Zoeyanne's birth

I had the most wonderful home birth. I still find myself smiling when I think of the beautiful way Zoeyanne made her entrance into the world. On January 4, I saw my midwife Kaye Bullock at 11 for my weekly appointment. I told her I had had a bloody show that morning and different kind of contractions since the previous afternoon. She checked me at 3 centimeters and 80-90% effaced (I was 2.5 and 20% the week before). She said she guessed I’d go into labor that night. That both excited me and made me a bit nervous. I was so ready to have the baby but it seemed like it would never actually happen. I tried to reserve my feelings in case it was an uneventful night. By about 2:00, I started timing my contractions. They were about every 6 – 9 minutes. I decided to bake some banana nut bread with the collection of over ripe bananas I had on my counter. My whole pregnancy I kept saying I wanted my labor to be slow to start so I could enjoy it and bake cookies. So I was getting what I wished for, even though I was still unsure if it was really labor. Eventually I was timing the contractions to be about every 4 – 8 minutes apart. After eating Chili’s take out for dinner, I took a dip in our spool with Dan and Riley. We watched half a movie which made my contractions slow down enough I thought I might be able to go to bed or get in a nap. We picked up the house before laying down which made the contractions closer. One contraction laying in bed and I was up. They were getting stronger, but remained sporadic. At 10:00 my parents arrived, at 10:30 Kim, our doula arrived and at about 11:00, Lani, our birth photographer arrived. By then I was needing to concentrate more through out the contractions and eventually I needed to lean on Dan while Kim put pressure on my back. I felt all my pain in my lower back, even though the baby was in the perfect position. I felt really hungry and Dan made me a banana smoothie and buttered toast. I was nervous to eat because I didn’t want to throw up, but I definitely needed the energy. Kaye, my midwife arrived at 1:00 and around 2:00 she checked me. I was a four which she painfully stretched to a five. I tried to not be disappointed by the five but began thinking of the many hours I had ahead of me. Contractions became stronger and besides the back pressure and leaning on Dan, I was a big fan of holding fine tooth hair combs tightly in my palms (an acupressure point). Although the contractions were extremely painful, I was getting breaks in between which was wonderful. With Riley, I was hooked up to pitocen and only allowed to lay on one side in a hospital bed while my contractions came one after another without breaks. So I felt this was awesome but I was still nervous about the hours to come and what they might bring. One of my biggest fears going into labor was not getting breaks in between contractions. About 2:15 Kim suggested I take a shower and that sounded like a fantastic idea. Dan got into his shorts and I stripped down into nothing but an attractive pink shower cap. The water felt amazing as I leaned on Dan. I really tried to relax my whole body during the contractions and I felt I was able to in a way I hadn’t been able to before. I remember whimpering to Dan that the contractions were starting to be on top of each other and I wasn’t getting a break. I prayed to God to give me strength to get through the constant contractions which I imagined lasting forever. I felt a real downward movement inside my body, as I was able to relax more then before. Dan suggested we get out of the shower which I thought was a horrible idea and that he was just tired of it. He tells me now that he was concerned about my noises changing into grunting. Kim was just outside the shower and I remember Dan wiping the steam from the glass and giving her a look. After about 3 contractions in the shower (things changed immediately upon going in the shower), I pushed and felt the baby’s head crowning at the same time as my water broke with a gush. By this time Kaye had the shower door open and put her hand under mine. I looked at her and said what do I do? Thinking quickly in my mind that we should draw a bath so I can birth her in the tub (….right). She said with a really calm voice that I was fine and to stay right where I was. I pushed with the next contraction and out came her head. Dan was helping me to support myself as I stood with my legs bent and pushed out the rest of her body at 2:34 a.m. Lani got a terrific shot of me naked, with my pink shower cap and my eyes and mouth open wide with my hands birthing the baby. Watching my baby being born right into my hands so suddenly and unexpected was amazing. I looked up at everyone thinking I had passed out and this was all a dream. I remember kissing Kaye’s hand. The umbilical cord was too short to stand up, so they gave me the birth ball to sit on for a bit. They laid out towels and chucks pads on the floor for me and then helped me out of the shower to lie down. Dan cut the cord after it stopped pulsating. I lay on the floor holding my daughter for a while until she was handed off to Dan. I was pushing for the placenta but it was slow to come. I got back in the shower and delivered it into my hands about an hour and a half after the birth. It actually took about 20 minutes where it was half out to when it was completely out, much longer then it took the baby. After getting cleaned up, I laid in my bed while Zoeyanne was measured and weighed right in front of me. She was perfect, a 10/10. I had a couple “skid marks.” Basically like stretch marks that happened so fast they were raw. I could have had a couple stitches but opted against it and committed to staying in bed for a week, which I’ve actually done really well since Dan has taken such great care of me. Everyone left about 6 in the morning and Dan and I curled up with our daughter in our own bed and got some sleep. Every day has felt like Christmas morning as I look at my perfect baby and think of what a great birth story she has. Big brother Riley has adjusted beautifully so far and loves his little sister.