Obadiah's Home Birth Story

I started writing this the week of Obadiah's birth but never finished. So I thought I would save it to post on his Birthday.

It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed already and my baby is already 1!

I know this is a bit long. But I wanted to have this written out and I have recieved at a couple requests that I post it.
Here's the story of the arrival of our little Angel.
...

My due date was March 10th but I was SURE I wouldn't have the baby until the week after that. I even told my mom to go on a 1 1/2 day business trip on the 8th and 9th because I was SURE it baby wouldn't come. Well.... he did.

My mom flew out on the Wednesday the 7th. The last thing she said to me was "don't have that baby while I'm gone" I rolled my eyes and said I wouldn't.

After she left I really wanted to vacuum and dust the living room, which is weird for me.  I also had the very strong urge to bake cookies but I decided to take a nap instead because my stomach was feeling a little crampy. I had been having contractions on and off for about 4 weeks though so I didn't really think much of it. They would usually settle down after a nap.

Actually, my midwife stopped by in the middle of my vacuuming to see how I was doing and check the baby's position. He was in perfect position and she even asked me "so when are we having this baby?" she's funny like that. I asked her if Sunday would work for her. She said it would.

After my nap I still felt weird but decided I would still go to my RCIA class that I'd been taking.  William tried to talk me out of it but I hate missing class so off I went.

I found it very hard to concentrate during class because I kept having contractions. I started writing the times down and realized I was having them every 5 minutes.  I thought about leaving class early but then decided that was silly so I just stayed till the end. By the end of class the contractions were strong and regular. I only live about 10 minutes away so I waited till the end of a contraction to drive home. I figured I could probably get home before the next one. I didn't...

When I got home I told William I was having contractions ever 5 minutes and that I needed to stop them. So I look a bath and William fed me dinner in the tub while I tried to relax. I decided the tub was annoying because my contractions were getting stronger instead of going away so I went to bed and told William to go to bed also. I figured if I went to sleep they would go away. I also told William not to call the mid-wife because I didn't want to bother her over nothing. Besides, I told every one at class I was going to have the baby on Sunday... AFTER my mom got home.

I don't know how long I slept. It wasn't very good sleep because I kept having cramps and feeling nauseated.  The nausea made me realize that is was for real. That and the fact that laying down was really annoying. So I got up and started wandering around the house.

I don't know if every one feels this way, but laying down while in labor is super annoying and
frustrating and uncomfortable. I much more enjoy labor if I get to walk it off, lean over things, or sit on a big bouncy ball. 

Here's a picture of me in labor... I let William take it after I realized that this was really happening and that I hadn't taken any belly pictures for a few months.

 I finally let William call the mid-wife and tell her I was in labor. Luckily, he had not gone to bed when I told him too and had already emailed her and set things up in my mom's room, where I would be having the baby.

I don't know about any one else, but I have to admit...once I embrace it and stop fighting it... I rather enjoy labor.  Once I get in "the zone" and just let my body does what it knows how to do it's just such a fascinating and wonderful experience. Yes there's discomfort... a lot of it... but I'm usually so focused on the end result that I really don't mind that at all. Plus, it's a lot more bearable if one moves around during labor.  The Pushing stage on the other hand... now that I'm not a fan of.

Anyway, my water finally broke ... and let me tell you, that is an awesome feeling!  I wasn't in the mood to walk around any more.  I pretty much laid and on floor after that and soon the feeling to "bear down" came. Then my midwife arrived around 5am.

With out too many details... because really no one wants that.... I pushed for about 3 and a half hours with a good two hours of that being really really really good pushing. (No, that isn't normal for a second baby). Apparently some time at the beginning of labor the baby had turned over into a not so great for coming out position and had his head at a not so great angle.  So he was trying to come out the hard way. (Posterior position, military attitude for those of you in the know).

So, after lots of different positions on my part, and lots of work on every one else's part helping to support me and move me...
 (at one point I even had a person on either side of me pushing the tops of my hips trying to widen the bottom of my hip bones. At the time that seemed like a good idea and relived a lot of pressure in the pushing.... but it took months for my hips to stop hurting and I couldn't walk for days after... bones were not meant to be moved like that... But I know it had to be done and I don't regret it. But I can tell you when it's probably going to rain now by the pain in my hips)
And after lots of really great hard pushes from me...

 My beautiful baby boy was finally born. My Obadiah Liam.

It was a beautiful spring rainy day with big rolls of Thunder. I do remember thinking how wonderful the weather was to be having a baby. Such great thunder.

This is a picture of that thunder stormy day, right after Obadiah was born.

 One thing that was super fun was that about 10 minutes after Obi was born William called my mom. Then about 20 minutes after Obi was born our dear friend Jenny called us to say congratulations. It was crazy how fast she found out!

Then about 30 minutes after Obi was born my friend Alyssa called to answer a question I'd had at class the night before and to check to see if I was successful in keeping my baby inside me. I was not and I was very very happy.

About an hour after Obi was born the UPS man drove up the drive way. We had to ask our midwife to meet him at the door.  He asked how we were all doing and she told him our baby had just been born in the house. He was pretty shocked "HERE? NOW?" It was pretty funny. 

The best part was he was dropping off gifts! 

My family had surprised me and bought me my dream stroller (the Graco Quattro Tour Reverse Travel System) and it was being delivered at that very moment. I was so so shocked and excited. We also got that day a gift from our friends in Reno and then a friend from Venezuela had sent Rosie a gift for the big day.  It was super fun to open baby gifts right after the baby arrived, in the comfort of my home.

Anyway, Here's a picture of our midwife, Sheryl, and William weighing Obadiah.

She was surprised how much he weighed (since I didn't have to have any stitches or anything) so she weighed him twice.

8 pounds 10 ounces

21 inches long at 8:52am









And then we had our first family picture together.

 Rosie is a little out of sorts in this picture. I'm not quit sure when she woke up in the morning. I know William went to check on her a couple of times and I guess he had turned on her favorite show for her on the iPad. I guess she watched a lot of Peep that morning.
Then when it came time and we knew Obi was minutes away... maybe 30 minutes... William went and got Rosie she she could be there when Obi was born. We'd been talking about babies being born for a long time, she'd seen the goats give birth. We also have a wonderful book, called Hello Baby,  about home births that she read over and over again. So we'd been preparing her for a while.
 
I remember giving her a kiss between pushes. I remember her sitting quietly and wide eyed in the chair next to me. I remember asking a couple of time how she was doing. And then I had both my babies next to me.

Another sweet moment I remember is while I was taking a shower Sheryl read Hello Baby to Rosie and talked about the placenta and babies being born. It was very sweet and I was very proud of my little girl.

If you ask Rosie about Obi's birth she will tell you  "Mommy made a big noise and then Obi came out of Mommy's tummy."

I am so glad she was there with me and was able to be a part of such a beautiful moment. If your kids ever ask were babies come from you can just send them to Rosie and she can tell them.

 So there it is. The day my beautiful baby boy came to give me a cuddle. Since day one he's been my little cuddle bug.

Our home birth experience was absolutely incredible. It was wonderful to be comfortable at home and not have to be moved or poked at. It was wonderful to be in a comfortable bed instead of a stupid hospital bed. It was so nice to have my mom's king sized bed for the whole experience so we could all sit in the bed the whole time and then after the birth me and William and Obi and Rosie could all take a nap together in the bed. Room for every one!

 I am so very thankful for our amazing midwife. I know I could not have done it with out her. She was wonderful.  She knew when to tell me things or suggest things to try, and when to not bother me by telling me things that would only stress me out or distract me. She didn't pester me with the babies heart rate numbers unless I asked and she was amazingly encouraging and empowering. Exactly what every person in a birthing room should be!

I am forever in love with William for all the support and encouragement and help he gave me the whole process.  And I am so very thankful for my little angel of a boy.

**PS. I'm sorry I wasn't able to wait for my mom to have my baby, but I am very happy she arrived home the next day to hold and kiss and cuddle my baby. I am also forever grateful for her king sized bed. Thank you Mama ... and we'll have to do it again some time. *wink*