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Well yeehaw! My friends baby is HERE!..well not here but BORN!!
It all started on wednesday evening. She was calling me frequently just asking little questions. I have had a home birth myself and it reassured her to know this. She was attempting a VBAC(vaginal birth after ceasarean). She had a lot of questions for me that day and I figured she was getting close.
We had discussed on an earlier date ways to enocurage baby to come sooner. Full term is 37 weeks. This is what you have to reach to be allowed to have a home birth here in Winnipeg. I told her all the little tricks I knew and had used..and if those didn't work we have many friends with an arsenal of knowledge.
For those who don't know prostaglandin is needed in order to help your cervix dilate. Prostaglandin is produced by us in small quantites..but we need more! This is what is applied in gel form at the hospital...personally I'd rather go for the natural approach. Guess where you can find a ready..and I mean ready supply of it? yeap you guessed it..that guy who helped you get into this situation is going to help you out of it too.
You can do one of two things..I recommend doing both on alternating days...
1. Have sex!..Nice I know!...ok be inventive cuz the big belly can get in the way..and make it fun cuz once the baby is out you done for a few weeks...LOL!
2. Give him head!..even better huh guys?...and SWALLOW IT!...all gone!
That's how I got both my kids out on time or early..when I got tired of being pregnant after 37 weeks of course..I made my husband a very happy man :P
This is what she had been doing..perfectly according to her husband. Many things become not so taboo when there is a birth involved.
I decided to go to bed early that night...wednesday night...and I slept terribly all night and SHE NEVER CALLED! When I woke uo I called her and asked hwo she was doing and if she still having pains? All that sex and prostaglandin had her feeling quite crampy. She informed me it had stopped.
Later that afternoon she called me and told me she had bloody show...and mucus too! I told her okay listen..usually after that has happened you dont go over 4 days..she was excited when I told her. I told her to call me if anything else changed. A few hours later around supper time she called and told me her water was leaking a bit..I told her to call her midwife. She was getting pictures of the family before the new addition. If we only knew how short a time we would have to wait!
She had been calling me from her in-laws and when she got home things picked up nicely. Contractions every 15-20 mins. I told her to call when they were 10 mins lasting at least 30 seconds.
THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG AT ALL!
She called me at 10pm after her midwife arrived and said she really needed me to come over now. I said I knew that and I was just packing up my things to leave. She said "I will call you again after the midwife checks me ok?" Sure no problem..I had to settle my son who wasn't sleeping yet. She called me back at about 10:30 abd said she was 6cm already..with barely any pain! We talked about baking bread like we had planned as a distraction. She laughed a bit then stopped abruptly...CONTRACTION! We talked for a few more seconds and she had ANOTHER ONE! I told her I'm leaving NOW see you in 25mins. I threw my son at my husband grabbed my bag and ran out the door.
Ok so it took me longer to get there than I expected. Getting out the door was a race of out to the car back to the house! By the time I left I as very anxious..not a good way to greet a laboring mother..so I grabbed my Rancid cd, cranked it up and drove like a mad woman on the highway while singing at the top of my lungs! I hoped I would expel some of the anxiety I was feeling. You know when you just wanna be somewhere NOW!! I hate that feeling! I have to work really hard to not let it make me crazy.
I walked in her apartment at midnight. The midwife T was sitting on the couch writing on M's(friend in labor) chart. I asked a few quick questions about how M was progressing. She said she had just picked up again right after I buzzed to be let in. I could hear M and J(husband) saying MIND OVER LABOR over and over again. I smiled. I waited til that contraction was done and approached their bedroom. That was hard for me because a couples bedroom to me is really no place for friends. This was different though..this was a birth!
As soon as M saw me she told me to come closer and sit on the bed with them. She was laying on her left side with her belly showing. J was behind her holding her and maybe rubbing her back. She had a really good contraction right then and we both helped her through it. They were regular and strong....
We went into the kitchen and I hugged her to me as she went through another contraction. J made coffee for T and M and I swayed from side to side. We stayed like that for a few contractions and then she got a bit of a break. She sat down on the birthing ball and I gave her some homeopathic meds. T wanted to listen to the baby...baby sounded great! T went to run the tub..water is sooooooo amazing when you are in labor..to sit in it or hear it can be so soothing.
I must say here that M was the fastest moving woman in LABOR I have ever seen! She had a few good ones on the ball and the tub was ready. I went into the washroom with her and help her keep her balance while she took her clothes off to get into the tub. What a beautiful pregnant woman she is! I was immediately in awe of her. I could not believe she had chosen me to be present at the birth of her baby. WHAT A GIFT!!
She got into the tub and agreed that water was good! J and I took turns pouring water over M's belly. I also got a few pictures in at that time too. It was 12:30.
After about 20mins T can to check baby again. Again baby was fine and happy. Things were going alot faster by now and she was showing signs of great discomfort. She was also getting more vocal. T said you need to get out and I'm going to check you.
This is where things get fast and blurry..I will do my best. I believe he was close to nine at this point and in quite a bit of pain. She looked at me and asked me if it was ok to yell? I told her whatever helps you is fine. Just do it! Well she YELLED!
She had been practicing squatting for weeks and she was quite good at it! Squatting is the best position to give birth in!..Not on your back! So she squatted by the side of the bed and was getting louder. T decided it was time to call the second midwife over now. Well the one who was supposed to come lived quite far so T opted to call a closer one in. BIRTH WAS IMMINENT!
1am was time for pushing now. She was 10cm and baby was LOW. M was quite relieved to hear she could push whenever she wanted to now. It really helped her. We got her settled on the birthing stool..which I "lovingly" call the contraction contraption! It works too well! M was wondering if she could go back the the tub and asked us this in between yells. I ran a fresh tub and she RAN...to the tub. She was like a linebacker pushing us all out of the way! It was priceless! The second midwife S arrived and T and her discussed M's progress. J and I just helped her breath and focus on relaxing. She quite liked the water running over her so we did that again. T came to check baby again and wanted to check how far down baby had come so far. M reluctantly RAN out of the tub onto the bed all the while yelling into a cold wash cloth. The midwives saw that birth was going to happen in the bedroom and brought all the supplies into there.
M was pushing hard now and I could see the baby's head. S was now in charge of checking baby's heartrate with the doppelar. Baby's heartrate was dropping a bit because M was yelling and not able to breathe deep at this point. S gave her some oxygen and the heartrate picked right up. YAY! We got her to lay on her side and braced her leg either against my arm or T's. I had what you might call a birdseye view! I have seen many a birth on video..but let me tell you nothing compares to being present and feeling all the energy and emotion going on there! IT WAS AMAZING!!!
We got M pushing good and hard with each contraction and she was getting a bit tired now..who wouldn't be tired at this point? The heartrate dropped again and the oxygen wasn't helping anymore..it was time to get the baby out.
We propped her up with some pillows and got her legs in the right spot. SHE PUSHED HARD! once...twice..three times and there was that lovely head..almost out..one more little push and floop! OUT baby was! 2:12am on Friday May 13th!
T wiped baby a bit and M sat up to see what it was...A BOY!...another boy! She was hoping for a girl but what can you do? :) He was perfect! M brought him up to her breast and he nursed right away even while he was still attached to the placenta. They waited till the cord stopped pulsing and clamped it and got dad to cut it. The midwives and I left the new family alone while we cleaned up and they wrote in their charts. I was in awe...so amazed I could barely speak.
T and S told me I should be a professional Doula. They thought I was a natural. I told them it's only because I have been there before. M needed some stiches and I was starving. I got some stew going for M..she was starving too! I ate a sub I had brought and got water for the tired and parched midwives.
I stayed until 5:30 am. I was tired and I needed to get up with my kids in a few hours. We took pictures before I left and J tucked hie wife and new son into bed...with the phone..M was calling people!
This is the wonder of a drug free labor and delivery..you are able to function well afterwards. You feel human..M and I having experienced both sides both agree natural is the best for us! And that we respect ALL mothers no matter how they birthed their babies.
Well I must go to bed now, It's 4 am on Sunday..and we have a birthday party for my son this afternoon...A house full!
So ciao for now!
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