Lydie's Birth Story

When we found out we were expecting baby #4, I knew I wanted another home birth.  Lukas suggested the local birth center knowing that insurance would cover it, but I couldn’t imagine anything other than being comfortable at home, quietly laboring in my bed, just like last time.

My estimated due date was October 11, but I knew to plan after.  I felt great the whole pregnancy, with the exception of throwing my back out at 37 weeks, and the idea of going over my date wasn’t horrifying.  I wasn’t measuring as big as last time and was nowhere near as uncomfortable.  The weeks seemed to go by so fast in the third trimester.  We waited until the last minute to talk names and order the crib, cloth diapers, and birth kit.  We didn’t think to buy disposable diapers for the first week until two days before the birth!

Friday, October 18, I was 41 weeks and feeling pretty good.  That being said, we wanted to meet our baby, so we took a long walk before my midwife, Cathi, came for the prenatal.  The visit went as normal and everything looked as it should.  The baby was sitting low and in the correct position for delivery, so we had no worries.  Cathi left and I started having some light and irregular contractions and started getting optimistic that the baby would be born soon.  I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few days, but the contractions that started on Friday night were more noticeable.  I wasn’t able to sleep well that night and woke every hour or so from a contraction.

Saturday morning, October 19, I was tired but still felt good, so we decided to take another long walk after breakfast.  It was a sunny, but cool morning and we had such a nice time as a family, laughing and talking about when the baby would arrive and if the kids would get a brother or sister.  I continued to have contractions all day, but averaging no more than every 30 minutes.  I sat on an exercise ball and bounced all day.  When I wasn’t on the ball, I did “cat stretches”.  Our friends, Beth and Caitlin, came to visit and we just relaxed at home.  That night, the girls left and as usual, told us that if we needed anything to call.  We headed to bed, planning to get up for church in the morning.

Sunday, October 20, I woke up at 1:30am with a contraction and after lying awake for a bit, went to the bathroom.  I had another contraction by the time I got back to bed.  I looked at the clock and it had been 5 minutes.  I decided to lie down and use my handy dandy contraction tracking app on my phone to count a few more.  I tried to rest and the contractions continued to average 5 minutes apart and lasted about 1 minute. 

About 2:30, I decided I should wake up Lukas.  I felt hesitant because he had only been asleep since 11:00pm, but I didn’t feel like sitting alone.  If I was getting up, I wanted to have company.  We turned the TV on and I sat on the ball while we timed the contractions and even though the contractions weren’t uncomfortable, they were still every 5 minutes, so at 3:00am, we decided to call Cathi.  She said that she’d pick up her assistant, Elizabeth, and be on her way.  So while we waited for them to arrive, we watched HGTV. 

Cathi and Elizabeth came around 4:00am.  The contractions seemed to spread out and become sort of irregular and I was worried that my labor would stop.  We continued to time them as the ladies were getting things set up.  We decided I should have something to eat and I thought a little yogurt with granola sounded good.  Lukas brought me a HUGE parfait cup full of yogurt.  I chuckled because I knew I wasn’t going to eat all that, but I took a few small bites.  I didn’t feel like eating more and felt nauseated.  I couldn’t decide if I needed to eat or if I was going to be sick.  I asked Lukas for something to throw up in just in case. 

My lower back was starting to hurt and I thought it was because I had spent so much time on the ball.  Moving around was the only thing that helped me to work with each contraction.  I got on my knees and leaned on the ball and rocked for a couple contractions, but the smell of the rubber made the nausea even worse.  I ended up sitting cross-legged in the floor.  The contractions were all in my back and bottom.  This was totally different from my last birth.  The last time, the only way to get comfortable was lying down and I had even been afraid to change positions even to push. 

I had started using Young Living Essential Oils recently and had been reading a bit about which ones to use for labor and birth, so while I sat in the floor, I asked Lukas to use Valor and, if I recall correctly, Lavender on my lower back.  We had Peace and Calming in the diffuser in the bedroom even though, at that point, I wasn’t in there.  I was still sitting in front of Lukas and during contractions, I ended up picking myself up off the floor a bit with my hands and was pushing down on Lukas’ shoes.  It was oddly comforting. 

Around 5:30, we were trying to figure out our game plan with the kids.  We had hoped the baby would be born before we needed to worry about the kids waking up, and we just weren’t sure if we should let them sleep.  I was worried that someone would wake up when it was too late to get them out of the house.  We had talked to our friends, the Carters, about keeping the kids when labor started and at this point, it was no longer the middle of the night, so we decided to call.  We called both numbers and weren’t able to contact either of them.  So Lukas texted Beth to see if she could come pick up the kids.  She agreed and Lukas started getting the kids up and dressed. 

Around 5:50, my contractions ramped up and I was definitely more uncomfortable and really having to focus and breathe through them.  I decided to go to the bedroom because I knew that soon, I wouldn’t want to move.  When I got there, I looked at the chair and couldn’t bring myself to sit down.  I looked at the bed and there was no way I was going to lie down.  I just leaned on the bed and swayed back and forth.  I remember thinking that the video camera wasn’t on, but I didn’t say anything about it and I wish I had, but contractions were coming pretty fast, so my mind quickly moved away from that.  I started humming with each contraction and at the very end of a contraction, my water broke. 

At 5:55, I started changing my clothes and Lukas came in and told me that the kids had just left with Beth.  I got into my nightgown and quite suddenly, felt a contraction with intense pressure in my bottom.  I had been feeling the pressure for a while, but never felt the need to push.  With this contraction, I felt the force of my body push, and I had no control over it.  All I could do was hum.  I knew that Cathi and Lukas were standing behind me.  I didn’t have time to say anything and another contraction came with incredible force.  I opened my eyes, looked down, and saw the baby slide through Cathi’s gloved hands and onto the floor!  It was as if the baby had been shot out of a cannon. Cathi had turned her head back toward me just in time to slow the baby down on the way out.

I was excited that the baby was born.  I was relieved that the contractions had stopped.  I was afraid that the baby had put too much tension on the cord and that it would cause hemorrhaging.  I was shocked that the baby had been born so crazy fast. 

Cathi handed me the baby and she and Lukas helped me sit down.  They were scrambling to get chucks on the floor and we finally looked to see what gender we had.  I thought I had heard Cathi say “her”, but I checked and confirmed we had a girl.  Lydie Kathleen was born at 6:01am and weighed 8lb 4oz and was 22in long and I wouldn't be surprised if she wants to join the circus or go skydiving someday.   

I wanted another home birth so I could be comfortable laboring in my own bed, just like last time.  But on Sunday morning, October 20, I sat in the floor on old towels and scattered chucks, covered in blood and amniotic fluid, holding my brand new baby girl.  I hadn’t bled any more than normal, it just looked worse since I had been standing and I had blood between my toes; however, I couldn’t have been happier.  I labored on the ball, in the floor, and while leaning on the bed and gave birth while standing up; nothing like last time.