The Home Waterbirth of Coco!

I was pretty certain that this baby was going to come on Grandma’s birthday, so when I started feeling strange around midnight on November 11th, I wasn’t surprised. I also wasn’t surprised when I woke up at 2am, 4am, or 5am. By 6am I decided it was the day and woke up my husband – who replied to my “I need you to get up now.” With a glance at the clock and a “Why?”

My husband started setting up the birth tub while I called the midwife and started making preparations. The hose to fill the birth tub was leaky so we ended up running it from the basement utility sink rather than the bathroom sink.

With the tub well on it’s way, I wandered around the house, trying not to get too excited. I think I listened to a hypnobabies CD at some point and threw some breakfast burritos in the toaster oven. Around 7am my cable clicked off (probably should have paid that bill on time… ) and I lost all contact with the outside world LOL (and the kids lost our most reliable form of entertainment that would distract them).

My mom arrived and braided my hair for me, and the midwife arrived soon after. The kids spent the majority of the morning bouncing off the walls, eating junk and doing whatever we could do to keep them occupied. My labor was totally manageable at that point, and I was starting to feel guilty for calling the midwife and my mom so early – but true to form, had I waited until “they” say to call, nobody would have made it in time.

My husband and I went for several short walks during the morning, and eventually I locked myself away in the bedroom with my hypnobabies CDs and tuned out the chaos in the living room. The midwife came in a few times to listen to the baby, and I think I was in and out of sleep for a good portion of my labor.

Eventually things changed and I decided that I needed to get into the birthing tub for some relief. Unfortunately, we had filled the tub so early that I found it to be too cold. I returned to the bed and listened to my CDs some more to help me relax while I was waiting for the tub to be warmed.

Awhile later my midwife let me know that the tub was ready when I wanted it, and I headed in. I got comfortable, put my CDs on again and started mentally preparing for the pushing phase – something that I cannot stand.

My mom was taking photographs the whole day, and attending to the kids, as was my husband. At some point I started to feel a bit pushy and complained that my water was in the way, and was quite relieved when it broke. The pushing feelings were getting more and more intense and I was trying to keep myself calm and not panic.

At some point I started pushing, which was just as I remember it being from my previous births – not pleasant. First on my hands and knees and then after reaching down and feeling that the head was mostly out, I moved to more of a kneeling position. Baby wasn’t coming out and I was getting impatient. Finally another good push got the baby moving and I felt her slide under my hands. My midwife helped me move the baby out of the water and on to my chest, and I immediately looked over and called for my husband and the kids to come over to the tub. I looked between the baby’s legs and called out that she was a girl – nobody looked surprised, and truthfully I wasn’t either! The kids were so excited! She was born at 3:12pm.

I tend to be a bleeder, so we had some issue getting that under control, but my midwife is skilled and I wasn’t concerned – I moved out of the tub to deliver the placenta which was a little difficult since like Lum this baby had a short cord too.

I made it to the bed, nursed the baby, got the placenta delivered and after awhile got control of the bleeding. The kids came in for a little bit to see the baby, but I needed to rest so I sent them back out after a few minutes. The midwife weighed and measured the baby while I had some stew – 8lbs 5oz 19.5″ long – my heaviest and shortest baby! We passed the baby off to my mom to get her dressed while I stepped into the shower.

Pretty soon everyone cleared out and it was just our little family. It was a great birth – but I do remember asking “Why do I keep doing this?” LOL (Well, I know why, but it sure doesn’t feel good at the time!)