Preparing for a VBAC

Michelle is a guest writer here on my blog.  I asked her to write about her approach to getting a much wanted VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) after 2 scheduled non-labor c-sections.  Here is her plan - mapped out in her own words.  This is excellent advice for those planning a VBAC and for every birthing woman planning to go the natural route. 

"I approached this fairly systematically, methodically.  I also took on preparing for my VBAC as a job. I did work on it every single day. Some days it was reading, some days it was visiting forums, some days it was prental yoga or walking....but it was always something.....at least until out 7 mos. along.  When I realized I had gained some confidence & felt like I had some mastery over the knowledge of the birth process, then some nights I gave myself permission to just sit in the living room with my hubby & relish being pregnant, contemplating what a privilege it was for me to be carrying my baby and being excited about the process that would bring him to my arms.

My intro to VBAC came from "The Business of Being Born."  It opened my eyes to what birh in American hospitals is.....and more importantly, what birth could/should be.  It was a reality check & the beginning of my paradigm shift.  Great thing about a video is that it's fairly easy to get hubby to watch it.  My hubby isn't gonna read birthing books but he will watch TV!  I have found that most local libraries have this availabe for check-out. I know Netflix has it, too.

After that I just googled "Risks of VBAC, " "VBAC," & "Risks of Repeat C-sections." This began to lay the factual, scientiic groundwork in my mind about the risks & benefits of vbac & repeat c/s. It further lead me to:
mothering.com forums re: VBAC. I learned a lot from those ladies, and gained comfort & strength & support, even tho they were faceless & anonymous to me.
www.ican-online.org. I perused all the studies and information they have posted on there.  I also joined the forum and began to visit that.
www.vbacfacts.com.  I perused this.  I recognized that it was not a scientific website.  But it was more perspective.
I went to the Mayo Clinic's website and also Johns Hopkins, I believe, as well as ACOG's website. I wanted to see for myself what the ob party line was on it.

Thru the forums I received reading list recommendations. 

The first book I read was Birth After Cesarean: The Medical Facts by Bruce L. Flamm.  He conducted the largest study on VBAC in the US and wrote about his findings.  I needed to know what the science said about VBACs....not the insurance companies or the ob's....the science.  I had to decide for myself if it was safe.

Then I read DON'T CUT ME AGAIN! True Stories About Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) by Angela J. Hoy. This was a compilation of birth stories, most of them successful VBACs but some were CBAC stories. I was discouraged by them sort of but also knew they were a good reality check for me and a reminder that nothing is guaranteed to me and I couldn't control everything.

After all this I had decided VBAC was safe for me & I would do it.  So the next book was "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" by Henci Goer. It did a great job educating me on the risks of all the common American obstetrical interventions employed today.  It also began to clarify personal circumstances under which I would agree to any of them.  Further, it had a fantastic list of interview questions for a provider. It was also during this book that I decided upon & committed myself to a completely natural childbirth.  Anything beyond that carried risks that could derail my effective labor & lead to a cascade of interventions that were neither safe for me nor my baby. I mentioned in passing to my husband that there would be no epidural. He made an expression that made me feel like he didn't believe me and I was crazy but he would go along with it for now. I knew I could do it, tho....I just knew.

So now that I had committed to a natural birth, I knew I needed some tools to manage labor successfully.  I researched Bradley, Lamaze, Hypnobirthing & Hypnobabies. I read women's assesments of how these had worked for them. I trid to choose the method that would help mitigate what I knew were some of my personality weaknesses....the need to always be in control, my acculturation that birth was dangerous and painful and scary.  In the instant I decided I would use Hypnobabies, a sense of peace came over me b/c I KNEW I'd have the tools to handle anything labor threw at me.  I felt powerful & confident.

Next I read "Painless Childbirth: An Empowering Journey Through Pregnancy and Childbirth" by Giuditta Tornetta. The title alone sounded great to me! It further encouraged me that I could alter the acculturation I had been raised with. But it was a bit too new-agey for me so kind of a challenge to get thru it but I took some good things from it.

"Birthin from Within" by Pam England and Rob Horowitz prompted me to face some of my own internal birth trauma and demons.  It also taught me that I could decide how to feel about birth. I could decide to fear it or I could decide to honor and accept it for the beauty and power that it intrinsically is.

"Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth" by Ina May Gaskin taught me to relax my mouth and hands during labor and also to visualize my cervix dilating during labor.  More importantly, it taught me that "normal" birth has a really wide array of orders and timing.  Two births could be extraordinarily different and both could still be absolutely, completely normal and effective.  This was big for me in accepting the course of my own labor and not questioning how my own body & my own baby were choosing to do things.

Somewhere along the line, probably earlier in 2nd trimester I googled "Optimal Fetal Positioning." I read some random websites about it and spent a lot of time on spinningbabies.com. I bought a 65 cm exercise ball and began to sit on it daily. I would do pelvic tilts and not slouch on the couch after about week 28, I think. When my huge tile kitchen floor got dirty, I scrubbed it on my hands and knees.  I wanted my baby head-down and anterior. 

Being on all 4's felt GREAT to me during pregnancy. I spent a lot of time kneeling on the floor and leaning on my birth ball.  Sometimes I would even stack pillows under my chest in bed and sleep like that for a bit. Not surprisingly, what felt great to me during pegnancy also happened to feel great to me during labor. I spent all 6.5 hrs of my labor on all 4's and I delivered in that position as well.
 
I also bought a prenatal yoga DVD & did it periodically thru-out my pregnancy. I also signed up for a pre-natal yoga class on Saturday mornings with a local doula & yoga instructor. It was probably only 6 or 8 wks but I felt good about myself that I was doing it. I also took a water aerobics class during the last trimester at the jr. college down the street. It was twice/week.  Getting into the water felt SOO good and getting out was really hard b/c my belly would get soo heavy.

We also hired a doula.

I did the Hypnobabies home instruction class as the program stated. It was way more time consuming than I had expected and I found that irritating.  I would do it at nite after kids in bed. I fell asleep 95% of the time.  During labor, I did not hypnotize myself.  However, I did, indeed, have a "fast & easy" labor!! The program was amazingly effective at rewriting the script in my head about what labor & birth had to be.  It reprogrammed my subconscious. I can not overstate how much this helped me and how it benefitted me. So even tho it was time consuming, it was worth every second!  (Incidentally, my girlfriend did Hypnobabies, too, due at same time as me. Her labor was 7 hrs. Her first labor was 34 hours so 7 was a big difference!).

That is the journey I designed & the thought progression I used to get my VBA2C.  Finding a provider was an entirely separate and traumatic experience for me.  Getting my hubby on board is a different chapter.  Dealing with unsupportive family members and others is yet another chapter.

There are, of course, lots of ways to go about all of this that are equally effective. There are also lots of other good books out there.  I think each woman has to chart her own path while still leaning on other supportive women for advice, experience & wisdom.  It can be an isolating journey...women have got to find support from somewhere."  ~Michelle 

Melissa R's Birth Story

I knew when I lost my mucus plug that Monday morning that I was in trouble, but trouble came on slow and ended with an expected BANG!

I went to the bathroom that morning and found a large, green mass of slime staring back at me. I stared back at it, mesmerized for a few minutes. This was my second child, but I had never seen my mucus plug before. I googled it to be sure. Yep, sure enough, that was it. David just happened to be off that day and was going to work on the home we recently moved into. The home was, and still is undergoing renovations, which is a whole other story all together. I said "let's switch gears" and work to get the room ready for the new baby and get my daughters room straightened out as well. I had Braxton hicks contractions all day on Monday, but never any pain. We worked solidly throughout the day waiting for my water to break like you would see in the movies. Nada. So we wrapped up the day, took or showers, and went to bed.

The next morning David went work, my daughter went to pre-k, and I decided to run some last minute errands. Now people will tell you that you will go into labor within 24 hours of losing your mucus plug. Yet, here I was, more than a day later and nothing. As Tuesday morning progressed, I began to, finally, have contractions. They were 20-30 minutes apart, but felt real and were pretty consistent. I was determined to finish my errands and grab lunch before heading home. When I arrived home at noon, I texted David to let him know what was going on. I tried to rest but the contractions kept waking me. I just didn't feel right. Not like myself. At 4pm David and my daughter arrived home. I told him "I think today is the day" and we need to set up the birthing pool. Both of them were tired and took a nap anticipating the long night. When David got up around 6, I told him to start calling family and get the birthing pool up and running. I texted Salli to let her know my contractions were 8-10 minutes apart. I was told to rest, but within a half hour the contractions were 5 minutes apart. By just after 7pm the contractions were 2 minutes apart and taking my breath away. I texted Salli again and she said she was on the way! When Salli arrived she found me standing up, clutching the couch and David struggling in the back room with the pool! While Salli helped get the pool up, my daughter was running back and forth between me and them. I called family between contractions and told them to come to the house. Once the pool was up, I got in. The water felt great, but after sometime in the pool, my contractions slowed. Salli suggested I get out and go to bedroom to bounce on the birthing ball. Salli and her assistants were amazing! Throughout the whole process, they never left my side. They held a heating pad to my back and applied pressure to my hips to lessen the pain. They were a TREMENDOUS help! Finally around midnight the pain intensity peaked and I felt like I couldn't do it anymore! I begged Salli for pain medicine, but to no avail. Salli checked me. My cervix was posterior and she had to pull it forward to allow it to dilate. Within 3 contractions, I was dilated to 9cm. I got back in the pool and wanted to push, not because I felt the urge to, but because I was ready for labor to be over and I knew I'd complete while pushing. I pushed and there was so much pressure I thought I'd permanently injured my rear end! My water finally broke. My child crowned. I pushed once more and she was out! David was going to try and catch our child, but he wasn't in the right position. So one of the assistants pulled her out of the water and placed her on my chest. We did not know the gender of our child before her birth. The funny part was, I was so happy she was out, I forgot to look. It took me a few minutes to remember "oh yeah", what's the sex? GIRL! My daughter would have a sister, a life long friend and companion, just like I had growing up. My sister and daughter came in to the room to see the baby. My daughter was so happy it was a girl.

David cut the cord. We floated in the pool for an hour or so, bonding, breast feeding, and cuddling. She is perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes, and cute as can be. I fell in love with this tiny person immediately. She's my Mia Grace!

Home birth was a personal choice and it was the best choice I could have made! After having a hospital birth with my first child, I can truly appreciate how special, intimate, and comfortable a home birth truly is. Thank you, Salli!

Melissa H's Birth Story

She's here!!

At 11:48pm on March 21st, we were able to welcome our second little girl into this world! She was a little less than a month earlier than planned, but she came out looking and acting perfect! She didn't need any respiratory assistance or anything, and was nursing like a champ shortly after birth. For those of you who want to read it, here is her story.

For the past few weeks, I had been getting more and more anxious to get Amelia out! I was miserable. My back hurt, my legs hurt, my knees hurt... I was feeling things in places I didn't even know existed. This past week, I had noticed my body was going through a sort of "cleansing" process... and I just assumed it was from something I ate. Nope, it was my body getting ready. When I got pregnant with Ellie, she would ask me when the baby would be here. To keep things simple, I would tell her when it was spring. First official day of spring? March 20th. Earlier this week, I was telling people I know longer cared about my schedule, I was ready to have her. She could come out whenever she felt ready... She took that a little too literally.

I was having my weekly coffee with my dear friend yesterday morning. I was having what I thought were my normal braxton hicks contractions, which I had been getting a little more frequently as her due date was nearing. Only difference with these were that they were immediately followed by really low, menstrual like cramps. Nothing was timeable, so I just let it go as nothing. In my head, I knew I still have a few more weeks to go because Ellie was 39 weeks and that was WITHOUT labor. Anyway, we decide to go look at stores for little things and decide to take one car instead of two. As soon as I sat down in her car, I felt a lot wetter than I had before. I mean, A LOT wetter. We were heading to Babies R Us, so I told her I needed to check things out before we really went shopping. Sure enough, my water had broken, at roughly 10am and I was also having the start of my bloody show. I felt like crying right then and there. I knew that having her before my 37th week might mean a trip to the hospital instead of a homebirth like we had been planning for so long.

I called Salli, my midwife, and since I already had my regular appt scheduled for that day, I would go in as normal and she would check things out. I called Tom right after and let him know what was going on. He was able to get off work and come to the appt with me. Salli confirmed that my water had in fact broken, but told me that it could still be a couple of days before anything really started happening. She also told me that if I was comfortable with it, she was more than willing to follow through with our original plan of a homebirth.

We left thinking, holy shit, we're not ready. And we weren't. We didn't have any of the stuff on the birthing list for a home. I had all sorts of papers to write for school. Her co-sleeper still needed to be cleaned. The house needed to be cleaned. The list went on and on in my head. So, the first thing we did was got Tom's boss's approval for him to stay out the rest of the day and help me get things in order for the impending birth. Then, a trip to walmart and costco. While we were walking around I noticed that the braxton hicks contraction feeling wasn't coming anymore, but the menstrual cramp feeling was, and was getting stronger. I still kept thinking we had time to get things in order, at least somewhat.

After the shopping, Tom went to pick up Ellie and I headed home to start cleaning and getting ready. This was around 4:30pm... At around 5:15, labor started picking up...

So, now its 5:30 or so and we decide that its time to take a walk up to the drugstore to get the final things. I'm pretty sure it was during that walk that things started really progressing for us. I had already called my doula and another doula friend and they were on their way, and another friend was coming over to pick up the dogs for us. While in the drugstore I got a pretty strong and long contraction and had to actually kneel down in the store. I cried. We got our stuff and we paid and made our way, slowly, back home. We were almost home when we found out that both the doulas and our friends were already at our house waiting for us. We were less than 2 minutes away from the house when Salli called me to find out how I was doing. She called right as I was getting another contraction that brought me to tears. Ellie and Tom kept walking as that's what I suggested they do, and I lingered behind, talking to Salli on the phone and dealing with my contraction the best I could... walking uphill... We decided that I would talk to Lisa, one of my doulas before deciding whether or not it was time for Salli to make her way to the house.

Its roughly 7 o'clock pm now, and the dogs are gone, all the people that needed to be at my house (excluding Salli) were here, and things were getting pretty heavy. My contractions were about 3o-45 seconds long, occurring every two minutes. I remember thinking that it was insane how they hurt so much, but then I felt just fine once they were gone. I was able to hold conversations and make jokes... things were settling in, but weren't quite hard yet. I can't remember who, but during one of my contractions, one of the doulas suggested I get into the shower to see if that would help. I did, and it did. It was nice to just let the hot water run over me. Tom staying in the bathroom while I took my shower to help me deal with the contractions if I needed him. For the most part, I would just lean against the shower wall and let everything loose and just moan with the contraction. 

**From this point on, I honestly cannot tell you any times. I have no perception of the times that any of the following things happened.**

The shower also seemed to make my contractions stronger so I decided for the time being I wanted out. I put on my birthing dress, and started pacing around the house with Ellie. With every contraction I had I would moan, and Ellie would say, "its okay mommy. Just sing to the baby." I look back on it now and think about how sweet it was of her. She really was trying to help me. BUT... she also thought that after every contraction the baby would be out. She would look under my dress and see if she could see her. Being a 4 year old, I can understand her logic. I knew she was getting impatient with the whole process and I was worried about how she would react once things really started getting heated. I asked if she wanted to wait around the house with me for the baby or would she rather go to a friend's house and spend the night and meet her sister tomorrow? Without any hesitation, she said she'd rather go to the friends house. I asked one of the people at my house to drive her there.

Now that I didn't have to worry about scaring Ellie, I really started letting out the moaning and groaning. Also, my back labor started and it was horrible. At one point, I was double peaking, and bless my husband, he stayed with me and did every thing I asked him. The doulas were there offering support and a lending hand to Tom if he needed it. The pain was horrible and I swore I was transitioning, and that was what helped me deal with it. I kept telling myself I was getting closer. It was worth it. I knew I could deal with these with my husband there supporting me.

 

Finally the birthing tub was ready, and honestly, it was nice, but I was expecting more... until I finally got that one contraction, and got that perfect amount of counter pressure, and honestly, it felt like the contraction just went away. It was amazing! That didn't happen for all of them, but for the few of them it did that to, I would definitely use some sort of birthing pool again! Tom had put his swim trunks on and was with me as long as I needed him. A few times I felt like I needed to throw up, but every time, I just had to cough. And then the need to push happened. Salli told me to do whatever my body told me to do. And I did. I was pushing with the contractions, and it really helped....

Except I wasn't ready. Salli realized that I wasn't PUSHING pushing. She came over and did an internal, and I got the most debilitating news. I was only 5-6cm. I was crushed. I thought there was no way I could go through an actual transition if what happened on the couch WASN'T my transition. I gave up. I felt it. I was getting breaks in between my contractions now, and during those breaks I was able to fall half asleep. Once the contraction happened though, they seemed so horrible, and I know now that it was because I was fighting them, not working with them as I had before. Twice I asked to be taken to the hospital.

On the second time, everyone believed that I meant it. I honestly felt like there was no way I could keep going. Everyone tried their best to talk me out of it, saying how close I was to having Amelia. How if I went to the hospital I would have a c-section. How I'd still have to deal with contractions all the way there, in a car no less. I didn't care. I couldn't keep doing what I was doing.

I mentioned earlier that we weren't prepared for this birth. I meant it. We didn't have a diaper bag. We didn't have anything picked out just in case a transport was necessary. So everyone was rushing around the house getting things together. They kept asking me questions about preferences and all I can remember saying is "I don't care!" The pool was being drained while all of this was going on, and I was in my bedroom, not dealing with my contractions. Once I got the go ahead that everything was packed up I rushed out the door... only to find that we couldn't find the car keys. Grrrrrr! I had a neighbor outside that could see us all rushing out, and I'm yelling, "I need in the car. I need to go! Tom, we'll take your f-in car!" I was beyond reasoning and um, civilities. I was waiting by Tom's car when I saw the lights of my car flicker on letting me know that Tom had found my keys and had opened the door. Bethany, the other doula was already clearing out the backseat as I'm yelling at her to just let me in, I needed in. I crawled in on hands and knees, and this is when it got interesting...

I immediately started pushing. Yep. There was no holding back. I was taken aback by the pain and pressure of needing to push that I couldn't resist it. My poor neighbors heard it all. They yelled to get the Salli over there and at some point she did an internal, and sure enough, Amelia was almost all the way down. I had them all telling me I was going to have the baby in the car if I didn't move and move fast. Of course, when they were telling me this I couldn't move!

As soon as the contraction let up, Tom opened up the door and we were rushing inside. I could already feel something starting up again, and I knew it was going to be fast. I had no idea where to go because the pool was already almost completely drained. Salli told me to go to my bedroom where things were already set up. Once the pads were in place and my underwear was off, I instinctively went to my hands and knees. I started pushing again and Tom was right there by my side. The only comparison I can make to what I sounded like as I was pushing was the scream from "the princess bride" when wesley was being tortured by the six fingered man. With this second contraction, I could feel the "ring of fire" and I remember saying how much it burned. I don't remember getting any guidance about slowing down and stopping or anything. I was just doing whatever my body told me to do. Apparently this was when Amelia was crowning. With the next contraction, I pushed and almost immediately felt this immense release of pressure... because I had just birthed her head. I was so scared to ask if that was what that was because I was so scared someone was going to tell me no. Between that contraction and the next it seemed as though there were a huge time gap. I have no idea how long I rested, but I welcomed it. With the fourth contraction, I pushed, and Amelia was born. :) Our midwife had just recently broken her arm so she couldn't catch Amelia, and I remember her telling Tom, "Catch her!" It was amazing. It was done! I had just had a vaginal birth in my own home. I don't know who told me, but someone told me to reach down and hold my baby, which of course I did. 

Tom was so important to me in all of this. I had my apprehensions about how Tom would handle my labor, and he proved me wrong every which way. He did exactly what I asked him to. He constantly supported me through the whole thing. He made sure I knew how proud of me he was. This whole process changed my vision of him. I love him so much more. Our family has forever been changed because of this birth. I no longer have to fear pregnancy because of a c-section I had. I have proven that I am no broken. Tom has proven that he is here for me in every way he can be.

Melanie's Birth Story

My birth story. I hardly know where to begin…. It seems impossible that I can sum up the single most impacting event in my life with mere words. I think I need to begin my story at the beginning. Samuel is a miracle in every sense of the word. Rich and I weren’t supposed to be able to have children. Between the effects of the chemotherapy Rich went through four years ago for cancer, and the effects of my severe endometriosis, we were pretty much told the stars would have to align, and well, that it would take a miracle. I think God likes a challenge, because that is precisely what Samuel is – a beautiful miracle.
I know countless other couples who have also spent years longing for a child, only to feel crushing, suffocating disappointment time and time again. It is such a vicious, heart-wrenching cycle. So from the day that I got a positive pregnancy test until Samuel was born, I never once took my pregnancy for granted. I LOVED being pregnant. Every day I was in awe that a little person was growing inside of me. Every kick, punch, and hiccup filled me with such a sense of wonder at what God was creating.
            “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” — Psalm 139: 13-14
At the end of October, just shy of 27 weeks pregnant, I landed myself in the hospital with preterm contractions. I spent the weekend hooked up to all sorts of monitors and was given steroid injections in order to speed the development of Samuel’s lungs in case of delivery. I’m not gonna lie. I was scared. But God mercifully stopped the contractions and I went home on modified bed rest. For the next couple of weeks I continued to have contractions more often that I probably should have, but they slowly tapered off and I only experienced normal, infrequent Braxton Hicks for the rest of my pregnancy.
I was seeing doctors in the OB clinic at Brooke Army Medical Center, but was never completely comfortable there. Finally, when I was told that several parts of my birth plan would not be honored, I fired them. I was 39 weeks pregnant. Rich and I had discussed using a midwife at a birth center, or even a home birth, in the past, but as our insurance would not cover it we decided on a natural birth at the hospital. However, at this point we agreed that we would prefer to pay out of pocket rather than use the hospital. So I began a desperate, quick search for a midwife. I felt crazy and a little afraid that I: a) wouldn’t find anyone willing to take me at such a late stage OR b) would only find one person who would do it and wouldn’t really like her, but would HAVE to use her out of necessity. Again, God was merciful and led me to a wonderful midwife who was able to see me right away, and I LOVED her!! Even if I had started my search for a midwife at the beginning of my pregnancy and had all the time in the world to make a decision, I am confident I would have chosen Salli. She was perfect for me in every. single. way.
After meeting with Salli I did some quick shopping for necessary home birth supplies and was ready to go. I can’t begin to describe the feeling of relief I had to know I was going to give birth at home and not the hospital. All of my anxiety about labor and birth disappeared! Now all I had to do was wait. And wait I did, though a bit impatiently. I am extremely grateful, however, that I didn’t experience all of the discomforts you often hear about in late pregnancy. Sure, I had some aches and pains, but overall, I felt great!
My “due date” of January 29^th came and went, but I wasn’t concerned. I knew our little miracle would make his way into this world when the time was right. Rich was away for training at Ft. Hood (about four hours north of us) since the first week of January, so he called me every day to see how I was doing and to ask if I was “feeling” anything yet. I always assured him that he would be the first to know if I though labor was imminent! I think he was afraid I would get excited and forget about him!! Thankfully, though technically deployed already, Rich’s commander had agreed to release him on a 4-day pass once I went into labor, and we were very hopeful that arrangements could be made fast enough to get him home in time once I sounded the alarm.
On February 7^th I decided to get my hair cut and get a pedicure because I realized it could be a while before I was able to pamper myself again. So I tried out two new places here in town and really liked them. After finishing my pedicure I decided to pick up a few groceries and went home to make potato soup for dinner. I was busy peeling potatoes when I had a rather deep menstrual-type cramp. I thought it was odd, glanced at the clock to see that it was about 5pm, and kept peeling! A few minutes later, the same, fleeting pain was back. It was about 5:10pm. I kept peeling and chopping! Then, about ten minutes later, another wave of pain. I started to think, “This could be it!” So I began to hurry with my soup! Once I had it simmering I made a stop in the bathroom where I noticed some blood, and I knew for sure that our miracle was on his way! I called Rich around 6pm to tell him I thought this was it, then I called Salli. At this point my contractions were anywhere from 8-10 minutes apart. Salli encouraged me to eat, try to sleep (HA!), and tell Rich to make his way home. She asked me to call her back when my contractions were 5 minutes apart. So I called Rich back and excitedly told him to come home! Then I called my friend and neighbor, Eva, who was my designated birth partner in case of Rich’s absence. I also called my wonderful birth photographer, Kara, to let her know things were (finally!) getting started.

At some point in the midst of all my phone calls my soup was finished, so I sat down to eat some. However, by this time both my excitement and the discomfort of the contractions made me less inclined to eat. I ate as much as I could because I knew I would need strength for the night ahead. I was in enough discomfort (and excitement!) that I knew sleep would be impossible (though I desperately wished I could sleep and store up some energy!), so I started cleaning the kitchen instead. Eva arrived and helped me complete a few last-minute tasks such as making up the bed with cheap sheets and a plastic cover over our nice sheets and setting out the various snacks I had bought for everyone. Once we had things relatively ready, we relaxed in the living room while she timed my contractions. She was also busy texting back and forth with Rich as he updated her on plans to get him home. I was beyond thankful when she told me some of the guys from his unit here in San Antonio were flying up to get him! After all, a Blackhawk was going to get him home much faster than a car!!
Kara, our photographer, arrived and began shooting some pictures of me laboring and joined in our chats. I really enjoyed this time of early labor, listening to music, talking to Eva and Kara, and anticipating Rich walking through the door! But I was also trying to mentally prepare myself for what I knew was a long night ahead.
By around 9pm my contractions had picked up considerably. While I was still able to chat and laugh, I found myself having to get up and walk around or lean on the back of the couch during a contraction. They were suddenly coming anywhere from 3-5 minutes apart, with some lasting up to a full minute. Eva decided it was time to call Salli, so she called and Salli said she would be heading our way.

Salli arrived at our home around 10pm and immediately checked my blood pressure and the baby’s heartbeat. Everything was perfect. I was getting very uncomfortable by this point, and it was getting harder and harder to hold conversations. I found myself having to really concentrate on my task, allowing the contractions to roll over me, breathing through them one by one.
The second best part of the night (the best was yet to come!) was when I heard the front door open and looked up to see Rich standing in front of me! I was sitting on a medicine ball in front of the couch and he immediately sat on the couch behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I cried and held him tight…. and then another contraction hit. With him there by my side, I KNEW I could do this, and I was ready!

It was soon decided that I should get in the tub, so someone (I don’t know who, but thank you!!) filled our big tub with warm water and I slid into it. It felt wonderful!! It was at this point that I completely lost any sense of time. The pain was amazing, and I had to concentrate deep within myself in order to bear it. People (and forgive me for just calling everyone “people” at this point because I also lost any sense of who was doing what for me) kept holding glasses of water up for me to sip. I knew I needed to keep drinking, but I also knew I was about to start throwing up. Luckily, someone brought a trash can in the nick of time.
I labored in the tub for a long time, clinging to Rich’s hands and drawing strength from him. Finally, Salli said I needed to get out of the tub and move around in order to help keep the baby moving downward. Getting out of the tub was the last thing I wanted to do, but I knew I had to do it. So with the help of those around me (by this time two other wonderful women who assist Salli had arrived) I got out of the tub and headed for the toilet. Many mamas find sitting on the toilet a very natural laboring position, and so did I! With Rich crouching on the floor next to me (because I did not let go of his hands!) I continued to labor. I did notice Eva taking Rich’s place at some point. Bless his heart, he needed a quick break. He had been home for hours at this point without a bathroom break or even a drink of water!

Eventually I was encouraged to move around again, so I got up and walked into our bedroom. However, I was so exhausted that I was having trouble standing up and Rich was just about carrying me. Salli suggested that I lay on our bed to rest while they refilled the tub with warm water. I agreed and crawled up onto the bed.  And that, my friends, is where I stayed. I had really hoped to have a water birth, but once I got up onto the bed, I just couldn’t move again. The pain was so intense; the thought of moving again was something I couldn’t bear. So with Rich on one side of me, and Eva on the other, clinging to both of their hands, I went through the final stages of labor.

It was absolutely amazing because Salli didn’t have to tell me when to push. I just knew. My body knew how to do everything without guidance. And pushing was wonderful!!!! Even though I was roaring through every single push, it was so exhilarating. Finally, rather than just bearing the pain as contraction after contraction rolled over my body, I was able to DO something. So push I did!! Salli gently guided our precious Samuel into this world and promptly passed him to me. And he was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen…

While we allowed the cord to pulse, Rich and I sat there just drinking him in. He cried at the very beginning, but soon calmed down and just looked around in wide-eyed wonder. I couldn’t believe how alert he was. After a little while I delivered the placenta, which I don’t even remember doing, and Rich cut the cord.  I passed Samuel to Rich so he could hold him. And I have to say, watching my husband cradle and look into the eyes of our newborn son while his son looked up at him was so precious to me. I will never forget it.
An herbal bath was prepared for me and Samuel, and nothing felt better than sliding into it and holding Samuel against my chest. After soaking for about 20 minutes, we got out of the tub and Salli did Samuel’s newborn exam. He was 7lbs. and 19.75 inches long. I was shocked!! I had seriously expected a much smaller baby!

The absolute BEST thing about a home birth??? Crawling into bed with my husband and son as everyone left and spending the rest of the day, just the three of us, cuddled together sleeping, talking and soaking in the bliss. I would do it all over again without a second thought. I am so thankful for such a beautiful experience, and for everyone who helped me through it! And should God ever bless our family with another child, Salli will be the first person I call after that positive test!!
My life has been forever changed. I am humbled, ecstatic, and scared to death to be a mother.  My prayer life with be strengthened a hundred fold, no doubt! I am positive Samuel will be my greatest challenge, but he is also my greatest joy.
“On the day you were born I danced over you; on the day you were born I rejoiced. On the day you were born all heaven declared, ‘You’re the child of My love, you’re My choice!’”  — Paul Kyle, “On the Day You Were Born”