Rachael' s Homebirth- #6 in the series

If you are expecting don't read this till after you have your baby!

When we were planning for Rachael's home birth we thought

"It cant be any worse than Matthew's! If I can do that, then I can do anything!"

Little did we know how difficult it would be...

I had gestational diabetes again and

I didn't want another big baby, so at 40 weeks we got the OK from the midwife to try and induce labor, rather than be a week overdue.

As I was with my last baby Matthew.

After barely getting the Castor oil down.

I ended up spending all night, doing you know what in the bathroom.

When that stopped, so did the contractions! So that was pointless.

Five days later, labor started around sunrise.

It was a beautiful August morning~

Mike made all the calls for designated people to come pick up the children,

while I was in the backyard.

I was walking around the perimeter of the backyard in my nightgown, listening to the birds and enjoying the morning. Stopping every so often for contractions.

The warm birthing tub had been set up and ready in the living room for two weeks,

kept at the right temperature.

The midwives arrived.

Classical music was playing.

The stage was set.

Not soon after they arrived I was 10 cm. and ready to get going.

I decided to labor in the tub at that point. I had two desires:

to have a water birth and let my water break on its own

( It never broke on its own before).

I was getting frustrated because I had started pushing, but was getting nowhere.

The midwife suggested they break my water, to push more effectively.

I agreed. That's when the real stuff came, hard and fast! Some of you know what I mean...

I was proud of myself when her head came out underwater!

The end was in site! But then I started to feel this strange 'pinching'- 'kicking' sensation.

Since my eyes were closed I thought the midwives had reached their hands in the water and were doing something to me...

I asked what they were doing because it hurt. They said they weren't doing anything...

By now they knew something was wrong, and in an instant my midwife told me to get out of the tub and lay on the couch. I had never heard her speak like that before, with such seriousness. She was usually very laid back.

OK, so picture this: I have my baby's head out, and I have to climb carefully over the sides of this two and a half foot high tub and waddle to the couch...

The two midwives and Mike helped me quickly.

Next thing I know the midwife was doing maneuvers too get her out, as she was 'stuck',

and saying "We will need to resuscitate when were done".

She had turned a nice shade of purple from the chest up.

They didn't have to resuscitate long, she started to breath while lying on my stomach.

I have no idea what her apgar scores were...I don't want to know...

Normally I nurse my babies right away,

but this time I had a wait a bit till her breathing was more established.

She was 9.2 lbs. And I pushed for about 2 hours total.

She was born some time around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

The midwife wasn't sure If they should call it Shoulder Dystocia or Abdominal Dystocia.

But she was 'stuck' and cutting off her oxygen supply with a compressed umbilical cord in the canal. Mike and I took a 'moment' to lament as we said that would be our last baby because they kept bigger and harder to get out.

Apparently that wasnt the case...