My Home Waterbirth Story

Lydia Kate was due to be born on or around February 18^th. I expected that I might go a few days over, since my two other children had been 4 days and 8 days late. However, when the end of February came and went and I found myself still pregnant at the beginning of March, I became very nervous. Since I had my heart set on a homebirth, I worried that if I went any longer I would end up with a hospital induction. My husband and I prayed and analyzed every possible scenario for our child's birth before deciding to consult our midwife about how to use castor oil. Am I glad I did! She gave me a recipe for castor oil including orange juice, ice and baking soda mixed in a blender. I took it at 4:00PM and by 6:00PM I was in labor!

I decided to stay home from church that evening to take it easy and concentrate on my labor. Since I had experienced false labor in the weeks leading up to Lydia's birth I was concerned that things would stop suddenly and we would be disappointed again. Contractions started out 4 minutes apart and were mostly painless. I wrote in my journal, called my sister and mom and willed my labor to keep going. I also called my midwife to let her know that I might be in labor. She was concerned that I might progress too quickly for her to make it in time, but I assured her I would call her in a half hour. By 7:00 contractions were coming every 2 minutes and I called my husband to come home from church. A few minutes later he was home with our two other children and my mother in tow.

At 8:30 I noticed a dramatic change in my contractions. They were still coming every two minutes, but they were lasting longer and had a definite bite to them. I called Becky, the midwife, and asked her to start the 30 minute drive to our house. My husband and I put our other children to bed and told them they would have their baby sister when they woke up!

My husband went to work creating the environment that I wanted for the birth. He lit candles, started classical music and left me to myself-all exactly what I wanted. It was snowing outside and the evening was truly beautiful.