By now I am having contractions, that show signs they "could" be working to open the cervix. I have a bit of pink staining (very light) with the leaking fluid, and an occasional streak of bloody show (still not much). I timed contractions for about two hours, keeping a log on my iPhone (handy little thing!) and sent it off to my midwife so she could see that there wasn't really a solid pattern yet, but some promising signs of impending labor/ delivery. They seemed to be anywhere from every 20-30 minutes.
Sept. 24, 2009
I'm pretty sure I was REMing all night, and never got into the deep stage of sleep from which we derive our rejuvenation. I was so sleepy even after waking from a full night sleep. However, while it was still cool outside, having woken before the rest of the household I took a walk around the neighborhood to see if things would pick up some before my husband was planning to leave for school. If labor would pick up enough then he would stay home. However, if things stayed as they had been, then he was going to head off to class. It was a nice walk. I maybe had three contractions during my jaunt around the neighborhood, but nothing so bad that I couldn't keep walking through it.
Note: My husband is not allowed to have his cell phone while in the academic building. He is required to check it at the door, where it is kept in a locker. So while he wasn't too far away, he wasn't within immediate communication proximity. There was a staff duty NCO of sorts who could go and pull my husband from class if I needed, but this person was only on duty till a certain point and there was an hour of time when that option wouldn't be available. So I think I felt a reserve to some extent to either get things really going before school, or have to hold out for when school would be out.
By noon, I'd had a few really good contractions, the type that make you stop talking, and just freeze in whatever position you're in. To be honest they felt like transition contractions, but they were so far spaced it just didn't seem like that could possibly be what they were. So I surmised that since my water had broke, perhaps with less cushioning things were just going to feel more intense. I tried not to think of them being even worse when "real" labor started, but it was a little hard not to imagine it being even "more" intense.
When my husband left, he turned the T.V. on and the kids (except for my youngest) zoned out. They nearly never watch T.V. so it has a very potent affect when it is on in my house. I spent some time resting on the couch, doing the last load of laundry (that I hoped would be my last before baby arrived...which was like the 5th last load I did this week, lol). I started dinner (pot roast is very easy...and I hoped that it would be my after baby meal too). All this time continued to document each contractions, hoping for a more "normal" labor pattern to develop, but kind of glad things weren't progressing too quickly while my husband wasn't home. Still, these contractions, when they did come (every 12-30 minutes) were sort of intense.
When my husband got home, I darted up stairs and decided I was setting up the pool. Within the hour I was clocking contractions every 12-10 minutes and they felt like there were opening things up. I couldn't be sure, but I hoped they were doing the trick. I didn't want to imagine this just being beginning labor contractions. But either way I was going to fill up the pool now just in case. Because I could always add more hot water later if I'd filled it too soon...but you can't quickly fill up a pool in hurry if you've underestimated how far along you are.
At this point the kids were spinning out of control from their all afternoon T.V.-a-thon. They were like little addicts come diner time and my poor husband had his hands full. He would come in and ask "how close" we were, or did I "call the midwife yet?" I just pointed at the phone and the note book (which was open to the contact info page), and suggested he could keep her posted. I needed to just focus on doing what I needed to do, and wasn't up for being in charge of much else by this point. During that hour, I had sat on my exercise ball leaning against my pillows, and prayed the luminous mysteries rosary. I also had the music from the Little Lamb Lullabies playing in the back ground.
By 7pm, I'd had 8 contraction that were a solid every ten minute pattern, and so he called the midwife to let her know...and I was done waiting to climb into that pool. I knew I wanted to wait as long as possible for two reasons. One being that
water birth studies mentioned by Dr. Michel Odent suggest that waiting till the optimal time to get into the bath has the most effective outcomes. If you're in the tub for more than two hours, it stops being as effective in establishing a good labor pattern and offering relaxation. And I'm all about maximizing the effectiveness of water birth! The second reason, was that I wasn't sure how far along I really was and feared that if I got in too soon, I'd increase my risk of infection. So part of me felt that once in the bath it was it. If I got out (two hours) then I'd be risking things in the infection department.
But oh screw it, those contractions felt like transition and I'm glad I listened to that, and got in. I leaned against the side of the pool with my butt floating behind me. And I stopped timing the contractions. Since I was in the water I decided to go ahead and check to see how things were progressing. I expected to feel hair, but instead I felt almost complete dilation with a large right side lip to go. And I felt an intact membrane over the head. (Later, we determined that my membrane rupture was up high, and not low, and I still have plenty of fluid).
Mentally, I figured I had a bit more to go, but John pressed if we should call the midwife, and I think I told him that was fine.
I might have had one more contraction and I felt a little pushy, but I know I tried to keep pushing to a minimum.
Then a follow on contraction and I had the same urge and reached down and was surprised to find the head was in the birth canal, I was so close! With my other children the head dropping into the canal was like a bowling ball hitting the ground and was usually very pronounced. This baby just slid on down and I wasn't even aware of it. I really just felt like I had to go to the bathroom.
So I called for my husband because I didn't want him to miss this birth (he missed the last two because of deployment). He was so busy with the kids, and kept puttering about, worried about where the midwives would sit and stuff like that. I'm pretty sure I told him "it's not a show, midwives usually just sit on the floor."
Then there was a rather long pause while I waited for the next contraction that could bring the baby out. While waiting for the next contraction the apprentice midwife arrived, and tried her best to be quietly tucked away. I was just sort of floating there and was sure they were wondering if I was really even in labor. Then a few minutes later the midwife arrived. And finally, a contraction (remember they were probably never less than 10 minutes apart). So lots of waiting, which seemed like forever. I didn't want to wait another 10 minutes to birth this baby, so I put in some extra effort to get her head out thinking that would be the biggest hurdle...and everything would fall in line from there.
Out came her head, I felt almost like a tickle from inside as I could feel the baby rotating, woo! Okay, so now what? The contraction and urge to push were gone. I felt the head and could feel two little ears and then realized that this baby was face up. This was not expected, the baby had always been Left Occiput Anterior, the heart rate had always been heard in my lower, left abdomen quadrant. And I could always feel the along the baby's back, butt, and feet and could tell she was in the LOA position. But she had spun some and was facing up. We double checked and did not feel a cord. Then I changed position to try and get things going. The midwife lent a hand and recommended I turn over and then the baby came out.
The baby looked great! She was breathing and pinked up nice and quickly. She was a little gurgley, and when I tried to turn her downward to help drain some of the juices she grabbed onto my shirt (demonstrating great muscular tone). She drained a little and then we put her to the breast and she latched on without much trouble at all, and nursed a bit (which helps clear the gurgles too). All the while she looked and acted fine, because she still had a functioning pulsating cord intact linked to her placenta. I stayed in the pool recovering just a bit, then decided to get out so I could try and get her juices drained from a better angle. Her cord wasn't very long, so she could only go so far from me, the mama.
During my last two births the placenta always came out when I stood up to
get out of the pool. This time it wasn't quite ready to come out, so I birthed that a little later. Meanwhile, once out of the pool I was able to put her into a nice downward angled position and gently patted her back. This cleared the juices some more. Her lungs were totally clear during her newborn assessment. The newborn assessment was perfect, nothing abnormal was observed. I checked out on my post-partum check as well. I've had a very good recovery thus far.
*****
We do what I call a partial-lotus birth. This simply means I leave the cord and placenta intact after the birth for about a day. A full lotus birth is when you maintain the placenta with the baby until the cord detaches from the umbilical area on it's own (which can take just a few days). I will leave the placenta in tack for about a day, until there's a nice thinned out dry spot on the cord, and then I cut it. Then I salt the placenta, covering it with rosemary and lavender and leave it in the fresh air to dry out. One day I hope to bury our mummified placentas under a tree or in our garden...when we own a home of our own. I believe the delayed cord cutting is much better for the hemological start of my babies. The pulsating cord after birth continues to transfer oxygen and nutrients, and stem cells to my baby for as much as 15 minutes (or more) after the birth. A lot is made out of the importance of stem cells. Parents spend a lot of money to store these precious cells. I figure my babies should have these beneficial infusions, naturally, from the very beginning, as nature designed it. From the three births I've done this way thus far, I've seen no ill effects. These three babies have been very healthy thus far. My first baby did not get this benefit, and I think he might have done better if he had his cord blood to help him from starting off anemic.
More information on Ruptured Membranes
More information on Delayed cord cutting
Of all the baby things you can buy...and there are so many, I am pleased with our Moby wrap. It is surprisingly comfortable! It's best to put it on before you leave the house, so you don't have to content with dragging the straps through the mud. I thought the stretchy fabric would make this sag, but it's pretty snug. The baby feels very secure. And the extra fabric around my body actually feels nice in this chilly weather. 
My second gift from the Etsy Baby Shower arrived last week. I'm just getting around to taking a picture of our adorable 
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