Jillian Sophia's Home Birth Story

Mom of 4 Js · #1 June 21st, 2011, 07:41 AM

Jillian Sophia�s Birth Story June 13, 2011

Just a little background info: I lost my plug Saturday morning after having some contractions throughout the night. I had contractions on and off Saturday and Sunday but they were only a little more intense than the usual Braxton hicks I always had. By the time I went to bed Sunday night they were a little stronger and coming every 8-10 minutes so I decided to go to sleep and see what happened throughout the night. I also cooked a ton of food Sunday during the day and *HAD* to go to babies r us to stock up on diapers and wipes for Jacob lol. Definitely nesting haha.

Around 3:30 am I couldn�t sleep through the contractions so I got up to pee and I had bloody show. I had a moment of panic haha and decided to go downstairs and time them because I had no clue how far apart they were. They were coming every 5-7 minutes and I was definitely having back labor so I decided to look up some techniques on the spinning babies website. I did a bunch of the techniques to eliminate back labor but none of them worked so around 5 I decided to lay down and see if I could get some rest. The contractions spaced out to 8 minutes apart and I was able to sleep through them. By 6:30 am they were definitely more intense but still 8 minutes apart. I knew that today was going to be the day but I was in denial at the same time lol. I called my midwife at 8 am to let her know what was going on and she said she was going to shower and head over. I told her not to rush haha. I took a shower too and realized that the contractions were now coming 3-5 minutes apart. They were definitely tolerable though. Jay took Jordan and Jason to Jordan�s preschool graduation at 9 so I just spent that time hanging out with Jacob and cleaning up the house. If I sat down the contractions spaced out to 7 minutes apart. Jay got home with the kids at the same time that Julie (my midwife) arrived, which was 10:15. Julie wanted to check my vitals and my dilation so we went upstairs to my bedroom while Jay stayed downstairs with the kids. All of my vitals were perfect and so was Jillian�s heart beat. When she checked me I was 6-7 cm dilated and the baby was at +2 station, but my cervix was still a little thick. Julie said it was because I did most of my labor laying down so the baby�s head wasn�t pressing directly on my cervix so she had me get on my hands and knees to help her get in the right position. After she checked me Jay called his mom to come over and watch the kids and I called my mom to tell her to head over. While we were waiting for them to get there and I was on my hands and knees on my bedroom floor, Jay and Julie started to get the room set up. Jay started to fill our tub and they stripped the bed down and put the shower curtain liner on the bed and then an extra sheet over it. Julie got all of her emergency equipment ready just in case and got all of the supplies set up for the birth. By this point my contractions were getting more intense but not closer together, they were 5 minutes apart. I asked when I could get in the tub and Julie said she wanted to make sure she had everything ready because the water could make the labor speed up and she wanted to be ready. My mother in law and mom got there around this time and we were chatting. Julie�s assistant also arrived around 11, she is also a midwife. We joked that I was the only person with an �M� name in the room, my mom�s name is Justine, Jay, Julie, Jillian, and the assistant�s name is Joelle lol. I thought that was funny. In between contractions I was completely fine but I was needing to focus more through them. My back was KILLING me! Julie wanted check my vitals and Jillian�s heart beat before I got in the tub. She also did another cervical check and I was only 7 cm. I was a little disappointed that I hadn�t made more progress than that, but now when I look back on it, it was less than an hour after my first check so it wasn�t a big deal. So it was finally time for me to get into the tub and I had one contraction in the water and decided I needed to pee. Julie said it was ok to pee in the tub but I wanted to get out haha. So Jay helped me get out and I had another contraction before sitting down on the toilet. I did NOT want to have a contraction on the toilet but I had one mid pee and it was horrible. I couldn�t finish peeing until it was over so the pressure on my bladder made it more uncomfortable. After I peed I decided I wanted to stand and lean over the bathroom counter during my contractions instead of getting back in the tub. The water didn�t really help with my back labor for that contraction I had in the tub and I needed somebody to squeeze my hips during the contractions. Jay put Jacob down for his nap at 11:30, and Jordan and Jason were downstairs making cupcakes with my mother in law. They were pink cupcakes to celebrate Jillian�s birthday! While Jay was putting Jacob down for his nap things started to pick up. My contractions were now 2.5-3 minutes apart and lasting for a minute or longer. They were INTENSE. My mom squeezed my hips while I heard my midwives scurrying around getting things ready and whispering that I should get in the tub ASAP because I was really close. They checked the water temperature and then checked Jillian�s heart beat. I was moaning through the contractions at this point. Then I had 2 contractions back to back and they told me to get in the tub. I got in on my hands and knees and rested my head on a towel while Joelle put a cool compress on the back on my neck. Jay got in the tub behind me and applied pressure to my back. I had a couple of contractions in that position and I remember moaning through them and thinking I can�t do this. Then there was a long space before the next contraction. I was hoping that my labor wasn�t stalling because at this point I just wanted to be done. It felt like it was forever but it was probably only 5 minutes. The next contraction came and I had to push. That was at 12 noon. Jordan came into the bathroom on her own at this time and got nervous because I was being very vocal and I shouted out I can�t do this. She started to leave but everybody told her I was ok and calmed her down so she came back in and stood at the side of the tub. The burning was crazy and I could tell I was not in a good position because my tub is narrow and my legs weren�t open enough to give her enough room to come down. Julie told me to turn over and she and Joelle helped me get on my back. I had another contraction and started to push and Julie said that she was going to be born in her sac. She told Joelle to get the camera because it was amazing. I asked her to break my water and get the baby out haha, but she didn�t. I was squeezing somebody�s hand, I think it was my mom, and everybody was telling me how good I was doing and Jay was telling me to bear down (yesterday I joked around and called him Jay Dinner, certified midwife haha). One more push and her head was out and then another push and her body was out. She was born at 12:10 pm. Jay helped deliver her head but she came out so fast that Julie grabbed the rest of her and brought her out of the water and onto my chest. She was born in her caul, which is good luck and doesn�t happen that often. As soon as Jillian was on my chest Jordan said �I love my baby sister� it was so cute. We waited for the cord to stop pulsing and Jay cut it and he took the baby so I could deliver the placenta. I stood up and it just fell right out into a roasting pan haha. They helped me get into my bed and gave me the baby and they covered us with towels and blankets. Jillian latched on within 20 minutes of being born and pretty much stayed there for the next 7 hours haha. She was SO alert, even Julie couldn�t believe it. Jason and Jordan came back into my room and climbed up on the bed and sang happy birthday to Jillian. It was a really emotional moment for me. They did it all on their own! While I was nursing Jillian the midwives cleaned everything up. After about an hour and half they asked if they could do her newborn exam. She weighed 7 lbs 5 ounces and was 19 � inches long. They dressed her and then she got passed around a little bit so everybody could hold her. We all ate a pink cupcake to celebrate her birthday. Julie and Joelle said that my birth was a text book home birth and the reason why they love their jobs so much. Everything went absolutely perfect and I am so happy we decided to have her at home.