Annelise's Unplanned Unassisted Home Waterbirth

Science & Sensibility, a research blog about healthy pregnancy, and birth, is hosting a blog carnival related to the Lamaze Six Healthy Birth Practices. I wanted to share the birth of my third child as a part of the blog carnival on Healthy Birth Practice #1 - Let Labor Begin on Its Own


The First Indications
I had only been 1 cm dilated and 75% effaced at my 39 week appointment. I woke up at 4:30 the morning on the day that I was 39 weeks 3 days pregnant, and had a strange and intensifying burning, stinging feeling in my cervix. Looking back, I assume this was my cervix effacing the rest of the way. About 15 minutes later, I had my first contraction. It lasted only about 30 seconds, but it was difficult to breathe or talk through. I stood up, and had another contraction, also 30 seconds long.

Testing a Theory
I decided to see if my positioning made any difference. I laid down, and had another contraction, 30 seconds long, about 5 minutes later. I stood up again and had a contraction 2 minutes later. I thought this was odd, and called my midwife. She told me that my uterus might just be irritated from the evening primrose oil capsules I had inserted the night before, or that it might be the start of labor. She told me to call her if things changed.

Transition
I endured a few more contractions by myself, and then had my husband get up to provide moral support through them about 5:20 am. This should have been a big clue that something hand changed, but we both ignored it. I was shocked at how incredibly painful my contractions were becoming, and how quickly they progressed to 2 minutes apart peaking after a minute. My husband called my midwife again to tell her of the change, and I had some significant bloody show. I had NO idea what was going on, but the contractions were just monstrous. Having been through labor twice, I was not feeling terribly confident or competent. Don't you love transition?
Transition?! What???!!!!

A Slight Change of Plans
We were already planning a homebirth, and my midwife had not brought over her aquadoula birthing pool for us to set up. I had asked my husband to fill the bathtub after he'd gotten off the phone with the midwife, as I thought it might provide some relief. About 6 am, I called my mom to tell her we were having a baby today. I felt another contraction coming, and got off the phone.

During this contraction, my body started to push! I considered momentarily that I must be misinterpreting the urge to push, I didn't even know if baby was engaged!!! By the time that contraction was over, I decided I'd better get off the living room couch if I didn't want to have the baby right there on the floor! The midwife was not at our house, and the birthing pool was not set up. Time to go with Plan B!

I ran out of the living room tearing my pajamas off as I waddled swiftly down the hallway yelling "She's coming! She's coming!", and got into the tub. I prayed very quickly that God would preserve me from tearing badly, and that he would keep us both safe.

The Express Train Birth
I had no sooner gotten in the water than I had the most amazing contraction. I really did not push Annelise out. She pushed herself into the world, and I just sorta held onto my husband's hand and the bar above the soap dish while I felt like my body was ripping in two pieces. My bag of waters exploded with that one long pushing contraction, and her head was out!

My husband supported her head in the water while I waited for the next rush to push her body out. The second contraction hit and she came out with the force of a torpedo. My husband says if he hadn't been there to catch, she might have hit her head on the other side of the tub with the sheer velocity of her exit. The express train route!

Meeting the Family
Her cord was nice and long, and it was looped loosely around her head, so we unwrapped her, and he handed her to me. She was breathing quietly, and alert, looking around at the well lit bathroom, but wasn't yelling or anything. We weren't even sure if she was breathing at that point, she may have still been breathing from the cord, and she did seem a bit shocked to be perched on my knee.

My husband called the midwife and asked what he ought to know about delivering the placenta. She was in shock that I had already had the baby!!! Right on cue, Annelise let out a nice strong wail, and my midwife told him to get some chux pads from the birth kit and help me out of the tub. She said to wait for the placenta and to not cut the cord till she arrived.

My daughters woke up around the time he was on the phone, and they were able to see me and the baby in low light in the bathtub just moments after her arrival. They were so excited. Ella heard me laboring, but was too scared to get out of bed. As soon as the baby cried the first time, she and Maddie fairly flew in to see.


Reflections
My husband is a very calm and levelheaded person. I always knew that if we were faced with a precipitous birth situation, that he would perform well under pressure and be a great source of strength and focus for me. He was just exactly those things, and I am so blessed to have a husband who can keep his wits about him! He told me later that I made it all look easy, not sure how that's possible since I was barely contained for that last half hour or so!

It was a fascinating journey, and I can say looking back that while being in the throes of a 1 hr 15 minute birth is terrifying, it was just as it should have been. My blood pressure was 150 over 100 when my midwife arrived, and I don't believe I could have labored for very long at home with blood pressure that high. I would not seek to repeat an unassisted birth, as I happen to love my midwife as a dear friend, but my husband and I enjoyed our "do it yourself" experience.