Novalee Sage's Birth Story
Well, this birth story is very different from all of our others. To start off with we planned a homebirth. I had a natural, unmedicated birth with Rhea and loved how quick recovery was so I decided why not have Novalee in the comfort of our own home. This way we would not have to worry about finding a babysitter in the middle of the night, and our other kiddos could be and feel like they were part of the whole process. We prepared the kids beforehand by showing them homebirth videos that were appropriate on youtube and talking to them about the whole process. We told them it would be completely natural and fine for Mommy to be making noises and maybe even scream and that they didn't need to be scared. We also told them they were free to be in the room or if they felt uncomfortable they could be in another room and that it was entirely up to them.
I was fully expecting this baby to be born at 38wks, just like all her siblings so when 38 weeks rolled around and went away and I still had not had any signs of labor I was a little shocked and disappointed. I had been very uncomfortable the whole pregnancy because I carried her very low. My midwife, Lisa, was always shocked by how low she was at each visit. I tried walking a lot and bouncing on my yoga ball, red raspberry leaf tea (to strengthen contractions), but alas to no avail. Finally at my 39 wk. visit I decided to have my midwife do a membrane strip, at this time I was 3cm and 50% effaced. She did the strip at 3 or 4 in the afternoon and all evening I had some lower back pain and was still having lots of braxton hicks but nothing timeable or constant.
Finally around 1:30a.m I was awoken by contractions and started timing them. They were every 15 minutes apart for an hour or so then went to every 5-7 minutes for the next couple of hours. At 3 a.m I decided to wake Brent up so we could start getting everything ready. We prepared the bed in case I decided to give birth there; although the plan was to have a waterbirth. Then Brent started to get the tub all set up in the dining room which he had prepared the night before by taking apart the table and putting it down stairs. While Brent did that I continued to labor on my birthing ball. Around 4 a.m. I called Lisa and let her know my contractions were now 4 min. apart lasting 1 minute so she said she was on her way. While waiting for Lisa, Brent realized he forgot to put the liner in the tub before filling it, so we had to stop and try to put the liner on by sliding it under as much water as we could then kept filling it.
My midwife's assistant showed up first and then Lisa and a doula whom is trying to become an asst. midwife showed up shortly after. They all came in very quietly and introduced themselves and just let me do my thing. They checked the baby's heart rate every hour or so and checked my blood pressure and heart rate intermittently also. Both baby and I were doing great every check. I have no idea of the timeline after this because I was trying to stay pretty focused and was using my Hypnobabies techniques during contractions (thinking open, open, open, and letting my body "melt during contractions.) Eventually it was 7 a.m and the kids all started waking up and coming downstairs. I was really hoping I would have had baby by the time they got up, but no such luck. The kids were all very excited once they saw that it was finally time to meet their sister. Of course as the time went on they kept asking,"When's baby going to be here, this is taking so long!" Which I was also thinking.
I decided to have Lisa check my progress and found out I was still only 3cm, but was 100% effaced. I asked if I could get in the pool, so Lisa and her asst.'s started to warm the pool back up and when it was ready I got in. Let me tell you that warm water felt so good and helped minimize my contractions and I loved it! Unfortunately, after being in the pool for a little while my contractions were not intensifying and were in fact coming less frequently. Boo! Lisa said I should probably get out and walk around and try to let gravity help me out. I did want labor to progress, but I was not too happy that I had to get out of the pool.
I walked around for awhile during the next few hours and then had Lisa check for progress again. I was 7 cm. and baby was a little lower. At that time Lisa asked me if it was ok to break my water and I said, "Yes, anything to get this moving!" She broke my water which was nice and clear. After that my contractions were a lot stronger and I was happy to finally be progressing and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I decided to try getting back in the pool and again I loved it! I stayed in for an hour or so, but it was still stalling my labor so I had to get out again! Ugh!
This time Lisa said to do some lunges on the stairs, squat, and sit on my birthing ball to try to bring baby down. Let me tell you, lunges during contractions = no fun! The doula,, Jeanine, helped guide me through the exercises and she was great she apply hip pressure and massaged my lower back where I was feeling all the contractions. I should probably mention Brent was by my side the whole time trying to remind me to relax and breathe. He was really great at reminding me to use my Hypnobabies.
Finally after about an hour or so of this I felt immense pressure and felt like I needed to start pushing, so they once again got the water in the pool back up to temp. which seemed like an eternity! I sat on the toilet as recommended by Lisa and waited and that was awful. The toilet was not comfortable to be on during contractions and that's where I lost it. I was telling Brent, "I can't do this!" He gently would remind me I had done it before and I was doing it and that it was almost over. I was crying and just being a big baby at this point. I believe I even used some expletives and Brent and Lisa were trying not to laugh.
Finally, I got into the pool and it was time to push. I started to push and it took me a couple times to remember exactly how to push effectively, but I got it. After about 3 pushes I felt her head pop out and I continued to push, but it was harder than I remembered it being to get her body the rest of the way out. That's when Lisa got very serious and said, "we need to get her out of the tub, now!" I kinda panicked because I had no idea how I was going to get out of the tub with a baby sticking half way out of me! I looked at Brent like how do I do that when all of a sudden he just scooped me up and laid me on the floor next to the tub. I pushed a few times while Lisa did something ( at the time I didn't know what was going on) and out came Novalee, almost exactly 12 hrs. after I had felt the first contraction . Later I found out Nova had managed to not only wrap the cord around her neck but criss- cross it around her chest and back also, which is why I had a hard time getting her body out. At this point we told the older kids to go to the living room and wait.
I asked if Nova was ok and that's when Lisa handed Novalee to me by placing her on my chest. Nova was so alert and didn't scream or cry she just looked around the room. I said, "Hi Nova," and she looked up at me and we made eye contact for the first time and it's a moment I will never forget. She looked so calm and happy. At this point I looked up at Brent and was surprised to see him sobbing. He has teared up at each one of our children's birth but never had I seen him look so relieved, and happy, and scared all at the same time. That last part was a little stressful for everyone, but it was handled so well by Lisa and the midwives. I felt safe the whole time and was calm that they knew how to handle the situation. We called Tyra back in and she helped cut the cord. Then went back into the living room to wait while Lisa had to manually extract the placenta. I bled a little more than she would have liked, but she and the midwives did awesome and after about 20 min. I was told I had not torn at all! ( I also didn't feel the "ring of fire" this time because of the water!) They got me cleaned up and helped me up to the couch where Novalee and I spent the rest of the evening cuddling, The older kids gathered around us too and were so excited to finally see their baby sister. They were all amazed at how cute and tiny she was.
The midwives cleaned up for the next hour while we all got to know little Novalee then they came in and weighed and checked her. She weighed in at 7 1/2 lbs. 21 1/4 " long and was as healthy as could be. I also forgot to mention right after birth while they were still cleaning me up they made me drink 2 cups of water with honey it to restore my energy. I was still feeling very , so Lisa made me drink another huge cup of water with honey and then gave me Mother's Milk Tea and made sure I drank it and ate a sandwich before she left. She then told me she had never seen a cord wrapped like that and that she was glad everything worked out okay. We chatted for awhile, they checked my stats a few times, helped me to the bathroom, and made sure Nova nursed for the first time then they gathered all their supplies and left.
It was overall an awesome experience and I am so glad I got a chance to have a homebirth, It was so much more personal and intimate. I loved having all the kids there and being able share that with them. They all said I did a great job and said they actually expected me to yell more so they were pleasantly surprised. :) No one was scared, except maybe Brent :), and our home was just full of joy!
P.S. In all the hecticness in the last moments we forgot to take any pics! I promise to add some soon.
I was fully expecting this baby to be born at 38wks, just like all her siblings so when 38 weeks rolled around and went away and I still had not had any signs of labor I was a little shocked and disappointed. I had been very uncomfortable the whole pregnancy because I carried her very low. My midwife, Lisa, was always shocked by how low she was at each visit. I tried walking a lot and bouncing on my yoga ball, red raspberry leaf tea (to strengthen contractions), but alas to no avail. Finally at my 39 wk. visit I decided to have my midwife do a membrane strip, at this time I was 3cm and 50% effaced. She did the strip at 3 or 4 in the afternoon and all evening I had some lower back pain and was still having lots of braxton hicks but nothing timeable or constant.
Finally around 1:30a.m I was awoken by contractions and started timing them. They were every 15 minutes apart for an hour or so then went to every 5-7 minutes for the next couple of hours. At 3 a.m I decided to wake Brent up so we could start getting everything ready. We prepared the bed in case I decided to give birth there; although the plan was to have a waterbirth. Then Brent started to get the tub all set up in the dining room which he had prepared the night before by taking apart the table and putting it down stairs. While Brent did that I continued to labor on my birthing ball. Around 4 a.m. I called Lisa and let her know my contractions were now 4 min. apart lasting 1 minute so she said she was on her way. While waiting for Lisa, Brent realized he forgot to put the liner in the tub before filling it, so we had to stop and try to put the liner on by sliding it under as much water as we could then kept filling it.
My midwife's assistant showed up first and then Lisa and a doula whom is trying to become an asst. midwife showed up shortly after. They all came in very quietly and introduced themselves and just let me do my thing. They checked the baby's heart rate every hour or so and checked my blood pressure and heart rate intermittently also. Both baby and I were doing great every check. I have no idea of the timeline after this because I was trying to stay pretty focused and was using my Hypnobabies techniques during contractions (thinking open, open, open, and letting my body "melt during contractions.) Eventually it was 7 a.m and the kids all started waking up and coming downstairs. I was really hoping I would have had baby by the time they got up, but no such luck. The kids were all very excited once they saw that it was finally time to meet their sister. Of course as the time went on they kept asking,"When's baby going to be here, this is taking so long!" Which I was also thinking.
I decided to have Lisa check my progress and found out I was still only 3cm, but was 100% effaced. I asked if I could get in the pool, so Lisa and her asst.'s started to warm the pool back up and when it was ready I got in. Let me tell you that warm water felt so good and helped minimize my contractions and I loved it! Unfortunately, after being in the pool for a little while my contractions were not intensifying and were in fact coming less frequently. Boo! Lisa said I should probably get out and walk around and try to let gravity help me out. I did want labor to progress, but I was not too happy that I had to get out of the pool.
I walked around for awhile during the next few hours and then had Lisa check for progress again. I was 7 cm. and baby was a little lower. At that time Lisa asked me if it was ok to break my water and I said, "Yes, anything to get this moving!" She broke my water which was nice and clear. After that my contractions were a lot stronger and I was happy to finally be progressing and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I decided to try getting back in the pool and again I loved it! I stayed in for an hour or so, but it was still stalling my labor so I had to get out again! Ugh!
This time Lisa said to do some lunges on the stairs, squat, and sit on my birthing ball to try to bring baby down. Let me tell you, lunges during contractions = no fun! The doula,, Jeanine, helped guide me through the exercises and she was great she apply hip pressure and massaged my lower back where I was feeling all the contractions. I should probably mention Brent was by my side the whole time trying to remind me to relax and breathe. He was really great at reminding me to use my Hypnobabies.
Finally after about an hour or so of this I felt immense pressure and felt like I needed to start pushing, so they once again got the water in the pool back up to temp. which seemed like an eternity! I sat on the toilet as recommended by Lisa and waited and that was awful. The toilet was not comfortable to be on during contractions and that's where I lost it. I was telling Brent, "I can't do this!" He gently would remind me I had done it before and I was doing it and that it was almost over. I was crying and just being a big baby at this point. I believe I even used some expletives and Brent and Lisa were trying not to laugh.
Finally, I got into the pool and it was time to push. I started to push and it took me a couple times to remember exactly how to push effectively, but I got it. After about 3 pushes I felt her head pop out and I continued to push, but it was harder than I remembered it being to get her body the rest of the way out. That's when Lisa got very serious and said, "we need to get her out of the tub, now!" I kinda panicked because I had no idea how I was going to get out of the tub with a baby sticking half way out of me! I looked at Brent like how do I do that when all of a sudden he just scooped me up and laid me on the floor next to the tub. I pushed a few times while Lisa did something ( at the time I didn't know what was going on) and out came Novalee, almost exactly 12 hrs. after I had felt the first contraction . Later I found out Nova had managed to not only wrap the cord around her neck but criss- cross it around her chest and back also, which is why I had a hard time getting her body out. At this point we told the older kids to go to the living room and wait.
I asked if Nova was ok and that's when Lisa handed Novalee to me by placing her on my chest. Nova was so alert and didn't scream or cry she just looked around the room. I said, "Hi Nova," and she looked up at me and we made eye contact for the first time and it's a moment I will never forget. She looked so calm and happy. At this point I looked up at Brent and was surprised to see him sobbing. He has teared up at each one of our children's birth but never had I seen him look so relieved, and happy, and scared all at the same time. That last part was a little stressful for everyone, but it was handled so well by Lisa and the midwives. I felt safe the whole time and was calm that they knew how to handle the situation. We called Tyra back in and she helped cut the cord. Then went back into the living room to wait while Lisa had to manually extract the placenta. I bled a little more than she would have liked, but she and the midwives did awesome and after about 20 min. I was told I had not torn at all! ( I also didn't feel the "ring of fire" this time because of the water!) They got me cleaned up and helped me up to the couch where Novalee and I spent the rest of the evening cuddling, The older kids gathered around us too and were so excited to finally see their baby sister. They were all amazed at how cute and tiny she was.
The midwives cleaned up for the next hour while we all got to know little Novalee then they came in and weighed and checked her. She weighed in at 7 1/2 lbs. 21 1/4 " long and was as healthy as could be. I also forgot to mention right after birth while they were still cleaning me up they made me drink 2 cups of water with honey it to restore my energy. I was still feeling very , so Lisa made me drink another huge cup of water with honey and then gave me Mother's Milk Tea and made sure I drank it and ate a sandwich before she left. She then told me she had never seen a cord wrapped like that and that she was glad everything worked out okay. We chatted for awhile, they checked my stats a few times, helped me to the bathroom, and made sure Nova nursed for the first time then they gathered all their supplies and left.
It was overall an awesome experience and I am so glad I got a chance to have a homebirth, It was so much more personal and intimate. I loved having all the kids there and being able share that with them. They all said I did a great job and said they actually expected me to yell more so they were pleasantly surprised. :) No one was scared, except maybe Brent :), and our home was just full of joy!
P.S. In all the hecticness in the last moments we forgot to take any pics! I promise to add some soon.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment