It was my 8th wedding anniversary and my husband Adam and I were very getting very anxious about my pregnancy. I had an appointment that day with Mary Anne in Franklin at her office for what would be my last prenatal appointment. I was 10 days past my due date and if I did not go into labor by Saturday (which would make me 42 weeks pregnant) then I would be sent to the hospital to be induced. I was very ready to get this ball rolling so Mary Anne said that she could try stripping the membranes
to help my body go into labor. Needless to say this was very uncomfortable and did make me bleed which is a good sign because this has to happen for labor to start. I was only dilated to 2cm but she stretched me to a 3. The appointment was over around 3:00 pm. I drove myself home and decided to have to hot tea when I got to the house. I made the tea and went to sit on the chair in the living room, when suddenly I felt a small gush of something. This was around 4:00pm. I thought at first that it must be blood so I went to the bathroom to check. I had a pad on because of the bleeding and when I looked at it the color of the fluid was clear yellowish. I knew this was not urine cause it did not feel like pee when it came out. Mary Anne had given me a strip of paper that would change color from green to dark blue if the PH balance was correct for amniotic fluid. I put this on the pad and it turned dark blue. Trying not to freak out, I text Adam (who was at work) that I thought my water had broken. Then I called Mary Anne and asked her if it was possible that my water could have broken already. She said that it probably wasn’t because it would still be coming out and I didn’t have anymore coming out at this point.
So I went back to the living room to drink my tea and then it all came gushing out. Thank goodness I hadn’t sat down yet. I ran back to the bathroom forgetting to grab my phone on the way. I was drenched so I stripped down and jumped in the shower. Once I had cleaned myself off somewhat since the fluid was still coming out, I stuck a towel between my legs and ran to get my phone. I text Adam again at this point because contractions had started and they were about a minute long. All I said was that I needed help because the contractions were a minute long and now at 5 minutes apart. It started at 10 minutes, then 8 minutes, then 5 minutes. This all happened in about 30 minutes. Adam got home and I was still sitting on the toilet because it was the only way to keep the mess contained. He was so excited to see me in labor. Adam started running around the house getting everything ready for the long journey we had coming.
Mary Anne arrived to the house around 6:00ish but I was so out of it by this time I’m really not sure about the time line. I sat on the birthing ball most of the time and Adam had a heating pad on my lower back. My lower back hurt so much but this really helped. I moved around a lot. I would sit on the ball then get in the tub, the move to the toilet. I was sitting on the toilet at one point and felt like I needed to push. Mary Anne checked me and I was only dilated to 5 cm. This was around 8:00 pm. Mary Anne made the right choice in not telling me this because it would have just discouraged me. Kelly didn’t arrive until later in the night but I’m so glad she made it. She helped remind me to breath correctly and relax. Finally around 11:30 pm I told Mary Anne that I needed to push again. She checked me and I was dilated to 9 cm. I went through a few more contractions and then got in the bath tub. That is when I really know it was time to push because the strangest grunting sound came out of me and I could feel my body pushing Timothy down further. At this point Mary Anne was teaching me what mussels I needed to use to push him down. They checked the babies heart rate and it was lower than what Mary Anne wanted it to be so she put the oxygen mask on me. I was pushing really hard and then I started to have bowel movements. Yes, poop was coming out. It was solid at first and they just removed it from the tub but then it was not so solid. At this time Mary Anne told me I need to get out of the tub because it was not good for the baby to be born in there. I moved to the bed and Adam was sitting behind me with me sitting in between his legs. I pushed some more and then I felt a horrible burning on the top part of my vaginal area. I had started to tear along side my urethra area. I told Mary Anne that I was tearing on top and she quickly but her fingers on the spot to keep it from tearing more. Then there was another problem. Timothy couldn’t make it out of my vagina because there was a tight band on the inside that was holding him back. Mary Anne told me she was going to have to give me a small episiotomy to get him out. I told her that was OK, I just wanted it to be over with at this point. She cut me and just a few pushes later he came shooting out. She scooped him up and laid him on my chest. There we were, skin to skin. And then he pooped all over my side, Adam’s hand and on the bed. I told him it was OK since mom had already pooped on the bed 🙂 It was 12:24 am on March 2nd. After a quick shower, a few stitches, and our first feeding, he was weighed at 8 lbs. and 21 1/2 inches long.
It was the hardest thing I have ever done but I wouldn’t have done anything different.
The number eight means new beginnings and Timothy has brought us that new beginning
after eight years of marriage. We have waited and prayed for this little boy for a long time and he is finally here. My husband and I are so glad that we got to have the home birth we always wanted.
