Aibhlinn Nylia's Birth Story!

I've been pondering how to write my birth story. My labor was such a strange one. How do I write it where it makes sense? I am trying to make sense of it in my own mind..

One thing stands out and that is Father's mercy! I can see His hand in my pregnancy from the moment of conception until her birth!

January 30, 2013 in the wee morning hours I was sleeping or trying too and kept being woken up by what felt like hard ctx's, I had 3-4 of them. When I woke up fully I wasn't sure I had truly had any ctx. Was I dreaming? I had many labor day dreams in the weeks leading up to her birth day..

I kissed my dh good-bye with the fleeting thought of "I should tell him to stay home". At about 8:30am I noticed my braxton hicks ctx were coming every 6-7 minutes but like so many months before this was normal and nothing new..

During the 9am hour the ctx although not very regular had gotten harder; more painful and were actual ctx. 10am rolled around and I was still trying to decide if I was in labor. I needed to call my love if so but I didn't want to cry wolf.. The ctx were "real" ones but they were very short 20-30 sec. and not at all regular. Very sporadic. I also as in all my previous labors looked for that tell tale sign of bloody show which I never did have.

I decided because the ctx were harder and painful that I should call my husband home. I told him over the phone that he should come home and if I wasn't in labor he could always go back to work.. This was about 10:30-10:45am.

My love arrived home about 10 minutes later; close to 11am. They seemed to get even harder when I stayed upright and would come every few minutes. But they were still very short...

I had maybe 30 minutes of seemingly regular ones every few minutes and then they would become irregular and I wouldn't have that many.

My dh got the birth pool blown up and ready to be filled when I was ready. He also sterilized the umbilical cord scissors and got a few other things ready. He did this with the help of my 3 older children and it went so smoothly and without any fuss or chaos. It was so peaceful. This left me feeling peaceful and contemplating if this was truly labor...

I decided to lay down around 1pm..I believe I laid in bed for about an hour or so trying to sleep but instead just resting. While laying down my ctx stopped and in that time I had 4 very painful and very hard ctx. I then decided that I was most likely not in labor as the ctx would stop when I laid down.

I got up and went to sit on my ball. I had a ctx as soon as I stood up and then about 10 minutes later another one. As I sat on my birth ball the next one was just a few minutes later...They were getting harder but not really any longer. I was sitting on my ball and told my dh that I wasn't sure we were going to have a baby today. I felt bad that I had called him home. My labor just wasn't progressing into hard, regular, long(er) ctx as it should. I was frustrated..
My dh told me to go ahead and lay down and sleep so I would be ready for the hard work ahead incase my labor did pick up again and I ended up having the baby later that day.

I decided to lay down, got up off my ball and was walking a little bit when I had a ctx. I  leaned over my hutch and swayed my hips. My dh saw me and came over to push on my hips and do counter pressure. It was with this ctx that I realized I was ready to push. The ctx made me sick and it was those lovely transition/pushing ctx's.
I decided to stay up and see what would happen. Every few minutes from then on I would have a ctx. Most of them were short easier ones and then I would have the long(er) hard ones. As the ctx would peak I would feel baby's head hitting my tailbone. OUCH!
I told my husband to fill the pool as I wanted to get in the water to help with pain. It took about 30 minutes to fill. While my 3 older children and my dh were filling the pool I was having ctx's that had finally gotten more regular...still easier and then a harder one but finally regular and more like real labor!
I would lean over my dining room table and call to my dh or daughter Morgan-Britney and they would rush to my side and do counter pressure on my lower back and hips during each ctx.
I would say, "oh! This is a bad one" or oh, this is a easy one"

My other children were so peaceful and were playing or watching a movie quietly. They did so well. Even my 2 yr. old who I was nervous about. It was as if Father's Spirit was just raining peace down in my home.

I got in the pool and the ctx's spread out to about 4-5 minutes for the first few due to the hot water and then right back to every few minutes. The hot water felt wonderful and helped so much with the pain of the ctx on my tailbone.
While waiting for my pool to be filled I had decided to push a little with each one testing things. I knew after a ctx or two doing that it was time to push.
In the pool I didn't immediately begin to push but worked at letting my body move baby down. I had been praying for a much smoother pushing time so I went through about 3 ctx before I decided to begin to push a bit with each one. I pushed gently with 2-3 ctx and then I knew I was going to have to push much harder to move baby down past my tailbone which was taking a beating with each ctx..      

So the next ctx I begin to push harder. My children were taking a video and wanted me to let them know when baby was coming so they could take a video of the actual birth. My dh had been behind me in the pool doing counter pressure during each ctx. I was sitting on my knees leaning over the side of the pool; which is how I birthed my sweet baby girl into the world.

I began to push and as I felt baby crowning I said, "baby's coming!" My two oldest children started to take the birth videos and my dh knelt down between my legs and grabbed a hold of baby's head. As soon as the head was out he said, "baby's head is out!" I had been pushing through the ring of fire and had not realized her head was born already so it helped me when he said that. I then knew one more push and she would be joining us! I gave one more really big push and out she came. My dh grabbed her up and out of the water. He saw she was born in the caul so he swept it off of her and her face which was completely covered in it.

I rested for a few short moments not moving and then stood up as best I could so my dh could pass the baby to me under my legs. We then sat in the pool and soaked in every inch of our new daughter! She was beautiful and so small! My last one was 11lbs 3oz so seeing her and how small and petite she was is amazing to me! To us all!

She was covered in alot of cheesy vernix. My dh rubbed it into her skin and he also had it all over him and his shorts. I have never had a baby so covered in it!

About 10 minutes after her birth I felt pushy and knew the placenta was coming. I was able to push it out but it caught up inside by the water bags. I tried moving into different kneeling and squatting positions to get it out. I coughed and pushed but neither dislodged it. My dh tried to feel up inside a little to see if he could gently pull it out but he couldn't find where it was caught. So I finally decided to stand up and see if it would come. As soon as I stood up it came right out. It was a beautiful purple color; very healthy!

The cord was white and ready to be cut so my son Zechariah clamped and cut the baby's cord and I got out of the pool and laid down on my bed.

At this point I rested on my bed a bit while baby was weighed and dressed. I then noticed I was bleeding more than normal. My dh kept an eye on it and I took some Wombstringe Tincture. I got into the bath then but didn't stay in long as I was bleeding quite a bit and the water was a mess along with the floor etc..
I did bleed more than normal but it wasn't a hemorrhage..We just watched it, took the tincture, did uterine massage and had the baby suckle alot and often. At about 24 hours the bleeding slowed way down and is more like a normal cycle now.

My recovery is slow but I am resting and loving on my new baby girl! She is catching onto breastfeeding but our nights have been rough so far. She loves to suckle and I know once my milk comes in she will be one happy girlie!!
Day 2 today...She is not quite 2 days old yet. She weighs 7lbs even ..losing the normal 7-10% of birth weight.

Aibhlinn Nylia is my 12th child. 7th unassisted homebirth; 2nd unassisted waterbirth & 9th homebirth.

Although a very strange labor it was my best one so far! Father's Spirit was so present and here during the entire time. Everything was peaceful and went smoothly. All together I would say I had about 2-3 hours of labor all hard(er) ctx's.

Each prayer I prayed was answered..and the promise Father gave me of new things with this baby girl was fulfilled!

Isaiah 43:19
I am doing something new;
it’s springing up — can’t you see it?
I am making a road in the desert,
rivers in the wasteland.

I fought hard for this precious new life and having her here in my arms is the culmination of every promise and tear I cried!