My daughter was born unassised at home. Home birth and unassisted birth are widely gaining in pop...
Credit: Amber Seber | ©Amber Seber
A Natural Home Birth Story
I went into labor Thursday March 13th, five days "early" at about 3am. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep but was not sure why. After a while, I realized I was having contractions. I thought it was interesting because I had never felt them before. They were beginning to feel like period cramps. After each one, the baby would kick like crazy, so I was able to tell when they were beginning and ending.At about 5 am, I had gotten up to go to the bathroom a few times and started to think I might be in early labor. David got up then to use the bathroom and I told him I might have the baby that day. He asked if he should stay home from work and I said no. I would call him if I needed anything.
By the time he got up at around 6am to go to work, I still couldn't sleep, so I got up and had some cereal. I was having real contractions now and they were about 10 minutes apart and one minute long. They didn't hurt, but it felt like a belt was tightening around my lower back and I enjoyed leaning over the couch for each one. David left for work and I tried going back to sleep. I wanted to have enough energy for the birth.
I lay down and took a short nap, but woke up with stronger contractions at about 8am. They were giving me back pain and the only thing that stopped it was to walk through each contraction. I had really wanted to just rest, but my back was killing me, so I decided to do some light housework to keep my back from getting stiff. I scrubbed the shower so it would be sterile and did the laundry and tidied up the house, setting out all of my birth supplies. I was having a hard time believing I was actually in labor.
Around 2:00, I was sure it was the real thing and called my mother to let her know I was going to have the baby. Contractions were pretty strong by then and I was wondering when I should call David to have him come home. I wanted to wait as long as possible. I called and told him to pick up some things for me on the way. One hour later, the contractions were getting to be heavy and close. I was starting to get a little scared and called David and told him to come home IMMEDIATELY, that I didn't need that stuff from the store so bad after all.
Comments
Anna
(Guest)
(Guest)
01/03/2010
Yeah we used chux pads for the really messy stuff and towels for catching and the placenta. Only one towel was stained and it was because someone accidentally tossed it in the dirty clothes... was wondering what that iron-y smell was. The other ones washed up just fine. Vacuuming was more work than cleaning up from my birth.. no blood got on the carpet, I had the mattress steamed because my water broke in my sleep (woke me right up!) and I cleaned the carpets with my steamer later.. there was no smell.
This story makes me eager to birth again. Even the very painful parts. Of course, I wont feel the same way when I hit transition but its nice to think about, thanks for sharing your story and for answering everybody's questions so politely!
Thanks for the comment, Jess :) Actually, I'm not at all sure how they do the cleanup process in the hospital. At home, it was VERY easy. I gave birth onto two folded towels. After the baby and all of the fluids came, I just walked into the shower and rinsed off and my husband grabbed the four corners of the towels, dropped them into the washing machine and hit "rinse." It was super easy and there was no mopping or anything to deal with at all. I hope that helps anyone who was curious!
Jess
(Guest)
(Guest)
08/22/2009
Wow, just wow. I saw the picture on DevArt and read the story and read some of the comments and wow. I would not have the courage to do it alone.
I was my friends partner when she had her daughter. It was her first child and since we didn't want to take any chances we had midwives at the hospital. They talked us through what all was happening and helped with contraction pains. It was still scary even with all the monitoring and hospital equipment making sure her and her baby were okay. And even with all the equipment, it was quite a mess...(I did not envy the clean up process; she ended up ruining her socks...) But her baby girl was born alert and very fuzzy. - Jess
Jcorn - It's totally normal to want pain relief :) I did! Once most women hit transition that's it! They are DONE! That's one of the many reasons women who want natural births choose to stay at home. If you're in the hospital, the drugs are way too tempting. If you are at home, you don't have the option. You did a great job, though, and there's nothing weak about asking for pain relief. I think women who go to hospitals and still manage to have a natural birth are some kind of otherworldly goddesses or something!
I was riveted by this one! I did not have the courage to do this and I confess I was grateful for every bit of pain relief I got. They later told me they would probably have done a Caesarian birth (sp?) if they knew he was going to be over 9 pounds (which he was). I had a great deal of difficulty giving birth and finally asked for help from the doctors - who were just standing there, not even offering any encouraging words. I don't think I could have done it at home - but who knows? I do know that I finally got grumpy and said, "That is it! I'm done. You guys better do something - now! " And they did -and I finally had a healthy baby and some rest. :) Your way was probably better, though.
Yes, I did actually feed her for 6 hours without taking her off. A lot of misconceptions about babies, childbirth, and childcare were started in the 1950s and a few nurses still cling to those beliefs. One of them is that babies should only eat for a certain amount of time because after half an hour or so, the breast is usually empty. What many doctors have discovered today, however, is that babies do not nurse just for food. Nursing is extremely important for babies to feel nurtured and safe and provides them a great amount of comfort. Also, close contact and nursing improves babies' brain growth. Even more importantly, most women's milk does not come in for a few days after the baby is born and the more you nurse, the faster your milk will come in and the more plentiful it will be when it does - so it's great all-around! :)
Aloha Sonya! Isn't it wonderful how many different kinds of people and beliefs there are in the world? :)
The reason I took a bite of the placenta is because placentas are actually intended to be eaten, though most humans no longer eat theirs. The placenta provides MANY benefits including valuable nutrients and most importantly a veritable cocktail of necessary hormones. These hormones prevent postpartum depression, aid in milk production and, most importantly to me, stop hemorrhage immediately. When giving birth in the hospital, the nurses will give a mother a shot of pitocin to prevent hemorrhage. When birthing unassisted, women usually will consume a bite of placenta instead.
I did take the baby to the doctor's office after two weeks. He's very pro-homebirth and respects parents' desires to not vaccinate, refuse testing, etc.
Holy Cow! I just never heard of such a thing. I knew of home births (kinda, sorta) but not totally unassisted. I was clinging to every word. Wow, what an experience. I have to have c-sections! I loved the part of the story about thinking about changing your religion. That made me laugh. Under pain, we think many things. Being a Christian myself, I could not do anything without God. I love that we are all different and that I was able to read something that celebrated that. I would love to know why you bit the placenta?? I am just so curious. Also, do you take the baby to the doctor at any time? I am very curious now. Good for you. Also, do you literally mean that the baby feeds on your breast for 6 hours without coming off? I remember nursing for 45 minutes in the hospital and the nurse telling me not ot do it again that it was too long. What an amazing story!
Congratulations!! You were veryyy brave to have it at home.
What a gorgeous little girl! Amazing article!
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