Hello Home birth Momma's Please use this forum to share your birth stories with other women. This will empower many to follow...............
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About Me
- Donna Galati CNM
- Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States
- I have an office at 594 Longwood Dr. in Fayetteville, NC. I serve the Fayetteville/ Raleigh area and I care for women of ALL ages. To make an appointment call 910-484-5137.
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Well I got my membranes stripped for the FOURTH time on Tuesday, Nov. 6th. Nothing happened, though. Just a few contractions here and there. I woke up at three in the morning noticing that I was NOT having contractions and feeling very depressed about it. I got out of bed and went into the living room to sit on the birthing ball and try to “rock” the baby out. I just sat and cried and prayed as hard as I could that the baby would come soon (my step-mom flew all the way from Arizona to stay for three weeks and is leaving this weekend- and I didn’t want her to leave without having helped with the birth).
At 4:30 am I went back to bed. At 5 am I woke up with a really hard contraction. At 5:10 I had another one. Then I had another one at 5:15 and they continued being 5 minutes apart. Around 5:30 I told Adam that I was going to get up to take a shower to see if they would go away (like they have so many times before). In the shower, they were coming every 3-4 minutes and they were STRONG. I told Adam that this was it!
He called my grandma and told her to get on her way (she was going to be in charge of taking care of Katy, my two year old, and she lives 3 hours away). We also called Donna, the midwife, to come check me. Donna got there right away and coached me through some contractions. She really showed me the difference between being tense during the contractions, and "Riding on top of them". She compared the contrations to swinging on a swing, and the visual really was helping me through them. She checked me and I was 7 cm, 60% effaced. She went back to her house to let her housekeeper in and said she would be back in a couple of hours unless I called otherwise.
I labored with husband and my step mom and my grandma also showed up. She played with Katy and I worked through each contraction on my birth ball, by hanging on Adam, and by leaning over the couch. Adam was a fabulous coach. He was really strong and solid and I really needed him there.
Around 10 am I was in complete agony. I was starting to lose my focus and control and was just a crying mess. Luckily, Donna, Heather, and Jamie (her two assistants) came back around this time and were able to help me refocus. I was really surprised at the sounds I was making during the contractions. It really helped to be very guttural and make deep moaning sounds. Donna kept encouraging me to change positions, but I really didn’t want to. Every time I moved I would have another contraction. The contractions were the worst when I was sitting down. I really craved to be on my hands and knees. I also spent time getting in and out of the birth pool (set up in the corner of my living room). Between contractions, the mood was very nice. My daughter would come in and hug me and talk to me. I was also able to eat, drink, and use the bathroom freely. We chatted about what to name the baby and what we thought she might look like.
This went on for several hours. Finally, at 3:15 pm I was at a point where I didn’t think I could possibly handle the pain any longer. Dpmma said that she thought I was in transition and asked if she could check me. I REFUSED. I thought the checks hurt soooo badly. She and my step-mother kept insisting that I just see because maybe she could help things along if I only had a lip. So I got on the bed and she checked me. It was the most excruciating pain ever. I SCREAMED like I have never screamed before. She didn’t tell me how far I was because I did not want to know! (Later I found out I was 8.5cm.) While I was on my back I had a contraction and my water broke all over the midwife! She started sputtering and I said, “YOU DESERVED THAT!” Everyone started laughing. They kept encouraging me and telling me that I was almost there. I went back into the living room and had about 3 contractions on the couch. I could hear the change in my own voice becoming deeper and I was feeling a slightly “pushy” urge at the end of each contraction. At this point I was pretty grumpy and kept telling people to shut up and not to touch me. Once my husband was trying to rub my back and I yelled, “Get your hand off my ass!” and everyone started giggling. The thing that was helping most at this point was praying during each contraction. I kept saying, “Lord- please help me and give me strength!” over and over again.
I decided I wanted to get back into the pool, so I did. The midwife told my husband to put on some shorts and get in with me. He did. I had about 3 more contractions in the pool before I got the urge to push. I’ve heard women say that pushing is “relieving” but this was not so with me! It was very intense and my least favorite part of the experience. It was totally uncontrollable. I was on my hands and knees in the water and Adam and the midwife were behind me. I had one pushing contraction and I yelled, “I have to push!” Everyone cheered. Then, I had another contraction and my husband yelled, “Oh my gosh- there’s her head!” I pushed her head out in just two contractions. I kept saying, “Don’t let her drown!” and the midwife kept reassuring me that she was just fine. On the third contraction, I pushed out the rest of her body. I was annoyed because I felt that they weren’t “helping” me enough back there so with the last push I screamed, “GET HER OUT!” She slipped out into my husband’s arms at 3:49 pm. We sat in the pool for a few minutes while everyone cheered and took pictures. My daughter came out of her room and came to meet her “baby sidder (sister).”
It was a beautiful experience. I got out of the tub with the baby on my chest and they wrapped us in towels. The baby started rooting around and latched on to start nursing by herself almost immediately. While I was nursing the baby, Donna delivered the placenta, and Katy got to cut the umbilical cord. I only needed 3 stitches from a small internal tear, very different from the whole row I needed for my third degree tear from my first birth (a hospital birth).
We sat around while the midwife examined the baby and Adam and I decided that her name should be Gabriella. Katy got to hold her and she loved her immediately. She was showering her with kisses and was so excited. We all took guesses as to how much we thought she weighed. I thought she looked bigger than Katy was (Katy was 7 lbs. 6 oz.) but I had no idea she would be a 9 pounder! She weighed exactly nine pounds and was 20 inches long. Big girl! She has adorable black hair on her head and chubby thighs.
Recovery has been sooooo great! It was totally different from when I had Katy. I was able to get up and take a shower immediately afterwards. I’ve been in and out of bed, easily able to get up to use the bathroom, and slept great in my own bed. It was also so nice to have my family pampering me. Donna and her assistants cleaned up the entire house, put away the birth pool, and even put the furniture back where it belonged. My husband ordered pizza for everyone and my grandmother continued to entertain Katy while I got to spend some alone time with Gabby.
Gabby is such a good baby. She nurses great and slept for an entire five-hour stretch the first night. The next morning was beautiful. Katy jumped out of bed and came running into our bedroom to say good morning to baby sister. She loves to just stare at her and giggles when Gabby wriggles. Adam and I just laid in bed all night talking about the birth and being so excited at how it turned out.
The midwife came by again the next day and told me that the baby and I look great. We recounted the birth experience and worked through some feelings I was having about it.
The home birth was great- and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was such a gentle experience and Gabby was brought into a world filled with her loved ones. The first person to lay a hand on her was her own father. There were no harsh lights, no rubbing down with blankets, no rushing away to the nursery, no vigorous “first bath”, no time limits, no eye drops, no harsh medications. Everything happened as nature intended and I loved it.
I woke up around 7:00 am Saturday (November 10, 2007) with mild contractions, but went back to sleep. When I awoke again at 8:30 am they were still coming, so I decided to time a few before Matt woke up; they were 7-8 minutes apart. We decided to go on with our day thinking that this was probably nothing more than pre-labor, which could go on for a few days. After breakfast, Matt proceeded to busy himself with chores to help prepare for Elisabeth’s arrival while I took a brief nap. He later headed out to mow the lawn as I contracted along oblivious to the fact that I was in real labor! He came in the house around 5:00 pm and said he was going to get more gas for the lawn mower, and I told him that he needed to stay home! The contractions were becoming stronger, so we timed several but they were not getting longer or closer together. We discussed the dinner date we had made earlier in the week (we had made plans for dinner and a movie - this was to be our "last" date) and for a moment decided that we should go as planned. However at around 6:00 pm, I decided that I was in no shape to go out to dinner, and as a matter of fact, I didn't want Matt leaving to get take-out either...so he ordered a pizza. While we were waiting for the pizza to arrive, he asked if I needed him to call the midwife, to which I replied, "No, it's too soon and I don't want to bother her." Well, it wasn't long after that that he decided he needed the midwife for support :). The midwife's assistant arrived around 7:30 pm - right around the time that my contractions started to become very painful in my back due to Elisabeth being posterior. I was practicing my best war cry with each contraction, which greatly helped to "get the pain out," although I figured the neighbors or the pizza guy were going to call the cops! I labored on hands and knees with the birth ball while waiting for my midwife. She arrived at 8:00 pm, after skipping out on a date night with her husband :), and when she performed my cervical check at 8:15 pm my water bag spontaneously burst! I immediately jumped off the bed and onto hands and knees in the floor for the next contraction - the most painful of all! From there, I labored in the bathtub (the birthing pool was being assembled by Matt) for an hour and a half. At this point I had become in control of the back labor and was in my "zone," so my midwife had me move to the bed to rest for a while. (What I didn't know was that I was only 3 cm dilated when she did the cervical exam at 8:15, so she expected it to be many more hours before we were ready to push.) Well, as soon as I got in the bed I had a strong desire to poop (ahem, push)...but after heading to the bathroom and nothing happening and the urge persisting, she did another cervical exam. To everyone's disbelief, Elisabeth was already making her way out without me even pushing! I had dilated from 3 to 10 cm in that hour and a half in the tub! Within 20 minutes, and after 4 pushes, Matt helped deliver her shoulders, and I pulled her out and onto my chest! She was crying before I had completely pushed her out! It's ironic that the one way I thought would be the most uncomfortable to deliver was the way I did - on the bed, flat on my back. The birthing tub never even had time to be filled. So, at 10:59 pm, on November 10th 2007, after a whirlwind labor, Elisabeth Katheryn made her debut. Thanks to perineal massage, I only had a very small tear in the inside of my vagina that required two stitches. Elisabeth rooted her way to my breast for her first feeding within minutes, and has been nursing like a champ ever since! After the placenta was delivered and the cord stopped pulsing, Matt was able to have the honor of cutting it.
Elisabeth is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and I love her more by the minute! I'm so happy with my decision to have a home birth, relieved to have been able to have her constantly with me, and proud that I did it despite the back labor and posterior baby.
I have learned that you shouldn’t wait to call the midwife! As predicted, I was in denial about being in labor until my water broke! Once in active labor, I went extremely fast for a first time mom!
If I could do anything differently, I would have called my midwife sooner. I think it would have saved us from being so hurried at the end. Otherwise, I had the most beautiful birth I can imagine. Elisabeth was born by candle light with only soft music in the background...well, and crying dogs once she started wailing :)!
Ah, babies!
This is the story of my first birth at home, a safe, beautiful, healing experience thanks to Donna, Dawn and Karen. Dominic is our 10th and I cherish the memories of his birth in a very special way.
http://themaysdays.blogspot.com/2011/06/dominics-birth.html
My husband's comment is that there was NO MESS!
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