Matthew Boy's Home Birth

When we realized we were going to keep our womb open and let God bless us with more children, I felt a strong desire to have home births. It had always been a desire of mine and that desire just kept growing! My friend Kristen Renz and the birthing channel helped foster that! Kristen had many home births and a growing family as well. So I asked her who she used as a midwife and got the wheels set in motion. Meg was the only Certified Nurse Midwife to perform home births in Monroe County, at the time. You can't help but love her. She is an old hippie-type- crunchy- granola- natural woman. She is has a laid back approach and makes you feel empowered to make your own prenatal and birthing decisions. A far cry from the medical community I still worked in and birthed in. We watched videos, read, researched on safety, etc...
And felt at peace about our decision. We rented a birthing tub for $50 from a woman Meg recommended. Mike had that set up in our living room for weeks!! So we wouldn't have to wait till the last minute to fill and heat it. I added a cup of bleach every third day to keep it sterile.- per instructions. It was fabulous for pain control, and I won't again with out it!
So here I was 5 days over due in mid July, 5 plus centimeters dilated for weeks, and Meg said it looked like a big baby... Even though I had done well controlling my gestational diabetes with diet.
We choose an evening for Meg to come over with her two assistants and break my water to basically put me in labor. It was ten o'clock at night and Pam Hilts was there for support.
After breaking my water I walked around the living room, classical music playing, lights dim...and contractions came. It didn't take long at all till I was fully dilated, maybe half an hour... That was the easy part! The hard part was the pushing for 3 straight hours and the exhaustion I felt... I was in and out of the tub, squatting, on the toilet, more squatting, back in the tub... My feet had gone numb so I had to recline on the couch, which was covered first with a tarp and then a sheet. Meg was very encouraging and kept saying, "he's just a big baby for you, every thing's fine...." She was comforting and patient, letting my body do what it needed to do. At the two hour mark of pushing she asked If I wanted her to call 911 and go to the hospital. Absolutely not! I had come too far and birthed 4 other babies I knew I could do it! They gave me momentum to work a little harder. Pam was rubbing my ankles and feet in between contractions to get the circulation back.
Around 3am Matthew finally showed himself at a hefty 9.3 lbs. He nursed right away and didn't stop for 20 mo! His cord was cut after it stopped pulsing. (Something they don't wait to do in the hospital.) Two of the best things about my home birth were about to happen...
After I rested an hour on the couch and she stitched me up, I was able to take an herb soaked bath! Meg's assistant Sarah, makes a 'tea' that is chocked full of herbs that promote healing and stop bleeding. They brought him to me in the tub and he bathed with me. Mike was close by in case I needed help. They also brought me toast and iced tea to drink when I was back in bed. That was the second best thing! Being in my own bed!! For some reason my back always hurts in those hospital birthing beds. And no one was coming in to take our vital signs every 4 hours!!
Meg said he had THE BIGGEST head circumference she's ever delivered in her 30 some years!
No wonder I had a hard time!!
The kids stayed asleep the whole time and woke up to a new baby in our bed:)
Mike had the arduous task of then draining the birthing tub and taking care of our 3 little ones with little to no sleep. (Erik had gone to his Dad's the night before and stayed for a few days)
After cleaning everything up into bags and separating laundry, the midwives slept down stairs for a few hours, had showers and ate breakfast before going into the office for the day. WOW!! That's dedication.
They came back to check on me and the baby 24 hours later and then 2 days after that. They did his blood work, vitamin K, and birth certificate paperwork. As well as check me and talk again about the birth;)
I'll end on this note...
Mike comes upstairs to me in the afternoon and says "What am I supposed to do with the placenta sitting in a pot on the counter?..."