The Final Post (aka When Things Don't Go As Planned...)

My sweet baby J; 7 lbs 3 oz and perfect in every way!

 
"If I have a fever, or my water breaks too early, I may have to transport to the hospital.  But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

That's what I wrote in my last post about being beta strep positive.  And my water broke (9 days before my due date!).  And labor didn't start.  Until I got to the hospital.  Then, it was 45 minutes and my sweet baby J was here!

My water broke about midnight, and I called my midwife right away, not knowing if labor was going to kick in NOW or what.  Her and her assistant headed right over.  When labor didn't start immediately, they settled in for a night on my couch.  11 hours later, with labor still no where in sight, we started talking transport to the hospital because of my GBS+ status.  I felt like crap at this point.  I was throwing up (something that I've never had in labor before, but is common apparently) and felt completely drained.  Then my hubby brought me a Sprite and the barfing stopped.  I was able to regain my energy at this point, made myself a chocolate-cashew-date-banana shake, and started walking and trying to get labor to start.  We decided to give it a few more hours.

Finally, 14 hours after my water broke, we decided it was time to transport.  Why was I transporting? To get Pitocin so my labor would start, and antibiotics in an IV because that's what they would do because of my GBS+ status.  Turns out I got neither.  I felt contractions starting (I had had a few already, but nothing consistent), and, as I stood at the top of the stairs, hospital bag in hand, thought for a brief moment that maybe we should wait 30 more minutes. 

Hindsight is 20/20.  
Oh well.  

(And here's a tip for ya home birthers: have a hospital bag ready, just in case.  This wasn't an emergency situation, and I had the luxury of taking a few minutes to pack a bag.  But if there was an emergency, you'd want something ready for your hubby to grab for you.  I had NO idea what to bring- it's been 8 1/2 years since I last went to the hospital to birth- and my midwife's assistant had to tell me.)

Instead we went to the hospital, where I felt contractions getting stronger and stronger.  By the time I was sitting on the delivery table, I told the nurse this is going to happen fast- I guessed in 45 minutes we'd have a baby.  Turns out is was 43 minutes, my midwife later told me. So they got an IV in me and gave me one dose of antibiotics literally while I was pushing baby J out- so the antibiotics were useless for the whole GBS thing.  

And now I was stuck in the hospital.  'Cause here's the thing I HATE about hospitals: once you're in, you're not coming out 'till they say so.  You are their prisoner.

Okay, maybe that's being dramatic.  But it is kinda true.  A few nice surprises about this hospital stay though, was that right after J was born, they put her on me for skin-to-skin contact, the hospital staff really seemed to believe in that, which is cool, because so do midwives and homebirthers. They also asked if I wanted the baby bathed (I said no, I wanted the vernix- the waxy coating babies have on their skin when they're born- to absorb in her skin, and she'd have her first bath at home), they asked if I was taking the placenta home ("yes"- and no one batted an eyelash), and the food was actually REALLY good. ('Cause really, it's all about the food.) 

After the birth, the nurse brought us up to postpartum and told me that that was a really cool delivery to  see.  My midwife commented to me later that the doctor who delivered me (that's a generous term- she showed up and caught a baby.  I did the work, mind you!), had a resident with her and that resident got a unique experience- catching a baby with the mother on hands and knees position, a natural, unmedicated birth.  Apparently that's something hospital personnel don't get to see a whole lot of (us natural minded folk seem to be heading home more and more for our births- home birth is up 20% from previous years, though it is still a very small percentage of overall births).  So, that was cool to be part of someone else's education I guess.

But still, I am a little sad I didn't just stay home.  But at the same time, it's not the most important thing.  I have an adorable, healthy new baby girl- straight from heaven!- and that's what really matters.

My sweet baby J~ what it's all about

So let's step back and gain some perspective, people. 

 If you were to go into, say, a kindergarten class, you wouldn't be able to tell which kids were born at home, which by C-section, which were organically fed wheat grass for their first year, which were raised on chocolate.  You wouldn't be able to tell which ones were nursed, which were formula-fed, which ones had organic, free-range, farm-raised crib sheets.   
 What you would see is which ones were loved at home, which ones received positive discipline, which ones were spoiled, which ones were rude, which ones were considerate of others. 

The birth experience is important- it's important to me how I bring my children into the world. And it is special, powerful, and spiritual. But sometimes things don't go as planned.  And that's a-okay.  'Cause raising these little monkeys and showing love to them and teaching them how to be good people is WAY more important and frankly, way harder, than the way they are brought into the world. 

And besides, I still got to eat my placenta.

  

P.S. FYI, I still continue my postpartum care with my awesome midwife, by the way.  Once we got to the hospital, she has to legally take the role of doula and can't actively participate in my care.  But once I was home, it's back to being my midwife. She has already been to my house for two visits to check me and baby, will come once more to my house this week, and then I'll have my last appointment with her somewhere between 4 and 6 weeks postpartum. 

And I want to point out that she and her assistant were with me a total of 16 hours- 14 at my house, starting at midnight, then 2 more during transport/delivery/afterwards. That's pretty amazing prenatal care, people.  Find me an OB/GYN that will do that!

My baby started seeing my pediatrician today, and that continues as normal as it would for any baby, regardless of where he or she is born. She got her first PKU testing in the hospital (which would have happened at home anyway), and my midwife does the second PKU screening later this week.  And I know it's called Newborn Metabolic Screening now and not PKU screening, but it's just easier to say.  It actually tests for something like 35 metabolic disorders. Don't skip that test, people. In the end, I decided to go with the Vitamin K shot and antibiotic cream in her eyes.  But the cream only has to be on the eyes for a minute, so I wiped it off just in time for her to start looking around at us.  And no one at the hospital seemed to care that I was passing on the Hep vaccine that they like to give babies at birth.  I just explained she'd get it later at my pediatrician's office (which she will...in a few months).

And in other randomness, the placenta lady told me that out of the 184 placentas she's processed, mine was the largest! A person usually gets 95 large-capsule pills, I got 156.  Whoa! I have no idea why this would be, since I'm not a large person, and my baby was 7 lbs 3 oz- nothing crazy.  But a fun fact, nonetheless. 

P.P.S. And Good-bye! Now this blog will sit in cyberspace, waiting to be read by anyone contemplating a home birth or by their family members who are freaked out by the idea and want a little more info on how a home birth or having a midwife works.  Ciao!

Are these girls excited to meet their new sister or what??