Nola’s Birth Story

Please note: A birth story is a personal story. I’ve chosen to make this personal story public because reading birth stories really helped me during my pregnancy. Every birth is different, every mother is different; my experience may not be for everyone, but I want people to know how wonderful a homebirth can be.

All along, we planned on having a natural birth. At 28 weeks we decided for various reasons that instead of using the Cambridge Birth Center, we would instead have a homebirth using Kelley Faulkner of New Life Midwifery. Kelley came to our house for home visits every two weeks, and then every week. At my 39 week visit (a Sunday) Kelley said that she thought we would have one more visit, but I should be prepared just in case the baby decided to come that next week. My in-laws had arrived the week before, and my mom, a pediatric nurse who used to work labor & delivery, was flying in the next day, May 15th. The plan was to have them help prepare the nursery and the house, and help after the baby came with whatever needed to be done. Turns out we didn’t have much prep time before the baby came! On Tuesday I did some serious nesting; I had my mom and in-laws cleaning the house and staining furniture. Dru and I took the car in for a car seat inspection and bought a new futon mattress.

The next morning, Wednesday, May 16th, I started having contractions (a.k.a. surges). I noticed them at about 5:00 am. They were very light and about 5-6 minutes apart. At about 7:00 I told Dru and called Kelley to let her know. I knew that nothing would happen anytime soon since they were so light, but since Kelley has young children and lives 45 minutes away, I knew I needed to give her ample warning. Throughout the day I checked in with Kelley, but there wasn’t much to report. The contractions kept coming, but they were still light. For a while they spaced out to 15-20 minutes apart, but then my mom and I went for a walk and they came back to 5-10 minutes apart. On our walk we stopped by a bakery and bought a birthday cake for the baby; it was chocolate raspberry with chocolate icing and chocolate covered strawberries – delicious! After our walk the temperature dropped and it started raining. Drops in barometric pressure have been known to encourage labor.

Around 7:00 pm, our friends Travis and Diana came over. Kelley suggested I drink a glass of wine to help my muscles relax and to help me sleep. I took her orders and sipped wine while we visited with them. Around 8:30 the surges became uncomfortable enough where I wanted to walk around rather than sit. I wasn’t having to breathe through them, but they were noticeable to my mom. After Travis and Diana left she debated about whether she should spend the night or not, and decided that it would be best to sleep on the couch. We all went to bed at about 10:00. Around 11:30 or so, after resting but not really sleeping, my water broke. We called Kelley and she told me that she, her assistant Jackie, and another midwife (Heather) were on their way. I was still feeling pretty good so she said that they would take their time coming over. They didn’t want to come too early since we don’t have much room in our apartment.

After my water broke though, things kicked into high gear. The contractions started coming with much more intensity. Kelley told me that if the water kept coming to get on the bed on my elbows and knees, with my chest to the bed. I did that through a few surges and that position actually felt good as the surges became stronger. When I wanted a change of positions, I got on the birthing ball with Dru on a stool in front of me. I put my arms around his neck and breathed through the surges while Dru rubbed my back (Although the baby was not posterior I had a lot of back pains through the labor). I labored like this until the midwives arrived. When they got here they asked me if I wanted to use the Aqua Doula. I had not really made up my mind about whether I wanted the tub set up or not. It was an extra cost, and I was a little worried about our wood floors and the fact that we rent. At that moment though, the water sounded wonderful. So I told them that yes, I did want the tub set up. It took a couple of hours to fill and by the time it was ready for me I was very ready to get into the water. It was such a relief to be in warm water up to my neck. I spent most of the rest of the labor in the water, except for a few times when the midwives had me get up and walk around to change positions.

When the second stage of labor came I was in the water. The surges got stronger and eventually my body started pushing. I waited to push until there was just no other option. I’d heard about the “irresistible urge to push,” but for me it wasn’t just an “urge,” it was something that had to happen. I don’t know how long I pushed for, but eventually I could feel the head: I was surprised at how soft it felt. Before long the baby’s head was out and at 6:33 am I was able to muster enough strength to push out the rest of her body. Kelley helped receive the baby, and she and I put her on my chest. My first thought was surprise at how big she was. Dru and I looked down and stared at our baby for the first time; the hours of pain and labor were forgotten. We looked into wide, dark eyes looking directly at us and instantly fell in love. After the midwives suctioned her and she took her first breath, we realized that we didn’t even know the gender. We’d been so absorbed with the baby’s face we hadn’t thought to look to see whether it was a boy or girl. I looked and announced to everyone that she was a girl, much to our surprise (most people thought I was carrying a boy, and they’d convinced me as well).

The midwives wait until all the blood has drained from the placenta before they cut the cord. During that time we rested on the bed as a family for the first time. I ate some quiche and Dru ate some soup. The birth was an amazing experience. I never once wanted drugs or felt like I couldn’t do it, even though the surges became very intense toward the end.

Having a homebirth and asking my mom to be there were the best decisions I made during this pregnancy. My mom’s experience with births, along with our close relationship, meant that she knew exactly what to do. Dru remembered much more than I did from our natural childbirth class about how to breathe through a contraction, and this was a great help to me. Labor was intense and uncomfortable, and I’m so glad that we were able to go through it here at home. Our daughter, Nola, is a healthy and beautiful homebirthed baby!