Caelan's Birthstory.
HBA2C's
~ by Randee (his mommy)
Caelan was a successful HBA2C (home birth after two c-sections).
I had been having irregular contractions for about a week before the
baby was born, and was quite ready for it to be the real thing. I
went in for my last midwife appointment on a Thursday and had dilated
to a 5 and 70% effaced. My midwife (Liz Camp) rimmed my cervix and
said "See you tonight!", sure enough I woke up at 11:00pm with pretty
strong contractions that were 5 minutes apart for about 40 minutes,
then they were 3-5 min for about 20 minutes, and after they were every
3 minutes apart for 30 minutes I thought that it was time to wake
my husband up and call Liz. Liz came over right away at about 12:30ish.
When she got to our house my contractions slowed way down as well
as the intensity. Liz said that some women do that... its like they
have their "nesting space" invaded, which slows and sometimes even
stops labor.
Well, My midwife was so wonderful, she and her assistant, Samantha,
stayed with me all night even though my labor had slowed way down.
When she first arrived I had dilated to a 7 and 100% effaced, and
I stayed that way well into the morning. At 9-10:00ish a.m. We talked
about wether or not we should help the labor along. I wasn't progressing
much and Liz thought that maybe I was Pitocin dependent from my first
two births (The give you Pitocin with C-Sections... I guessed its
to get your uterus to contract and release your placenta, etc.) We
decided to say a prayer to see if we should break the bags of water.
After the prayer we all felt good about it and decided that was what
we should do.
So, with each contraction she had me push while she broke both my
bags of water. Then we got into position on our living room floor
and with the next contraction Liz informed us that I was dilated to
a 10 in a matter of just minutes. We began to push and I remember
Liz saying "keep pushing, his head is right there!", and I couldn't
believe it because I never was in much pain up until then. She had
me feel, and sure enough, I felt his head just centimetres away from
my vaginal opening. That is what gave me the strength for the rest.
She rimmed my perineal muscles the whole time, which is what hurt
the most, but well worth it because I never tore. A few pushes later
his head was out - WOW - what an accomplishment that was! He was so
blue and beautiful, then with the next contraction his body came,
and boy, was my heart filled with joy! I finally did ti! Naturally
and vaginally, my dream came true! It only took 10 minutes after I
had dilated to a 10 to the moment I first held my son. It was so amazing
and spiritual! I was able to hold him right away, which was such a
neat experience because with my first two, I didn't get to hold them
for a few hours afterward because they were caesarean.
I began to haemorrhage a little afterward, but my midwife sure knew
her stuff. She kneaded my stomach and gave me some herbs, etc. to
stop the bleeding. She asked my husband, Blaine, to give me a priesthood
blessing and my bleeding stoped immediately afterwards. I am so glad
I did a homebirth, I truly believe that if I were in a hospital again
with all the interventions, I would not have been able to do it. It
was the love at home, my diet, the books and studying that I did throughout
pregnancy, my faith in my body and the Lord (which was so hard to
get - and very much the most important), my wonderful and spiritual
midwife, and my special husband who was there for me the whole time,
that made all the difference! My recovery was so much easier too.
I could walk that same day!
Caelan was born on 2/23 at 10:37 a.m., and weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz.
and was 19 3/4 inches long. His head was 14 inches (only 1/2 inch
smaller than my first son who was taken c-section for CPD [head too
small for pelvis]). He is so healthy and beautiful and very calm and
well natured. I feel so blessed to have his spirit in our home...
what a cutie!!!
|