>After all the phone calls, I felt like I really wanted my husband to stay with me so he sat next to the tub where I could lean on him. Between contractions we laughed and joked and talked about the fact that we would really be having a baby soon! (I think I was still in denial though!) It was a wonderful time that we were able to spend together as he was a WONDERFULLY supportive birth partner. At this point I still felt absolutely NO pain and was actually really relaxed and comfortable!
I got out of the bath around 9 (again I think!) and our doula showed up a few minutes later, she immediately went to work helping me relax and taking some of the pressure off my husband so that he could just sit next to me and rub my hand. I felt instantly comfortable having Amy there and thought about how lucky I was to have met her!
When Jessica and her assistant, Heather arrived they immediately went to set up the birth pool since I had decided that the bathtub was just to shallow and hard to birth in! They couldn’t get the faucet adapter to fit and instead had to fill the bathtub and bail out water to fill the pool! I remember asking what is taking so long I REALLY wanted to get in the water!
Finally I asked to be checked (only the 2nd time the whole pregnancy) before I got into the water and found out I was 6 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Jessica said it was a perfect time to get into the tub! The contractions were still about 2 minutes apart but very manageable as long as I remembered to relax completely during each one.
I was in the tub for about 35 minutes and I had 3 VERY intense, strong contractions that just felt different and then with the 4th one I said I need to push and my body pretty much took over! Amy told Mark to go down and get Jessica and Heather and let them know I was pushing!! Apparently they had heard my pushing sounds and were running up the stairs and literally crashed into Mark on the stairs!! 🙂
I started pushing around 11:15ish and it was the most intense thing I ever felt! It felt wonderful to be able to just follow what my body was telling me to do and it was the most uncontrollable urge I have ever felt. (My midwife compares it to throwing up but it’s throwing down!) I was not quiet by any means while I was pushing but was not screaming in pain. It really was just an intense feeling and one I had never felt before not necessarily pain. Looking back I realize that I had a lot of fear about pushing and I think that is what made it more intense.
Jessica said she is right there and I could reach down and feel her, though she was still in her membrane and my water had not yet broken! I pushed a couple more times and her head came out….still my water had not broken!!! I could feel the squishy bag of water and her head inside of that.. it was awesome! I REALLY wanted her out at that point but Jessica said to wait until I felt the urge to push. The moment I did I gave one HUGE push and out she flew into the water! We had intended for Mark to “catch” her but instinctively I reached down and grabbed her! I immediately put her on my chest and could not believe I just had a baby!!
Elli was born in the caul as they say because her membranes did not release until she was out to her shoulders! We also noticed she had a complete knot in her cord which makes her even more of a blessing!
We are so happy that we were able to have the birth we had envisioned, with no pain and no intervention! We made the choices that were right for us and wouldn’t change anything! Our home water birth was an amazing experience and I feel more empowered and supported than ever before in my life! I cannot believe I gave life to such an amazing little girl!
Thank you to everyone who was part of my birth and who supported my decision to home birth my daughter. And thank you to all of you who are reading this! My hope would be that my story can be used to inspire people to leave the negative ideas of birth behind and embrace “your” birth, just the way you envision it! What your mind believes your body achieves!
FITNESS FRIDAY
I found an article on Shape.com about Jewel and her “rules” for getting/staying in shape that I think is worth reading!
