Ariel's Story
by Mellisa
We had a little girl on 10/30 at
12:08 am. I had a successful home waterbirth. No interventions of
any kind. It was also very fast. She weighed 7 lbs 5oz.and was 21 inches
long. She had a knot in her cord that did not affect anything. It was
still pulsating when she came out.
I had on and off contractions since the first Monday in October when I accidentally eat spicy shrimp. Contractions finally became intense, but would not keep going and every contraction was painful at my pubic bone area, so I reached out to my chiropractor. I didn't think this was normal. Of course it was not. My pubic bone was not separating in the proper direction. I was past my due date as well. She did some manipulation and since I was past my due date she did some Logan Technique work. Kind of like a chiropractic induction. She said I probably didn't need it. That fixing my pubic bone would most likely do the trick, but because of how I had been contracting for the last few days we figured it wouldn't hurt. It was obvious the baby wanted to come out.
Contractions slowed down and were less intense for a while (my chiropractor had warned me this would happen). At about 9 pm that night they were back to intense and consistent with no pubic bone pain! At 9:30 I went to lay down and my husband did some back massage during each contraction. I attempted to find another position and ended up on my stomach as a contraction started! Ouch!! I got up and yelled for him to turn the shower on. It was about 10 pm. A few minutes later he called our Doula, Claire. She listened to me grunting and moaning in the shower and told him she was on her way. She called our midwife on her way to our house for us to give her an update and advised her to make her way over as well.
Claire arrived around 10:30 pm. My husband was working on the birthing pool and I was still in the shower. I am now thinking we are going to run out of hot water and turned down my hot water usage. However contractions are harder to handle when I got cold. I now felt the water temp drop and told Claire. She had Jon check the pool water and sure enough it was coming out cold. He started boiling water on the stove.
Since the water was now cold I get out of the shower. I was cold and contractions were harder to handle. It is hard to relax when you are cold! - just in case you didn't know that. Lol! My midwife arrives at some point. I keep asking about the pool.
I have most of my labor in the living room on the couch (don't worry it was covered in plastic just in case). At about 11:30 my midwife says if I still want to get in the pool, now would be a good time. I am beyond relieved and immediately move to the pool. As i get in the pool, I notice the assistant midwife arrives. I get in and immediately feel so much better. I think I started pushing before I got in the pool because I now feel a sense that my duty is to get the baby out. I am on all fours. That ring of fire (the one I was not able to experience with my first) was no JOKE! (note - read here for the Birth Story of Mellisa's first birthing experience). Holy crap that burned. When it didn't let up for a few contractions and stayed there, negative "I can't" thoughts entered my mind. A lot of the affirmations were going through my head, but that didn't help so I spoke my "I can't" out loud. Immediately Claire (my Doula) started saying to me "You can and you are doing it". Jon gets in my face and says the same thing, but adds WE ARE doing it. I start repeating it and try to remember to not push like a crazy woman.
Someone tells me to reach down and feel the head. I remember it feeling fuzzy. I thought hey it has some hair! Now come out! Then I hear "ok reach down and grab your baby". I do. And they say "Give a final push and your baby will be out". Sure enough one final push and the baby was out and in my arms. I kept hearing someone say "Do we know what it is?" I finally look and with shock-- It is a girl! I am excited and surprised because I was so certain we were having a boy.
I get out of the pool and cough ( literally) out the placenta. I nurse and eat my home cooked meal. We move to the bed room and do all the newborn checks while I am laying in my own bed We burn the cord off. Claire knows the person who is doing the placenta encapsulation and notifies her that I gave birth.
And that is pretty much everything. I am overly happy with the birth, although I do wish I could have been in the pool from the beginning.
Long story for only 3 hrs of labor. Not counting the start stop contractions.
If you are interested in sharing your Birth Story here on the Radiant Birth blog, feel free to Contact Me.
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