Welcoming Fiona : Our Labor and Birth

Friday, February 24th started like every other weekday morning, at 4:30am with Skip's alarm going off.  I had truly expected another day of pregnancy and all it's discomforts that were really starting to get to me. Skip got up and got in the shower.  I laid there hoping to go back to sleep.  It was just about 5 when I had the first contraction that was going to start the whole thing.  I had to sit up because laying down was far too intense.  However I thought nothing of it as I had been having these kinds of contractions for at least a week now.  Skip came out and asked if I was Ok and I told him I was, just a good one is all.  He asked if he needed to stay home and I assured him it was no big deal and just the normal and that I would probably get in the tub to relax a bit.  He asked one more time if he needed to stay home and I said no, that I really was just fine.

So he left. I got the tub going a little before 5:30 and got in.  I was in there for maybe about 5 minutes when the second big one hit.  I was not able to stay seated on the bottom of the tub.  I used my forearms to kinda lift myself off it. This was by far the most intense one I had felt yet and still it did not register that this was it.  A little while later I had another come on and again had to life myself off the bottom.  This one made me sweat and I knew that point I better call Skip.  I think it was about 6 by now.  I called him in tears and out of breath and told him to come home, I was in labor.  This is it.  He left right away.

I was at the tail end of the 3rd bathtub contraction when Skip walked in and asked if I was ok.  I think I nodded and told him to wait a minute.  He asked what he could do and I told him to get out of his uniform and get into comfortable clothing! He did and came back to help me out of the tub.  I was one foot out when it hit again and I was on the floor holding the toilet and moaning to get through the most intense part. I know at this point I thought to myself there was no way they could get any worse than this.  When that was done I stood up and grabbed a towel to get dry with and to keep on hand because by this point I was already having a small urge to bear down and I was afraid of peeing on the carpet(I know, I think of everything).  I got out of the bathroom and had another one that brought me back down to my hands and knees between our bed and dresser.  I told Skip at this point that he needed to call our midwife, Anita.  He called and told her he thought we were having the baby and I heard her say,"Yep, it sure sounds like it,  I am on my way."

Skip headed for the living room to inflate the pool(we still thought we had time) and I stayed on the floor in our room with the towel under me.  I started moving out of the crammed space I was in toward the floor space at the end of our bed when my mom opened the door to the room across the hall and saw me on the floor.  She rushed in and asked if I was Ok and I just told her I was in labor and it was really intense.  She informs me at this point that she thought we were having sex to try and get the baby out.  I laughed and told her I wasn't that obnoxious. She asked me what I needed and I again thought about the whole peeing on the floor thing and told her to go get a waterproof pad for me to put under me. Aiden comes out at this point and casually asks if I am going to have the baby now and runs to get my mom's phone and jumps in my bed to play games and watch the show!  By the time Mom got back down the hall I was in the throws of another very strong contraction and at this point it hits me that it's coming now and we were not going to have the time for the pool.  I barked orders at Mom to get the birth basket and tell Skip to forget what he was doing and that I needed him NOW!

Mom comes back with all the supplies, Skip is right behind her and I tell them I am feeling like I am going to start pushing.  They both start spreading towels and pads under and around me right away.  At some point Skip informs me there is blood and I asked if it was pouring out or just stringy.  He informs me it was the latter, so I didn't worry.  Aiden peeks over and says,"Oh ya, that's normal."  Little Mr. Doctor right there in the room.  I am still on my hands and knees and have been since I got out of the bathroom.  Skip kneels down behind me and asks what he can do and I told him to just stay put.  Next contraction the urge to push was starting to overwhelm me and I tell them to call Anita back and tell her I am pushing.  Mom stays with Anita on the phone as I start pushing.

I remember really starting to feel the baby moving down and I reached to feel and my bag of waters was bulging and not broken, I informed the room what I was feeling and Anita told my mom it was fine not to worry.  I pushed some more and a good part of the sack was out of me and STILL not broken.  Another contraction started and I simply had an overpowering urge to break the water myself because I knew it just wasn't going to happen.  Let me tell you, it was like trying to claw open a high quality latex balloon.  What felt like forever for me to break, Skip and Mom said took a matter of seconds.  Water now broken the baby came right down and started crowning.  I felt and held her head partially out while my mom was narrating to the midwife.  I can remember her saying,"Now the head is going to be born, there will be a break and then the rest of the body will come." There was no break.  My last contraction was the strongest and I can remember letting out a huge roar and pushed her all out in that single push.

Good thing Skip was still behind me.  He caught her.  Besides my hands on her head, he was the first person to touch our baby.  Once I realized I was done I told Skip to "give me my baby" and he passed her under me into my arms.  I pulled her to my chest and we got her covered with a towel.  She started moving and breathing right away. She was born about 25 minutes after he got home. Her color changed from the typical blueish to a nice bright pink in minutes and I sat back to look at what I had just done.  I don't know how long I sat with her before Anita asked what we had.  I was SO afraid to look!  We had just gone 40 weeks without knowing. I really did expect to see testicles, but wow what an amazing surprise to see it was a girl.  Skip says the look on my face was something he will never forget.

By now it was starting to hurt sitting on the floor and Skip went and got the beanbag.  Anita was still on her way.  She lives 2 hours from us and baby was born probably about 15-20 minutes from the time we called her the first time.  I got moved onto a nice soft bean bag and started nursing while Mom and Skip started cleaning up some of the mess, which wasn't near as bad as one might think.  The placenta came about 45 minutes after birth.  The cord was not cut until after Anita arrived, 2 hours later.

The first 2 hours of Fiona's life were spent in my arms.  No one else touched her. She wasn't poked and prodded.  She didn't have to lose any body heat.  No goo smeared in her eyes.  No bright lights or loud noises. Our midwife was the 3rd person to touch her.  She weighed, measured and did her newborn check.  She checked me and I was great.  Minimal bleeding, no tears.  Yes, you can have a baby at home without ruining your body. Once the checks were done, Fiona was passed to Skip and I was helped into a shower to get washed up and then into bed.  Skip and I stayed in bed with our new baby for the next 24 hours while my mom did a wonderful job taking care of everything else.

It was truly the most amazing experience of my life. I can count maybe 10 contractions total and there was not pain.  Only some pretty serious discomfort that I cannot call being painful.  We spent nearly a year getting ready for that moment and we breezed through it like we had done it a hundred times.  I was not afraid once.  I would do it over again and not change a single thing.  Our bodies are amazing and to be a first hand participant in something that cannot be duplicated; truly a once in a lifetime event every time it happens is surreal. Even now 10 days later I still am riding the wave of emotions that went with it all and at times can hardly believe the way it happened and wonderful it all was.

Fiona Marie

Born at 6:51am

February 24th

7lbs 14oz

22 1/4 inches

All we have are a few cell phone pics.  It went so fast we had no time to get the camera out!