I started labor on a Friday night and walked up and down our gentle hills in our neighborhood for 2 1/2 hours. I was getting very tired and it was about midnight so I went home crawled in my bed and fell asleep. All the rushes calmed while I slept regaining my strength for the following day.
At 5 am my husbands alarm went off and I had my first hard pain. My husband put up our birth pool beside our bed and when the water was comfortable I climbed in. This was the first birth out of my 9 births I didn't have any form of drug or epidural so I was expecting to not be able to handle the pain. It was also the first birht I didn't have people telling me what to do or even talking to me and telling me to breath which is what I dreamed of...I wanted a calm quiet labor in water.
Occasionally my children would come in to the room and ask how things were going and if they could put a movie on or have breakfast. My husband just sat on a stool for the 2 1/2 hour duration of my labor on that Saturday morning silently praying for me and looking at me with his peaceful look and once or twice got up to check on the kids.
I remember distinctly there were two contractions I couldn't handle. Those were the two contractions I almost burst out "take me to the hospital, I want my epidural", but in reality I knew it was one contraction at a time. It was almost over.
I guess because I didn’t have the common drugs and my body was working regularly I had to get up and have a “bm” every so often. At about 7:15a.m, I need to “go” again and jumped out of the water, headed for the toilet 8 feet away from the birth pool. After sitting down I realized the babies head was there. While half laughing and half panicking I yelled for my love. “The baby is coming!”
Now you have to picture our bathroom. There is literally enough room for one person so as my husband came around the corner and I grabbed him to pull him into the bathroom I realized he couldn’t fit and so pushed him out the door. It must have been a funny site to see.
I wanted to get into the tub but didn’t have time so landed on all fours (a position I was never permitted to be in before during birth in a hospital) and my husband kneeled behind me for “the catch”. I said “Get this baby outa me!” and in response I heard, “oh what a cute hand”
WHAT? A hand isn’t supposed to be first.
Our daughter was born with an apgar of 9 at 7:29a.m. After only 2 ½ hours of labor, it was so amazing to climb up in bed with her, have our children come to meet her and then to fall asleep in my own bed. What a blessing. It was the greatest birth memory I have had and there is no regret.
Sadly the state we were in saw it as child abuse and we were reported to Children Services in a case that was dropped. Birth is a natural way of life and there are few complications when it is left alone to develop. Too many problems are over diagnosed and caused by people who don’t allow it to be natural.