All week long we had joked that we wanted the NFC championship to have the same labor inducing powers as another sports related event that led to Anna's birth. Then we realized a loss by my team caused that last event and we didn't want the 49ers to lose so the joke ended. Until..... he fumbled. Our team lost which meant no Superbowl....
We were sad and mad and I was just upset enough that I was going to start cleaning up toys etc to get my mind off the loss. As soon as I stood up on my new mission, my water broke!! This did not happen in my previous pregnancies so I was bit in shock. I went to the bathroom and we decided I should try to rest because it could be a long night ahead of us (this was 7:30) but I could not rest. I started to feel a little shaky as adrenaline was kicking in big time. Steve put the girls to bed and we tried to prepare them that baby sister was on her way but they had no idea. As contractions were coming, I watched a couple episodes of Louie on my phone and listened to some Franciscan Friars of the Renewal to try to relax.
I called the midwives around 9:30 to tell them contractions were getting stronger and they both came by 11:30 and my mom came too. The next two hours were very intense with few breaks. Steve was an awesome coach and helped me so much. I debated for a bit about having a check but I thought I really needed to hear a number to assess how much longer I had. I was at 6cm but I can't remember the station. I decided a shower would be good and it was. I got on knees in bath and rocked. I think I was in there for about 15 minutes and only felt 2 contractions, it was a nice break for both of us. After the shower, there was no where I could get comfortable. I tried on my side in the bed and on the toilet and leaning on the end of bed. Nothing felt good. I tried to lay in bed again but it was not good. Midwife brought in the birth stool at the end of the bed and it seemed like it took forever to walk the few steps to the stool. As I sat on it, I did feel some relief but still stood up and walked a little. When I sat down the second time, I told myself I just had to try and push to see what would happen. What happened was extreme pain as the head emerged. I think everyone was very surprised. Steve said the midwife started to scramble for gloves. Two more pushes and our sweet angel was out and beautiful at 1:39 AM. The relief was immediate which always amazes me. We had a lot of time just to hold her and look at her versus when they whisk them away in the hospital.
We are so happy to have a homebirth. Everything happened just as we had hoped. Recovery has been amazing, so relieved to not have been in a hospital. The midwives were great and I was so glad my mom was able to help too!
Here are the pics:
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| A few minutes old |
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| Five hours old, in the daylight |
