BAILEY'S BIRTH STORY

I had an absolutely beautiful homebirth experience on Friday, February 18, 2000. Bailey Kerner Vahsholtz was born at 5:27 a.m. and weighed 5 pounds 14 ounces. He arrived two weeks early and he announced his intentions to arrive with a gush of amniotic fluid on Wednesday night at 10:10 p.m. I felt the water warm between my legs as I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep. I told my husband, Tony, I think my water just broke. He didn't believe me so I went into the bathroom, and water continued to slowly trickle into the toilet. Then he believed me.

Suddenly, everything I had read and all of the preparations I had made flew right out the door. I couldn't remember what I should do. Tony located the pamphlet the midwives had given us on what to do if your water breaks. The pamphlet said to observe the estimated amount of fluid, the color of the fluid, and odor. It instructed us to take my temperature and maybe some Echinacea or Vitamin C. So I took 1000 mg of Vitamin C and checked my temperature, which was normal. Then around 10:30 p.m. we called Paula, who was the midwife on-call. She instructed me to eat and rest (which I knew but had forgotten in all of the excitement) and to call her if contractions started.

I had some mild contractions starting at about 11:50 p.m. We tried to sleep but were too excited so we got up and ate. Then we again checked my temperature and it was still normal. We went back to bed and slept lightly through the night until 6 a.m. when we got up and dressed. We went for a walk trying to get contractions started but no luck. Paula called to check up on us and offered to come by and check the baby and me.

When she got to our home at 11:30 a.m. she did a Doppler reading of Bailey's heartbeat -- 140 bpm . . . Great! That put us at ease. We did have one concern however. I never had the Group Strep B test and with my waters broken it was more of a concern. So she did the test and sent it into the lab. The results would come back negative after the birth. Paula suggested nipple stimulation and caster oil to get labor started. So that is what we did and at about 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon contractions finally started. They were approximately 10 minutes apart and 50-60 seconds in duration. I felt excited that they had a good duration because I learned in my Bradley class that the long contractions are the ones that will get the work done.

At 4 p.m. Tony called the midwives. They told us to call back once the contractions were five minutes apart. So at 6:30 p.m. Tony called again and let them know that contractions were five minutes apart and lasting for one minute or longer. Tony was very nervous and wanted the midwives to arrive because he was afraid of the baby arriving before them. As soon as they arrived at 7 p.m. I knew we had called them too soon.

At 7:20 p.m. they checked me and the baby and both of our vitals were good. I declined to have any vaginal exams until I had the urge to push. Once I did want them to check me to make sure I was completely dilated to avoid bruising my cervix. Little did I know that the urge to push was only a few hours away and would be quite premature. At 10 p.m. I felt an urge to push, but I was a little unsure with this being my first baby and all. I accepted a vaginal exam and to my dismay I was only four centimeters dilated. The good news was that I was 90 percent effaced and at 0 station.

I took a long shower, which helped a little with the contractions. There was still the nagging urge to push, which I did my best to blow through and ignore. At 10:30 p.m. I got back in bed lying on my side. I had preferred this position all through labor. Looking back I feel that if I had listened to the midwives sooner and tried different positions I would have had a shorter labor. At 1 a.m. I felt that the pushing sensation was now so strong I must be ready to push. So I requested another vaginal exam -- only 7 centimeters dilation. By this time my lower back was also hurting and the only thing that helped was for Tony to push his fist into my back with all of his strength. At that point my contractions were coming every two minutes and lasting one minute. From my Bradley classes I learned that the transition stage of labor usually only lasts for two hours. So I kept thinking that I only have two more hours and then I could push. It is a good thing I didn't look at the clock much after that or I would have gone crazy.

At around 1:30 a.m. or so the urge to push was so intense that I couldn't resist it. From then on I began pushing through some of the contractions. I wasn't bearing down, but I did push. At 2 a.m. I requested another exam because I felt I must be fully dilated by now! But no, I was only 8 centimeters, +1 station, and 100 percent effaced. With this disheartening news the midwives were able to convince me to try some new positions. So I moved to the glider rocker, then to the toilet, and back to the bed.

At 2:55 a.m. I was beginning to push quite hard, it was impossible not too, and the midwives thought another exam was a good idea. I was 9 centimeters and still +1 station. Everyone including Tony was now prodding me to try different positions. So I tried the hands and knees position. It was very painful, so I went back to the chair, then back to hands and knees. Now 4 p.m., an hour since the last exam I must be complete by now. Oh God, still only 9 centimeters. At that point all I wanted to do was push, but instead I was prodded even harder to try different positions. I tried the toilet and then standing while Tony supported my weight. All the while I was trying not to push and begging him to let me lie down. Tony was great; he would grab my attention and say, Jenn, blow with me! If he hadn't kept me focused I would have probably pushed too hard and bruised my cervix. Thanks to him and my midwives I didn't.

At 4:42 a.m. I had another vaginal exam and thankfully I was complete. I am convinced it was the standing that did it because while standing I had a bloody show. I had a small anterior lip, which one of the midwives pushed out of the way and I started pushing. Because Bailey was so low I only had to push for about 40 minutes. When he began to crown I felt the burning ring of fire as my Bradley instructor had called it. The midwives asked if I wanted to feel his head but I didn't want to. I really don't know why I didn't and I regret that now. When his head was born his hands were found to be up near his face. This made delivering the rest of him a little tricky but the midwives managed beautifully.

Once Bailey was born Paula had to suction meconium out of his tummy. He was quite limp and quiet, but he was pink. They only gave him an Apgar score of 4 at one minute, but he became more responsive and at five minutes he received a score of 8. He had a true knot in his cord and it was a very thin cord, only about the size of my thumb in circumference. At 5:38 a.m. I finally got to meet my son, Bailey, I thought that he was perfect and beautiful.

Now that I look back at the pictures I see he is simply a normal baby, but he is my baby and I love him. I plan to have a homebirth for all of my future children. The experience was personal and perfect. Most importantly it was my experience, I had control not anyone else.