After the Storm

Well, I'm finally going to post about what all happened after the birth. It's been hard lately to find the time to write, because I am doing a lot of things one handed. After Eliza was born, I knew she was fine because they didn't even use the bulb syringe on her. Within 10 minutes though, I could tell they were concerned about my bleeding. They gave me a shot of Pitocin. I was worried myself, but I also have complete trust in the midwife I chose and knew I was in capable hands. It ends up that I tore myself to the 4th degree and she wanted me to go to the hospital to have it fixed. Thankfully, it was not an emergency and I got to take my herb bath with Eliza and watch the newborn exam. About 2 hours after the birth we were heading to the hospital. We left Eliza at home since we did not want her admitted, but that was hard for me to do. Once we got to Labor & Delivery, it took about 2 hours for all the admitting stuff to get done and the dr to get there. Thankfully, we had a great nurse who used to be a CNM who attended homebirths in TX. She was wonderful and arranged for the baby to be able to come to the hospital without being admitted. So finally everything is ready and I have to go to the OR and they wouldn't let anyone come with me. While I was there, Jeremy went to get the baby. Unfortunately I had to have a spinal for the sewing. I hate anything being stuck in back which is one reason I've never had an epidural. I was quite the baby while they were doing it, but the guy did a good job and I did not have any bad side effects. The whole thing took about an hour and then the Dr sent me to a postpartum room. The Dr was nice and did a good job, but I still think I was treated differently because I had a homebirth. He wanted me to stay over night the next night and we were totally against that. I had been up to the bathroom and walked around and ate good. In other words, I was fine and ready to go home. The nurse tried to talk the dr into releasing me, but he still said I had to stay. So finally we checked out against medical advice. I hope that does not affect our insurance! So anyway, my tear is healing fine and has really given me no trouble. The bad part of my recovery is my back hurting where I had the spinal. It is still sore and gets achy if I'm up very long. I have had 3 babies at home now and have ended up at the hospital every time. I made a joke during this pg that something would be wrong with me this time and it came true. This is one reason I am considering having no more children. I want more, but my track record with birth is just not very good. So now you have the rest of the story.

Birth Story

I know it has taken me long enough to post this. I'm even going to abbreviate it quite a bit since it was a 23 hour labor. Everyone knows I had been trying to get things started for a week and nothing. On Sunday evening, I was having some very light contractions and Debi came by about 9:30pm. She checked me and I was 3cm and 70% effaced. She "ruffled my feathers" as they call it and left. About 10 minutes later I was in the shower and I could tell my contractions got closer and a little stronger. I went to bed about 11pm and tried to sleep. Although the contractions were not very hard, they were too close for me to drift off to sleep between them. I got up by myself and let everyone else sleep. After a couple of hours, I called my mom and told her this was it and asked her to come keep me company. She came down to be with me during the night. My contractions stayed pretty much the same all night. I called Christina (my doula)about 5am asking her to come. She came about 6:30 am. I probably called her too early, but it was good to have company. Michelle came by about 9am to see how labor was going and i was progressing. I was still 3cm and 80% effaced. I was disappointed as this had been going on all night, but I could tell I was still in early labor. I decided to go see the chiropractor to see if she could do anything to help speed labor up. While some things she did felt good and I do think they moved me along a little bit, it did not have the affect I had wanted. Another friend of mine, Kathy came over and made us soup for lunch. I was able to eat which is good. My labor did start to progress more at this point although I was still in early labor. I kept waiting for things to speed up. It seemed like my contractions were getting a little stronger, but were not going anywhere. My afternoon is a little blurry to me. I know some more friends came by to be here for the birth and I know my labor got harder. Michelle came back over to check things at some point in the late afternoon. I was 4cm. That was very discouraging as it had been around 16 hours of labor at that point. She had me take some herbs and go walking in my backyard. The walking was very difficult, but it did make my contractions come closer. Michelle stayed after this. I wanted a bath to see if that would help because my contractions were getting very strong. The bath did help some. I stayed in for a while. I know labor was very hard now. I was having trouble dealing with it. mainly because I was tired and this was going on a lot longer than I had thought it would. Debi finally came about 8pm. She checked me and i was 5 cm, but she pulled my cervix to the front and said I was now 6-7cm. I finally felt a little encouraged and knew the end was in sight. This does not mean it was not still very hard and I didn't know how much longer I could make it. Finally I was on the toilet and I was feeling a little pushy. It felt better to be there and I stayed for a while. i went back to the bedroom and one point, but then back to the toilet. Finally, Michelle heard me grunting and came and got me to go to the bed. Debi checked me real quick and said I could push. My pushing contractions still felt like my transition contractions. Normally, they change and you get a little break with them. I did not, so I was pushing very hard to get it over with. It felt like I pushed for a while, but they said I did not. Soon we saw the head and that made me push harder. It was pretty cool, because my water never broke and you could still see the amniotic sac over her head. Finally a strong push or 2 and her head quickly followed by her body came out. I immediately had her and looked and saw it was a girl. She was perfect and healthy so I didn't have to let her go. Soon I knew something wasn't quite right with me, but i will post more about that on another day since this is long enough. I got to nurse her and then get my herb bath with her and watch her newborn exam. All things I did not get with Lily. Over all, a very hard experience and one I may not want again. My labor was 23 hours- 4 hours more than Lily and I had been hoping for shorter than lily's. I can't say I am not thankful though. I had my homebirth, the baby was healthy, the people I wanted were there, etc. Things never go as planned with birth as I always tell my clients. It seems that is still something I really need to learn.

Finally- Pictures

I think these will speak for themselves!

More Info

We have a name. Eliza Leigh Poarch. I also did not post the stats. She weighed 8lbs 7oz and was 22in long. She has been doing wonderfully. She is nursing well and so far is a pretty quiet and content baby. She is sleeping next to me right now. I still don't have the pics uploaded to post or the time to write my birth story, but they are coming!! I can tell you she is gorgeous! She has black hair and huge feet! I can't believe she is here!

A Birth

Well, I wanted to announce that there is a new addition to our family.  Our baby girl was born monday Nov. 17 at 9;41PM.  I was totally shocked that it was a girl.  She is absolutely beautiful.  My labor was long and hard and I ended up at the hospital this time due to a 4th degree tear.  I will post more later.  I am very tired as I have not slept 2 nights in a row now.  Probably tomorrow, there will be a birth story and pics.  Maybe we will decide on a name by then too!

Lessons Learned

As if I didn't already know, my babies are stubborn. They never want to come out on time. If you can't tell, the castor oil did not work. Or shall I say, it did work, just didn't put me into labor. I have done several more things than I did with Lily, plus I started it all earlier and still this baby won't come. So next time, I will definitely not do the castor oil. I may still do some herbs just to soften my cervix. Needless to say, I was again upset to wake up this morning feeling fine. I guess I will have to wait a few days more.
Luckily, my grandmother and uncle came down for the day. This will give me a distraction so I don't think so much about not having this baby. God does answer prayers although not always in the way we want. I've been praying each day that this will be the day and today he sent me a distraction so that I don't think so much about it. I will update as soon as this baby decides to make an appearance.

What I've Resorted To

Castor Oil. I know many of you are probably cringing at the thought. It is really the lesser of two evils to me. Since I tend to go way past my due date, the midwife will soon want to try to get my labor started anyway. While I would choose this over Pitocin in the hospital any day, it is still not pleasant. If you want to know how a homebirth midwife can induce labor, I'd be happy to share with you. So I have decided to try to get something started on my own even if I spend all day in the bathroom. My friend came by last night and checked me and I have made a little more progress. She thought that the castor oil would probably go ahead and put me into labor today so I thought I would try. I have already taken my first dose and will take the next in a couple of hours. Then we will wait and see. So maybe my next post today will be that I'm in labor. Continue to pray for me and baby please!! And thanks for all your encouraging comments on my last post!