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November 14, 2003 - 6:29am |
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I had always dreamed of having a child. I thought it wasn't my destiny - until now, a gift from God, a Miracle, the Beauty of Creation. I discovered my pregnancy the morning of March 19th 2003. It was the day we went to war with Iraq. I remember because it was referred to as 'shock & awe' and that is how I personally felt. It was my day - still one of the happiest moments of my life - I'm going to give birth! It was so hard to believe that I had a life inside of me, since it was such a miracle. Being knowledgeable and experienced in many areas, I knew very little about pregnancy and childbirth. As I did my research, I found that for me, I needed to have a Home Birth. After all, I'm pregnant - not sick. There were some fears and 'what ifs'... Still, as I became deeply educated in the entire process, there was even more reason for me to birth in the comfort of my home. On Tuesday, Nov 4 – My bones hurt, especially my pubic bone & sacrum area. I was built with a narrow pelvic cavity, much stretching of the ligaments and opening of the bones would be necessary in order to allow a baby through the birth canal. For the next week, my bones continued to pain me and I began having uterine contractions. They hurt, yet the pain was bearable. Each evening contractions would form a pattern, becoming consistent and my bones would open, as I felt my ligaments stretching. Each evening we would think "The baby’s coming tonite!" Only to have another achy night. By Monday, Nov 10, I was so ready to give birth...only Eden was not yet ready to enter into our world. She continued to play with me through my belly. On Tuesday, Nov 11, Scott and I were convinced "This is it!, It’s time." My contractions were consistent every 5 minutes for over an hour. We called Shannon who came right over. Bonnie came over as well, to find once again ‘pre’ labor. I did notice that my composure was quite controlled and I was able to giggle through the pain, and the pain wasn’t that bad. Shannon and Bonnie were very kind and said try to get a good night’s sleep and to call if we needed. Good Night’s Sleep ~ Ha! Ha! - I’m 9 months pregnant, past my estimated ‘due’ date and my body hurt ... well I’ll try. - Thanks to Scott !!! Yes I was able to sleep. I don’t know how I’d have made it through this pregnancy so well without his loving and professional touch to soothe my body and spirit! I also must give credit to the yoga! The calmness and muscle control we practice helped immensely, as well as the benefits I’ve gotten in my body - the strength, flexibility and balance with the ability to focus. I will continue to practice yoga for more calmness, surrendering and peacefulness through different circumstances. The contractions continued intermittently for the next couple of days. Finally on Nov 13, Thursday evening, the glorious long awaited schedule of unanticipated events began. I spent my entire pregnancy becoming educated in the field of childbirth, still I was not quite sure what it was I was about to enter into. My Belly was cramping really bad, I thought it may have been gas pains, yet I sensed serious labor coming, so I decided to purge by giving myself an enema. That was when my membranes ruptured, i.e. my water broke. For a small while I felt relieved. Within minutes I began to feel serious pains, now these are intense contractions! I got in the Spa for relief, then found myself running back and forth from the spa to the tub moving my body in any direction it would go in searching for calmness. This is when Scott called Jen who came over promptly and was able to witness this pain while capturing my essence on film. A contraction would be 15-20 minutes constant...generally labor contractions are 60-90 seconds long, 5 minutes apart...hmmm... Scott phoned Shannon and Bonnie, then phoned Gail to join the party! Wow–three midwives! I had ALL the support I could imagine
* Scott ~ ‘Dad’ Scott's mom, Verna was here for the
birth - Perfect timing! I was dilated to about 7cm, cervix ripe, and close to ready. Contractions continued HARD! In the tub, I was able to find serenity with my yoga breathing. Shannon continued to remind me of my breath. Something so simple, yet so easy to forget. I laid in the warm bath, Shannon pouring water on me which was very relaxing! At one point, Gail grabbed my hand and said, "Give me Your Pain!" which was a great way to let go. Scott was always right there for me. Scott was extremely comforting for me to have by my side, yet having Shannon the feminine energy & completed the picture for me. After being in the 1st
stage of labor, hard labor for 6 hours, it came time for the My mind has so much control over my body, that the contractions came to a halt, and the entire physical labor process shut down. Bonnie said, "There’s no turning back now." I think I laughed. As simple as it sounds, she was completely right! So, I decided to Just Do It ! Shannon, Bonnie, and Gail had helped me receive the strength to complete this beautiful process; an art. My body went back into labor and I still felt the need to purge, so I threw up until there was nothing left. I then entered the 2nd stage of labor - The Pushing Phase. The midwives specified that this was the time of "empowerment". The pushing is extremely empowering! It is a time of Control - Complete Control! With each contraction, I now have two choices - feel pain or push! Many times I wanted to take a break only to find myself pushing thru each contraction. I tried squatting, (having very strong legs and gluts helped) squat & push - stand - next contraction - squat & push, etc. This is very natural position for birthing mothers, yet for me, it didn’t feel like the baby was coming out. I then tried on all fours. In these positions, I felt as though I was doing a workout at the gym or something, I was worried about form and alignment when all I needed to be thinking about was the baby coming out. Personally, my pushing phase worked best supine; on my back holding my legs up. For me, this was 100% pushing baby. This lasted about an hour and a half (seemed like 5 minutes) When my baby ‘crowned’ ~ I placed my hand on the crown of her head, and looked in the mirror–I felt soft hair, and saw dark hair and the top of a beautiful head – Wow! With my next contraction, I pushed and Eden flew out like a bullet right into Shannon’s arms. Shannon immediately handed Scott his new baby. Scott placed her on my chest, kissed me & kissed her, looked down and said, "And–it’s a girl!" Scott had fathered all boys, so a girl was a nice surprise for him. I was very excited to experience a daughter as well! Her umbilical cord still attached to
the placenta,
I kept her low on my chest. The cord still pulsating, continuing
to feed her blood, oxygen, and nutrients. I chose not to
have the cord cut until
after the birth of the placenta,
the 3rd stage of labor. How I wanted to keep the cord attached and the placenta inside me, but it was time for Eden to have her first bit of independence. Dad cut the cord, thus giving Eden her Belly Button (Shannon told me that one) Yes, she is still dependent...as the years go by, she'll slowly find independence. Eden and I will always remain connected, as I will never cut the spiritual cord; our bond; our destiny. This whole process lasted through the night into the morning, yet it seemed like only maybe an hour. During transition, I said that I never wanted to do this again. I take that back! I’d do it 100 times over!!!
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