Going into my 41 week appointment I was feeling a little discouraged. For the past four weeks I had been going into labor & it always stopped. By now I was 6 cm dilated & almost totally effaced. I was, to say the least, miserable. I felt like this baby is never going to come on his own & my body wouldn’t go into full labor on its own. On top of this, I was told to make an appointment with a doctor to see if we would need to proceed to have the baby at the hospital. I was determined to have my home birth, but I was a wreck emotionally. Pam (my midwife) & I discussed it & she striped my membranes & sent me home with blue & black cohash herbs to use the next morning. She told me she didn’t want to induce at night since this was when all my previous action always started. She said she would call me in the morning to see how I was feeling.
Sure enough that night things got wild again! I had a lot of bloody show & lots of pain. The contractions weren’t consistent or timeable, but there was lots of pain. I felt like being 6 cms dilated I needed to report any pain to my midwife. So I called Pam & my doula Kristen & my husband began filling up the kiddy pool in the kitchen. By the time Kristen got to my house the contractions stopped AGAIN. Even though we walked in the cold & wind nothing would start them back. Finally at 11pm, emotionally more drained, I sent her home. Every time I would tell someone about my labor it would stop!
The next morning I felt more emotionally drained than I ever have in my life. I decided to call into work & tell them I was taking a half day. (I own the business & my husband owns a salon in the same building) Pam called me around 9am & I filled her in on my state of mind. She asked me if I was ready to start things up, & even though I felt drained I said yes. Honestly, I figured it wouldn’t work anyway. She told me to do nipple stimulation with the pump for 15 minute segments & take blue & black cohosh every 15 minutes & do this for 2 hours. Sure enough my contractions started & were consistent every 5 minutes. After 2 hours of doing this I went to work. Pam called me to check on me & she told me she was on her way to crank this labor into high gear. Since I live 5 minutes from home, I waited in my car until I had a contraction & drove myself home quickly. My husband came home as soon as he finished up his last hair appointment. Pam arrived at my home around 12:30 pm & my husband shortly after. The only people that knew I was in labor was my mom & dad because they were taking care of my 3 ½ year old son. I didn’t want anyone to know for fear it would stop.
My labor wasn’t getting any stronger on its own so Pam switched me to a mixture of the blue & black cohash every 15 minutes. I was 7 cms. This strengthened my labor a little more, but my body still wouldn’t take the next step on it’s own. I did everything I could-we walked, I sat on the labor ball-my contractions were consistent, but not strong enough to deliver a baby. At around 4:30 pm Pam said this will do it. She switched me to cotton root every 15 minutes & I began rubbing “labor oil” on my belly a masseuse friend gave me. Sure enough, this DID IT! I started feeling the BIG ones every 2 minutes or less. I stayed on my knees with my head on the couch for fear if I moved it would stop. At 6:30 Pam said it was time to get in the tub. My husband figured it was at least safe to call the doula & let her know I was in labor & I agreed.
The pain was really intense, but it felt so much more manageable in the warm tub. I began to push immediately. I kept a cold wash cloth over my eyes the whole time. It felt so good & kept my concentration. I was in control. I told my midwives when the contractions were strong enough to push & when I needed to take a break. The “ring of fire” was probably the hardest part. I remember when I pushed his head out & was waiting for the next contraction to push again, he started wiggling between my legs. It was the most surreal feeling ever. It gave me momentum to push again. At 7:02pm Jameson Harris Grey Dawson was born! He was perfect! He let out the softest cry & we cuddled in the warm tub for a while before they moved me to my couch to deliver my placenta. I held my new son & nursed him in the comfort of my own home. It was so wonderful! A little later we let immediate family know a new member had been born. At 9:30pm everyone left us alone, we had a glass of champagne, put our new baby in bed with us & went to sleep. The best night of my life.
P.S. I was back to work with both my boys in tow after 3 days!
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