jessyscribs: Benjamin's Home Birth
Posted
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 4:15 PM
"We had only been married 43 days and I was pregnant. I remember thinking, "Dear Lord, what did I get myself into?!"
And then there were three
My husband and I got married December 1st, 2007. Our very first kiss was when our pastor said "You may now kiss the bride." Little did I know it was the beginning of such an amazing adventure.
It was January that next month when I noticed my chest was very sore and that I was a few weeks late with my period. I couldn't believe that when I took a pregnancy test it came back positive! We had only been married 43 days and I was pregnant. I remember thinking, "Dear Lord, what did I get myself into?!"
Setting our birth plan
My husband and I decided to have a home birth. We had known a number of friends who had a midwife and gave birth in the comfort of their own homes and we desired the same experience. So we set up with a midwife who was known to deliver as naturally as possible and was amazing at delivering breech babies. We had only met four times with her and had one ultrasound to see if my baby boy was doing okay.
Benjamin was due September 12th. Besides the summer being extremely hot (thank God for AC) my pregnancy was so smooth and not complicated in any way that it made me enjoy every single minute of it. I had such a worry that I was going to deliver early and was scared to go anywhere or do anything my last few weeks. Until it was one day past D-day. By the time it was the 17th, I was getting irritated. I started doing things to help encourage the labor, but sadly nothing started. When I was a week late I was willing to do anything! My husband and I walked two miles every day and then I would come home and take a bath, drink raspberry tea, and do jumping jacks. (Okay, only kidding about the jumping jacks!) I was starting to have false labor soon after that but still nothing was happening. There was no mucus plug, no bloody show, no water leakage... nothing! But I knew that when my baby was ready, it was going to hit hard and fast.
Getting closer
Finally, exactly two weeks later I was beginning to feel some cramping that was slowly increasing as time went on. I kept assuming it was false labor though, so I never called my midwife until I couldn't handle it. About an hour later... I couldn't handle it, so I finally called my midwife. She was on her way to another delivery! Because this was my first pregnancy, she figured it would take some time and she would try to make it to our apartment as soon as the other baby was delivered. My husband and I decided early on to have my mom come to the birth, so we gave her a call. I had to keep handing the phone over to focus on contractions, which were three minutes apart now. By the time my mom came over it was so intense I couldn't sit up. And still, there was no midwife. We knew of a lady at our church who was a doula and didn't hesitate to call her!
Ready to deliver!
Within that hour my contractions were 15 seconds apart, my plug came within a few pushes, then the water blasted out of me and we were ready for baby! I pushed for a few hours and really took my time with everything as the ladies massaged me and continued to put warm compresses near my area to avoid tearing. During my labor, my mom and doula sang songs and my husband whispered prayers in my ear as I breathed through each contraction. I remember being so tired of the contractions that I prayed out loud "God, please give me five minutes to rest!" ...And He did. It was that five mintues that gave me the strength to push out the baby's head. Finally, my baby came -- 8 pounds,10 ounces and screaming at the top of his lungs. By the grace of God, his 14" head never even gave me a rip or a tear. With my husband behind me on the bed and my baby on my chest, it was such an amazing moment. I feel honored to be the wife and mother of these two men in my life...
Looking back
Benjamin Eric is two months now and I can't believe how fast the time went. Our baby gives us so much joy and I am so blessed to be a mother. I want to be an encouragement to any woman out there who desires to have a home birth but is too scared or feels like she needs a ton of medical attention because something is going to go wrong. Pregnancy is natural, our bodies were made to do this. There is nothing wrong with having a doctor or going to a hospital, but don't be blinded into thinking that you have to. I believe that God is the ultimate physician. If He is telling you to see a doctor, by all means, listen! But if it's done out of fear, trust that God truly is with you no matter what. Many people think I'm nuts for having a home birth but it is now that I can fully say that God did it all.
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