had told me to do and she kept just instructing me to breath. I wasn’t sure what I was doing wrong! Finally I heard someone say “puh puh puh” and I remembered. Third breath the head and shoulders were out. My midwife had me reach around and deliver the baby myself! I loved being so much more involved with the delivery instead of just letting medical staff handle everything. I pulled baby out and up onto my stomach. The cord was very short so she could only be about belly button height. I immediately went to try and see if we had a boy or girl.

Baby was so swollen and the cord was in my way. I thought I saw a girl… but just couldn’t believe it. Indeed we have a baby girl! Chicklett was born at 1:22pm on Tuesday October 12^th 2010 – completely intervention free. She weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces, 19 inches long, with a 13 inch head. She looks exactly like big brother, but with black hair instead of red. And when I say she looks exactly like big brother… I mean it… we have another surprise clubbed footed baby. The adventures in leg braces and castings will begin for us next Monday when she will be only 6 days old.

Chicklett is a nursing champion! She latched on and did both breasts for about two hours immediately after birth. I hope this is only a sign of things to come!

Big brother has been interesting in nursing more, though I think he'll be unstoppable once the milk comes in. So far there have just been a few extra comfort nursing sessions for him.

P.S. I had been a hemorrhage risk due to having a 9.5 cm fibroid tumor growing on the outside of my uterus. We were very fearful of needing surgery immediately after birth to stop my bleeding and remove the tumor. Thankfully "fiby" did no harm and infact less than 72 hours after delivery I appear to already be done bleeding! This has been amazing!

Birth Story of Chicken Little

Before I deliver my second child I'd like to take the opportunity to relive my first delivery experience. I am going in with the same idea this time around, but have found a voice and support staff that agree with me. I am hoping for a healing birth.

Chicken Little's incubation period was extremely typical and problem free. I saw an OB the entire time, even though my heart and head told me that midwife was the way to go. I am a creature of habit, and having gone to this particular OB/GYN office for 10+ years it was hard to

consider making a switch.

I saw the same OB the entire pregnancy until 38 weeks. She was off delivering a baby at my appointment time, so I was handed off to a different OB. It was at this appointment that interventions started that I never even saw coming. I remember this internal exam being particularly painful, I chalked it up to just being so used to the other OB. Two years later I have come to the conclusion that this OB stripped my membranes without my permission. I feel completely violated and angry that someone would decide to damage my perfect pregnancy in this way.

That night after watching some evening television I noticed my pajamas were damp upon standing up to go to bed. I thought it was unusual, but in the end ignored my wandering mind figuring that it was either sweat from the hot August night, or maybe I had finally turned into one of those pregnant ladies that had bladder control issues.

A few days later things started to get quite funky. I had a horribly itchy private area and could barely control myself. I assumed I was getting some type of yeast infection. I called my OB office and they bumped up my 39 week appointment by a few days and got me in. Tests revealed no yeast infection, but a lot of bacteria. They gave me a cream to use in order to stop the itching and that was that. During my appointment with the OB she noted a concern about the size of my baby. She wanted to order an ultrasound to check on babies size and he had not done a whole lot in the last few weeks. For whatever reason, they couldn't get me in for an ultrasound for 4 DAYS!!! I kept telling myself that if it were serious they would have got me in right away, but it was definitely a stressful week.

Come Friday September 5th at 11:20 we were ready for our appointment. Rooster and I had planned on dining at one of my favorite restaurants afterwards. A huge mistake on my part at this point was skipping my midmorning snack thinking I would totally pig out at the restaurant. Note to self - always load up on liquids and food before an ultrasound... especially towards the end of pregnancy. The ultrasound revealed that I had extremely low amnio fluid. First off.... DUH, because I hadn't eaten for 3 hours and secondly... amnio fluid had been slowly leaking for 8 days! The OB ordered an immediate induction. They stripped my membranes (this time with my permission) and sent me to the hospital.

I called my parents and our doula to let them know the baby was coming today. At the hospital I came upon a whole new set of problems. Having a nurse that supports your idea of labor is key in making a pleasant experience. I arrived at the hospital a completely overwhelmed and terrified first time mom armed with a natural birth plan. The nurse actually laughed at my birth plan and said that I was being mean to deny myself pain medications. I let her comments roll off of me as I had bigger things to worry about, but this should have been my first clue to request a change in nursing staff. I was stuck with her abuse for about 8 more hours.

I now know that you can "fire" a nurse... but that isn't something they always advertise to you. As a scared first time mom I just took abuse for 8 hours... never again.

The nurse broke my water and attempted to put an internal monitor (but CL wouldn't cooperate - YAY!!). With just the membrane stripping and broken water I was contracting and progressing very well. The nurse mentioned that she didn't think we'd need to use pitocin. I was so relieved! Not 30 minutes later the nurse came in and snuck a bag of pitocin on my IV pole. We were completely blindsided!! I was in a scared, dark, angry place - but wasn't standing up for myself or my labor experience. This is not where you want to be as a woman in labor... you should be relaxed, calm, and participating in your labor.

I did the usual stuff of sitting on the birth ball, taking baths/showers, walking the halls, and swaying. It was intense as the nurse kept coming in every 15-20 minutes and increasing my pitocin. She would make rude comments like "You're still smiling, it must not hurt yet," even though I was totally using all my energy to embrace the pain and not turn it into suffering. I firmly believe she had the opposite goal.

Around 7pm there was a shift change that probably saved my labor from turning into another "emergency" c-section from pitocin distress on the fetus. The new nurse came in and cut my pitocin dose IN HALF!!! She informed me that this was "your labor and we're going to do it your way." I immediately relaxed and swiftly dilated. It's amazing what feeling like you are in a comfortable environment will do for your labor!

While laying on my left side in bed with only my husband and doula in the room I suddenly thought that I was crowning. My doula peaked under the sheet and confirmed my thought, and quickly got the nurse. The nurse pushed the "little red button" and then the "big red button" and within minutes the room was full of resident and student doctors. They all tried to shake my hand and introduce themselves, which I thought was a little odd... within a few minutes and with very little effort on my part my son was born into this world. I don't even remember pushing, I just know I was making low moaning noises and he just came flying out.

For more information about "pit to distress" check out these links;

http://nursingbirth.com/2009/07/08/“pit-to-distress”-a-disturbing-reality/

http://nursingbirth.com/2009/07/09//“pit-to-distress/”-part-2-top-6-ways-to-protect-yourself-from-unnecessary-harmful-interventions/