Why today?

I finally decided to share the story of my own home birth. Coincidentally, the birth of my second baby girl happened during the World Breastfeeding Week. So now it’s definitely one of my favorite weeks!

P.S. How I wish I had a Birth Photographer, but the photos from actual birth were taken by my husband with his phone...

How it started

My water had broken at 2am when I was getting out of bed to make my rounds to the bathroom…you know as usual 1 of 3 at that stage in pregnancy. With my first I also had water breaking prior to contractions starting, so I already knew what it was this time and I was 100% sure I did not just pee. I called my midwife right away just to let her know and there were no signs of contractions at that time. I knew I shouldn't be worried or too excited. I should be still resting, getting more sleep. So I went to bed…

At around 3am I started feeling contractions. I called my midwife again. I got a little excited, since with my first baby I did not really have consistent contractions for 9 hours after the water had broken, therefore my ob decided to induce me…but it's a completely different story.

Even though the contractions had started, again, for the nature to take its course -  I went back to bed. I was able to sleep between the waves  only counting the time between them in my head. At around 5:30am, my husband woke up to start getting ready for the day and to take our oldest daughter, who was 23 months at that time, to daycare. I was actually relieved that my labor was happening during the time my oldest would be in the daycare. And I'm not against kids being present at labor, quite the opposite, I think it's amazing. But my not-yet-even-two-year-old child still needed me a lot when I was around and I was scared that she would not let me go into the "labor land" and would distract me…I don't know, maybe not, but that is how I felt. 

At that time my contractions were getting closer together, they were at 7-5 minutes apart. The time between them reduces faster and faster. We all had breakfast (it's so nice to eat during labor). When my husband left I just hoped that I would not have the baby all by myself. So I bounced on a yoga ball, I walked in the house and did some circly hip motions. I also did labor yoga that I learned from  Lucy Flow.

Call the Midwife

At around 8 am my waves started being more intense, so I went to sit on a toilet to help my body open and the baby descent. I spent some time there, but I also wanted to use KICO method that I had read about from The Naked Doula when I took her course. So I climbed on my bed, took the yoga ball, stood on all fours (Knees In Calves Out), leaned on my yoga ball for support…It was becoming harder to get through each of my waves, so I texted my midwife Kristy from the Birth House to check if it was time to fill the pool with water. The contractions were already 3,5 minutes apart, but lasting 45 seconds. Kristy decided to come and assess me at that time. 

I really couldn't wait until my midwife comes. Even though, I did not plan on checking how dilated I'd be, I felt as if I was very close to meeting the baby and wanted Kristy to reassure me that it was true. Kristy arrived around 9 am. She checked me and said that I was close (I really liked that she did not say how much dilated I was and other numbers). "Close" was good enough for me. She told my husband to fill up the pool and I was so excited about that. 

We also had this cute dialog that I still remember:

Kristy: "I'm sure that you will have this baby by lunch"

Me: "Oh, that's good to know"…me waiting for a few minutes and getting through very intense waves…"When do you consider "lunch" to be? Some people have lunch at noon, some at one."

Kristy: "Yeah, somewhere around that time."

Baby on the Toilet

Finally I got in the pool. It was so nice to be covered by soothing warm water. It slightly helped ease the intensity of contractions. At least that is how it felt to me. I was left all alone in our bedroom, which I liked. I don't know how much time I spent in there: 30 minutes or 15, but I felt like nothing was happening. No urge to push…Kristy asked Alex to check on me and since nothing was changing she sent me back on the toilet.

With a few first waves on the toilet, I decided I wanted to check if I could feel the baby with my fingers. And YES, it was one of the most amazing moments in my labor - I FELT THE BABY'S HEAD! It was freaking awesome!

I thought it was time for me to try and push, Kristy said I could if I wanted with the next contraction. So I pushed and once I started, my body took over until I pushed the head out. I will never forget the "ring of fire", the burn is real. The head was out and Kristy asked me to move to the floor and stand on all four. Well, it is not an easy task when you have a head sticking from you and you still have contractions. I remember, I kept saying: "I can't do that, I just can't!"

So I moved to the floor, I stretched my right leg in front of me…with the next two pushes the baby was born. 10:49 am.I was so freaking amazed by how this labor went and how I felt that for the first 30 seconds I did not even move. I did not even looked or asked about the sex of the baby. I took a little "breather" lol. 

It's a Girl!

It was a girl! And I did have a feeling it would be a girl!

I changed the position, sat on the floor, covered with towels an grabbed my baby. What a relief it was! Even though the work was not over yet, but the reward was already in my arms. I moved to the bed to finish birthing the placenta. Fortunately, this time there were no issues with it. Wow,  I was holding my girl and I was in my OWN bed. I loved this feeling so much.

Dream Home Birth

This birth felt pretty quick. From the first contraction at 3am to holding her in less than 8 hours. It was intense only for 2 hours, so it felt as if the whole labor lasted 2 hours. It was my dream birth. Maybe I did not catch my baby in the pool as I had hoped, but I still had this feeling of a perfect home birth. 

Happy Birthday, little One!