Homemade by Augustsnow: Adventures in Life: 2014

Mabel's HomeBirth Story

I woke at 2:30am feeling like I might get menstrual cramps. I got up to go to the bathroom and then lied down again to try and sleep since nothing real was happening yet. I wasn't able to fall asleep even though I wasn't having contractions I was getting a radiating feeling down my thighs. So I concentrated on mentally preparing myself for the upcoming day. My first child took 54 hours so I wanted to get myself geared up for another marathon just in case.

At 4am my water broke. I felt a little pop and then my undies get wet. I asked my husband to get me a towel and I placed it between my legs and waited a little bit. We discussed if we should call the midwife right now or wait until contractions or what. I wanted to see if it was indeed my waters so I got up and went to the bathroom. My undies had white stuff and there was blood on the paper and I thought, "okay so now I know what that is like."

I got back in bed with the towel and my husband Jesse and I snuggled wondering what this time would be like. I decided to call my midwife since it was so early just to let her know. I was hungry so I had Jesse get me a bagel. After that I had a strong urge to empty my bowels.

After that I got back in bed and the surges started. I had downloaded an app for tracking and we got out the phone. This is a really nice feature cause now I can look back at it and see exactly what time this all got started. We started tracking at 4:17am. I immediately ramped up to 40 second and minute surges every minute or minute and a half so I called my Midwife back and let her now that I was having to think through them. She had had a dream that her place was right above mine and was amazed at how short her commute was.

I told her that I wasn't really ready to have everyone over but that I thought things were moving pretty fast. We talked around a couple surges and I mentioned that I thought it was weird moaning to her over the phone. It made me smile. She said she would start moving along.
According to my phone this was at 4:50am. At this point I was still thinking, "pace yourself you've got a long way to go, don't get to excited now, calm, relax, breathe."
Jesse asked if I wanted to get up maybe get in the bath while he started setting up room and birth tub.

I got in the bath and the water was hot. I liked it. I laid down on my side and tried to release myself into the warmth and calm. Jesse was blowing up the tub with the electric air mattress hose and it was so loud. It really hurt my concentration then I was too hot, really hot. I asked Jesse to put a bunch of wet wash clothes in the freezer.
I hear my mom and son waking up and I look up from the tub and see my mom's face peeking out around the door frame of their room. She smiles this big smile and seeing that brings me back to my body and remembering that I have a great support team here to help.

I don't stay in the tub long, just long enough for Jesse to finish what he was doing, I knew I was going to need him from here on. I get back in bed and the surges are really coming, right after another. I had to tell myself to focus, remember the visualizations, remember to release and relax all muscles, breathe into the surge and exhale the energy over my body to help keep everything relaxed.

Before I went to bed Friday night I had re-read a bunch of passages in 'HypnoBirthing, The Mongan Method' which was well timed. I knew I needed to release all my fears and remind myself that my body knew what to do and as long as I did my best to keep it relaxed everything else would happen.
Maybe something clicked in my head but that is when I knew we were flying; I wasn't going to stand in the way of this process, my head was ready. Oh I knew it was still going to be a lot of hard work but lets do this!

I picked my head up long enough to tell Jesse that he had to call Audra back (which drew me out of my concentration). I hear him say, "I don't know but shes making the big whale noises, okay, bye." Jesse tells me that she is 15 minutes away.

I hear Audra arrive and her voice is all happy sunshine, but I wanted quiet. I reminded myself that she had to get set up. There is a lot of questions, where is this and that, and I try to answer. They can't find the trash bags. I remember that I moved them but I can't remember where and I feel so foolish. Really I had to hide them some place silly.
**Our house had a pipe leak that lead to the bathrooms on all three floors and the kitchen in our unit to be fully gutted and is now in the construction process. So we have been in a temporary apartment for a month and a half**

I was having Jesse talk to me. He was using the ocean rocking back and forth. It was nice and calming and I felt like I was rocking. The surges were taking more and more work so I needed a visualization that reflected that.
I use to hike so I used the visualization of hiking up a switch back. 'climb the mountain, take a rest, climb the mountain, take a rest.' Breath into the belly on the climb and breathe out on the rest.
I think this is when my other Midwife Tara and her student Jessica arrive. I whisper, Hi Tara.

I have to roll over. This puts Jesse outside the bed. I'm hot and need water and ask for those wash clothes in the freezer. I'm sweating buckets. I put a frozen cloth on my forehead and hold it there. My body starts pushing on its own during some of the surges. My belly rises up really high and then slams down pushing my whole front forward and down. I tell Audra that my body is pushing but I'm not. She says that is okay.

I have to move, I don't want to move, the bed isn't working, it is too soft.
"I'm moving"
where are you going?
"I don't know!"
Lets make a plan
"The floor!.... I think"

So we move the operation to the floor in front of the bed. There is a flurry of I need a towel or sheet down and where is Jesse. I'm on my hands and knees. My pelvis feels great and open. My hands and feet start to get uncomfortable. I need to be on my side again.
I need Jesse right here, take my leg, no not to high, water, wash cloth, breathe.
I settle in.

At some point I'm asked if I want them to fill up the birth tub or do I want to move again, maybe lean against the bed? Nope. I'm staying right here. Well, no I need to roll over.
I roll over we settle in.
I need Jesse to tell me that I can do this, to help me relax, to remember to relax between surges if there is a between. I kept waiting for the relax period. You know transition, rest period, labor down, then birthing or pushing stage. But the rest period never showed. I wasn't going to worry about it maybe it'll come later.

Everyone tells me that I'm doing great, that my body is doing exactly what it needs to. Just keep listening to my body. Tell me what to do I say. Your doing it they tell me.
I'm pushing or helping my body since it was already pushing anyway every surge. I think about the J breathe. This is a great tool. It really helps me direct my focus into helping my body do what it wants to do. This is intense. I am breathing loudly so I remember to keep focused, Jesse makes a joke or talks-something- I tell him SHHHH.

I can feel the head stretching me. What a crazy feeling when the head comes up to the opening and then slides back in when the surge is done. I tell them I'm 'gophering' it. Which makes me laugh because I think of that indy film where the little girl tells her father that she needs to go to the bathroom and he tells her to hold it and she says that she can't shes already prairie dogging it.

When the slide back gets too big for me to handle I hold the head in place between surges.
I hold back on pushing out and just do down, I don't want to push with all my might I know I will hurt myself, my opening needs more time to stretch. Around this part of the birth I have a couple small orgasms just clitoral pulses.

Audra has warm wash clothes down there. Ohh that feels good.
I wonder when the right time will be to push out the head. I can feel a lot of stretching on the top of my vagina and I wonder about tearing the top. I wait a couple more surges and then just decide that it is time for my baby to come out. I tell them shes coming out I'm going to push out the head. It burns, I have to decide that I don't care because I am ready to be done. Ready to meet my baby.

I push out the head and look down to see. I see that the baby is really purple. I know not to panic, they'll tell me if something needs to happen.
I spent almost all of my labor with my eyes closed listening to my body so I closed my eyes to concentrate on the next surge cause I knew they would want to get the body soon. They tell me just that and I let them know one is coming. We get my leg up so the body and shoulders can turn and on the next 1 and half surges she slides out. I had read that feeling your baby come out is one of the most incredible feelings. It is. My baby. I did it. I could feel her slide down and even when her little feet fell out.

They put her right up on me and I helped hold her while we waited for her to pink up. Her whole body was purple and they gave her some oxygen breathes to help. We watched her pink and she was breathing and we just stared at her. My 2 year old son Asa came in and sat down next to me and Jesse and met his sister.

Mabel Adelaide Washburn
Born July 12th, 2014
8:06 am
7lbs 3 oz, 19 inches long
4 hour labor, posterior presentation