The Amazing Home-Water Birth of Baby J

Joel Riley Holley was born on April 15th at 11:45pm, weighing 7lbs 12oz and measuring 20.5 inches long. Herein I shall share the details of his coming, with an overabundance of detail and pictures. =)

Probably the last photo of me still pregnant...from the 2nd time I thought I was in labor (still not the real deal)

At 38 weeks pregnant, we discovered that Baby J was in breech position. That was definitely a scary thing to face. Fortunately, I have an awesome midwife, who assured me that A) we had lots of tools to help baby turn, and B) if he continued breech, it did not eliminate the possibility of a home birth, though we would have some adjustments to make.

Thus we took on the task of getting Joel to turn head down with gusto. We tried all the suggestions we could find, including some exciting exercises (see spinningbabies.com), the Webster chiropractice technique, rebozo, homeopathics, acupuncture, talking to the baby, playing music on my belly through headphones, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. What I think ultimately did the trick was that Friday night when James and I went to the swimming pool, and I did somersaults and bouncing in the water. That's when I really felt the baby moving! The following Monday morning, we were prepared to get an external version, but to our great relief, it proved unnecessary, as Baby J had already turned head down! Yay!

Perhaps it was the relief/excitement, but that afternoon, I started having contractions. As they grew more regular and closer together, I figured that I was going into labor. James and I were very excited, of course, and started making preparations, including calling the midwife, and getting me a pedicure. =) However, before the evening was out, the contractions had died off. This set up a pattern for the next couple of weeks. Contractions, which would often grow regular and as close as 5 minutes apart, but never increasing in intensity. We thought I was in labor on several occasions--one night even getting as far as sending Shadow to my parents' house, but each time the contractions eventually died off again.

Honestly, this was the hardest part for me. Not knowing whether labor was actually starting, not knowing when Baby J was finally going to make his appearance, drawing closer, and then past, our due date without any degree of certainty... it was all absolutely maddening. I've never been a particularly patient person, and the last couple weeks of my pregnancy tested me to a whole new degree. I tried EVERYTHING to naturally induce the baby. Look up natural induction methods, if you're curious. There's dozens. I guarantee you, I tried them all. Nothing seemed to work. I thought I was going to lose my mind. There were several points at which I was convinced that this baby was never going to come out. I know it's illogical, but that's sincerely how it felt sometimes. So when labor FINALLY arrived, I greeted it with utmost relief!

This past Monday afternoon I had acupuncture to try and induce labor. As I was waddling the halls and jumping on the mini-tramp, all with needles in my legs, feet and hands, I started having contractions. They remained steady throughout the evening, and for the first time, did not stop when I went to sleep that night. As Tuesday morning progressed, the contractions seemed to get stronger, but then kind of peaked midday, staying the same but not getting any stronger. I called my midwife, and she suggested taking castor oil. (I had rubbed castor oil on topically, but had thus far avoided drinking the stuff.) I'll admit, I was feeling pretty desperate at that point, and went ahead and drank some. For future reference--castor oil was not as bad going down as I had been led to believe, but the diarrhea that followed was much worse than anticipated. :-/

James left for school around 2:30pm. Shortly after he left, my contractions started picking up. I texted him around 5:30, hoping to catch his attention on his way from school to the studio. "Labor is progressing!" was my message. He called, but I missed his call, and by the time I got back to him, he was in Black Belt class. However, he popped out in the middle of class (6:30pm) to return my call. By that point, I was feeling pretty certain that I was in labor. (FINALLY!) James decided to come home and join me.

I called my midwife. Dee told me that she was going to come over and check my progress. It was shortly after 7pm when she arrived, and we found that I was dilated 6cm! It was such a relief to know that this was the real deal. At that point, Dee told me she was heading to dinner in Provo, and to check in with her as things moved forward. She advised me to eat and drink then, while I still was able to, and left.

Don't ask me why, but just then, all I really wanted was a corn dog. (It's probably been a year since I last had one...totally random.) So James and I headed to the store to get some corn dogs. Funny enough, we ran into James's best friend Damian, whom we haven't seen in months. I'll admit, though, that I wasn't real focused on the conversation, because my contractions were getting rather...distracting.

By the time we got home from the store, the contractions were coming about 3 minutes apart, and I was having to stop and breathe through them. It was about then that I told James that I didn't think this was going to take all that long. We decided to fill up the birth pool, and I texted Dee. She headed back over.

Dee got there at about 8:45pm and started getting set up. The pool was about half full when I decided to get in. We were shortly joined by her assistant Jessica, and fellow midwife Angie. I hadn't actually met Jessica before, but I'm very glad that she was at our birth.

The pool was set up in our living room. The lighting was very dim, and everyone remained very quiet (except for me, of course). They asked if I wanted music playing, but once I was into the swing of things, it just seemed like a distraction, so I chose not to have any other sounds. 

Contractions continued to intensify. The water helped immensely, easing some of the labor pains, and carrying my weight. James alternated with Dee and Jessica as they put pressure on my back during contractions, which I couldn't have managed without. The three of them also helped me maintain the proper sounds--keeping my moans deep and long, breathing through the contractions. Any time my breath hitched and got too high (meaning I was letting the intensity get the better of me) they helped me drop the pitch, which helped me to refocus. I rode the contractions like a wave, cresting and coming out the other side.

I think it was about 11:15pm when they had me switch positions so that Dee could check me. She confirmed that I was complete. It was only a few minutes later that I got to start pushing.

Pushing, while much more intense than any other part of my labor, was the best part. This was the culmination of it all--and I knew that the results of my labors were almost mine. James joined me in the pool. Dee coached me through, maintaining a slow push as Joel's head came. They call it the "ring of fire", when the baby's head is about to crown, and you feel like you're going to rip to pieces. But there was something incredible about it, too, which I have trouble describing. The best word I can come up with is triumph, making it through.

And then he was here.

James and Dee brought the baby up to my chest. I would describe my feelings as shock and euphoria, as I cradled that infant. We were draped in towels, and James cradled us both, and we all sat and reveled for several minutes. Joel took a few moments to cry, but when he did, he let loose a full-throated scream, proving that he will have an excellent kiyap someday. =)

It wasn't long before I delivered the placenta, which was mild in comparison. In the pool, we nursed for the first time, which was (and continues to be) an adventure. James cut the umbilical cord, and then we all got dried off and moved to the bed, where I had to get stitched up from tearing a bit. That part was very challenging for me, but we made it through.

 

 

There was lots of settling-in after that, but it's all a blur to me. I know that the midwives fed me and James, got all the baby's measurements, cleaned up the birth equipment and then some, started the laundry, and made sure we were as comfortable as could be before leaving, around 3:30am. I cannot say enough good about my midwife and her team. They were fantastic from start to finish.

All in all, I am blissfully happy with how our birth went. I know for some people it's weird to hear something as seemingly traumatic as giving birth described as peaceful, but that's how it feels to me. I am so happy we delivered at home. The environment was calm, focused, and in control. And it was really nice to be able to settle into my own bed at the end of it all. Fortunately, I have the most amazing parents in the world, who have spent that last several days taking care of me and my family, which has allowed James and I to focus on bonding with our little one. It's been absolutely perfect.

We couldn't be happier!