Noah's Birth pt. 1

I thought this picture was a fitting and fun way to start out my Birth Post. I thought about entitling my post Noah's Home Birth... but I don't need to put emphasis on the 'home' part. I believe that birth belongs in the home, that's where it should naturally take place when its safe to do so. His birth was a natural, unmedicated, peaceful birth that took place within the walls of his home, surrounded by family and friends and people who love him, and born in the same room in which he was conceived. Birth. Every Home Should Have One. <3


Our 2nd child was "due" on Monday, September 26th. We knew we were having another boy and were anxious to have him join our family and meet his big brother Joseph, who was was 22 1/2 months at the time. I was trying to be patient, knowing how easy they are to take care of when they're inside, and how the work really beings once they've entered this world. But its hard when you're huge (and I get HUGE) and pregnant and can barely move. I really enjoy being pregnant (for the most part) but the end gets so tough, especially when you have a very busy toddler running around. I went 9 days over with Joseph and I was prepared to go "over" again, so I wasn't surprised when September 26th came and went, and our wiggly baby boy was still happily inside my belly. In fact, we went to Joe's cousin's wedding 2 days before our due date. The wedding was in Joe's hometown area, just short of 2 hours away. Everyone was telling me beforehand that I didn't have to come to the wedding (if we hadn't had the baby already), that everyone understood if I couldn't make it. I said if I felt up to it, there was no reason for me to stay behind at home if nothing was going on. Everyone was worried about me possibly going into labor while we were there, and we assured them it would be fine, a simple drive back home was all it meant. Joseph's labor was just under 13 hours start to finish so I didn't think the drive home would be a sufficient amount of time to produce a baby. Joe and I did have a conversation prior to leaving for the wedding in which I told him if I say it's time to go, it's Time To GO. The day went well though and relatively uneventful. I did have lots of contractions that day and we did end up leaving the reception early to go home. I had them off and on throughout the day, then into the later afternoon they started picking up and being rather consistent. I timed them for about an hour on the way home and they were consistent (every ten minutes if I remember right) until we stopped for a bite to eat, then they pretty much completely stopped. This was Saturday, September 24th.

Over the next week I continued to have contractions almost every day. The early part of the week was slow, I would have some here, some there, but nothing really consistent. The baby (at a previous prenatal appointment) had been posterior, so I attribute all the irregular labor to my body working him into a better position. It must have worked because he wasn't posterior when he was born and when things did get moving, they moved fast so I know I didn't turn him then. So like I said, Monday and Tuesday were pretty slow. I usually had contractions in the evening when things started to slow down and I was able to relax a little. I would go to bed having contractions, and wake up during the night (50 times to pee) and they would have slowed way down or had stopped completely. Come morning nothing would be happening and I would wake, still pregnant. I don't remember feeling too disappointed though, I knew he would come when he was ready... I did try to help move things along though. I was still nursing Joseph during my pregnancy so I nursed him a bunch all day, during the night, all the time really, trying to get things moving. Joseph and I would take long walks down our nearly mile-long driveway, I ate lots of pineapple, all the "sure thing" ways to induce labor. Nothing worked :) On Wednesday I met my mom in town at the mall. I left Joseph with her and I went to the chiropractor. I had no activity that day, until about a half hour after I left the office. Then things started happening. I was at the mall, walking like crazy and having really consistent contractions, about every six minutes! Mom said I looked like I was in labor because my face was flushed (couldn't be because it was HOT that day and I remember I had to walk ALL OVER the parking lot that day looking for her car! lol) but things sure felt like they were moving along. I continued to have them throughout the day, but if I stopped walking or sat down, they would slow down, sometimes not coming at all. We went to the grocery store and I walked and walked and walked around the parking lot trying to keep them coming while mom was in the store, and they were, every 3-4 minutes. But in the car, they would slow, around 6-10 minutes apart. We went back to my moms house and took another long walk. Things had slowed down a bit and were less consistent after the drive home, but they were still coming on. We decided to go back inside and do nothing and see if they came on without me being active. They didn't. This day was probably the most disappointing.

Joe and I in Aug. at my friend's wedding

Things continued on like that the rest of the week. Every evening I would have contractions, so I would go to bed thinking, 'If this is it I need to be rested so I better go to bed and try to get some sleep.' And I would sleep, but things would stall. I would call my mom every morning, and she would ask, "Anything happening?" I got so tired of say, "Nope." On Sunday, October 2nd (exactly one week past my due date and, unbeknownst to me, it would be less than 24 hours until my son would be born) Joseph and I went to church. Joe had gotten up super early that morning to go goose hunting so it was just lil' man and me. Someone asked me after the service when I was due. I replied, "A week ago," and smiled. :) Joseph and I got home around noon, Joe had just gotten home too, and that's when my contractions first started that day... They started off slow, but at this point I took every opportunity to try and move things along so I went  for a walk down the driveway. Things actually seemed to slow down when I was walking so instead of being disappointed I thought, "forget it, I don't even care." We spent the afternoon outside playing, relaxing and enjoying the day... and honestly, I didn't pay any attention to the contractions at all, even though (looking back) I had them consistently all day long.


Around 6 that evening my family of 3 went for a walk and I finally started to pay attention to the contractions. We walked for about an hour and I had contractions consistently. I wasn't timing them yet but I would say around every 4 minutes or so. They were not painful or really hard contractions, but definitely noticeable. I didn't have to focus to get through them, I was easily able to continue with our walk and carry on a conversation.


After our walk we all went inside. It was now about 7 pm and I started making supper. My contractions continued on (every 3-4 minutes; I was timing them now) all through making supper, eating, giving Joseph a bath getting him ready for bed, and putting him to bed. Since Joe had gotten up so early that morning, he passed out on the couch. It was about 9 pm and both he and Joseph were sleeping. I FINALLY called my mom for the first time that day (and surprisingly she hadn't called me either) so I was filling her in on the days 'events'. I told her I'd been having contractions pretty steadily all day and she goes, "And you're just calling me now!?' I said that I was sure it was nothing and that I was going to take advantage of the quiet house with everyone sleeping and go take a bath (which I NEVER get to do). I told her I would call her before I went to bed.


So I got in the bath and it was so very nice and relaxing...too relaxing I think because my contractions slowed down. I only had a few contractions while in the tub, and the few that I did have didn't seem nearly as strong as the ones I was having before (not that those felt super strong either, they were still very easily manageable, I could talk and relax through them no problem). I suppose I was in the tub for about a half hour, I decided not to stay in the bath for very long because I didn't want things to slow down any more. I got out and called mom again, it was around 10 pm. She asked if I wanted her to come over and I said no, that I was going to go to bed and I was probably going to wake up in the morning and still be pregnant. We said goodnight and I went upstairs. I got a text from my sister, she thought I'd had the baby because I posted on Facebook that 'Both boys were sleeping before 9 pm'. She thought I meant the baby and Joseph, I was talking about Joe and Joseph! :) I told her, No, I hadn't had the baby but I was having contractions but I was in bed and going to try to sleep and I was sure I was going to wake up in the morning and still be pregnant! (my favorite line!) This was at 10:15 pm. I'd say I fell asleep around 10:30-10:45, with contractions still coming on steady.

 * Now I know what you're all thinking, how can this woman not think/know that she's in labor? I look back on it and think, really? You didn't catch on yet? I always thought those women who deny they're in labor are funny. It's like, 'You're clearly in labor? You can't tell?' Nope. I didn't. This was all different for me because when I woke up that night when I was pregnant with Joseph, I KNEW I was in labor. I didn't question anything, I just knew. There was one night I had some false labor about a week before Joseph was born and again, I knew that it wasn't labor. I could just tell it wasn't time. This time was different, I was in total denial that I was in labor.*


I woke up at 11:45, about an hour after I had fallen asleep, (and yes, I did actually sleep. I don't remember having contractions, I didn't wake up at all, I just slept for an hour.)  when suddenly I woke and found myself engulfed in a whirl wind, horrible, intense contraction. Just out of no where I was was awake and thrown into it. I got up out of bed a bit stunned, fuzzy headed and almost unsure of what was happening. I had another contraction and it was ridiculous. They were SO intense. When it ended I peeked in on Joseph who was sound asleep in his bed, then I went down stairs. I went to the bathroom and waited to use the toilet until I had finished another contraction. They were coming every 1-2 minutes and I did NOT want to have that intense of a contraction on the toilet (I labored for quite some time on the toilet with Joseph and I knew how intense that can make them) so I emptied my bladder and got off as fast as possible. Then I went and sat on the birth ball next to the couch where Joe was asleep. I woke him up, told him I was having contractions and asked him to go upstairs to be with Joseph as he isn't a very sound sleeper and would likely be waking up soon, making his way into our bed. Joe says that I was drenched in sweat, but I don't remember being sweaty.


Anyways, its just after midnight and I knew my mom would be in bed so I text her asking her to come over. I wait a few minutes, no response. I text her again and say, 'ok I'm going to call you...' Nothing. So I call. I don't recall much of our phone conversation other than her asking about the contractions and me saying, "They freaking suck!" and then her saying she would get ready and come over. After we hung up I remember thinking, 'Okay, I know what 'getting ready' means for mom...Shower, hair, make up...this is gonna take forever!' and things were really intense already. So I text her "Hurry please!" and then decided to  get in the shower.


Being in the shower seemed to help me manage a little better but things were still getting tough. My contractions were now about a minute apart, and lasting about 30 seconds. They were right on top of each other, just one after another. The only thing that made them tolerable was to tell myself, 'Its only 30 seconds...you can handle 30 seconds,' over and over between each contraction. This was a really confusing time for me. I had NO idea how far into my labor I was, after all, I had just woke up from sleeping so I didn't think it was possible to be near the end. But it sure FELT like I should be near the end... These were the most intense contractions I'd ever experienced. I don't remember having any nearly that strong with Joseph, even at the end. I remember thinking that if I was only like 5cm and it was already this bad, they would literally have to hit me over the head and haul me to the hospital because there was NO WAY I would be able to do this all night. I couldn't imagine them possibly getting any stronger! Looking back, I think I was already in transition, I just didn't know what to think because it didn't seem possible that I could be that far yet.


I tried different things to make the contractions more bearable while waiting for my mom. I tried turning the shower radio on for some music, but it was on a commercial and the guys voice instantly annoyed the hell out of me, so I shut it off. I tried to do things I thought my mom would be telling me, breathe nice and deep, relax my bottom, don't tense up, keep everything nice and open. Even though she wasn't there yet, it sort of felt like she was because I knew what she would be telling me to do so. I started doing 'horse lips' because I remember reading in Ina May Gaskin's books that horse lips help you to relax your bottom so things can open up. Our choir teacher had said once that if you can blow raspberries (the same thing as horse lips) that you had good air flow, so I knew my breathing was good and I was getting oxygen to my baby. I had been squatting through each contraction, leaning on the side of the tub so I could open my legs as wide as possible, it was really the only comfortable way. I tried to stand during a contraction a few times, but the instant it would start I would drop down again. I had to squat. I even used a sand pail Joseph had in the tub so I could lean on the other end of the tub so the water was hitting my back and out of my face. I was happy to squat though, I felt like I wasn't able to relax my body the way I knew I should, (I was clenching my fists and I know my face wasn't relaxed) but I felt like at least if I was squatting, my bottom was open.

My belly on Oct. 1 (2 days before Noah was born)

 I was still doing the horse lips but after a while it didn't seem to be helping as much. I started Moooooing and Ahhhhhhing, loudly. Being vocal seem like it helped a bit more than just the plain horse lips, although I'm sure I sounded ridiculous. Luckily we have a big house and Joe and Joseph were upstairs so my barnyard sounds didn't disturb them. (Our bedroom use to be right next to the bathroom but a few weeks before we had moved our bedroom upstairs to make room for baby and give Joseph his own room. We made our old room the guest bedroom and its also where I planned on birthing our 2nd child.) I would also cover my eyes each time I had a contraction. I would have done anything to have the big light turned off, and I did try but then it was pitch dark and I couldn't see anything! And of course the little light on our mirror was burned out, go figure. So I remember being super annoyed by the light, and I felt hungry between contractions, like I was starving! It makes me laugh because who thinks about food at a time like that? I was also starting to feel like I could maybe push soon, but I wasn't sure if I should. I still didn't know how far into my labor I was and I started pushing too soon with Joseph and had a hard time delivering him so I did not want to start pushing until I felt that urge. Normally I wouldn't have doubted myself and my instincts but nothing was making sense to me. Near the end of my labor with Joseph, I remember having loooooong, drawn out contractions that felt like they took forever to get through. These were so very short, only about 30 seconds, and everything had happened so fast! After all, it was only 20 minutes ago that I was in bed sleeping for goodness sake, I couldn't possibly be in transition already. So I just focused on getting through the contractions. I would think about the baby, tell myself that all of this was bringing me my baby. Each horrible, awful, stupid contractions was bringing him that much closer to being in my arms. I started thinking about what we were going to name the baby (we still hadn't decided yet). We only had a few names we were considering, I liked Isaac and Ethan and Joe didn't. Joe's favorite was Noah. I did NOT like Noah. But for some reason, during those terrible contractions, each time I would think about the sweet little boy in my belly, I thought of Noah. It just seemed perfect. I knew right then and there that he would be named Noah. My little Noah, trying to make his way into this world. I couldn't wait to meet him.

I had been in the shower for about twenty minutes when the water started getting cool. I had used a lot of hot water during my bath and it was super hot during my shower. Eventually I had the hot all the way on and it wasn't getting any warmer. Then I heard the bathroom door open and in walked my mama...

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