Ian Michael

We have a new addition!
The Story:
At the 41 week midwife appointment (monday), she gave me a massage with clary sage essential oil (in lotion) on my belly and feet, some homeopathy, and acupressure on my lower legs. I felt "oogey" (no, I will not define that for you) most of the day, but we were on the go. We got the Hypnobabies "come out baby" track online, and used that sun- weds. Wednesday, we were in town again and got some clary sage essential oil for us to try out. Weds night we used that and the hypnobabies before bed, and Thursday morning, 2am, I think things got going. I took note of the time as I had to get up to use the restroom a lot and I figured out that these must be contractions! I timed a few of them, and they were about 10 minutes apart, lasting a minute or so. I turned on the hypnobabies tracks on my phone and slept thru many of them, getting up every 20-30 minutes to use the restroom. About 3am, I apparently mentioned it to John and he didn't have much success going back to sleep!

At about 7 am, we started to get up and I got somewhat dressed. It was a beautiful morning. I didn't let John leave my side for anything, he helped support me during the contractions. They were still about 10 minutes apart, more like 1.5 minutes long, and more frequently getting somewhat closer together. John was timing them, and called the midwife at 8, she said she'd get some sleep and would wait for another call. At 9 or 9:30, he called her again, mentioned the vomiting (which had been going on some all morning) and that the contractions were more like 5 minutes apart. I was starting to become more uncomfortable when she arrived and had some good ideas for different positions to try and pressure points (knees and back) to help. I was really cold, and she checked my temp for fever, but it turned out that I was actually cold, 96.2F. After she checked my progress (11am or so, 2cm, fully effaced), the birth tub was in the process of being set up. My mom, John, the midwife, her assistant, and a friend were all present and were working on the tub and helping me. I was fairly oblivious to all that was going on around me. She suggested I get into the hot tub to get warmed up (the hot tub was right there, and set to 100, but I didn't want to give birth in it). I got in there and it was wonderful. I felt so much better, and got warmed up and it seemed as if the contractions started getting even more intense and the hot tub wasn't helping as much as it had. I had been using the toilet frequently, and had a pushy type contraction on the toilet. She heard that and said to get into the birth tub. So we did that and she checked me again, all but a tiny lip. A few more contractions, and all of a sudden it was time to push! My body wouldn't take no for an answer. That lasted for just under an hour, a few position changes and a painful front tear, but then we had our little guy in our arms.

He was a bit pale, so we warmed him up and he started to fuss a bit. He didn't really cry much, and I held him for quite a while. We tried nursing, but he just wasn't too interested at first (boy has that changed!). The newest grandma in the room held him some, as did John. He got to cut the cord, as well. I got a few stitches and the mw and asst cleaned everything up and everyone was gone but me, the baby, my mom, and John. Jay came out shortly thereafter, and held a few hour old baby. :)



The Stats:
7 lb 15 oz, 21" long
Born 7/9/09 1:50 pm at home.

Some of the people that helped us:
Midwife: Brigitte at Better Birth
Education: Hypnobabies taught by Laura Lund