My home waterbirth 21/01/10

[Neenee Jellybeanie]

Hey everyone!

Just a bit of background info, I moved from the flat I was living in to a three bedroom house (enormous good luck in that regard) so I was able to set up one of my spare rooms to be the birthing room. I had a vinyl sofa, the birthing pool, a table with all of my crystals and buddhist ornaments, a stereo etc. The room is big and right at the back of the house so it was very private and comfortable.
As you may remember I've been having big problems with bubs dad. As of the moment we're not together but he's doing a lot of serious work on himself and hopefully we'll be able to reunite and live together again in the future. For simplicity's sake I'll refer to him as DP though our relationship can be better defined by the facebook status "it's complicated" lol!

Anyway, I'd had a few days of quite strong prelabour contractions before they suddenly turned uncomfortable at about 10pm on the 20th. My mother already had DD so I busied myself nesting, not entirely convinced that this was actually the real thing. I washed and put away dishes, packed toys away and finished putting together what was needed for the birth room. I really wanted to get into the shower but I was worried that I'd never make it out again! Twice actually during my labour I sat on a stool and aimed the hot water at my tummy, it was wonderful! The contractions were very manageable but I was having a lot of back pain, including in between contractions. That was probably the worst part.
As the contractions intensified I said to myself "the pain is natural, it's good, my body is doing exactly what it's meant to, all I have to do is relax and let my body work" and things like that. As my labour progressed I was able to use the contractions as a cue to relax, and I relaxed my muscles in response to the rising tension. This was very effective! It was almost like meditating. Soon though the pain increased and I started growling through them which helped me release the tension. Changing positions helped a lot too, though by the end of it I found I didn't really have enough time between contractions to get comfortable.
I spent a lot of time sitting with my knees apart and my back straight, kneeling on my fours or leaning onto a pile of pillows, walking through the contractions, and kneeling while bracing something.
At about 4am I think, I decided it was time for my midwife to arrive as I started to feel like I was losing the ability to manage the contractions. She arrived about 45 mins later and she and DP started filling up the pool.
When she arrived I told her I was worried I'd called her too soon and was just being a drama queen about the pain. We talked about doing an internal exam but decided against it because if I wasn't as advanced as I wanted to be I would've found it very demoralizing (this happened in hospital with DD1).
I got up and went to the toilet while the pool was being filled and had three contractions while I was trying to pee lol. I actually found the toilet to be a very uncomfortable place to be at by the end of it I peed standing over the toilet instead of sitting on it, even though I was still able to sit on chairs anyway. I can't explain that! Sorry about the TMI too lol.
Eventually I made it back to the birthing room and the pool was ready soon after. It was soooo relaxing and lovely! I hoped it wasn't too soon.
DP was exhausted and had gone to lay down after helping fill the pool. He called my mum to come and help look after me while DD1 stayed at home with my stepdad. The water gave me a rest before strong contractions started again, I could feel DD2 decending into my pelvis but I was sure it was too soon so I figured it was just one of those labour sensations.
My mum arrived and after one contraction, I could feel it was time to push. Actually it wasn't a decision, it was completely involuntary. My midwife asked "Are you pushing?!" and I replied "Only a little bit!" because I was worried she was going to tell me not to because it was too soon. Of course, it wasn't too soon at all because the next one was even stronger and I knew DD2 was going to be born soon. I don't know too much about what went on around me at this time except that someone woke DP and he started recording. We were all shocked that it was suddenly time! I was calm and able to talk between contractions up until this point so we assumed things still had a while to go. As it happens there was a short period of time after I got into the pool where I felt very relaxed and rested with my eyes closed in between contractions and I imagine that was my transition.
As she decended I squatted on my fours and roared very loudly! It was very primal and also involuntary. I started to brace the side of the birthpool and push while my midwife advised that I try to stop pushing so much as not to tear. This was very difficult! I started yelling quite a high pitched noise to cope with the pressure. I put all of my weight on the side of the pool and water gushed everywhere but I couldn't stop, there wasn't any break between contractions now. Someone moved the fan (water+electrics=bad lol) and I pushed for 3 minutes. I felt her head crowning and realized it was actually happening! The feeling was indescribable really. As she crowned I felt a "pop" and thought "oh no, I've torn!" but there was nothing to be done so I kept pushing. After 3 minutes of pushing she was born and my midwife gently pushed her between my legs so I could lift her from the water. I got a bit of a fright because she was blue and floppy for a second but she very quickly breathed and gave a little cry. Her APGARS were 9+9.
What I had thought was a tear was actually my waters breaking, she passed meconium as the waters broke and my midwife was scared she was going to be breach! But she wasn't lol.
After she was born, my mum was crying and everyone was shocked! I held her in the water for a few minutes and suddenly had a painful contraction. After two painful contractions I delivered the placenta, my midwife said it was the biggest she'd seen and the cord was very long too. She also said I have a very efficient uterus because the second stage was so short lol.

The whole experience was wonderful, it was so much less painful than I expected and I felt calm and able to cope the whole time. I thought I was going to need to be stronger than before to cope without pain relief but the truth is I wouldn't have wanted it had it been available. Being at home made all the difference and trying not to judge "my contractions are X far apart so I should be X dilated" etc. I didn't have any internal exams (or any intrusions or intervention of any kind, my midwife checked bubs heartbeat with a doppler a few times but that never interfered with my labour) so I think that helped as I couldn't judge what "should" be happening. I had bubs through the CMP in Fremantle and it was WONDERFUL I couldn't recommend this service enough.

Name: not yet chosen!
Weight: 4.4kgs
Length: 54cm
Head circ: 35cm
Time of birth: 6:58am 21/01/10
Labour: 9 hours, pushing 3 mins.
. . . and I didn't tear or graze even though bubs was huge lol. Thanks to good management from my CMP midwife and the lovely birth pool!

Sorry this turned out so long, thanks for reading.