Brandon's Birth
This time around I knew from the very beginning that I was going to have Tara as my midwife and I was going to have my baby at home. It was so different going through the entire process with a midwife as opposed to switching at 6months. I had a peace about the process and my family was absolutely on board since they saw how wonderful Josiah’s birth was.
On May 7th, 2012 I woke up for the day and got Josiah ready to go to the park. Around 8am I started to feel a tightening in my abdomen. I timed it and it was about every 6-9 minutes. I kept an eye on it and continued on my day. My son and I played at the park, went to the library, and then came home to have lunch. I noticed I was still having a tightening feeling and decided to time it again, at which point it was 5-7 min apart. I had no pain, and no other signs, just the tightening. When my son went down for a nap, I called my midwife to let her know, and got my mom on standby to come watch my son. I told my husband I thought we might be having a baby tonight!
I started to get my room ready. I filled the tub with air and set up my bed for a birth. I got out my birth kit and tried to organize and set out all the things I thought would come in handy. I kept in contact with my mom and Tara and was still having a tightening every 4-6 min, with no pain.
At 4pm my mom decided she was going to head down (a 2 hour drive) just in case. Around 5pm Tara said she was going to come see, just in case. My mom got there at 6pm and Tara at 6:30pm. I was still talking and laughing, but had decided to stay in my room and labor on a birthing ball while my mom and husband got my son ready for bed and had a bite to eat.
Around 6:50 Tara asked if I wanted her to check how far I was dilated and I was curious so I said, “Sure”. She said I was at 8 or 9 centimeters! I couldn’t believe it. I had only slight period like cramps. She said I was probably just mentally waiting for my son to go to bed before I had the baby.
At that moment, my husband and I decided that he was going to get the pool ready while I took a shower in the guest bathroom to try to focus and get labor moving. I took a 20 min shower and when I got back in the room the pool was half filled and the hot water had run out. They were working on boiling some water. We didn’t have this problem last time because things were much, much slower. My labor had really intensified when I took the shower. It was quiet, I could focus, and there were absolutely nothing clouding my mind.
I immediately began laboring on a birth ball. At first I was leaning on it while it rested on a bed and then I moved to the floor. I really, really wanted to get in the pool but it just wasn’t ready yet. My husband had stepped out just for a few minutes to put our son to bed. I felt things get really intense, really fast. I remember one extremely long contraction that seemed like it was never going to end. The next contraction my water broke. The next contraction I felt a lot of pressure and Tara said I should get up on the bed. She called for my husband who had just put our son down for the night. I asked her how I should position myself, knowing she wouldn’t tell me, and sure enough she told me to be in whatever position felt right. I was on my knees holding onto the headboard and after 10 minutes of pushing my sweet little Brandon was born. It was only a little after 8:00pm. He was 8lb 10oz and 20 inches long. My husband ran back into Josiah’s room and brought him to see his brand new baby brother.
On May 7th, 2012 I woke up for the day and got Josiah ready to go to the park. Around 8am I started to feel a tightening in my abdomen. I timed it and it was about every 6-9 minutes. I kept an eye on it and continued on my day. My son and I played at the park, went to the library, and then came home to have lunch. I noticed I was still having a tightening feeling and decided to time it again, at which point it was 5-7 min apart. I had no pain, and no other signs, just the tightening. When my son went down for a nap, I called my midwife to let her know, and got my mom on standby to come watch my son. I told my husband I thought we might be having a baby tonight!
I started to get my room ready. I filled the tub with air and set up my bed for a birth. I got out my birth kit and tried to organize and set out all the things I thought would come in handy. I kept in contact with my mom and Tara and was still having a tightening every 4-6 min, with no pain.
At 4pm my mom decided she was going to head down (a 2 hour drive) just in case. Around 5pm Tara said she was going to come see, just in case. My mom got there at 6pm and Tara at 6:30pm. I was still talking and laughing, but had decided to stay in my room and labor on a birthing ball while my mom and husband got my son ready for bed and had a bite to eat.
Around 6:50 Tara asked if I wanted her to check how far I was dilated and I was curious so I said, “Sure”. She said I was at 8 or 9 centimeters! I couldn’t believe it. I had only slight period like cramps. She said I was probably just mentally waiting for my son to go to bed before I had the baby.
At that moment, my husband and I decided that he was going to get the pool ready while I took a shower in the guest bathroom to try to focus and get labor moving. I took a 20 min shower and when I got back in the room the pool was half filled and the hot water had run out. They were working on boiling some water. We didn’t have this problem last time because things were much, much slower. My labor had really intensified when I took the shower. It was quiet, I could focus, and there were absolutely nothing clouding my mind.
I immediately began laboring on a birth ball. At first I was leaning on it while it rested on a bed and then I moved to the floor. I really, really wanted to get in the pool but it just wasn’t ready yet. My husband had stepped out just for a few minutes to put our son to bed. I felt things get really intense, really fast. I remember one extremely long contraction that seemed like it was never going to end. The next contraction my water broke. The next contraction I felt a lot of pressure and Tara said I should get up on the bed. She called for my husband who had just put our son down for the night. I asked her how I should position myself, knowing she wouldn’t tell me, and sure enough she told me to be in whatever position felt right. I was on my knees holding onto the headboard and after 10 minutes of pushing my sweet little Brandon was born. It was only a little after 8:00pm. He was 8lb 10oz and 20 inches long. My husband ran back into Josiah’s room and brought him to see his brand new baby brother.