Community Birth Story: Saoirse

Community Birth Story: Saoirse

As told by Nannette:   12642790_10205936114948161_8485059573286676699_n

I have to tell some back story first. I never wrote my birth stories for my first two children, which I plan to rectify starting here.

Jonah was my firstborn. I had just finished my nurse-midwife training program and taken my board exams. That was a long grueling 3 years, during which I got pregnant and miscarried. I discovered I was pregnant with Jonah just weeks after I passed my midwifery boards. The news arrived the same day our miscarried baby would have been due. Bittersweet. I was a young midwife just starting her homebirth practice, and I knew immediately I would have a homebirth with my son. My mother had cesareans for all 3 of us. But it was for a known problem related to an auto accident messing up her pelvis. I never doubted that these strong Irish hips could handle childbirth. There were not many choices of midwives in my area, but we settled on a very nice midwife and started the journey. I convinced my husband, who had just started his first full time job, to invest the time in Bradley classes (along with my best friend who was going to be at my birth as support and photographer). Things bumped along, I was having a healthy pregnancy and was busy with side jobs while I started my little homebirth practice. My due date came and went, but no biggie, I was a primip. Weekly visits with the midwife became concerning, though, as my son did not engage in my pelvis as he should have. When I passed the 42 week mark, and he was still not engaged despite regular bouts of prodromal labor, I went to see my “backup” hospital midwife on a Wednesday afternoon at 4pm. We had a BPP done, and it wasn’t great. And they told me Jonah (I found out he was a boy at this point) was 12.5 lbs, which frankly scared me as a first timer. And he was still not engaged. And my hospital midwife, who had been my preceptor in midwifery training, looked at me and bluntly said, ” you know the answer, Nannette. You just need to make up your mind.” I cried and asked to be induced (which wasn’t a good idea because he was so high in my pelvis and showing signs of stress), and then I accepted that my son was going to be born by cesarean. I looked at the doctor and asked to have it done right away. “If I go home, I don’t know if I can make myself come back.” So Jonah Graham was born at 7:21pm on June 29th by cesarean section weighing 10lbs8oz. It was a surreal experience. I was on automatic pilot for a lot of it. One thing I remember the most was how I panicked and almost cancelled the plan when I was getting the spinal anesthesia (they stuck me several times and kept hitting a nerve, which was excruciating and nearly sent me into a panic attack). The spinal finally took, I got draped and swabbed, the docs did their thing, and when I heard them lift him out of my stomach I didn’t breath again until he cried. And then I let myself break down. That was the start of a long, dark slide into postpartum depression. A story for another day.

Fast forward 10 months. I am in the middle of getting help for the PPD when I become pregnant again. We had treated Jonah for torticullis and we linked his malposition to an injury that I had had around 36 weeks that apparently had really torqued my pelvis. So with regular chiropractic care I was confident this was a problem that would not repeat itself. I was working with a midwife that was confident in VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), and I decided to plan a homebirth for my second baby. I worked through the PPD and the emotional issues that surround having a VBAC, and reached 36 weeks with our baby girl. She turned breech at that point, and it forced me to stop working and pay attention to her. We did 2 weeks of alternative/complementary techniques and successfully turned her back to head down. I then got extremely ill from the flu about a week before her due date. Not cool. In hindsight, I should have been hospitalized. On Easter Sunday, my 40 week mark, we were eating dinner with my husband’s mother, and contractions began. They felt like the prodromal ones I’d had with Jonah, which was encouraging! They slowly intensified through the night, and at 7am the next morning I was dealing with them in the living room and prayed for a clear sign because I wasn’t sure if I was being a wuss about them or if I was really in labor. Than, hallelujah, my water broke! It was on! My labor had started spontaneously at 40 weeks and 1 day! Major VBAC milestone! I was in active labor by late morning, but it was a really rough day. I constantly vomited and became dehydrated, and also had some terrible pelvic pain which even the chiropractor could not resolve with a visit while I was in labor. I reached 8 cm and the contractions started to wane. I nearly fell asleep in the pool. And it wasn’t the good sleep that midwives are thankful for, a pause to gather yourself. It was an exhaustion borne of utter depletion. I called my birth team and said, “I know I can do this. But I don’t think I can do it here.” And with that we called the hospital, praised God that Dr. Baltierra was on, and I counted in my head the 4 contractions I would endure in the car for the ride to the hospital. I got to JMH, checked in, got an epidural, eventually got an IUPC and pitocin to get contractions going again, and about 5 hours after I arrived at the hospital I woke up in a panic because the epidural WASN’T WORKING ANYMORE!!! And lo and behold I was complete and ready to push! They hiked me up and got out the mirror and at 5:39am on April 2nd, 2013, I pushed my beautiful 10 lb daughter out in 20 minutes! I did it! I birthed vaginally! And then I blacked out when I sat up to nurse and we discovered I had been severely anemic, probably an effect of the severe flu I should have been hospitalized for, and I had to get blood transfusions even though I had hardly bled with the birth. I also suffered some SPD damage and couldn’t walk normally for several weeks. But it was worth it for my VBAC!!

So fast forward 2 years. I was a very busy homebirth midwife at the time. I had recently gone through some very stressful transitions in my business partnership, and was praying for a year without change, just some stability so I could heal from the pretty bad emotional trauma. My daughter was weaning, and I knew that a pregnancy was possible soon. I am lucky enough to not ovulate until my babies stop nursing altogether. My cycle started, and repeated, and as the third round was finishing I looked at my husband and said, “all bets are off, you know.” We didn’t attempt to prevent, and sure enough, there was a positive. As stressful as it was, I was also thankful for the gift of another baby. I knew I would not be able to keep up the pace I was at with another child, and made the decision at that point, after a lot of prayer and counsel, to grow my homebirth practice instead of close it. God was watching out, and at the same time I decided I would hire one or two midwives, I was contacted by 2 midwives who were just what I wanted for Riverside. So I entered the second trimester with a good plan for work/family balance and the knowledge that this time I was going to get a proper maternity leave. I was so thankful for a healthy pregnancy. It was the best of all of them. I had good help, I was getting good sleep and exercise, I didn’t gain weight until the last few weeks. My belly measurements were consistently on track, which was better than my first two pregnancies which had always measured ahead, so my midwives thought this baby was going to be smaller which was nice to think of having had 10+lb’rs. I had amazing community support and was shown so much love by truly incredible women I am blessed to know and work with! I even got a surprise mother blessing! Jonah and Tabi were in love with the baby and so interested and involved in the pregnancy. I had an ultrasound but the baby wouldn’t play the gender reveal game, so it was really a surprise! We had a boy name and a girl name, Jonah and Tabi were excited to be there for the birth, and my midwife was really wonderful for me, a great pregnancy all around. I was “due” December 29th, so Jonah was expecting a Christmas time baby which just blew his 4 year old mind with anticipation. Christmas came, and went. New Year’s came as well, and went. The week after came. And went. And the mind games that accompany going overdue began. Thankfully, this was not my first VBAC, I knew my body was quite capable. And I thought this was a boy baby, so I figured maybe my boy babies just go late. I was encouraged and supported, and got wonderful help from friends and my fellow birthworkers during this time. I didn’t do anything really aggressive to start labor as I wasn’t worried over anything. I was fine, baby was fine, it was just taking a bit. I had a cervical exam at 41 weeks or so, and it was favorable, and I got a BPP done at 42 weeks, and it was just fine. But going overdue is emotionally taxing, and I cried on more than one morning when I woke up still pregnant. I worked on a labor music list. I crowd sourced some suggestions for music with a heavy bass line that would just carry you along without thinking. I didn’t to think too much. I’m a midwife, and know a lot, and I didn’t need to go down certain lines of thought. I was fine, baby was fine, my midwives were relaxed, I was just gestating a while.

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On a Wednesday evening April 13th, 42 weeks and 1 day, I had some regular almost-contractions, and we inflated the pool just in case. But Thursday morning, I woke up well slept and still pregnant. On Friday evening, some good friends took my kids to the local Backyard Inflatables while I got acupuncture. I was relaxed, and we made plans to get some Glory Doughnuts for breakfast the next morning. You should definitely get doughnuts from them some time. Ah-mazing. So Saturday morning, January 16th, I woke up around 6am. The house was quiet, and I felt like getting up and just hanging out by myself. I had a few of the usual braxton hicks as I was sitting in my rocker petting one of the cats. I noticed they had some good pelvic floor pressure to them, which was an encouraging thought as that meant baby’s head was where it should be. But they were just BH as usual. My husband got up around 8:00, kids were sleeping in from getting worn out playing the evening before. We did a few chores, and I mentioned the doughnuts plan. So he left at 9:00 to get some. I took a picture of my sweet sleeping kids, climbing up on the bunk bed (timestamp 9:26am). No contractions. Just a nice, quiet Saturday morning. My midwives texted to check in. One midwife mentioned coming by to do some things to maybe encourage labor. I let her know I’d had some braxton hicks that had a little pressure to them, but that my kids weren’t awake yet so I didn’t think labor would start knowing they were about to get up. Then, I had one. A painful contraction. Not too long, but definitely different. Jonah woke up at 9:40, came downstairs. I had another one. I sent him to watch some cartoons and realized I had been a little short tempered with him. I had another one. I decided to go upstairs, and couldn’t get up the stairs before another hit. Well, well! I made it to my bathroom and texted my husband, “on your way back?” (timestamp 9:57am). My midwife texted a two part question, and I barely had time to text back “yeah”. (she later said she immediately knew it was time to come, that was not a usual texting style for me). Within 20 minutes of the first contraction I was in full blown labor. I could only stand, I had the sudden fear of my water breaking in my pants and undressed. I started vocalizing. I remember thinking vaguely “if it feels better to make noise then I must be in active labor?” The contractions hurt. A lot. And were fast. I couldn’t time them. I couldn’t text or call anyone. I couldn’t do anything. I tried to kneel, and couldn’t handle being bent and stood right back up. I paced around the bathroom, and kept saying in an attempt to keep myself grounded “this is how babies are born, this is how babies are born, oh God, this is how babies are born” as I experienced huge amounts of pressure with seemingly eternal contractions with hardly time to breath twice between them (later the chart said they were 90 seconds long and 30 seconds apart, so I wasn’t imagining it). My husband got up there, got the pool filling, got the babysitter and photographer on the way, texted the midwives (or called) to make sure they were enroute. In short he did a great job getting things in place and rolling. I starting feeling lightheaded and a little panicky, the contractions were even stronger. Chris, one of my midwives, arrived at 10:40. I started to cry and kept saying they hurt. She was very calm, listened to baby with the doppler, and started getting things out. She encouraged me to try to get in the pool. I felt locked in standing mode, afraid to move lest the contractions get EVEN stronger. But I managed to scoot over to the pool and climb in (at 11:00 per the chart). As I sunk into the water the next contraction crested. That was kind of awful. The feeling of my belly getting buoyant but then getting driven down in the contraction. The next one was better though, and I settled into the pool. The contractions got a little more spaced, maybe a minute apart, but then I started feeling them in my legs. Thankfully I was in the water, the pain in my thighs wouldn’t have been great with standing up. I complained. A lot. And cried, and repeated that things hurt and that I couldn’t do this forever. But I mostly had my eyes closed and my face down making lots of noise. A little after 11:00 I looked up and Lindsey, my photographer, had arrived. Grace arrived at that point, too. Grace has been with me a long time. My first birth assistant when I started catching babies while pregnant with Jonah. My doula for Tabi’s birth. My friend. And planning to catch this baby as my student midwife.

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Bradley was there (I made a point to clock his presence as I had actually blanked out his presence at Tabi’s birth).

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I looked up at some point and saw Jonah sitting on the side of the bed watching me labor. Mary was there, my good friend and my children’s nanny, I never worried about Jonah and Tabi being cared for.

At this point I feel like I was being dramatic but just needed to be allowed to not have my s*%^ together for once. This labor felt like a tsunami and I was just rolling around in the water underneath. I think I repeated that I couldn’t do this for 6 more hours and Grace assured me it wasn’t going to be that long. After what seemed like FOREVER my water broke (timestamp 11:10). My midwife voice automatically asked if the water was clear, which it was.

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I had some urge to push with that contraction. And then I had a blessed, blessed, 2 minute pause. I came up for air. My head cleared. I thought, and I think I said, “I can do this part. I know how to push.” Because I did. I revisited how I had pushed Tabi out in 20 minutes, my first vaginal birth. And how proud I had been (and am) of that. I had no idea how long I had been in labor for, but now it was time to push and I came back to center. Everyone was quiet. My ears were kind of ringing. I don’t know how loud I was on the outside, but there had been a whole lot going on in my head and it had all stopped. That long, blessed, 2 minute break. And then the contraction came and the deep, throat/abdomen/pelvic “HUHHHH” started. My body was pushing. A couple of contractions, and I clearly felt the round head of my baby descend. It did not feel like pooping. It felt like a large round hard thing moving down in my pelvis. That was my baby’s head! I hadn’t felt this with Tabi, being on the epidural. It was AMAZING to be aware of it. I felt some burning and said something like “am I crowning?! Please tell me I’m crowning!”, to which there was no reply. Crickets. “Crap, I’m not crowning…” Next contraction. There was some burning, which I clearly identified to be at the place I had had a minor tear with Tabi’s birth. I was ok with that. I was breathing through these. Not really on purpose. I was just trying to ride these suddenly close again contractions that were pushing my baby out. All of my energy was focused, I had to stay stretched out, one hand out on the side of the pool, body extended back. A straight path for the baby. Nothing in the way. My body doing its thing like I’d know from my first pregnancy that it could. I breathed and grunted and didn’t add any pushing effort and the baby came down and around and I felt the head birth. So amazing. I heard Jonah and Tabi’s voices, they were there at the pool side and saw the baby’s head and face. I had really hoped they would have that experience of seeing their sibling enter the world.

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A minute passed, and another. I felt midwives’ hands back there. No one was worried, though I wasn’t really looking at faces, and I wasn’t worried. I did have the sudden thought that this had been long enough and it was time to push baby out. So I did push to finish the birth. And then I heard those words, “grab your baby!” I reached down, and glimpsed cord around the baby’s neck as Grace did, we turned baby in the water to unwind the cord and bring baby up.Saoirse2016-35

And there she was. My baby girl. Born at 11:27am, less than 2 hours from the first recognizable contraction. “It’s done!” She took a minute to breath. It had, after all, been a fast birth. I gave her some puffs and stimulation to her back and feet she drew in her first air. Grace helped her with some postural drainage. I cried and thanked God it was over.

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Tabi was absolutely thrilled that it was a girl!! “It’s a girl, it’s Saoirse!”

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And she lifted her sweet little hand up and my baby was with me. Oh lordy. The tears <3

She weighed 9lbs 4 oz, nearly a pound less than my others. My postpartum experience was worlds away better. Resting in my own bed, being well taken care of, my children coming to see their baby sister. Normal, unhurried, quiet. As a midwife, I work hard to provide this experience to families. And I had finally had it myself. It was truly my best birth. And one of the best times of my life.

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Something came up the week after the birth that I want to include here. There is a blog that I follow, Birth Without Fear, by a woman name Jan. Last year she had described being pregnant again; she had had cesareans, than a VBAC, than another baby, and was planning a homebirth again. She went overdue, and one morning woke up and knew it was time to have her baby and had a walk in cesarean. She felt empowered, she owned her decision and experience. But she described having an emotional breakdown just before the surgery, and how she had realized based on her past birth experiences that she was transitioning emotionally at that moment as she was getting ready to meet her baby. It was an incredibly healing read for me. I had experienced labor in all its raw, unmediated strength. I had “lost it” for a bit, felt panicky, cried, let out a lot of emotion. And I realized that I had done that before with Tabi’s birth, when I woke up panicky and ready to push. And I realized that the moment when I almost broke down while preparing for Jonah’s surgical birth HAD BEEN MY TRANSITION MOMENT. Realizing that connected all my births. It healed something I thought I had been over in my experience with Jonah. I did birth him. I went through the depths emotionally, though not necessarily physically. I realized I had carried some shame about how I almost had a panic attack with the spinal being inserted at Jonah’s birth. And with waking up all freaking out at Tabi’s birth. But those were my transition moments. It’s just what I do. I have to let go for a minute. And just let things happen. And just birth my babies.

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Birth photos credit: Lindsey Welch Photography

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Click HERE to learn more about the Community Birth Stories Project or to submit your own birth story.

Community Birth Story: Charlotte Elise

Community Birth Story: Charlotte Elise

As told by April:
This is the story of my homebirth after two cesareans. The reason for my first cesarean was “suspected big baby” at 39 weeks after my OB told me that he could “induce and you can labor for 24 hours and end up with a cesarean anyway or just have a cesarean.” After my cesarean, he informed me that I had made the right call because “no baby bigger than 6 pounds will ever go through you.” The reason for my second cesarean was reaching 42 weeks with no signs of labor and an unfavorable Bishop score for induction. She ended up in the NICU despite being a 42 week baby and we both said we were never doing that again. In fact, for many months, my husband Stephen wanted to be done having children altogether.

Fast forward to right before my second daughter’s second birthday, I got my big fat positive. Although we had been talking homebirth and planning it, the second I saw that second line, I admit to having second thoughts. I just didn’t believe I could do it. After all, my body just doesn’t work. It doesn’t go into labor.

My pregnancy was mostly uneventful and yet full of one God thing after another. We had a limited ultrasound around 22 weeks to determine the placenta’s location. I was so anxious for this ultrasound as the placenta’s location could very well determine whether or not I could have this baby at home. I went to the ultrasound by myself and just prayed the whole way there for peace and wonderful results. I asked the tech to check the location first as I really didn’t care about anything else. And my placenta was as far away from my scar as it almost possibly could be. What a huge relief and what an answer to prayer. I also managed to remain firm in my resolve not to find out the sex of the baby although I was positively convinced that I was having a boy.

I kind of suspected (although I was really hoping that I was wrong) that I would go post dates. 40 week appointment came and went. 41 week appointment came and went. 42 week appointment came and went. It’s hard to believe how long 2 weeks can be, but those last couple of weeks were longer than the entire pregnancy. I could just feel my baby getting bigger and my doubt growing. My body was meant to do this. Except maybe it wasn’t. Maybe my body is in the 3% of women that actually need a cesarean. The constant questions of “Aren’t you afraid of what might happen to your baby?” and “When are THEY going to induce you?” and “When does this get dangerous?” wore on me and I just wanted to be done. At my 42 week appointment, I asked to be checked. I was so convinced that this was never going to end and that my body wasn’t working and I just needed encouragement. 3-4 cm?! I had never been that dilated before! I asked to do a membrane stretch and sweep. My midwife gave me some castor oil to take home. And then I waited. Nothing still.

I kept feeling like maybe my baby just needed a little kick in the rear to get out of there and I had really really hoped that the membrane sweep would have done it. But no. Stubborn little one remained firm. I decided to take 1/2 ounce of castor oil (which is 1/4 of the recommended dose) and then take a nap. Most lovely nap followed by the most rude awakening.

Labor hit me like a truck (or that’s what it felt like). From the time I woke up to a contraction to when I started pushing, my contractions were 60 seconds long and 60 seconds apart. There was no early labor for me, it was just hard. I texted my mom to come pick up my older two girls (we had initially planned for them to stay with me but my instincts told me that they needed to go) and texted Nannette that I thought I was in labor. She told me that she would come in an hour because “sometimes castor oil can cause false labor.” I remember thinking that there was NO way this was false labor and that she better get there sooner than an hour. Stephen asked if he should fill the tub and I said “no, it’s not time yet.” He, being the man that he is, got right on that and started filling the tub. Nannette checked me soon after she got there and I was already at 7cm. She showed Stephen how to do the hip squeeze and instantly labor got more bearable. I got into the pool on my hands and knees and although slightly better, I still felt so out of control. I started praying for control and asking Nannette and Stephen to pray out loud. The pain didn’t go away, but the peace was there. Grace, our birth assistant, came in sometime during this time and was a rockstar. There’s a reason she’s such a fabulous doula. She got right in my ear and just talked me through it.

And then all of a sudden, I HAD to push. I’ve never ever felt a sensation quite like that. I remember looking at the clock and thinking “It’s only 9pm! It’s only been 5.5 hours There’s no way it’s time for me to push!” and telling Nannette that it was too soon. And that I couldn’t do it. She told me, “but you already are! You are already past the point!” I reached down and felt the baby’s head RIGHT there. Sack still intact. I tried to break it thinking that it would help things be over sooner. No dice. It was strong! But feeling the baby’s hair beneath that strong sac. I will never ever forget that. Nannette moved away to do something and Stephen got behind me to rub my back and then my water broke in the water. Stephen sounding a bit stunned told me, “Um, I think that was your water.”

And then the head was out. We rushed to get out of the pool as it wasn’t done filling (try getting out of a tub with a head between your legs) and I put my hands on the side of the bed and out came the baby. I pulled baby up to me. And then looked to find a penis. Except there was no penis. Holy moly, we have a third girl! She was so slippery and slimy and yet so delicious and amazing and beautiful. I was in so much shock that I had actually done it. She latched on right away and we just laid skin to skin and I stared at this amazing amazing new baby. I couldn’t believe how much I loved her. I couldn’t believe that I had done it. That my body DOES labor. That it DOES birth. This amazing new BIG baby. Grace weighed her and as I saw her strain to pull her into the air in the scale, I knew she was big. And then this: “Ten pounds, fourteen ounces.” My first labor, about 5.5 hours long, and out came an almost eleven pound baby girl: Charlotte Elise.

I did end up transferring to the hospital to be treated for blood loss and a tear caused by Charlotte’s hand being by her head when she came out, a decision that I do not regret one bit. We were home in less than twenty four hours and then Stephen kept me in bed for over a week while he cooked and cleaned and took care of our older two girls. The recovery was an absolute breeze compared to the surgeries with the girls.
It’s weird to me that so much of my labor felt like a blur. I don’t remember how badly it hurt but I do remember Nannette reading a Bible verse out loud to me from the cards I had on the dresser. I don’t remember how much I wanted it to be over, but I do remember Grace telling me “You wouldn’t let your girls say I can’t, so I’m not going to let you say it!” after I kept saying over and over again “I can’t do this.” I cannot thank Nannette enough for giving me a chance when no one else would. I gained an amazing friend in her through my pregnancy and birth. And in her words, “a part of me that I didn’t even know was broken became unbroken when I did this.”

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Click HERE to learn more about the Community Birth Stories Project or to submit your own birth story.

Community Birth Story: Elowen Ada

Community Birth Story: Elowen Ada

The HBAHBC of Elowen Ada Goerner (aka Sea Dragon)

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As told by Megan:

This story has to start with the hatching of our first daughter, Loki. As much as we wanted a homebirth for her (and us), it was not to be. She entered the world on March 30, 2011 via a cesarean after transferring to a hospital. She was trapped in the special care nursery for 7 days and then I had to return for an additional 5 days for IV antibiotics. It was a long healing process for all. So this experience played a rather large role when deciding future births.

Fast forward 3 years…

Sea Dragon’s labor started during our last Bradley class on Friday, April 4th. We had been lazily timing the contractions and they were about 5 minutes apart and 2 minutes long, but very easy to function through. I would punch Dan in the leg to let him know when another one started. We let our midwife, Nannette, and our doula/birth assistant, Grace, know what was happening. Dan was convinced this was going to be “the night”. He ran around like a crazy man trying to get last minute things done. Loki (our 3 year old) took a nice bath with me. We went to bed and the contractions stopped by 2 am. This ended up being a good thing since my due date/have the same midwife buddy was in labor at the same time and did end up having her daughter on April 5th.

Contractions would come and go over the next 9 days, sometimes at regular intervals for a few hours and sometimes randomly. They were always different feeling, though, than Braxton Hicks. We just kept trying to get ready and keep our birth team up to date with anything new. The full moon was coming on the 15th, and most people were guessing this baby would come then. I was going with 4-14-14, because that is a much cooler date.

Dan was getting ready for work on Monday, April 14th, around 6:30 am. I went in to pee. I immediately felt different. I let Dan go to work (he had been working from home quite a bit for the last week “just in case”). The “different feeling” was much lower and more intense than any other contractions I had had up to that point. By 8 am, they were 10 minutes apart. I updated Grace and Nannette. Nannette was in Frederick for a home visit and Grace was about to head there for an appointment for her daughter. Did I mention Dan works in Frederick?

I called Dan to let him know that we were at 10 minutes apart. We decided that he would come home at lunch if things advanced at all. 20 minutes later, the contractions were now 5 minutes apart. I called Dan to tell him to come home. No answer! I put the dogs outside (where they stayed all day) and opened all of the windows (it was an amazing day). Loki woke up at some point and we ate breakfast together in the recliner watching Jake and the Never Land Pirates.

I finally got Dan on the phone. He was walking to his building. He turned around, sent a quick and blunt email to his work that he would not be in that day, and started the hour trip back home.

I told Nannette and Grace what was happening and Nannette decided she would come to our house from her home visit. Grace decided that her appointment would need to be cancelled when I couldn’t decide if it was really time or not (did I need to poop or birth a baby?). I texted my friend, Kim, to let her know that today was probably the day. (Kim was the amazing friend who was at the last few/many hours of our attempted homebirth of Loki. She drove us to the hospital in the middle of the night in her 2-door car. She may have been a bit traumatized after the last time. She didn’t make in time for this birth, but I think this experience did help heal her after Loki’s birth.) I also texted my friend, Roshontia (who would be Loki’s person during labor), that today could be the day. I attempted to write a message to the amazing women from my Mother Blessing that is was candle lighting time, but I didn’t quite get that far.

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Dan got home around 9 am. He knew as soon as he saw me that this time was different. He went to work getting all the last minute things done (like cleaning up after our horrible cats, getting the birth kit out, the table for the birth supplies, and things like that). I got my birth alter ready in the corner of the living room and also sat on the giant ball. I took a hot shower while Dan was running around. It felt awesome. It was nice to feel clean, too.

Grace arrived around 11. I was on the ball and my eyes started tearing as soon as I saw her. I was so relieved that it wasn’t just Dan, Loki, and me anymore. Someone who knew what they were doing!!!!!! Grace was a woman of action! She saw what had been done and what needed to be done. She got the birth supplies out of the bin and organized, got the pool ready in the living room, the bed ready, and I don’t even know what else. Oh, and most important of all- she was being there for me!

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Around 11:30, Nannette arrived. Grace had been making sure that I tried to go with the contractions, dropping my jaw and vocalizing. The pool started being filled with water. Nannette suggested a check in baby position and to pee on the way to the bed. I had a slightly bloody wipe after peeing (bye-bye mucus plug). I got on the bed and Nannette asked if she could do a check, and I said whatever she wanted (I knew that after Loki’s labor all of us were wondering how this labor would go). The baby’s position was perfect and I was at 9 cm! (Loki was not in a great position and got stuck during her labor.)

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We went back out the living room and got into the pool. It was still a little cool, but I think it helped to slow down labor just a tad for me to catch my breath. Loki got in the pool with me (what a shock that the water loving kid got in the pool!). We realized that we really needed someone for Loki at this point. She would tell me to be quiet and would touch my legs (which I did not want). We tried calling Roshontia again, but there was no answer (found out later that her phone was charging at her desk which she was away from). We (I mean Dan, Grace, and Nannette) started calling people that might be able to come over and that Loki would feel at least a little comfortable with. An amazing mom that we all know with 2 boys of her own that lives 15 minutes away whose husband just happened to be home that day was able to come over. Thank you so much Justine!!!

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We moved into the bedroom at some point (maybe around 12:30). Nannette and Grace took turns checking on Loki who was still in her fishy pool watching Jake and the pirates. I was leaning over the end of the bed. I know that my hips were getting squeezed during contractions and that I had totally been pushing (at least a little) during parts of the contractions. It felt better so it seemed like the thing to do. My water broke during this phase. I got Dan’s shoes wet this time instead of Nannette’s (Loki’s labor) and the fluid was clear (unlike with Loki)!!! I laid down on my side on the end of the bed for the next bit of time. Doing what I felt my body was telling me to do. I tried to do the horse lips thing but I just couldn’t. (At some point Justine arrived and I had my team of 3 plus me in our bedroom for the rest of labor.)

The next move was to the birth stool. The birth stool rocked. Dan had installed a shower safety bar in the living room for squatting (I squatted a lot during Loki’s labor and did not want to rely on Dan’s hands, especially when those hands could be doing something else), but it never got used. Nannette pushed our bed as far over as it could go so we would have more room (still ended up being only a 4 foot by 4 foot area in the corner of our room).

I have no idea how long I was on the birth stool. The contractions kept coming and I kept pushing. My voice was gone at this point. I wanted my eyes closed. I wanted to keep pressing/digging my nails into Dan’s arms. I did not want anyone to talk, especially Dan (no desire to hear how great I was doing). I was in my birthing zone. I remember Nannette asking if I wanted to see my baby’s head (No, because I wanted my eyes closed. I would have loved to but it just was not happening at that moment). Nannette asked if I wanted to touch my baby’s head (No, because I would have to let go of Dan). Dan says that I was much funnier with my responses. I will just have to take his word. I did eventually reach down to touch the head. So amazing! (I would have loved to touch the head more and actually see what was happening, but I also know that at the given moment in time it was not possible.) At 1:47, the head was out (the ring of fire that I had heard about was not what I felt, just intense pressure). At 1:48, the body flopped/was guided by Nannette to the chuck pads on the ground under me.

OH MY GOSH!!! I did it! WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I reached down to touch our second child. I told Dan that we had another daughter (maybe they saw first but everyone let me find out on my own). I was so beyond amazed. Nannette helped me pick her up and put her on my chest while I was still on the stool. I was holding my slippery little bloody baby that was still attached to me. I was helped to the bed and laid down. Daughter #2 wanted her nipple and made sure that we all knew it. She stayed there, awake, for at least 2 hours.

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There was a bit of blood and I was told that I had torn when Sea Dragon made her entrance. My placenta came out at 2:05. It was clamped and Dan cut it. Nannette did a neat little placenta tour for us. Nannette then went to work putting 5 stitches in to fix my speed flap.

Dan and I had not decided on a girl name at this point (we knew the middle name, look up Ada Lovelace). He didn’t like any on my list and hadn’t suggested many alternatives. I had two names I really liked and I asked him when we both super emotional how Elowen Ada sounded. He said he loved it. Post birth baby bliss is a great time to get a name you want.

Elowen measured in at 9 pounds 6 ounces, 23 inches long, and had a 14 inch head. Take that Dr. You Can’t Birth Babies Through Your Vagina!!! (The surgeon that performed my cesarean three years earlier gave the reason for needing it being that the baby didn’t fit through the birth canal; Loki was 8 pounds 3 ounces.)

My mom was the first person I made Dan call. She was in upstate New York, watching my sister’s two daughters (yeah, super timing). She had been calling three times a day to check in. She did call that morning and I told her that it was more of the same (I didn’t know it was really the day yet). She was so shocked when Dan told her she had another granddaughter!

Elowen’s birth was so different from Loki’s birth. It came on strong and fast. There was no time to prepare, no build up. It was a little overwhelming at times, but I never felt like I couldn’t do it, especially knowing that Nannette and Grace were there. It was such an empowering and healing experience. I can’t even say how much it means to me to have been able to have those two amazing women at both of my labors and almost both of my births. I am more grateful than I can say (to Nannette, to Grace, to Dan, to Justine, and to my own body & mind).

(Read Elowen’s big sister’s birth story here)

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