I have to start by saying that James and I were literally up all night on Jan 3rd/4th with food poisoning, and Neriah woke up throwing up at 3am too. We were all completely out of commission on the 4th, and I hadn't eaten much more than toast in two days. I was having strong-ish contractions that were pretty regular, but I knew it was only because I was dehydrated. I was terrified I was going to go into labour, because I knew I wouldn't have the strength to do it. Luckily I was feeling much better by the time I went to bed, which was around 8pm.
Well, I woke up that morning, Jan. 5th, around 1:30am because I had to pee soooo badly. As I got out of bed, I noticed my pubic bone was way more sore than usual. I was cramping because I had to pee so badly, but when I went, barely anything came out. I assumed I was still dehydrated from being so sick the night before. I went back to bed and started having contractions. I figured it was another false alarm (I'd had hours of contractions on two separate nights that went away, plus the dehydration thing), so I got up to get some water, and thought I'd lay back down and they'd go away.
After chugging some water, the contractions kept coming and were pretty intense. I was already having to lean on the counter and sway through them. I was pretty sure this was it. I woke James up and told him I thought I was in labour. He shot up and started getting himself ready. I began to time my contractions on James' iPhone, and they were coming every two and a half min. apart and were lasting close to a min. each. I was having back labour (again), and I needed James to push on my back already. After about an hour of timing, we called the midwife. Before calling her, I told James that I wasn't going to be able to do it, and that I wanted to go to the hospital for an epidural (we were planning a homebirth). He agreed.
While talking to the midwife, I had to hand James the phone twice because my contractions were so intense and close together. I told her that I wanted to go to the hospital, but she told James they would come here first to check me, because it sounded like I was farther along than I thought. James told me that they would arrive in 20min., and I started crying thinking about how many contractions I was going to have in that time. Some where in there we also called my mom and our doula.
The midwives came and checked me. I was surprised to hear that I was already 7-8cm. I didn't get that far with Neriah in 25hours of labour, and I'd only been at this for about 2 hours! The midwives told me that it was a good thing we were planning a homebirth, because it was happening quickly. James started to fill up our bathtub while I laboured on my left side on the couch with a midwife pushing on my back.
When our tub was full, I climbed in. It felt sooo good, but wasn't hot enough. James left to boil some water. Our doula arrived and took over the back-pushing duties. James was getting queasy, so he laid down and rested the rest of the labour. The midwife informed me that I had a bulging bag of water, and said she could break it if I wanted. I knew it could speed things up, but it would also make things more intense, so I was scared, especially since it didn't seem to do anything when I had it broken with Neriah. I said I would wait.
I kept saying that I wanted to go to the hospital for an epi, but I didn't really want that. It just felt good to acknowledge that I was in pain. There were a couple contractions where I started to feel out of control and I really started to doubt myself. I asked when I would be in transition, and the midwife laughed and said I was. I didn't feel like anything was happening, but the midwives assured me that everything was progressing normally.
I started to feel pushy, and it felt so good to push through contractions because it made me feel more in control. One of the midwives came in and I told her how I was feeling. I thought I should be checked, because I didn't want to be pushing if I had any cervix left, but she told me just to follow my body. Sometimes my body wanted me to push, and sometimes it didn't, so I went with it. During a pushy contraction, my water broke. What a weird feeling! I said, "That literally felt like a balloon popped in my vagina!"
Things did get more intense after that, and I kept saying I couldn't do it, but they all assured me I was doing it. After a while, the midwives had me sit back so I could be checked. I had a lip of cervix, but wasn't swollen at all. They both took turns holding the lip back while I pushed, but I wasn't getting his head past the lip. They let me labour a while longer, but eventually had me get out of the tub to squat during a contraction to get the head past the lip. It worked! The midwife said with that push, I had pushed him about two cm, and the lip was gone. I was officially 10cm, and it was time to push! Someone got James, and he came and sat behind me. I laid down with my head on his lap to push. There was just no way I was getting back in the tub!
I started actively pushing. It was super intense. I could feel the baby coming down. My contractions spaced out a bit, and it was so nice to get a break. James accidentally looked when the head was starting to crown, and he said he was going to throw up. A midwife offered to switch with him, but I yelled at him to not puke on me and not move. He sucked it up, thank goodness. There's no way I could have moved to let them switch positions. I got the head out and man oh man did it burn. It felt like I was tearing up, but I wasn't. I felt the exact same thing with Neriah. After 13 min. of pushing, my boy was out at 6:38am! They told me to look down, but my stomach was so big that I couldn't see anything... haha. I asked them to just put him on my chest, as opposed to me lifting him out, because I couldn't see what I was doing. My belly really was huge!!
As soon as he was placed on my chest, I was in love. What a difference than when I first saw Neriah and felt... nothing. After we bonded a bit, I really wanted to be 'done' with the birth, so a midwife took Gideon so I could squat to birth the placenta. I didn't want to cut the cord til then. The midwife passed Gideon under me for James to hold. Good thing the cord was really long! I eventually pushed the placenta out right into a bowl, and the cord was clamped. James cut Neriah's cord, so I wanted to do it this time. Once that was done, the midwives helped me to the couch where I was able to lie down and hold Gideon.
As I was examined for tears, Neriah woke up. We couldn't believe she had slept through everything! It was seriously a miracle. I ended up only needing two stitches. Our doula made us some toast and did some dishes while the midwives cleaned everything up. It was so awesome to be in our own space!
Gideon's vitals were taken and he was weighed. We were all shocked that he was 10lbs 3oz!! I couldn't believe it all happened so quickly with such a big baby. The midwife said it would have been even faster, but just like his big sister, Gideon had his arm up (hence the back labour again), but instead of at his face, it was at his chest. He also had his cord wrapped twice around his neck. My kids are such trouble makers!
So all was well and we were left alone with our new little one. We got to keep Neriah on her normal schedule, and it has almost been like nothing has changed.
Gideon latched before the midwives left and nursing has been going great this time around. My milk came in last night, and Gideon pretty much nurses around the clock. Neriah is adjusting pretty well. She really seems to love Gideon, but has been a little more emotional and clingy to James, which is to be expected. I feel great other than the engorgement pain. Hopefully my milk regulates soon!
All in all it was an amazing, intense, difficult experience that I will truly treasure forever!
