Zephyr Hill

A Family Blog

Preparing for My First Home Birth!

by 6 Comments

If all goes well, I’ll be giving birth at home in January to our 9th baby! My official due date is January 24th, but I have always delivered early. When it comes to labor and delivery, I’ve experienced everything from a surprise c-section to a medicated/hospital VBAC to six natural deliveries at a midwife-run birth center.

I decided to try at home this time because the birth center’s policy changed and they could no longer take VBAC’s. And after six natural deliveries with a midwife, my husband and I just didn’t want to go back to a hospital setting, with all the red tape and rigid policies. We chose a local midwife who was highly recommended by friends and has a lot of experience under her belt. Throughout this pregnancy, Rachel has been a kind and attentive care-giver, and she is a wealth of information when it comes to dealing with pregnancy complaints. I have the utmost confidence in her abilities, and that is a very important factor when you’re giving birth at home.

Rachel gave us a list of things we would need for the big day, but every midwife is different in terms of what they bring and what you’ll need to have on hand.

Supplies we already had: sheets, towels, washcloths, mattress protector, receiving blankets, thermometer, newborn cloth diapers, hydrogen peroxide, tea strainer, cloth postpartum pads (I’ll be trying Oko and Buttons)

Supplies we had to buy: gauze pads, disposable bed pads (i.e. Chux), peri bottle and electrolytes

Rachel will be bringing her tricks of the trade, of course.

As part of my preparations, I’ve been reading a lot of home birth stories from my blogger friends. A little shot of virtual encouragement for me! You’ll love reading them, too.

  • Olivia’s home birth story – her husband came very close to being the emergency midwife
  • Maria’s home birth story – DIY tub birth complete with the screen shot of the announcement text to her surprised husband
  • Heather’s last trimester and home birth story – intense and very quick,  she delivered standing up
  • Lucy shares one of her reader’s home birth stories – a water birth with a little help from her mama and the midwife

Do you have a home birth experience or piece of advice to share with me? I’d love to hear from you!

 

 

 

5 Things to Know Before Giving Birth Naturally

by 11 Comments

Today’s post is all about preparing for a natural (i.e. unmedicated) birth. If you’re looking for facts about epidurals, check out this article.

Birth without drugs is painful, to varying degrees. I guess we’ve all heard about painless births but they must be very rare exceptions. So it helps to have a good idea of what to expect so you can have coping techniques on tap.

Changes in behavior and moods. I can’t say how you’ll act, but I do know that the pain, stress and hormones of natural labor can make a woman do and say things that are not typical. Labor affects both body and mind. But the medical staff has probably seen it all, so don’t worry on that account.

Constant checks are not necessary. Being checked for “progress” while you’re having a horrible contraction is awful, so feel free to decline the constant surveillance. Barring emergency situations, there are other signs that an experienced doctor or midwife can use to gauge how labor is going.

Besides, each intrusion introduces the possibility of contamination. A good provider will ask first if he can do a check, with the understanding being that a mother can say yes or no.

Dramatic changes at the end. Most women can sense that something different happens around transition. Contractions get closer (you can barely rest in between), and pain levels intensify. Low backache is very common. Some mothers feel sick or experience mood changes (desperation, mental exhaustion). While God designed the first stage of labor to progress more gradually, things really intensify in this time just prior to delivery.

Up until this point, you might have felt like you were “in the zone” and coping quite well. And then transition hits. Your birth class didn’t quite prepare you for this. They used words like “discomfort” and “pressure” when in fact you feel like you’re going to split in two.

All I can say is labor sure has kept me humble over the years. I’ve cried like a baby. Yelled in frustration and anger. Begged for drugs.

But now that I know what’s coming, I can prepare myself psychologically for it. I can go into labor knowing full well that all the techniques that worked before might fail me at the end. As opposed to panicking and thinking something is wrong. This is the time to pray hard and do everything you can to see past the pain and imagine a beautiful new baby in your arms. Lean heavily on your doctor or midwife (and support person, if you have one) and follow their coaching as best you can.

In a morbid sort of way I have come to welcome these last pains because they are a light at the end of a tunnel of nine long months of suffering and waiting.

Getting the baby out more effectively. Being in pain makes you naturally want to arch your back. DON’T. Especially in the pushing phase. Curling inward can work amazingly well to move a baby down and out. My midwife has to repeat this to me over and over while I’m pushing, because I tense and straighten with the contractions.

Be prepared for afterpains. All the pain seems to momentarily vanish as your squalling newborn is held aloft for all to see. But there are just a few more routine unpleasantries you need to be aware of. Delivery of the placenta happens shortly after birth, usually within 20 minutes, and it can be painful. Getting stitched up (if you tore) can also be mighty uncomfortable, but some local anesthesia can help. If you nurse right away after an unmedicated birth, the afterpains feel like menstrual cramps (ouch!). The more babies I’ve had, the more afterpains hurt (I know, tough breaks, ladies!).

For me, though, having the baby I’ve waited nine months to see cradled in my arms is like a balm that helps to lessen the pain of these after-birth inconveniences. That beautiful little soul provides plenty of distraction.

I usually take some kind of pain relief shortly after labor because of the inevitable comforts that following during recovery. Natural is always best, especially if you’re going to be nursing your child.

Have you experienced natural childbirth, or do you hope to? What advice would you give to an expectant mother?

Our Baby Came Early…..and Here’s the Birth Story!

by 34 Comments

Friday was a tough day for me. I was having a lot of contractions and a feeling of constant pressure that wouldn’t let up. I was in town with all five children running errands and very eager to be DONE and just get home. Our baby was not due for another 10 days so I figured this was just another “warm up.” I have a lot of those days at the end, and it’s a real drag.

Turns out it was the real thing this time.

We made it back home at 5:30 and I was confronted with a dilemma. The children were hungry, unpacked grocery bags were dumped all over the kitchen floor and my contractions were becoming obviously regular and painful. Joseph and Catherine helped with putting things away while I made a quick call to my husband. We were getting close!

Between contractions, I made supper and tidied up. I’m sure that being on my feet helped me to move labor along even faster. At 7 o’clock I put Samuel and Susanna to bed and turned on The Three Stooges for Joseph, Catherine and Benjamin. The humor of this scene did not escape me; while doing the monumental and deeply spiritual work of bringing a new life into the world, I was serenaded by the sounds of Curly’s “nyuk nyuk” and Moe growling “come on, you knuckleheads!” in the background.

At 8 o’clock, we left for the Birth Center and my mother arrived to stay the night. At check-in I was 7 centimeters, and Erik arrived an hour later, right after I swore to the midwife I was going to split in two. Funny because he was just 7 pounds, 9 ounces, but we all know how that goes.

Our last baby (Susanna) had arrived just 15 minutes after we checked in; I was still standing up!

And here is our newest little one: Erik! He has lots of soft, fuzzy brown hair (most of ours have been blonds). This is my 6th VBAC delivery. I encourage every mother to give it a go (if medically cleared). Please, contact me anytime and we can chat if you have questions or concerns.

Remember that face, because you’ll be seeing lots of little Erik in the coming weeks as he gets to try out all the different newborn diapers and covers we’ve been saving up for him! I’ll share with you some photos and feedback for over 30 different newborn diapers and covers, plus there will be 4 cloth diaper prizes packages to be given away to celebrate!

We are so happy to welcome another of God’s gifts to the world and another little person into our family! Deo gratias!

 

Birth Center, Hospital or Home Delivery?

by 13 Comments

When it comes to labor and delivery, I’ve had a wide range of experiences. Just to illustrate:

#1 (Joseph) was chemically induced at the Army hospital and ended up being delivered via c-section.

#2 (Catherine) was a midwife attended VBAC at the Army hospital, with the usual interventions (IV, epidural).

#3 (Margaret) and #4 (Benjamin) and #5 (Samuel) and #6 (Susanna) were all totally natural VBAC’s and midwife attended at a free-standing birth center.

I’ve never done a home birth before, but have certainly considered it and have many friends who have been very pleased with their experiences. Fortunately, if I ever decide to go this route, we have a wonderful family doctor in the area who will sometimes attend home births, as well as many midwives who offer this service (as well as in-home prenatal care)..

A couple of things that make a home birth attractive to me:

1. I wouldn’t have to go anywhere. I’ve always hated that drive to the birth center when I’m laboring in the cramped back seat of the car and praying we don’t have an accident or collision.

2. I would be in a comfortable, familiar setting.

3. I wouldn’t have to pack any bags.

Where a woman chooses to give birth is a personal decision and (despite what many mothers militantly assert) there is no right or wrong choice.

Basically, we try to pick the setting which offers what we consider to be closest to the “ideal birth.” Our ideal is influenced by past experience, our culture, the media and things like books we read and people we talk to.

For me, the birth center and a midwife-attended delivery have come pretty close to my ideal:

1. I prefer the midwife’s birth philosophy, which is basically that birth is a natural and normal process and that most of the time, everything goes right and needs little help or interference. By contrast, an OB is trained to view birth as a medical procedure and to focus on everything that might go wrong (hence the interventions, monitors, constant examinations, etc.)

2. I prefer the hands-off approach of a midwife during labor. If I don’t need anything, nobody bothers me or comes to examine me constantly.

3. I don’t like the restrictions and red tape that I dealt with in my hospital labors. They would only let me chew on ice chips even though I was weak and ravenously hungry. I was hooked me up to monitors and IV’s “just in case.”

4. I like that my midwife is also a mother and has given birth herself. To me, this makes a difference! When she’s giving me advice or encouraging me, I know that she speaks from personal experience and can sympathize with what I’m going through.

5. I like that when I am giving birth I’m in a place that’s set up just for that. When you enter a hospital, your risk for coming in contact with pathogens or germs is much higher.

6. I like the traditional wisdom that midwives possess to help ease the pain of labor and make delivery easier.

7. I like that the midwife is never in a hurry. She knows that some babies arrive quickly, and others take their time (even a few days!). Busy physicians don’t usually have the luxury of time on their side. Women sometimes get pressured into c-sections if the doctor isn’t satisfied with their “progress.”

8. I like that there is no minimum stay required. Sometimes, my husband and I return home the same day or the next day. We are very eager to return home, introduce the baby to older siblings, and sleep in our own beds.

Now, all of that being said, there are definitely advantages to a hospital birth. It’s still the most popular way to have a baby in America. I have a very dear friend who loves her hospital deliveries, so to present the other side of the coin, here are her reasons for choosing this type of delivery:

1. She loves being able to receive an epidural for complete pain relief as soon as she checks in. Her opinion is that modern medicine has discovered an escape from the pain, so why not take advantage of it? Having zero pain relaxes her and makes labor enjoyable.

2. She likes the constant attention from the nurses, doctors, etc. as it makes her feel they are “on top of things” and looking out for her well-being and that of the baby.

3. She prefers being electronically monitored as it gives her peace of mind about how the labor is progressing.

4. She does not mind any of the restrictions or red tape, as her view is “the doctor knows what he’s doing” and so she chooses to trust his/her judgment.

5. She tends to be an over-anxious person and so being in a hospital makes her feel 100% secure should anything go wrong.

(Note: midwives are trained to provide basic emergency care to mother and baby and are also trained to know when a labor requires immediate transfer to a hospital. Infant mortality statistics are roughly the same for hospitals as they are for midwives – 1.7 per 1000 births)

6. She likes being able to stay on a few days after birth and get some rest without having to worry about her other children, laundry, etc.

So there you have two different perspectives!

What is your preference?