Our Home Birth Story in Pictures

There are a LOT of pictures in this post. It's our Home Birth Story, minus the more graphic pictures. However, if you are interested, I am more than happy to send you those pictures- there are some incredible shots of his head coming out and there are some great pictures of Grayson coming into my arms. However, those pictures show more of my body than everyone in the world wants to see :) So, if you want to see them, just shoot me an email. 

Contractions started at 6am, but they had been happening during the night as well. They weren't consistent and I was able to sleep in between them. I woke up from a contraction at 6 and decided to take a shower for work. I had stayed home the day before from exhaustion of being up the night before that with contractions that didn't turn into anything and I didn't want to use up another sick day if I didn't need to. I had two contractions while in the shower that I couldn't talk through. I decided going to work was not going to happen since I can't be in a room with 1st graders and simply stop talking every 3-6 minutes. Larry and I started cleaning up the house- I cleaned the toilet and he did the dishes. I stopped every time a contraction hit and leaned over the kitchen counter while Larry rubbed my back. I moved upstairs when the kids woke up and Larry got their breakfast ready while I labored in our bedroom. 

Of course, Kitty was there, hiding under the bed. 

My wall of inspiration. I found inspiring Bible verses and we put up pictures of the boys when they were newborns to remind me what I was doing this for. 

The tub we rented was set up in front. (Once it was filled with water it was circular) 

Around 8:15 I called my midwife, Charlotte, to let her know that this was it. Although I started timing at 6 am, they started getting under 5 minutes starting at 7 am and I knew I needed to wait at least an hour before calling her. She lives an hour away, but has an assistant that lives 5 minutes from me. She said she would call Rachel and have her come to check me to see how dilated I was. 

This next picture was a critical moment for me during the beginning of labor. Larry got the kids watching a movie downstairs and he came up and lit my candle and got my music playing. We had some favorite songs from church set up. As I leaned over Grayson's crib I really started praying and I realized that this was different. It was during this time that my visual of Jesus standing on the water while I rode a wave (to get through the contraction) changed to Jesus carrying me while he rode the wave. Also during this time a song came on with a line that goes, "He loves us, oh how he loves us" and as I was singing it during a contraction, I realized that I sang the wrong words. I sang "I love you, oh how I love you" and I started crying because I knew I was singing to my unborn son. It gave me chills and I knew that he was coming soon.

I'm a sentimental dork about some things and I really wanted a picture of me in this shirt the day I went into labor, so between contractions I changed shirts and Larry took the picture. He had to retake the picture because he said I needed to smile with my eyes. It was really hard to smile at all!

Jared came up, as I figured he would, and he played with the cat for a few minutes. Isaac never came up during this time. Jared gave me a hug and just watched me for a few minutes before going back downstairs. He's always been very curious and aware of people around him. 

Everyone showed up around the same time, which was 10ish. I remember looking at the clock and deciding that I would have Grayson by noon. (He was born at 12:15... the mind is a powerful force in labor.) In this picture you can see Chantel, who was our doula, my sister and mom are sitting, Tami, our other doula was helping me through a contraction, and Charlotte the midwife was sitting on the bed in contact with another client who was due soon. Tami had me put a hot cloth on my stomach where I felt the most pain. I had never heard of this, but wow, did it help. When I was going through a contraction Tami or my mom would hold the cloth for me and Tami would bring me fresh ones when it cooled off. 

Chantel and Tami while I'm working through a contraction. This was my favorite position and I pretty much went to this every time I went into a contraction. I leaned over the exercise ball and grabbed a towel. I moaned through the contractions, which was NOT what I expected to do, but it's what came naturally to me at the time. 

Rachel, who is an assistant midwife, is checking the baby's heartbeat. They did this often to make sure that Grayson was doing okay during the contractions. If his heart beat had gone down, we would have tried some other positions but it's possible that we would have had to transfer to the hospital if his heartbeat was dropping. Thankfully, his heart beat was always fast and strong. 

Mom and Karri talking to me while I sat on the bed between a contraction. When the midwife showed up she checked me and I was 6-7 cm dilated. I could still talk between contractions and felt "human" though as soon as one hit, I would hit the ground and grab the exercise ball. 

Kitty being Kitty. 

Tami suggested that I hold onto Larry and sway with him through the contractions so that we could use gravity to move Grayson down even further. It was wonderful to hold onto him, but things really started to progress and I entered "transition" during this time. Everything felt SO heavy and I knew it was almost time. When Larry had to help get things ready, Tami would hold me and sway with me. (This is what a doula does during a birth- she supports you and provides you with both emotional support AND physical support.)

Some things happened before this next picture. First of all, we ran out of hot water, so we (as in everyone but me) was busy boiling and microwaving water downstairs and bringing it up to fill the tub. I threw up a few times, which is very common when you go through transition. Transition is the time around 7 or 8 cm right before it's time to push. The midwife told me that I could get in the tub if I wanted to. I said I most definitely wanted to. My sister told me later she was worried that they wouldn't get enough water in before it was time for me to push. I told her I never worried about that. I knew I would hang in there until the water was ready and I did. As soon as I hit the water I felt immediate relief. It was actually a couple of minutes (or at least felt like it) before another contraction hit. When it did it was rough, though.

Larry changed into a bathing suit and came in to help me. 

In this picture Chantel is coming to help and the second assistant midwife is checking the baby's heartbeat. The doppler works under water and they checked often to make sure he was doing ok. 

Checking the heartbeat...

Checking on me... notice her expression. She was so calm and easy going. Midwives see normal, natural childbirth all the time. They don't fear it, they welcome it. My pain was not a worry for them. 

Larry holding me through a contraction. Throughout the contractions Larry would remind me to take deep breaths and he would tell me what a great job I was doing. He was amazing. 

The midwife was explaining what position I needed to be in and how we needed to be situated so that Larry could catch the baby. It was getting time to push. She said that when she checked me, Grayson's head was on one side, so one side was completely ready and the other side was almost completely ready. She told me to push slightly on the next contraction to try to get Grayson centered, then I could push whenever my body told me to. 

Chantel is pouring water on my back while I went through a contraction. 

For obvious reasons there are a bunch of pictures that exist, but not in this blog post :) Basically, that one push got Grayson ready and my body told me it was time. I screamed and the doulas and midwives were right there to tell me to use my voice and instead of screaming, push the energy down and out. I told them to let me know when I could reach down to feel Grayson. However, I didn't need them to tell me. I knew when he was coming out and I felt his head, though my water was still in tact, so it was just a bulge. After several pushes my water finally broke. I had told Charlotte early on in my pregnancy that I did not want her to break my water. I wanted everything to go as naturally as we could. She told me when I got in the water that had my water broken an hour before, I would have had Grayson while I was standing up. He was so close and ready to come out! My water has always been broken by the doctors and I wanted to know what would happen if no one messed with me, so I was relieved when Charlotte told me during the prenatal appointments that she doesn't break the sac. Babies can be born in the sac, and it's fine, but it's very rare. Anyway, my water broke and it got crazy. I pushed again and I realized that I had already pushed several times and his head still wasn't out. This proved a fear I had- he was big. I screamed on the next contraction (though at this point there was no "next"- it was one long contraction that had peaks and then lower peaks) and I said "I don't want to do this anymore!" Everyone laughed but me and they assured me that my baby was almost out. I pushed and his head came out. Larry caught his head and supported it while I kept pushing. The midwife reached down to see if the cord was wrapped around his neck. She said she couldn't tell and she was saying "She needs to get him out or she has to get out of the water." I was pushing, but I could tell he wasn't moving out. I wasn't scared at all- I've read so many birth stories and I remembered several where the shoulders got stuck and the mom had to get out of the tub and on all fours in order to be in a better position to get the baby out. I was prepared to do whatever, I just wasn't sure how I was going to physically get my legs over the edge of the tub. After only a few seconds the midwife said "She has to get out." Hands were all over me and I was pulled to a standing position. I didn't have to climb out of the tub which was a relief. I felt hands all over the baby and I felt the midwife pull his shoulder out. I found out later that his hands were up by his neck, which is why they couldn't tell if the cord was wrapped and it's also why I couldn't get his shoulders out. (Had the cord been around his neck it wouldn't have been an issue- she could have quickly unwrapped it or even cut it if needed). She had reached up, hooked his armpit and pulled his arm out. He came right out and they sat me down and gave him to me, seen in the next picture. 

In this next picture the assistant midwife is checking Grayson's heart beat. 

We chose beforehand to keep the cord attached until it was done pumping. This allows for all of the great blood and stem cells from the placenta to get to the baby. Once the baby is born the cord stops pumping after a few minutes, the placenta detaches from the mom and comes out with a simple push. My plan was to deliver the placenta out of the water, but that didn't happen, which was fine. We waited until the cord stopped pumping and then I felt crampy again. The placenta was detaching already, which was quicker than I had expected. (This is a good thing!) Had the placenta not come on its own there are herbs they could have given me to help. Larry cut the cord and they clamped it.

Once the placenta was out and the cord cut, we got out of the tub. I got set up (on my own bed!) and nursed for the first time.

Everyone just hung out while I established breastfeeding with Gtayson. 

Little guy. Everyone was talking about his size and trying to determine what they thought he weighed. 

The midwife and assistant are weighing Grayson. Everyone was shocked to hear the verdict- 10 lbs, 8 oz!!

The boys were brought upstairs to see their new brother. (My dad had kept them downstairs)

Grayson sucking his fingers- this is probably what he was doing when he was born!

Larry with his 3rd son. During this time the midwives were checking me- I had a small tear and had to be stitched. I was numbed and stitched up on my bed. 

After me it was Grayson's turn. All of his measurements were taken and everything was checked to make sure he was whole and healthy. (Notice that Grayson isn't crying. The pictures of my other boys during their check-ups at the hospital are of screaming, angry babies. This guy was warm, fed, and happy.)

 I didn't include some of the other pictures to protect his modesty, but he's definitely a boy :)

 Everyone left except for my parents. They stayed and my mom stayed overnight. It's been wonderful to have my boys home with us. I missed Isaac so much when I was in the hospital with Jared. They have been coming upstairs at random times to play up here and visit with Grayson. My parents have been here to care for them so Larry can care for me. I can't walk down the stairs for a couple of days, especially because of the stitches. I love being able to recover in my own bed and Larry even said how nice it was to be able to lie next to me. (In the hospital the bed is only large enough for the mom.)

 Jared "helping" change Grayson's first dirty diaper. 

My fabulous lunch that Larry prepared for me. 

Random pictures we took the rest of the day...

Grayson's first outfit!

Proud Daddy :)

We did not take the decision to have a home birth lightly, but I am SO glad we did it this way. It was so wonderful and I wouldn't do it any other way! I didn't have any fear about the care I was receiving. We have a beautiful healthy boy thanks to the incredible help we had in our midwives and doulas. We are so thankful to God for His continuous blessings.