With my Mother-in-Law behind me holding both of my hands letting me squeeze as hard as I could, my Mid-Wife and Omar along the side of me,
I had all the support in the world.
Our second pregnancy began sooner than we anticipated. It was July of 2009, Freedom was 8 months old. Once we filtered this truth, our focus moved to the Birth plan.
"I knew what to use for stress and shock ~ Rescue Remedy!"
This time, since I had had a birthing experience and saw how clean and easy it was, I was all for the Home Birth! Choosing a new birth type was potentially a little scary. I had my one birth experience and deciding to do it differently could have been stressful. But it was not. It was just as easy if not easier. I will add that I am a healthy person. I have always been conscious of what foods I am eating, I've made exercise a routine, and in general I am a positive thinking person. (I'm speaking from my own experience and understand some women have very difficult pregnancies and child birth.)
I was able to use the same Prenatal care for my 2nd pregnancy as my 1st ~very helpful. We were lucky enough to be able to have my Mother-in-Laws’ Midwife who had helped her deliver her 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th children! We were living in a townhouse and had a few options for Birthing location. We ruled out a water birth due to not being able to have the right materials. The due date was April 6th and she was set to arrive in Maryland on March 22 and stay with us.
Our home birth plan was as follows:
Midwife will stay with us before and after due date
Order Home Birth kit & have it for Midwife arrival
Clean house
Once I go into labor, prepare delivery site with shower curtain, large pads, etc
Omar will help catch the baby
Midwife will work w/umbilical cord to make certain it is not around baby’s neck upon entrance
When baby enters, he/she is placed on Mommy’s tummy in the same direction as they have come out (Baby will look upside-down ~feet towards Momma’s face!)
The umbilical cord to be left connected until it looks pale
*This is very important~there are nutrients that the baby will miss out on if you cut it too soon. A lotus birth is the furthur best option, keeping baby & placenta connected with the umbilical cord until it naturally separates at the umbilicus.
During the first 20 min of baby’s life they are incrementally shifted right side up (head near Momma’s)
Birth placenta
Baby’s 1st nurse
Bath
Begin postpartum care: Arnica Montana, Rescue Remedy and drinking TONS of Electrolyte water, Ice packs for vaginal care along with fresh Aloe Vera applications
Mom to stay very close to bathroom with baby
No house work for up to 10 days (VERY DIFFICULT FOR ME!)
. . .
I will interject here that my Mother had an accidental cerebral hemorrhage after a back surgery when I was 7 months pregnant. She was in a coma for 4 days, but gave signs of life and regaining of consciousness during the 4th day. I will revisit this story and share challenges and insights. I will keep on topic and give you the pieces that pertain to our first Home Birth experience
. . .
As the days went along closer and closer I was to the due date and the closer we would be getting to the date of my Mid-Wife's flight back home. This proposed a bit of a complication~ we had plan B which was the same Birthing Center we had chosen for our 1st birth, but we wanted to have a home birth. We wanted the experience for the baby and ourselves and our newly founded family of 4. Freedom was a baby himself, but he patted my tummy and said, "Baby." We did not know the gender. This little baby surprised us by being present, so we kept the gender a surprise until birth. Only the Midwives at the Midwifery knew due to ultrasound pictures. We wanted our Midwife to be here after the baby delivered too; to check the baby and me out before my initial appointment with the Midwifery. Between the desire to have her present for the birth and post birth and the stress I was feeling regarding my Mother's situation (I was the sole one taking care of her affairs) I wanted to know if there was a natural way to induce labor. Indeed there was. And with permission granted by my Midwife we made a plan...
. . .
I will share with you my natural induction recipe and what I did. But I will note here that I am not suggesting this is the best choice for everyone. I am simply sharing my story and what my choices were. I am hoping to be displaying the characteristic of "problem solver". I was raised in a Christian household and honestly, here's how my decision making process goes, as a basic:
1. I ask myself if I am breaking one of the 10 Commandments
2. I contemplate (meditate/pray on) how I feel in my stomach
3. Assess the consequences with a desire to have them be positive ones
. . .
My due date, April 6th, was a Tuesday in 2010. Sunday was the 4th. My midwife arrived at our townhouse at about noon, ingredients in hand ~castor oil, Vodka and Orange juice!
Here's what we did:
12:30 -1 oz vodka, 1 oz castor oil, 2 oz O.j followed by lots of water!
-(use bathroom) Go on brisk walk for 30 min
1:30 -1 oz castor oil, 2 oz O.j -lots of water!
-(use bathroom!) Go for another brisk walk for 30 min
2:30 -1 oz castor oil, 2 oz O.j -tons of Agua! (Electrolyte preferred)
-you do no need to go for another walk, although you can.
At this point the body is beginning a cleanse effect. You may find yourself visiting the restroom even more than ever. Your bowels will also cleanse if need be.
We talked. We ate. We relaxed. We waited. Nothing happened. My midwife told us that this is a very unabrasive, natural way to induce labor. If the baby is truly ready and just needs that little urge or nudge it will work. We retired to our beds and reconnected the next day. I went through that day in the usual way, feeling heavy, swollen and ready to have the baby. I had been experiencing Braxton Hicks type contractions that I affectionately term Preparatory Contractions. I visited my Mom in the rehabilitation home as I normally would. Nothing. That night we went to sleep late, but not too late. The due date was the next day and our Midwife's flight back was 4 days after that. I prayed for my Mom and prayed to have the baby.
I woke up at 5:30a.m and felt slightly sick. I wanted to shower too. I woke Omar up and told him. When I returned I had to ask him to help me get dressed, I was having a hard time lifting my legs. I wanted to go downstairs to the kitchen so he followed and I asked him to make an egg for me. It was about 6a. I then felt like I needed to lay down. I laid down on our couch on my left side and never got back up. Within 20 min I was in labor. I felt a lot of feelings, but mostly I felt supported. At first it was just Omar, our midwife and Freedom. But by 7a.m we had most of our family members flooding into our living room.
A slight sprinkling of rain began. My Mother-in-Law allowed me to squeeze her hands as hard as I needed to. Omar wanted to catch the baby and was right by my side. He was also helping our midwife, boiling water and making hot compresses. He used rubber gloves and tongs to handle them, but to me they felt amazing. He helped her with anything she asked for. She was there at the end of the sofa where I was laboring.
At 7:10a a little, slippery, 6 lb baby arrived!
Omar caught him and said, "It's so slippery!" as the midwife gently pulled the umbilical cord from around the baby's neck. We were so grateful to have her. She has delivered over 1,000 babies and is so calm and collected during this high energy moment.
The baby was kept facing down so that he/she can become acclimated without having to experience the blood rushing effect all at the same time. I picked up one leg to see the gender and shouted with excitement, "It's a boy!"
Within 2 to 3 minutes we slowly started turning him up, up, up to my face. We had clean receiving blankets to cover him and a soft newborn cap.
Freedom seeing his new baby brother for the first time
Elan Victorious Kal-El
After Mommy & baby rest a little and after the first nurse~ they Bathe.
My Bath will be created by helpers and is: Comfrey, Sea salt, & Sage
There are some really nice herbal bath products sold online for post delivery bath.
Being assessed post bath
Heart rate
Weight
Lengths of all kinds of things!
Here is a link to the website and company that we used to order our Home Birth Kit
Cascade HealthCare Products has specially designed and assembled the Cascade Standard Home Birth Kit to include all childbirth supplies necessary for your home birth.
Features 10 - Light Weight Underpads, 23" x 24"10 - Medium Weight Underpads, 23" x 36" 2 - Sheets, Paper/Poly 40" x 72" 1 - Sanitary Pads, Package of 14 1 - Perineal Irrigation Bottle12 - Gauze 4x4 Sterile, Packages of 2 1 - Alcohol Prep Pads, Package of 10 1 - Flexible Straws, Package of 10 1 - Infant Tape Measure, Paper 1 - Baby Cap, Basic Cotton
imagine Excellence #7 Homeopathics for a Nasty Cold/Flu
much love ~Peace & Blessings
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