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Surprise, You're Having a Home Birth!
August 21, 2009 at 11:49 AM by Cafe Cynthia - Comments (22)
Photo by hopinforanother
CafeMom hopinforanother planned to deliver her baby in the hospital with her midwife and OB. But it didn't turn out that way. Not even close.
She wrote an amazing play-by-play of her baby Carter's Unplanned Home Birth in Journals. Read her full story to find out what led up to it and see more great photos, but allow me to tease you with some of the most exciting parts:
"I had to rush to the toilet. My bowels began to release everything. My contractions became intense and I lost the ability to relax. I felt my son descending lower into my pelvis ..."
"The only thing that felt good was to be very vocal. I started to say that I couldn't go on. I was in denial ... still not thinking I could be in transition. My husband tried to comfort me, but I pushed him away and screamed for him to leave me alone.
"I started to walk to the car to go to the hospital but stopped in the living room. I got on the recliner with my knees in the seat and my hands on the headrest.
"My doula walked in at 3 a.m. and I asked her to 'rock my belly' with a long piece of fabric. I instantly became calm and told my husband to call 911.
"I began to bear down with the next contraction and my water broke. I got off the recliner and squatted on the floor. The 911 operator told my husband to make me lay down and pant. The doula told me to follow my body. I began making deep grunting noises. My doula continued to comfort me and reassure me.
"I tried to lay on my back but became uncomfortable so I moved to my hands and knees. I felt intense pressure in my rectum and a burning sensation as the head began to crown. I pushed as hard as I could because it relieved the pressure. I felt the head recede in between contractions, so I tensed all my muscles to keep him from going back in.
"With the next contraction, I pushed as hard as I could. I had the most intense burning sensation in my vagina but I could not stop pushing. I felt a release of pressure as the head came out! I was in disbelief when the doula told me that the head was completely out. I felt a sense of relief that the worst part was over but also a sense of panic because I didn't know if he was okay.
"My doula grabbed the phone from my husband (he was talking to the fire department) and told him to catch the baby. I pushed once more to release the shoulders and body. My husband received the baby! It was about 3:15 a.m. when he was born."
Are you ready for the possibility that your baby's delivery might not go according to plan? How would you feel about giving birth in the middle of your living room?
FILED UNDER: 3rd trimester, birth stories, delivery, labor & delivery
Comments:
The thought of birthing at home or even on the way to the hospital doesn't scare me a bit. I'd rather get caught with a fast birth at home than a long one where I'm poked and prodded and getting to a point where the doctors feel the need to step in because I'm not 'progressing fast enough' by hospital standards.
It's the nurses and the doctors with the epidurals, misoprostol, c-sections and losing control of something as simple as a birth that scares the #$@& out of me.
If I had waited longer at home it might have happened that way. I was still in a little bit of denial on our way to the hospital. I was sure that they were going to send me home. I almost convinced my husband that we should have just stayed home. It only took 4.5 hours at the hospital before she was out. It only took 2 pushes and she was out. I could have done that at home for sure!
After I recieved the bill, I almost wished we had stayed home!
I think it's fabulous! She's so lucky to have such an experience and everything was fine (imagine that, lol)! I'm so jealous!
We planned for it just in case... and I wish I HAD stayed home.
I delivered 15 minutes after arriving. I wish I had stayed at home.
Home births are not always safe though. What if you would have had complications, I did my son's heart rate was dropping and we both were in danger so I had to have an emergency c-section. I would be scared to take that chance because it doesn't always turn out to be safe. I just think that it's not worth the risk to have a home birth.
Alicia, that's why you get a trained midwife and you have a transfer plan, and you ALSO don't deliver at home if you have an increased risk of complications.
A lot of things (like a baby's heartrate dropping) are CAUSED by the hospital.
Such a great story! I'm actually having a home waterbirth this go round and I am by no means afraid to birth at home, whether my midwife makes it on time or it's just my husband and I. We have been preparing for this for a while now.
I am planning on a home birth with our second baby, due at the end of February. The idea doesn't scare me one bit. The idea of giving birth again in a hospital, however, scares the everlasting HECK out of me.
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I read this journal the other day, and it scared the crap out of me! I live in a suburb out of town, and it's crossed my mind more than once that I might not make it!
This story is amazing, though! He's a big, handsome boy, though! (and I mean BIG!)
mmmommy0207 Aug. 21, 2009 at 12:47 PM