Carter

Danielle, age 23:

It all started around 6 am on Saturday April 17th. I was so excited...it was only one day past my due date and I couldn't believe that I had actually gone into labor all on my own.

I woke up feeling crampy, so I decided to walk around the house to see if it was really it. I felt one pressure wave and began to time, they were around 5-7 minutes apart. I decided not to wake anyone up yet and kept walking ...watching the clock as I felt each wave.

Finally at around 7 am I woke Jason up and told him I was going to call the midwife and tell her what I was feeling. I called her and she said she would be over as soon as she got showered and dressed. I told her I would keep timing and just relax until she got to my house.

Just a couple of days before I had an appointment with her and told her that I would like to be checked, she checked me and I was already at 2-3 cm but only about 25% effaced, so I didn't know if I would go quickly or not. I was hoping that once labor started it would go by pretty quick...but I was wrong :)

I jumped into the shower because the water helped me relax, I was probably in there a good half hour. It felt so nice to have the warm water run on my belly and back. I got into my birthing outfit and started listening to my Hypnobabies CDs. I relaxed on my birthing ball while doing this and it felt so nice to just close my eyes and just feel the pressure waves that would be bringing me closer to meeting my little man.

As I was relaxing on my birthing ball, my midwife and her apprentice showed up. I didn't even notice that they were there. I was so in tune with my waves and relaxing through each one. After about a couple of hours of relaxing on my ball I went into the living room to join everyone else. I ate some lunch and than just relaxed on the couch watching movies. LOL.

As the day progressed I decided to get into the birthing pool to see if that would speed anything up. The hours passed by and it started falling into the evening...still no baby. I was starting to feel the tiredness from laboring all that time. I got out of the pool, because it felt like I could feel my waves more intensely out of the water. I sat on the couch and listened to more of my CDs to help me relax.

After a few hours of being out of the pool I felt like I had the urges of pushing. I labored with that feeling for a couple of hours and than my midwife started getting the pool warm again. I was hoping that the end was almost near and I would get to hold little Carter soon.

I got back into the pool...the waves were getting more and more powerful. I just let my body do its own thing. I couldn't believe how long it had already been. I think I was in the pool for about another couple of hours. I didn't really know what time it was. Probably about 1 or 2 in the morning the next day. With every wave it felt very pushy. My midwife was so supportive staying with me the whole time and just letting me do my own thing. With one wave my water broke...the next a little more pushy. I was finally full on bearing my baby down, trying to breathe him down.

My midwife had to push me a little to give it everything I had. I could feel his head start to crown she told me to put my hand down and feel his head. I was a little hesitant at first, but I did. His sweet little round head was right there. I gave another big push and out came his head, than with another little push he slipped right out. I quickly put my hands under the water and lifted my sweet little boy out of the water. I cuddled with him and he let out a cry. It was amazing. I just held him looking at him, talking to him, kissing him.

Carter Jay was born at 4:51 am the next morning of the 18th, in the comfort of our home. He weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 in. long.

1. When did you decide you wanted to deliver your baby naturally?
I had a terrible experience with my first baby. The hospital was being very un-supportive of my choice of going natural. I ended up getting an epidural with the first because they were threatening to do a c-section, even though baby was fine and I was fine. I had just been in labor for much longer than their liking. With the second I knew that I didn’t want to go near a hospital, so I opted for a homebirth with a midwife. It was the best decision.

2. What reasons or factors went into your decision?
I guess the first part sums it all up. And I did a lot of research on homebirths and knew it was the right thing to do for my baby.

3. What did you do to prepare for natural childbirth? (midwife, classes, methods, books, etc.) Hypnobabies

4.What was the hardest part of your experience - before, during, or after childbirth?
I guess just how long it took. It was another long labor for me.

5.What was most helpful to you during labor to help make pain from contractions manageable?
It wasn’t pain for me it was pressure. Definitely Hypnobabies helped tremendously. It’s a great program for those that want to go natural.

6. What do you wish you would have known going into delivery?
I kind of knew everything I could have being it was my second.

7. Is there anything you would have done differently?
Nope.

8. What did you feel were the positive benefits to your natural childbirth - were the benefits what you expected?
I could let my body do what it had to do. I ate when I wanted to. Moved around if I wanted to. I had a supportive birth team, which helped a ton. I had great midwives. I also had a very special bonding moment with my baby that I don’t think I would have gotten in a hospital.

9. Is natural childbirth something you recommend to other mothers, or something you'd do again?
Yes, I definitely recommend it to other mothers, and yes I would do it again.

10. What advice do you have for other mothers interested in natural childbirth?
To do your research and know all of your options. Also take classes, this really helped me.

Contact Danielle at her blog: jasondaniellemcdonald.blogspot.com