Zeke's Homebirth

So, I figured for some posts I'll try to catch us up to month 3 by starting at month 1.  Sound good?  Month 1 started on Sunday, April 15th around 3 or 4 in the afternoon when the real labor began.  Don't worry - I'll spare you the really gory details and stick to the main points.  Main points being - I had an AWESOME midwife - Kelli Johnson from http://www.amothersnaturemidwifery.com, and her assistant Lauren (who coincidentally is the daughter of a former chiropractic assistant of ours from way back when we first started).  I really was super blessed to have such a great team.  Labor was 25 reeeeaaaallly loooooong hours because (we found out later) Zeke had wrapped himself and his cord (literally) into a pretzel knot way back when he was a little fish swimming around in there, and then later he managed to get the cord wrapped twice around his shoulders and neck - (thanks, dude!) so even though I was fully dialated and set to go into active labor after only 8 hours (YEAY - hypnobirthing!!), we had to wait for the cord to stretch far enough to let Zeke descend (BOOO!) before I could really start progressing.  Kelli told me she'd only seen (maybe) 5 births in her whole career who had "the pretzel knot", and one of those babies didn't make it, so I really counted my blessings that we made it doing a homebirth with everyone alive and well at the end. 

Zeke, 10 days old

Looking back, I still don't know how I would have been able to labor in a bed on my back being still, because I was moving all over the house as often as possible up until the last three hours.  I am so happy I got to be at home for the labor.  I promised I'd spare you the gory details so I'll save those for my personal diary, but all I can say is that I'm pretty sure if we had been in a hospital, I would have been up for a C-section.  Labor is HARD!  Not for the faint of heart!  I'm so grateful to Kelli for giving me the chance to do and finish the work of having my son born at home.  She really believed in me that I could do it, and I'm sure that's part of the reason that I did.  I just have the highest respect and admiration for the work she does and the woman that she is.

Having been through the experience of childbirth at home now, I will tell you what I told my mother in law, Sue, on the phone - No matter HOW a woman births her child - in the hospital or at home, with a midwife or a doctor, on pain meds or without, on the delivery bed, in the water, on a birthing stool, or in an operating room - it is an accomplishment to bring a new life into the world.  I've run across some judgemental thinking in terms of what's an ideal environment for a baby to be born in - and I think it's unfortunate because now that I've experienced it, I realize that birth is such a highly personal and circumstancial process.  No one can know what will happen during the course of a birth - it's a journey that unfolds in the moment!  Even though each woman may have her own idea of what an ideal birth is for her, I really believe that there is no birth where mom and baby come out alive and well (without feeling that they were compromised of what they wanted) that is better than another -Every mom deserves the chance to be well informed about her options for childbirth, and regardless of the birth plan, she also deserves to feel proud of the work that she did in bringing her baby to the world.  My choice was a natural homebirth, and I thank God every day it went well.  I also, now having been through the process myself, hold a deeper respect for every mom who has carried a child or children, delivered them into the world, and chosen to love them well.