Parents: Stephanie and John
Siblings: Rob, Marissa, Mike, Timmy
Baby: Madeline Rose (Maddy)
Date: Saturday, March 21st.
Weight: 5 lbs. 9 oz
Height: 17.5 inches
Birth: Planned unassisted home waterbirth
Stephanie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl this morning at 11:07AM. Both Steph and Madeleine are doing wonderfully.
The labor went well, considering that Maddy was sunny side up (a trait our daughters should learn not to have as it plays hell on mom's spine :-), at only about an hour and a half of really obnoxious contractions. Steph had been in the tub at 7:00AM (when I woke up)hoping to alleviate the added back pain, but had failed to wake me yet as she was sure things hadn't progressed enough to need my assistance. I'm sure she didn't at that time, but am certainly glad for the phone call that woke me (a co-worker inquiring as to our family size :-) since she progressed relatively quickly from there.
There came a point near the end of the labor when we were both in tears due to the pain Steph was suffering. I guess I'm just a woose, but I really can't stand to see Steph suffer. I was already in the preliminary stages of getting to the hospital somehow even though we had decided to have the baby at home. The kids were getting their shoes and socks on while Steph and I fought through the final stage of transition (though we didn't know it at the time).
Just as a contraction was letting up, I was about to go call for an ambulance and hurry back to her side, when she started laughing. It totally blew my mind. I thought she'd lost it. She started to roll from her left side but ended up just lifting her leg. She reached down to check herself, and said "I think its a little to late, what do you think?" or something to that effect. She left herself in that raised leg position so that I could check, but damn my short fingers, all I could feel was a huge bulge. It seemed to be the sack, but I couldn't tell for sure and was trying to get my amateurish bearings. The next contraction struck with force, and I had to cease and desist for Steph's sake and my own.
Suddenly, instead of the "OH!"'s of the last hour or so, the smile spread huge across her face. I looked back down to see the rapid spread of that wonderful pure amber colored water. She sighed, "Oh, that's much better." And, I bet it just had to be. The water had only a bit of vernix(sp) in it, and no myconium(also sp?) whatsoever. I was pleased at that and told her so, so that she would have one less thing to worry about.
Then, the very next contraction, swoosh... Out comes Maddy, face up and absolutely purple. Not the head first then shoulders or a slow easy progression, just boom and there she was. Purple freaks me out due to the bad experience we had with Marissa, our first daughter (also sunny side up). She had not felt the need to breath, and it really just triggered those past memories. Thank God for the impulse to let all that go and just calmly deal with what was happening now. (Of course, calmly is very relative here :-)
So, I grabbed (gently) Maddy and turned her over and placed her on her absolutely beaming mother's chest.
I had a few minutes of panic trying to figure out where to suction first and then whether to suction at all. Finally leading to worries of had I suctioned enough. Where had all my towering statements of "If they could do it a 1000 years ago..." gone. Again thank God for the great design he made, everything worked out just fine, and she was draining anything that needed to be drained all on her own. Steph was such a help with this whole thing.
So, the kids came in and ooo'd and aaaa'd while I went to make sure the shoe laces were as clean as they could be. We played around for about half an hour, and then finally tied off and cut the cord. Amazing how little this bothered me. I had cut 3 of the last 4 cords in the family, and it was always such a big deal, and now it was just... a thing.
Steph drug herself out of the tub, exhausted and headed for the bed. Finally! A decent night's sleep for my poor wife. I carried Maddy in behind her, all wrapped and laid her down for some nursing lessons. I was very happy, but very fried.
The placenta was delivered after more obnoxious contractions, at about 12:35PM. Not to bad I think, but I'm new to actually paying that much attention to what is going on.
Maddy has successfully eaten and urinated (not necessarily in that order :-), and her breathing is fine. Still waiting for the dreaded diaper, but not worried yet.
Steph suffered no tears, and the bleeding is as to be expected. A nice change after what happened with Timmy (doctor pulled the cord too soon). She has even been up and around a bit already (though not over doing it).
Me, well I cleaned everything and everyone up. I even checked the placenta over to see if I could catch anything obvious. No such luck, though it looks a little strange to me. Hopefully Steph will look at it later so I don't have to drag the whole mess to a doctor. I don't much care for this home birth thing. I hate watching her be in pain, even though I know it is for a good reason. I can't stand the torture of wondering what I will do if something goes wrong. I know that all of you ladies, including my wife, are tough and extremely well designed to handle the task. But! I'm just a man, and I really can't take this again. I'm responsible for my family, and ultimately I have to pay for every step I didn't take to make sure things go as well as possible. This time, God was on our side even when we had given up, and everything went fine. Next time???? I don't think I want to press it. I'm not saying that it will be a sterile hospital thing, but there will be some medically qualified people around, and I'll have a place to run to get my courage and faith back in check when it starts to fail without leaving Steph alone (not that I left her alone this time, but I sure didn't keep up the faith either). All of this is in God's control, and I believe that means the medicine and medical, too. I don't have the inclination, talent, or desire to gain the medical skills, so next time I will make sure that someone that does have those attributes will be present... just in case. More family might help, too.
All in all, it was a wonderful experience. I would reccommend it to anyone that can muster the courage at least once. But to those who can't, NO SHAME! It's a tough thing, and can be a bit foolhardy.
I would like to give primary thanks to God, for all the things He did for us through this entire pregnancy and for His continued help. Next, to my wonderful wife Stephanie, for all the hours of study she put into this to help me get to a point where I almost handled this okay. I can't imagine where it could have gone otherwise. To my children: Robert, Marissa, Michael, and Timothy... just because they are. And finally, to all of you for being there for Steph. Thank you very much.
-John Jordan