Thursday, August 18, 2011

Birth Stories...


Hello friends! Greetings from the land of long lost internet service...it's been a crazy week with intermittent dsl connection - a bit frustrating when your business is online!  Finally had the bright idea to pirate from my neighbor (shhh...) until the repair man arrives tomorrow...whew!  It's probably a good thing as I have been mentally composing nothing but whiny, complaining blog posts in my head and they weren't really thoughts that I should share with the entire interweb!  humph! 
But after reading Jora's genius guest post here I felt inspired to finally talk about something life changing & magical (if possibly a wee bit painful) - my birth stories!  Don't worry  - I'm not going to get too gushy, touchy feely (well, maybe a little) but I thought that I have been so lucky to have had such amazing, uncomplicated experiences and you hear so many dramatic, crazy stories that it might be nice to put a couple of happy ones out in the world...


Lila, like the little Virgo she is, was almost right on time...the night she was due I went to bed feeling somewhat crampy and awoke at 4am with the first hints of contractions...unable to sleep, I got up and texted my doula Sarah...we chatted for a bit and agreed she'd check in a bit later in the morning...I wanted to stay at home for as long as possible to avoid having any unnecessary medical interventions so we hung out at the house doing a little stretching, some light yoga (hahaha - I mean I laid on my yoga mat in child's pose whimpering...) and to cope with the increasingly painful contractions I took some ridiculously long, hot showers (eco friendliness be damned, I was in labor people)...Chris nervously packed - hmmm, when were we planning on using the portable dvd player we brought to the hospital?? and when Sarah arrived at 10am I was pretty much in the thick of transition...(I ain't gonna lie - if I had been at the hospital I would have been sorely tempted to have a boat load of drugs)  It was a stormy morning but we decided to walk outside and my water promptly broke so it was decided that we might be ready for that trip to the hospital...(humorously the phone rang at that point calling to confirm my hair appt for the next day) Somehow, I managed to climb in the back seat and Chris delicately drove us while Sarah massaged and held warm lavender compresses on my lower back...in triage I sat to some lovely girls in very early labor who were visibly frightened by my loud groans...the nurses informed me that I was already fully dilated (whohoo!) and they rushed to get me into a room so I could start pushing...which is where things sloooooowed down...and for the next 3 hours I pushed in every possible position known to the birthing community...friends it was not the most fun I've ever had...but I dug deep, and with the help of my lovely husband and my amazing doula I finally pushed that little light of my life out...they laid sweet Lila on my chest and I have been madly in love ever since....


Three days before Louisa was due I woke up with lower back cramping and knew that baby number two was soon to arrive...I had an acupuncture appointment that morning and spent a relaxing hour there resting up for what was ahead...and then the rest of the day trying to tie up loose ends and spend some one on one with Lila in between mild contractions (hmmm mild contractions is kind of an oxymoron if you've ever experienced them, no?)...Chris and I decided to take Lila to spend the night with her cousins and then climbed into bed to get some rest but I ended up tossing and turning til midnight and called my doula Sarah to get her on board...since I still seemed to be clear headed she advised us to stay home a bit longer and we all finally met up at the hospital at 3am...the midwife on duty checked me in and since I was only 4cm dilated we decided to walk the halls stopping along the way to enjoy a contraction or two (ha!)...while they were pretty high on the pain scale they were still far apart so I snuggled into bed for a some between contraction catnaps...I woke up around 5:45 and we discussed the possibility of going home for the day (in my head..."are you &^%&% kidding me?") but the midwife checked again and since I had progressed to 6 cm we stayed put...I climbed into the shower and spent a solid hour sitting under the hot water...it wasn't pretty ladies...I knew I was stuck because I was holding on to my first born - scared that the bond I had with her would somehow suffer with this new little one entering our lives...we had been such peas in a pod and the sun had risen and set with Lila for so long...but in the middle of the crazy contractions and shower I had a total zen moment...my mind cleared and I had this perfect vision of Lila and a sweet babe sitting in a field of dandelions and Lila was teaching her little sister how to blow the seeds into the wind...that picture somehow pulled me through and when I climbed out of the shower I was almost fully dilated...Chris, in the meantime, had left to go park the car in the garage and grab some breakfast thinking that we would be there all day and when he walked into the room they were getting ready to help me into the birthing tub to push!  While he poured water over my back, Sarah & Karen, my midwife, coached me through the pushing, I focused on my little dandelion sisters and 30 minutes later Louisa was born in the water, laid on my chest and that intense love I felt for her sister flooded through me...head over heels once again...my lovely little Pearl...

So that's it...well, the warm fuzzy version at least...I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have had two beautiful, amazing births...it's pretty awesome to be a woman - to be able to grow and nurture these tiny lovely babies and bring them into the world...
and if you are ever considering natural childbirth I highly recommend a water birth! (without drugs may not be for everyone but I have to say it is pretty magical and makes you feel like a total rockstar - I dig it)
xoxo, m 

21 comments:

  1. what beautiful stories! thank you so much for sharing!

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  2. Amazing. Brought a little tear to my eye. Thanks for sharing.

    http://nomadic-d.blogspot.com/

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  3. Wow! AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing! P.S. Sending you an email about "dandelion sisters.." xo.

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  4. I loved reading these stories Michelle. I agree. It's nice to have a couple of positive birthing experiences put into the world!

    I can relate entirely to the worry of what a new child can do to the relationship with another. But very cool that you had a moment of peace with this fear right when it was needed. :)

    Thank you for sharing!!

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  5. Michelle, I love these stories! And yay yay yay for natural childbirth! I'm glad you "get it." xoxo

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  6. ack. tugs at the heart strings. you've inspired me to do my own post :)

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  7. so needed this post. Hitting week 36 here and inching closer everyday. Thank you thank you for sharing. Sarah x

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  8. It really is lovely to read some nice birthing stories, I have 4 kids and thought the other day i need to write their birth stories down for them, as time goes by you begin to forget what happened with each of them, but with more time it also takes the memory of how truly painful natural childbirth can be, which is not such a bad thing!;)

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  9. Beautiful birth stories, Michelle. You are my hero for doing that twice without meds. You are a strong mama for them to look up to. Amazing.

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  10. Thank you for sharing this! I had a homebirth with my son 2 years ago and it was long and hard but ultimately amazing. I am 4 months pregnant with our next child and we are planning another homebirth. I keep wondering if it will take so long this time, too. The part about you being stuck in your second labor really struck a chord with me. Maybe that's why my first labor was so long! You've definitely given me some things to think about and get straight in my brain as we approach this next birth, thank you!

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  11. You know I love a good birth story... ;)
    Thanks for sharing yours! I loved reading them. I had a similar "holding back" situation with Miss Liv and visualization did the trick for me, too. Isn't the mind/body connection amazing?! xo-k

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  12. What beautiful stories!I remember feeling the same way before Olivia was born. I would sit and cry holding my sleeping Ella thinking about how I was going to change her life bringing a sibling into the world. Now that O is almost 20months they run, and play together. i couldn't imagine it any other way. Your girls are lucky to have such a strong and loving mama. Ps. you are a rockstar, maybe i'll go natural on #3. Maybe.

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  13. Thank you for sharing, I love birth stories. I had a drug-free water birth with my first & I'm hoping for the same with my 2nd! (although I'm only 14 weeks, trying not to think about labour yet!)

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  14. Love this post! I saw the Business of Being Born after my first child (with obgyn and epidural) and it completely changed my LIFE. Left the doctor I was with, switched to midwives, doula - so happy. Now I have sweet baby #2!

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  15. I love this so much Michelle! Thanks for sharing. My tot was frank breach (folded in half, butt down). I did acupunture, and this chiropractic technique. I even spent some time with my ars in the air on an inverted ironing board whilst watching Gray's Anatomy. Nothing worked and I decided the external version was not worth the risk. I had a scheduled C and it was still pretty awesome, but I love to read stories like yours. So amazing and beautiful.
    Best,
    Tina

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  16. Michelle, you'll never know how much good this post did to me. I had my second daughter a month after you and am still sort of struggling with the 'threat' to the bond I have with my first. Your vision in the dandelion field made me cry...visualising my girls together like that made something click inside me. Thank you SO much! :-)
    ps - Your girls are just beautiful!

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  17. Aw, Michelle, I love this! I need to write my birth story ASAP because it sounds similar to yours. I don't want to do it again tomorrow but I was really happy with how it went.

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  18. So sweet! I love the part about the dandelions. Your girls are lucky to have you as a mom!

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  19. I loved reading your stories this morning. I have no babies yet but reading this makes me that much more excited to start on that path!

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  20. oh Michelle, i had tears in my eyes reading your stories. yes, birth is magical and yes, i felt like a total rockstar too :)

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  21. Reading these was so divine. You've done such a beautiful job of painting a quick, transformational, painful yet serene picture of your births.

    I too cannot stress enough the power of water during a natural birth. I wholeheartedly believe that I could not have gotten through it with agua.

    And just to share... http://thelongbonds.com/birthstory

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I'm hanging on your every word...let me know what you think!