Friday, June 30, 2000
I was sound asleep dreaming about laying out my web page. Somehow I was stuck on a page and I was clicking on the 'Back" button, but I couldn't go anywhere. Suddenly there was a "pop" and a gush of warm water. I sat bolt upright in bed and realized that today was Elizabeth's birth day. : ) I looked at the clock and it was 6:00 a.m. on the nose. I woke Michael up and said "Here we go! My water just broke." He sat up and said "Did it?" I just smiled as I sat in a puddle of water that gathered on the plastic liner under our bed sheet. Mike got up to get me a towel and stopped at the end of the bed to inform me that there was a lot of white vernix in the water, but the amniotic fluid was clear. There was no sign of meconium which would be a clue that the baby was in distress.
I was feeling a few menstrual type cramps, but nothing strong or consistent. As I made my way to the bathroom with the towel between my legs, Mike called Judy to give her a heads up that today was to be the day. She felt very strongly that when labor started, Elizabeth would be here soon after and she felt a lot more comfortable being here when that happened.
We went about getting things ready for the birth and Judy arrived at 6:50 a.m. Tori wanted the orange blueberry muffins that we had decided to keep for the birth morning, so I got them out of the freezer and put them in the oven. My mom attended the kids and the muffins and I walked around waiting for something to happen. I thought it would be right away, but it was to be another 11 hours before Elizabeth would make her way into the world.
I went back upstairs to our room and sat in the rocking chair. Matthew woke up and wanted to nurse, so I held him and nursed him while we rocked and timed contractions. I only had a couple of strong ones while he nursed and then they stopped again. When he started nursing, though, another gush of amniotic fluid came. We were alone upstairs and I didn't know where everyone else was. I got up and carried Matthew to the bathroom and sat on the toilet while he nursed.
Finally Tori came looking for me and she went and got her Daddy and Judy who came and cleaned up after the flood and lined the rocking chair with plastic.
Judy needed to run some errands and thought I might do better if she weren't 'staring down my throat' : ) so I released her to go to the chiropractor and do some 'running around'.
I decided that I needed to walk and see if I could get some good contractions going. I put on a pad and then folded a cloth diaper into my shorts. Mike agreed to walk with me and Tori tagged along. We walked up the hill and through the cow pasture and fed Annabelle some corn shucks from last nights' dinner. Then we walked around the yard and picked some black raspberries. I brought them inside and mixed up a black raspberry cake and put it in the oven. I had a few contractions off and on, but nothing hard or consistent.
When the cake was done, I put a roast in the oven for dinner and my mom looked after the cleaning up and attending to the kids.
Judy called later in the afternoon and nothing was happening yet, but she said she'd head back towards our house as she was sure that when things 'got serious' it wouldn't be long and she wanted to be here.
Mikey and I decided to go get the mail (our mailbox is across the street and our driveway is about 300' long, so it's a little bit of a jog to get the mail) and I was called over to the neighbors' house to answer her demand of "When are you going to have that baby???" I told her 'today' and recounted what was happening. She couldn't believe I was 'brave enough' to venture that far away. I laughed at her worries that I would drop the baby right there in her driveway.
At 2:00, "A Baby Story" was coming on TLC and we called Judy up to the bedroom to watch it with us. It just happened to be a homebirth with a Christian couple who homeschooled their children. Tori said they were 'just like us' and we sat and talked about what she was going through. It was a relief to me that they broke her water and told her it would be 'a couple hours' and it was a lot longer than that. Suddenly it wasn't so discouraging waiting for labor to begin as I watched it being played out on TV. The show went off, though, with the mom, holding her baby that she had birthed at home with her children looking on. I was still waiting for mine.
We watched the next episode which was a hospital birth and Judy and I had a contest to see who could yell the loudest at the TV. I think it was a tie. We both got mad at the interventions and recounted to each other what they were 'doing wrong'. : )
When the show went off and we had finished a snack, Judy said that although Elizabeth was anterior, she still was 'leaning' out and she wasn't really 'lined up' vertically to make the descent. We had both been reading Back labor No More by Janie McCoy King and the whole concept of vectors and birth intrigued us both. She suggested I start doing the 'vector technique' with contractions to see if she couldn't get Elizabeth to start moving down.
With the next contraction, I squatted and pulled my belly up and into me. I could feel the pressure from the contraction move down my spine and it felt like the baby just melted into me. The next contraction was very hard and required all of my concentration to get through it. I suddenly felt like I was hot and needed to go outside and walk. Mike and Tori and I walked off the porch and up the driveway and got as far as an oak tree by the garage where I had to stop and squat through the next contraction. It too was a 'big one'. We continued up the hill behind the garage and made it to another tree before the next contraction. hit. When it did, I grabbed the tree and hugged it while Michael pressed in on my lower back as he had been doing with contractions which felt so good. It was at the end of that contraction that I said I was going to get in the hot tub.
We came into the house and I got into the tub. The water was 99 degrees and it felt wonderful. I stayed in the water for a few contractions, then I got out of the tub to go to the bathroom and I asked Judy if she could do a vaginal exam to see where I was as I had felt a little 'pushy' with the last one. Her face grew solemn as she tagged my cervix and then a contraction started and her serious look grew into a smile. I said "what??" and she said 'you're just doing what you did with Matthew." She said that at first check, I was only 5 cm., but when the contraction started, my cervix stretched to 8 cm.! Exactly the same thing I had done last time! She said she wasn't going anywhere as I would be having a baby soon.
Mike and I got back into the tub. I was wishing I hadn't been out so long as the water took the edge off the contractions and made them much more bearable. As the next contraction started, I knew we were nearing the end of my pregnancy. I was very aware of what was happening in the room, but at the same time, I was deep within myself and knew exactly what 'stage' of labor I was in. I asked Judy to ask my mom to start peeling potatoes for dinner because I knew I would be ready for a meal soon.
I was now in a kneeling squat position with my arms leaning on the edge of the hot tub. Mike was rubbing my back in a circular motion and wiping my face with a cool cloth. I suddenly felt very hot and asked for ice cream. My mom brought me a bowl of mint chocolate chip telling Judy it was my favorite : ) and Judy spooned it into my mouth between contractions. Soon I could feel the baby moving down and I inserted two fingers and was able to feel her head. With the next contraction, my body started pushing and I started grunting. As I pushed, I felt her head move further down. Judy asked me if I could feel the ring of fire yet. I told her 'no, it was still inside, but I could feel the 'walnut' (referring to the wrinkling of the scalp as the head molds). Judy kept reminding me to take deep cleansing breaths in between. There was a delay before the next contraction and I remember thinking that I understood what Sheila Kitzinger meant when she said this was the "rest and be thankful stage". During those few minutes, I started thinking I might just get out of the tub and go to bed and finish this later. I was thinking that I wasn't having any fun and I'd rather be doing something else. Just as I had decided not to have a baby today, Elizabeth decided that she had come too far to turn back now and she was on her way.
The next contraction gripped me and I visualized a hollow tube with the baby sliding through it. As my body started pushing and I was grunting, I had a mental picture of God putting His hands in the water massaging my uterus and pushing the baby out. It was very comforting to know the God who formed her was helping to deliver her and I remembered the verse again that said "Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?" I smiled through my pain feeling the holiness of the event that was taking place.
Judy had at some point gone to gather my mom and the kids and they were now surrounding me. Judy was outside the hot tub and Mike knelt next to me with the mirror and the flashlight shining on my perineum. With the next contraction, the head crowned and I moaned. I had my hand on her head, rubbing it and gently pushing my perineum back around her head and massaging it. I was sure she was completely bald because her head was so smooth. Then I heard my mom and Tori talking about how much black hair they were seeing in the mirror. I lifted my head and blew softly to breathe her out, and she slowly descended. Mike placed his hand on her head and announced that the head was out. He felt around her neck and there was no cord. Then he announced the shoulders were out and the rest of her just slipped out into his hands.
I quickly turned around and sat up and Mike handed her up out of the water into my arms. I smiled and said over and over "My baby!" "My baby!"
Mikey saw the cord between her legs and yelled that it was a boy. Mike asked "is it?" and quickly checked to prove him wrong. ;-)
Judy snapped a picture and Elizabeth lifted her head, opened her eyes and gave her a dirty look. : ) We all laughed. I was so glad at that point that I hadn't gone back to bed as I had intended to a few minutes before. I asked what time it was and it was 5:56 p.m. Twelve hours since my water broke that morning at 6:00.
As we sat talking to her and examining her, we realized how chubby she was. Her face was chubby and she had a roll of fat under her chin. She was just a chunky little doll! I guess she really loaded on the weight those last two weeks. : ) And she had a thick crop of black hair which was covered in vernix making it feel so smooth.
Elizabeth was so relaxed and peaceful and opened her eyes to look at her family. Then she'd close them to rest. She cried out a little, then whimpered and rested some more.
Judy listened to her breathing and she was breathing 60 times/minute and Judy said she was fine. Her apgars were 8 and 9.
Soon the cord stopped pulsing and had turned grayish white. Mikey had the privilege of cutting the cord with Daddy' help (since Tori had cut Matthew's).
Mike took Elizabeth as I stood to deliver the placenta. I was already contracting and I was afraid that if I attempted to get out of the hot tub I wouldn't make it to the chair. Judy put the bowl in the water and floated it between my legs. As she turned around to get something, the placenta was delivered and she turned back just in time to see it in the bowl. : ) This was the first time we saw any blood. There had been none at all with the birth. I sat back down in the water and Judy examined the placenta, membranes and cord to make sure everything was intact. Although I was at 42 weeks and 1 day, there was no calcification to the placenta and it had not begun to deteriorate. Elizabeth was handed back to me and she began nursing like a little piglet. She unfolded in the water and held her arms out and her hands open. She was totally at peace in her watery surroundings and in her Mommy's arms and she alertly looked around to discover her new world.
After several minutes, I was afraid she was getting chilled in the water and we decided to get out. Mike handed Elizabeth to Tori who sat waiting to meet her sister. Matthew woke from his nap about then and Mike brought him down to join the party. He looked on in confused wonderment and started pointing saying "Girl! Girl!" Mikey stroked her and confirmed how cute "Elidabif" was.
Elizabeth started crying and I nursed her again. Matthew decided he would not be undone by this new arrival, so he climbed up and we had our first tandem nursing session. Mikey walked in and announced "Both the babies can have nursies! You have TWO of them!" (I guess he hadn't noticed that before. ;- )
Finally I asked Judy to weigh and measure her as everyone was waiting for numbers. Judy asked everyone for a guess on her weight. I guessed 9 lb. 2 oz. Everyone had a guess, but no one was right. Judy announced 9 lb. 8 oz.!! A 9 1/2 lb. girl and she'd outdone even Mikey who had weighed in at 9 lb. 4 oz. She was the new record holder in the family. Her length was also longest at 22" Her head was 14" which was expected, but Judy measured her chest and measured it again and then asked Mike to measure it and all 3 times it came out 15 1/4"! Wow!
Then Judy checked my perineum and I had only a first degree tear on the scar tissue from the mediolateral episiotomy I had with my first birth. We agreed to leave it unstitched.
We soon sat down to the table and enjoyed our first meal as a family and then we headed off to bed to cuddle with our new blessing. I spent hours just looking at her and thanking God that I was holding her in my arms. I couldn't believe that I was no longer pregnant. It was so amazing to be looking into her eyes after waiting for so long to hold her. I'm SO in love with her!
PRELUDE TO THE BIRTH -- I had a surprise positive pregnancy test on Christmas Day, 1999. Since Matthew was still nursing, my cycles hadn't been reestablished and we weren't completely sure of the date of conception. We had been charting cycles using the "Fertility Awareness Method", so we looked back over my charts from the past few months and speculated that it had been in September, but we had no way of knowing for sure. We scheduled a sonogram for January 13th and it confirmed that I was 15 weeks pregnant. I had missed my first trimester! It also confirmed that Tori was to get her long awaited and prayed for sister, after enduring two brothers. :-)
It's always a mental adjustment when you see that pink line on the pregnancy test, but it was much more difficult adjusting to the fact that I was 4 months pregnant! I had mixed feelings pulling the maternity clothes out of the attic that I had seemingly just packed!
We began prenatal visits with our friend and midwife, Judy in the 4th month and started discussing the plans for our next homebirth. Everything I had read about waterbirth intrigued me and all of the testimonials that said "I'll never birth on land again!" played a heavy part in our decision.
Judy was very supportive and excited about the idea. I started reading everything I could get my hands on - books, websites, waterbirth stories, etc. The whole concept made sense and just seemed right to me.
I had a dream one night that I was in the birth pool alone and my baby was born painlessly into my hands. I sat and cuddled her before alerting the rest of the house that she was here. From that night on, I knew that I would have a waterbirth.
My due date based on my last (and only) period and date of conception was June 15th, 2000 but the sonogram technician added an extra week making it June 21st. As June approached, I grew bigger and the Braxton Hicks contractions grew stronger.
I have a history of going through weeks of pre-labor and being well dilated when the 'real thing' kicks in. I wasn't surprised to find myself with the same pattern this time. Early June brought hours of strong, steady contractions that brought effacement and dilation. I asked Judy to check one night in early June and I was dilated 2 cm. and was about 80% effaced. The contractions came and went, sometimes lasting all day and getting closer and closer together until they stopped.
By my due date, I was almost completely effaced and though my external os was completely gone, my internal os was sitting at about 5 cm. As the days came and went and I was still pregnant, huge and miserable, and my faith began to waiver.
I thought I had worked through all my 'faith' issues with my last long, prodomal labor, but the doubts crept in again and I began again to ask the Lord, "why?". I prayed about natural induction methods - I had resorted to castor oil with my last birth and it had produced a baby. : )
This time, the Lord made it clear to me that I was to trust in Him. He didn't 'need' castor oil or herbs to bring forth this child that he had given us. He gave me scriptures from the Old Testament that proved his Awesomeness and I read stories of Moses and David and what happened when they trusted Him -- and when they took matters into their own hands. I felt very strongly that He would bring about this birth without MY interventions.
Women on my e-mail lists shared scriptures with me, as well, which were a great encouragement. One such verse was from Isaiah 66:9-10 which says: "Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery? says the Lord. Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery? says your God. Rejoice...and be glad for her, all you who love her."
I was now a week and a half 'overdue' and still pregnant. This time the Bible opened to Isaiah 40. The whole chapter was comforting, but especially vs. 31 which promised that 'they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They will mount up with wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.' I had such a peace knowing that I was waiting on the Lord and that Elizabeth would be born on her Birth day - not her due date.
I was reminded of Psalm 139:16 which says "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." I knew that somewhere there was a book with Elizabeth's name in it with her date of birth next to her name. I didn't know what that date was, but I knew it was soon.
