Jacob Michael's Birth
STATS:
Jacob Michael (aka Jake)
8lbs, 5 oz, approx. 20.5 to 21 inches
apgars, 9 and 10
born at home at 1:53 am on Monday, December 30
(just in time for the IRS)
full head of dark hair and dark complexion and beautiful
(literally the exact opposite coloring of Amy)
STORY (times may be a bit off, but this is basically how it went):
Pre-labor started Friday afternoon, but was very mild and sporadic.
Contractions were about 30 to 60 minutes apart. They felt
different than Braxton Hicks, a little more like menstrual cramps
yet somehow rythmic, which is what I first felt with Amy. Slept
pretty well but was still having contractions when I woke to pee
about every hour.
Contractions were a teeny bit stronger all day Saturday and about
30 to 45 minutes apart, with a few clusters of 15 to 20 minutes
apart. Bedtime came, and they were still pretty slow, so I tried to
sleep and did the same as Friday night -- woke to pee about every
hour and was contracting at those times (maybe even in my sleep?
It seems like a couple times I rolled over and sort of half-woke
and felt something). I did get one three hour stretch of sleep.
On Sunday they started out the same as Saturday but started to
build gradually in intensity but slowed way down when my sis and
b-i-l came over so dh and b-i-l could do some more work on our
downstairs bathroom. Later on that evening they picked back up
again to the point where I had to stop and lean forward and rock
back and forth.
I called the midwife and let her know what was going on around
7-8:00 after eating a little Basmati rice and stir fry. She
suggested some valerian and skullcap, which would relax all the
other muscles in my body and help me sleep if I was not yet ready
for hard labor, but if hard labor was starting it would relax the
other muscles so that the uterus could work better. I made a cup of
valerian tea with about 5 or 6 drops of skullcap tincture and 10
drops of St. John's Wort (I don't know why I added that; just
intuition I guess). About ten minutes after drinking it there was a
definite shift.
Things moved along still pretty gradually until around 10:00 or
10:30 I really had to stop and breath through each contraction, and
they were between 10 and 15 minutes apart and felt very
productive. By 11:00 they were 10 minutes or less apart, and I had
to stop and moan for each one. Amy was a little freaked out and
very tired. Dave explained to her that the noises I was making was
'how mamas tell their babies to come out.' She wanted me to hold
her, which was impossible, so Dave took her upstairs, read her a
book, and she fell asleep in about 10 or 15 min. (For the last couple
of days I had warned her that there would be one night when she
would not be able to nurse, and she volunteered 'not to cry for
the mama.' We reminded her of that a lot, and she agreed and went
right to bed with Dave.)
We had started to fill the tub, but I quickly realized there would not
be time, so Dave started draining it, so I would have room to move
around the living room if I wanted. I found getting on all fours and
doing pelvic tilts seemed to help the most to deal with the
contractions that I was feeling both in front and back, and
low-pitched moans were practically involuntary. (Anyone who is
tells a laboring woman to be quiet is absolutely insane!!). Also, I had
to pee after every contraction, which were varying between 7 and
10 minutes. (We didn't really 'time' them, just glanced at the clock
if we thought about it...)
We had called the midwife at some point, and she arrived between
12:00 and 12:30. By then I was having contractions pretty close
together and was leaking amniotic fluid very slowly. The
contractions were coming in twos -- one big one followed almost
immediately by a little bit smaller one with a rest. At some point
around then I started vomiting (lost my dinner). So after each
contraction I either had to vomit or pee ... the midwife helped
switch the bowls each time I threw up, so Dave could stay with me,
b/c I needed counter-pressure on my back. I was still on all fours
trying to do pelvic tilts, but I was now on the bed in the guest room.
It helped when Dave moaned with me, and later he told me he was
leaning against the wall that's about 1.5 feet from the foot of the
bed for leverage and imagining that he weighed 4,000 lbs. It helped
immensely. The one or two times he left the room for the bathroom
or something and the midwife did it, it was not nearly as effective,
although way better than no help. [So fellas have confidence that
you can do whatever your wife needs better than anyone!]
After a while I started thinking about all the epidural threads
on-line. I guess that was the start of transition. A few
contractions later it felt bad to be on all fours, so I turned around
and leaned on Dave, who was standing at the foot of the bed, while
I was on my knees, sort of doing the splits, still with pressure on
my back (Dave leaned over somehow). Then I felt that the baby was
really moving through the pelvis and sort of freaked out for a
split-second, b/c I knew I needed to change positions to push, but I
couldn't articulate what I needed, except that I needed "help!" [to
get up].
I ended up standing in a semi-squat and hanging on to the dresser,
while Dave got in position to catch the baby. I remember thinking
I felt like I was going to split in half, and that the baby was
descending very quickly. I reached down to check, and felt a bunch
of wet hair 'peek' out and go back in. I decided to support my
bottom myself (we had asked the midwife not touch anything unles
she saw a bad tear was imminent or something weird like that,
partly b/c I'm very allergic to laytex and partly b/c we wanted me
or Dave to catch the baby). So I supported the sides while Dave
supported my perineum with a little coaching from the midwife
who assured us everything looked perfect. I panted through one
contraction since I felt burning, but the urge was so great the head
was born in about three contractions, and I stopped so they could
check for a cord (though I had felt it presenting first but scalp
color was "great" according to the midwife who later said it was
not the cord, but a wrinkle in the scalp), but without me pushing, he
shot out like a bullet, skidded on the floor, bumped into the dresser,
did a flip and landed facing me. The cord was broken, so the
midwife clamped him right away and Dave picked him up and handed
him to me. He was already pink and crying. All in all I only pushed
for 10 minutes TOPS.
Later on, upon examination, the midwife said that the cord was
pretty short (about 17 inches), and it looked like maybe it had been
drawn so tight or been pinched so that it sort of clamped itself
before it broke, and there appeared to be no blood loss from either
end. His coloring was great from the first second, and his
heart-tones were fine during labor and pushing (she checked several
times, although only once during pushing b/c it only lasted about 5
or 10 minutes, tops), the waters were crystal clear and his scalp
was pink during crowning. I guess he'll be a pretty indpendent guy,
since he cut his own cord and 'caught' himself!
No dialation checks, very little blood loss, no tears, no skidmarks,
almost no swelling, no oil or perineal massage used and no peri-
bottle required!! Amy woke up at 5:00, and for the most part really
likes him. She's always asking "hey, where's the baby?" Of course
when she's tired and wants to nurse, she sometimes wants him to
leave or 'move his toes' (that are by the boob that he's not nursing
on).
The only downside is after-birth pains. Motherwort tincture helps,
and the midwife left me some combo tincture with crampbark and
motherwort and a few other herbs, but I think I like plain
motherwort better. But my uterus is very hard and lowering
extra-fast (which is good; it's regaining it's shape more quickly
than normal), so I guess it's a good thing. And they
seem to be a little bit better today.
Breastfeeding is going great -- he peed four times the first day and
pooped four times the first two days. He nursed about 5 or 10
minutes after the birth, and has been nursing about every 15 to 60
minutes since then with a few two hour breaks and one four hour
break the first night (not the night he was born, the following night).
My milk has already come in (last night right around the New
Year) , and he's sleeping a little better since then, although he
doesn't really like to nurse lying down much, so I spend a lot of
time in the glider rocker or the rocking recliner (<-- if you're going
to spend $300 on a glider rocker forget it -- invest in a nice rocker
recliner instead!!!) He sometimes takes a while to latch-on, and I've
found that if I tickle or stroke his lips starting under the nose and
work my down to his chin he opens wider. Although since the milk
came in he seems more eager (if that's possible) and opens wider
and much more quickly. It's either the milk or practice.
All in all a very wonderful birth and most definitely a very
wonderful baby!!
Colette (mom to Amy, a beautiful homebirthed 2 year old)
(and 2.5 day old Jake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)