I think at our last class in early Nov. I was 34, almost 35 weeks along.

Right after we left I had some bleeding and our midwife (Richelle Jolley)

came over to check things out. My placenta had torn a little bit, but we

also found out I was already 3 cms dilated. Wouldn’t you know it…one week

later I went into real labor. This was our third baby and my first pre-term

birth. We named our baby Lydia Belle Jenson. She was 5 lbs 9 oz. Here’s

the story:

My due date was Dec 18th and I started having strong regular surges during

the evening of Thursday, Nov, 16th. They lasted through the night, coming

1-5 minutes apart. By the morning of the 17th they were really slowing down

and came irregularly throughout the day. I wondered how much further I had

dilated since I knew I was already at 3 cms the weekend before.

Around 10:30 pm on Friday night, my surges had really picked up again. We

went to bed and I woke up around 11:30 having strong waves. I tried to go

back to sleep but my body was telling me something big was happening – so I

got up to go downstairs. I got out the birthing ball and felt so relieved

to relax on it. The surges were picking up in intensity so I decided to

head back upstairs and wake Jed up. I told him I thought the baby was

coming tonight and that my surges were really strong and regular while not

slowing down at all. I sat on the birthing ball in our room for a while and

then had the courage to call my midwife. I say “courage” because first, I

hate disturbing people in the night and it was 12:30 a.m. by now. Second, I

wanted to be sure I was in REAL labor and that the baby was coming shortly.

And third, I knew we would be having some discussions about our planned

homebirth and having to decide if we were going to go through with our plans

since my pregnancy was only at 35.5 weeks.

My midwife was surprised to hear I thought the baby was coming and asked if

I wanted to go to the hospital or have our planned homebirth. I was

surprised she even gave me the option as I thought all midwives would not

deliver at home before 37 weeks. She decided to come over and I labored on

the birth ball for a while more as the bath tub was being filled up. I had

this strong feeling that birthing at home was still the best choice for us

and after I told Jed, he agreed. I had wanted to get a birthing tub and have

a water birth at home with this delivery, but hadn’t been able to locate a

tub just yet.

My midwife arrived around 1 a.m. and she said she was feeling good about the

homebirth as well. I felt so calm and relaxed as soon as she arrived and

was happy not to be rushing off to the hospital where I didn’t feel I could

have the calm, peaceful, natural birth I planned. My midwife checked my

progress and was surprised to see I had already dilated to 8 cm.

I decided to get into the bath tub and it felt incredible to lay back and

relax. My surges continued strongly but the warm water took the edge off.

Throughout labor my surges ranged from every 10 seconds to every 2-3

minutes. They had strong peaks and at least 10-15 seconds that felt

unbearable, but overall seemed shortish and very manageable. I used the

breathing and relaxation techniques we had learned in hypnobirthing which

helped tremendously, though I never had the opportunity to go into deep

self-hypnosis relaxation with everything moving along so quickly. In

between surges we chatted and laughed and were having a good time. My

midwife monitored the baby’s heart rate with a doppler only about 4-5 times

throughout the entire labor. In the tub she checked my cervix again and I

was almost fully dilated with a bulging bag of waters. This was probably

after 2 a.m. She asked if I wanted her to break my water so the baby could

move down and I said yes. She kept checking to make sure the cord did not

prolapse.

Even though I was dilated to a 10, I didn’t feel much pressure or the urge

to “push” yet. I wanted to continue breathing down the baby and not

aggressively pushing the baby through the birth path like they would have

you do in the hospital. This went on for a few more minutes, and then

suddenly I felt like I needed to sit up and get out of the bath.

I went back into the bedroom to sit on the birth ball. My midwife and

another midwife she had asked to come (who has experience in delivering

premature babies), put pressure on my hips and back and put a heating pad on

my back. I had a couple intense surges (lots of pressure) and felt like I

might throw up. This was the first time I started to feel like my body was

doing it’s own incredible thing and I was an innocent bystander. I said I

needed to push and the midwifes had me off the ball quickly. During the

next surge the baby’s head emerged so quickly and easily. I hadn’t pushed

on my own or felt any pain at this so it was surprising. I reached down and

the rest of her body came out. I got to catch my own baby which was very

cool. She immediately turned pink and started crying. It was 2:38 a.m.,

just 2 hours after I had called my midwive. Everyone was impressed at her

appearance and activity for being premature. Her apgar scores were 10 and

10. She was born exactly one month early on November 18th instead of her

estimated due date of December 18th.

We let the cord continue to pulse for about 45 minutes so she received all

of her blood and oxygen back into her system. About 2 hours after birth it

was time for her newborn exam which took place right in front of me on the

bed. I was loving the difference of birthing at home vs. in a hospital

where the baby is taken from you. Everything checked out perfectly on her

and when she was weighed my guess of 6.0 lbs was wrong. She was only 5.9.

This was also the time that the midwives started noticing her breathing

difficulties. She was grunting and her chest was starting to compress. She

was having respiratory distress and I was disappointed since she had done so

well up to this point. Knowing she was a month premature, we decided to

take her into the Nicu so she wouldn’t have to work so hard starting out her

life.

Only a couple people knew we were planning a homebirth. About 7 months into

the pregnancy, wanting to practice hypnobirthing and being frustrated with

the lack of attention and care from my OB who delivered my other babies, we

decided to switch care to a Certified Professional Midwife who attends

homebirths. We had a wonderful time being in her care. I had realized I

wouldn’t be able to have the kind of birth I wanted in a hospital. I didn’t

want the cord clamped at birth, the baby taken from me, or a lot of

intervention including continuous fetal monitors. I wanted to choose where

and how to deliver my baby instead of being placed in a hospital bed to do

it and I wanted skin-to-skin contact and bonding with the baby immediately

after birth for as long as I wanted. While preparing for out homebirth I

wondered if during labor and delivery I would think about the hospital and

wanting pain relief. After delivery I realized that it had never once

crossed my mind. Laboring at home was so indescribable and wonderful. It

made an exciting event so peaceful and calm without outside interruptions

and strangers to spoil it.

Lydia Belle spent over 2 weeks in the Nicu. Though her breathing

difficulties were cleared up after 2 days, they had a lot of procedures and

protocols to follow in the hospital. We found it extremely difficult and

frustrating to try and get her released, knowing she was perfectly healthy.

Finally the doctors let her go home and she immediately starting gaining

weight. She hadn’t been able to gain any in the hospital. She doubled her

birth weight in just 6 weeks. This usually takes almost 6 months. At 2

months (1 month gestationally) she was already at the 50th and 75th

percentiles for height and weight at 2 months. Birth is an amazing.

experience and there usually isn’t reason to share it with doctors and

nurses in a medical setting!