As I hold my two week old baby, I am not sure where to
begin, but I know that I need to, before all the memories fade ( as I know some
already have). Actually after this birth
I am convinced that women should write several birth stories. They should write
one the day of ( as if we have time for that) and then one at a week and then 2
weeks and then maybe at 6 months because I feel like each day that passes I
process it differently and I am able to have a new perspective. Overall isn't
that what birth is all about helping to change and transition us into mothers,
each day we continue to have a new perspective and insight into motherhood.
Westin's birth story
starts on April 24th, I was 37w1d and it also happened to be his dad's birthday
and the day his dad said he would be born! I woke up at 3am to contractions but
was eventually able to go back to sleep, when I woke up in the morning they
were still there but hadn't changed. I went about my morning and noticed that
they didn't increase but didn't change. I decided to call my midwife to give
her a heads up and she decided to come over and listen to the baby. All was
well and she felt like this was it. I decided to rest all afternoon and gear up
for a baby that night, but the contractions never geared up and the following
morning I woke up with no baby.
For the
next 3 weeks the contractions would come and go. They would start in the
evening around 5 or 6 and last till I fell asleep. They would still be there
when I woke up and would last until mid morning and then I would get the
afternoon off before they started again. We had a couple nights that they
revved up and had us thinking once again this was it but I always seemed to
fall asleep and wake up to no baby. I
tried walking, we had sex, I visited my chiropractor. I explored the idea of
homeopathy but ultimately I knew that this baby was going to come when he
wanted to. The hardest part was the mental exhaustion, I worried I wouldn't
recognize true labor and that my midwife wouldn't make it in time. I had lots
of self doubt that my body would never kick into real labor. There were lots of
days that I really was frustrated with my body and just really exhausted, I was
tired of questioning each contraction and whether or not this was it.
My due date
(May 14th) and luckily I had been pretty tight lipped about the date,
mostly just telling people the baby would arrive sometime in May, because
seriously how many babies arrive on their dates? I really think we should just
provide a range. On his due date I felt extremely exhausted. I laid on the
couch all day and just let my son Emmett watch movies, finally I called my
husband Neal and asked him to come home early because I just had no energy to
do anything. I kept thinking this must be it, my body is resting before it
starts labor tonight but no such luck, I woke the following morning once again
with no baby! It is Tuesday May 15th exactly 3 weeks from when my Prodromal
Labor started. I had a midwife appointment that day and I finally felt a
clarity of mind. I remember telling my midwife that I trusted my body and I
knew that it would kick into gear at some point and that I had survived this
Prodromal labor for 3 weeks, what was another 2? I knew this baby was going to
arrive by 42 weeks so I could survive another 2 weeks. I definitely still
worried if my Midwife Rebecca would show up in time and I had slight fears
about the baby not showing by 42 weeks but overall I had resolved myself that
my body would figure it out.
That afternoon
I found some energy and decided to take my son to the beach. We also took one
of his friends, who lives about 3 blocks from the beach, so I put both kids
into the wagon and walked them to the beach. I must have been quite the site,
pulling a 2 yo and a 4 yo in a wagon and being 9 months pregnant! One guy did
stop me and say "wow you have your hands full"! But overall the walk
and getting out felt great compared to my lack of energy the day before! I
started having contractions again at the beach but what was new? I was used to
this and just ignored them. We had a great time at the beach and then headed
home for a bath and dinner. The contractions stayed but honestly felt no
different from any other night so I ignored them. My husband had been wanting
to go to the movies and honestly I think just needed a night off, the Prodromal
labor had been a lot on him too, but he had been keeping everything together
for me, which I really appreciated! After about a week of saying he was going
to go to the movies by himself, his friend finally texted him and asked if he
wanted to go. So after he put our son to bed he headed off to a 9:40 movie.
I
decided to go in and go straight to bed, knowing he wouldn't be happy if he
came home to me not asleep, he was always worried I wasn't getting enough sleep.
I laid down and noticed the contractions and wondered if tonight might be the
night, but then again I had asked myself that for the last 3 weeks. By about
10:30 I noticed they were stronger. One thing I learned from this prodromal
labor is that the frequency didn't matter. When they got so strong that I
couldn't lay down then that's when it was the real deal. During the past 3
weeks I was always able to lay down through them, some I had to breath through
or move my legs but I could lay down. At 10:30 I really didn't want to lay
down, so I walked around for a couple and then forced my self to lay down, but
half way through the 1st one I had to get up, this was the real deal! But I
still was hesitant to call anyone. I think by 11 I decided to call my midwife, I could still
talk through them but I couldn't lay down. She started to pack up and said she
would call before she left to make sure they were still coming strong. I then
frantically started searching online to see how long the movie was that my
husband was at, I really didn't want him to have to leave in the middle, I
could stick it out till the movie was over, but come to find out it is a 2 hour
and 40 minute movie! He wouldn't be done till at least 12:20 and then another
15 minutes to get home. All the exact timing is pretty hazy but I remember
willing myself in 15 minute increments to wait on calling him. I finally called
my midwife back at 11:30, I couldn't wait for her to call me back. I told her
if this isn't labor I was checking myself into the local hospital in the
morning to get induced!! She knew this was it and was on her way. I got my
birth ball and lit a candle and dimmed the lighs and turned on my favorite
birth song and just soaked in the quiet moments by myself, knowing how special
this quiet time was and secretly grateful that my husband was at the movies and
at the same time so desperate for him to come home.
In
between contractions I typed him a very unalarming text message that he didn't
need to leave the movie early but that things were progressing and he needed to
leave as soon as it was over. I kept willing myself to wait until 12:20 when I
thought the movie was ending but finally at 12:15 I couldn't wait anymore and
decided to send the text. He wrote right back and said they were on their way,
I had timed it just right and the movie had ended right as I sent the text. He
then wrote and asked if I called Rebecca(our midwife)? I wrote back and told
him that she was on her way. He told me later that he knew then that this was
game on!
Neal got home around 12:45
and we kicked into high gear getting the house set up. Rebecca showed up around
1 am. My in-laws showed up around 1:30 to pick up Emmett. I knew he would wake
up if we kept him home and I knew that he wouldn't be happy to see mommy in
pain so we sent him off with my father-in-law. My MIL Kaye stayed to watch the
birth and my SIL Shelly showed up around 2am to film the birth. I have always
regretted not having the entire labor and birth recorded from Emmett's birth.
With everything in place I was able to really focus on the labor. With Emmett's
birth I had been really focused and really private, I didn't want anyone's
help. This time around I really wanted to include Neal more and really rely on
him and his strength. The labor could not have gone better in this regard, I
loved really relying on my Husband and his strength and his support, he rubbed
my back when I needed him too, he got me water when I needed it and held me
when I just needed a reassuring hug that I could really do this.
The
labor was really uneventful. I labored on the edge of my bed and then got in
the tub. Oh the water felt so good! I didn't want to leave. At about 4am I felt
something warm and told my midwife that I thought my water had broken, there
was a little bit of vernix in the water so we thought it had broken. At about
4:30am my body started to naturally push and I really tried to open my vocal
cords so that my bottom would open, it felt good to do that. After a while I
checked myself to see if I could feel the baby but he still seemed pretty high
up. My midwife then suggested I get out and try to go to the bathroom. I really
needed to pee but didn't want to get out, but agreed anyway. When I got out my
legs were so weak that there was no way I could make it to the bathroom. I
started crawling around and then just peed right on the floor onto a pad, yup I
did! I was then able to crawl into my room and leaned up against the bed in a
squatting position but the pushing became unbearable, yes extremely painful
that I started resisting it, I knew I was close because I kept saying " I
can't do this Anymore" but I still didn't feel like my baby was low enough
yet. I felt the urge to push but I didn't feel a baby. After a while with no
progress my midwife coaxed me to the toilet so that we could try and get the
baby to descend. I managed a few contractions on the toilet and then wanted
off. She then suggested the bed, so that she could also check me and verify I
was 10 cm and that a cervical lip wasn't holding things up. Like I said earlier
laboring on the bed is beyond unmanageable my whole body wants to shoot out of
bed, but I managed to lay there and let her check me. I was complete, with no
lip but the baby was still high ( my first son was too at this stage, I guess
my babies just stay high until I shove them out.) I rolled over onto my side
and then I seemed to get a break, everything stopped and I rested. My midwife
kept encouraging me to roll over and off the bed so I could try squatting again
but I just ignored he,r there was a break and I was taking it, I just laid
there completely still and then a contraction hit and I agreed to roll over and
off the bed.
This
time while squatting I finally felt a baby coming down and the amazing pain
that comes with it. Yes I said pain. For me the pushing stage is the most
painful and intense thing I have ever experienced. I hate pushing, it doesn't
feel good at all, it feels like my bottom is going to rip in two and I fight
that urge which I know makes it worse. After my first son was born I was told
pushing got easier, yea that wasn't my experience, it was harder the second
time around. After pushing for a few minutes in the squatted position there was
a big pop from my water breaking (guess it didn't break earlier) and then I
finally felt the best and the worst feeling the head coming out and then the
ring of fire, in which I screamed " oh there is the ring of fire!!"
which my husband thinks is hilarious and is so grateful I have it on film! ( I
didn't have the ring of fire with my first son, his head came out in one pop!)
then the body started to come but I really had to push to get his shoulders out
as well, after his shoulders came the rest of him just fell out, literally
(Later I asked the midwife who caught him, her comment "it was a floor
assist" he came out so fast that she caught his head but his little body
flopped onto the floor, Don't worry I was only an inch from the ground). This
is the part where I say I reached down and pulled him up but I seriously just
climbed Mt. Everest and I needed a moment to compose myself before I looked out
over the mountain. After a second I reached down and grabbed him, my sweet boy,
the cord was around his neck so my midwife had to unwrap it before I could pull
him all the way up.
While I
was kneeling on my bedroom floor holding him, I could hear a lot going on
behind me with the midwives and Neal and after about a minute my midwife told
me to push again and with one little push, out came my placenta, which was
extremely fast, it turns out right before he was born I had a placental
abruption which can be a very serious complication, but thankfully in our case,
there were no adverse affects. Once the placenta was out they got me on the bed
so they could focus on the bleeding, luckily after one shot of pitocin the
bleeding slowed. I started to check out my son and his head and face were
completely purple but the rest of his body had pinked up. Turns out he was
stuck in the birth canal and his whole face was bruised. Poor little guy. About
two hours after we got cleaned up we weighed him, this little boy wasn't so little.
He was 9 lbs. 2 oz and 21 inches long. Sweet little Westin Lee was born at home
at 5:53am on May 16th, 2012.
In the
hours and days following his birth I truly didn't want to have anymore kids, I
didn't want to ever push a baby out again. So often in the natural birth
community I feel like we talk about birth as intense or other terms but refuse
to use the word painful and I know that for many women birth isn't painful. I
actually really enjoy the labor part, it is intense but managed but pushing,
both times I really seem to loose it at the end. Kicking and screaming and
begging everyone to let me quit, really hoping someone will offer to take me to
the hospital for a c-section, forget the epidural I am past that stage, but at
the very end I do it, with my husband and my midwife cheering me on, but I do
it. For me the importance of natural birth or the sacredness doesn't happen right
in the moment of giving birh I am too focused on completing the task at hand
(or hoping someone will let me tap out from the task at hand). It is those
quiet moments when I am nursing my baby weeks after the birth and I realize
that I have done it, I have climbed the highest mountain and it was painful but
I did it, no one did it for me and I am so grateful that I did it because now I
know that I can accomplish anything, there is nothing that motherhood can throw
at me that I can't handle, giving birth to my children shows me that I am
strong and nothing is more amazing then this female body that god has given me.