Jonathan Matthew Halverson
Birth Story for Jonathan Matthew Halverson
May 20, 1995 (EDD May 22, 1995)
7 lbs. 12 ozs., 21"
As some of you know, we had been planning for a home birth with this,
our second child. All I can say is it sure is a good thing we planned it that way, because this baby was
going to be born at home no matter what. Saturday night, around 9:10 pm, my water broke. We have
officially counted this as the beginning of my labor, making for an approximate 2 hour total, but I
was not yet having contractions. I spoke with the on-call midwife, Marcia, and we
discussed how things might go, and what we could do if contractions hadn't started by morning (test
to be sure it really had been my water breaking, and try castor oil). I phoned our nanny, Diana, to
give her the heads up, and she elected to sleep at home till things picked up. I also phoned the birth
assistant, Norma, to let her know, but she was out, so I left a message. Peter and I spent a few
minutes getting ready, in case contractions started during the night. We put the waterproof mattress
cover and the spare sheet on the bed, did a load of laundry and turned in to try and get some sleep.
Around 10pm, Norma called back, and I told her I still wasn't really having any
contractions, maybe a few small cramps. Just after getting off the phone, I felt the need to empty my
bowels. For the next 45 minutes or so that is what I did. At first I laid on the bed to try and rest
between trips to the bathroom, but then I just stayed there after a while. About 10:45 I had some
( 3 or 4) very short (20 seconds), very hard, close together contractions, and called Peter in to help
me handle them. I figured once we got things organized, I would call the midwife back and let her
know that things were starting. After another contraction I felt the need to empty my
bowels again, but this time I felt burning in my perinium and told Peter I thought the baby was
coming NOW. Peter called the midwife and she called the Birth assistant and had her head right
over. Luckily, Norma only lives about 10-15 minutes away (normal driving speed). In addition,
Marcia called one of the back-up midwives who was about 1/2 an hour closer than she was and had
her come over also. Peter also called Diana and asked her to head over, in case Christopher woke
up (he ended up sleeping through the whole thing). Meantime, I got in the shower,
hoping that the warm water would slow things down a little. Peter was on the cordless phone with
Marcia, (Thank Goodness for that cordless phone), who recommended that I lay down to relieve
some of the pressure. A few minutes later, Norma arrived and 10 minutes after that Jonathan
Matthew made his appearance. He came with a hand up by his face, but it didn't cause any problems,
I didn't even have a tear. Diana hit the top of the stairs as Jonathan was crowning, and the midwife
arrived about 20 minutes later. I still haven't really processed what happened. After having
a 24 hour labor with Christopher, I had mentally prepared for a fairly long-haul trip this time too.
(I was hoping for something around 10 hours or less). This was such a whirlwind, It seemed like
from water breaking to the time the midwife and birth assistant left was just minutes. (actually 4 1/2
hours). I really am glad we had planned this as a home birth. This way, we had all the supplies on
hand (most of which we didn't get a chance to use), and we had a team of people already prepared
to come to the house and help. If Peter had had to call 911 1/2 hour before the baby arrived, he
would likely have been delivering me himself. So while I may not be able to provide too many tips
for how to handle a home labor/birth, I certainly am even more of an advocate for them now. Mom,
Dad and baby came through with flying colors.