I am very proud of Lindy's birth story! I had Lindy "all natural" at a birthing center. As I mentioned before I chose to go to the birthing center for a few reasons- mostly it was cost and insurance that helped me to "seal the deal". I had also seen the documentary "the Business of Being Born" and it really helped me have the courage to trust the Midwife philosophies! Our story started about a year ago when I was ready to add to our family- but was unsure how we were going to do it! Our house was hit pretty hard by an storm in April 11' where we needed a new fence & roof- with some of the extra insurance money we were able to put money aside to help cover our cost of paying for a baby out of our pockets! I started researching local birthing centers and reading up on the information provided. I choose Innana
Birthing Center in Denton, mostly because it was the closest to our house. I visited them in May & met the midwives and toured the facility. I got my IUD removed and started "trying" for a baby in May. In July we found out we were expecting- EDD 3/31/12! - so fast fw 38 weeks to the end of my pregnancy- when I was sooo done being pregnant. I honestly thought this little girl was going to come early.
I think the waiting was the hardest part for me. With Allie I went into "false/ or early labor" at 34 weeks and went to the hospital where they stopped my contractions. Then we induced at 39 weeks. So this go around at 38 weeks I was more than ready have my baby here and be done being pregnant! Oh and did I mention that waiting is not my specialty! I like to know when and where & how- I'm a planner & really struggled with just waiting for my body to go into labor! At 38 weeks we started trying to get my body ready for labor- my membranes were stripped for the first time by the midwife- and I even went to the Chiropractor to be aligned and do some acupuncture to get me going! I was skeptical of the acupuncture (it didn't work for my sister in law) but willing to try it and just about everything else to get something started. I also tried my breast pump one night followed by a walk with the family to see if anything would get going- I was able to get some contractions started and they lasted for about 5 hours- but unfortunately nothing more happened- I was able to go to bed- and my body didn't kick into labor. The following week I scheduled a NMI- (non medical induction) with the midwives- this is where you do a few things that "should" help you go into labor- they strip your membranes insert evening primrose (to help you dilate) you go home and pump for 30 mins walk for 30 mins and then repeat. Then you go back to the birthing center and repeat the process until your body goes into "active labor"... well I started the NMI at around 10 am came home and pumped then went for a walk while I was waiting for Kelsey to get home from work- I only walked about 15 mins- I was hot and kinda afraid to be walking too far from my house alone... then I stopped and waited- and then went back to the birthing center to be checked- I had made a little progress 60% effaced and 3 cm- but not enough to be in real labor and it was 3pm and the midwives were hesitant to try to get me going again so late in the afternoon- bc they didn't want me to be too worn out for the "hard" labor- so went home. FAIL # 1. Being pretty defeated, Jean told us we could come back Sunday and give it another go- so we repeated the process 2 days later. We probably walked a total of 3 miles and my poor nipples were raw- but again after trying ALL day Sunday another NO go. I was able to get good contractions started- and dilated to about a 4 & was about 80% effaced- but again when I stoped "stimulating" my body it just wouldn't kick into active labor on its own. My next apt was on a Tuesday, and we weighed & measured me- I was so swollen from all of the walking over the weekend. My blood pressure was fine, baby sounded good- but I was starting to worry as I was approaching 40 plus weeks! The midwives agreed to monitor the baby that Friday (NST non stress test) - just for a little piece of mind. I wanted to "get something going" again that day and was told to give it a little more time- I left the birthing center so upset- and a little discouraged! Kelsey was sweet enough to call the birthing center and talk to Jean who agreed to meet us Saturday morning for "another go". We went to the birthing center at 9am- came home and did the "routine" and then went back up to be checked at 11- came home repeated and went back to the birthing center at 1 to be checked/ stripped again and at this point the MW felt I was far enough along that we could bring our bags in and plan to stay! YAY!! I was still nervous bc I could feel my contractions slow down. Jean told us to walk and pump a few more times and if I was making good progress she would break my water!! No turning back! The scary part is if my body still didn't go into hard labor- I wold have to transfer to the hospital- but at this point I just wanted my baby- so I didn't really care how she came out- hospital- c-section- it didn't matter to me- just get here here! So we walked around the park across the street from the birthing center- doing squats with every contraction (ouch!) then came back and around 3 ish she said it was time to break my water! But she warned me that there was no turning back- and it was going to HURT!! ( I knew that- its what I signed up for right??) well I had no idea! I had asked her on a scale of 1-10 where did she think my current pain level was- I didn't know what a 10 felt like- and she told me I was probably at a 3!! I would have guessed I was at at least a 6! I had NO idea! She broke my water and instantly my contractions doubled in pain. I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom- I sat down and tried to go- and then stood up- and the contractions doubled in pain again!! OMG I was so scared! I kinda started to panic- as I had no idea what I had signed up for! The best part was the contractions come and go- and they don't hurt when they stop! The midwife offered me some nubain to help "calm me down" I don't know if it helped- bc I can't imagine what it would have been like with out it... Kelsey was so awesome and helped me to count thur my contractions... I found I couldn't sit thru them I needed to stand up... Kelsey would count to 20 and then they would go away- at least the hardest part- I stood with my head in his chest and just focused on breathing as he counted. I probably had about 6 more contractions and then felt like I needed to push- seriously?? The MW was a bit concerned bc you don't feel that unless you are ready- so she checked me and I had dilated from a 5 to a 9 in about 45 mins!! The birthing assistant wasn't even there yet! Jean quickly sent her a message to "hurry"!! And then she prepped Kelsey that it could possibly just be the 3 of us to deliver this baby! They got me situated on the bed and I started to PUSHHHH! This was so much harder than the first time- bc I was trying to be a good pusher and deal with the pain all at the same time! I pushed for about 20 mins and the birthing assistant showed up and was able to help get me a drink, wet rag etc.... my neck muscles were getting so sore from the strain of me pushing- about another half hour or so of pushing we had our baby girl! I did it! I did it! I couldn't believe that I did it! It was hard work- but I was so glad that the hardest part was a little less than 2 hours! Lindy was born at 5:46pm
Here I am holding Lindy just mins after delivery.. I have the rag around my neck bc of the strain!
And here we are just 3 hours later ready to go home. What a miracle!!
Born 4/7/2012 weighing 8lbs 3oz & 22 inches long! Our lives will never be the same! What a precious blessing you are to our family!
