Adibah's peaceful "office" birth
I woke up at 4.30 in the morning from back pain. When I stand up; I notice some water leaking a bit greenish color. I telephoned hubby ask him to come back home & said maybe it’s time to transfer to his office because we planned to have a home/office birth. We planned it based on informed decisions. We have done a lot of research, reading from reliable source about natural birth & having a great awesome support group who support natural gentle birth. After all of that we realize it is the best choice for us to have total natural birth is to do homebirth. We planned for an unassisted childbirth because there is no doctor & midwife wants to attend homebirth here so far that we know. We also took a hypnobirthing classes to learn more about gentle/natural birth that we can has no matter where I will give birth; hospital, home or anywhere. We also aware of any sign of emergency which need us to be transfer to hospital, but we also very aware about the effect of drugs & all the procedure by the hospital. I just want to state here we do not do it out of ignorant or just want to follow any trend. We decide to do it because we learn it is the best for the mom & baby; we take full responsible with the outcome from it. It’s being a very spiritual journey for me myself to prepare for this birth; I become more calm, happy & contented person.
Okay continue on my birth story, after I called hubby then I immediately start to pack my bag, some snacks because it’s too early shop to open to buy from. He came back around 6am & we decide to leave Danish who is sleeping with my MIL that night. I went straight to the bath tub when I arrived at the office to ease the back pain. My hubby already cleans up the toilet & fills in the warm water when I called him that morning. Soaking in the warm water really help with my back pain. After sometimes I felt so hungry ask my hubby for nasi lemak then cancel it because suddenly around 7am intense surges 5mins apart & my hubby don’t want to leave me alone in the house by myself during my active labor. I’m being in & out of the bath tub several times. the birth ball didn’t help me, so I just stick with soak in the bath tub with warm water in side-lying position, polar bear/knee-chest position if I on the mattress, leaning forward against the toilet sink & ask my hubby to do backrubs/counter pressure massage on my back help me increase my comfort. I drink mineral water to keep myself hydrated & eat some dates & biscuit with milo between the surges. I also take a nap between the surges, the warm water make me so comfortable sometimes I fall asleep in the tub with some weird dreams. My hubby kept refills the tub with hot water to keep the water temperature warm. Hubby also helps pour warm water on my back. At some point my hubby also joins me in the tub sit behind me. Hugs before drugs. Around 10am surges become 3minutes apart. I start to lose focus & my mind at this point. I become annoy with how small the bath tub is, I whine to my hubby "I’m too tired for this", asking how long it would be before pushing & I also start thinking want to go to hospital. But my hubby just kept silent without reply to me. Then its hint me 'the baby must be near, maybe this is the hallmark of birth I being read about'. So from that moment I try to get my focus back & be in tune with my body so I can start to listen to my body cue. Around 11am I felt like want to push. I get on my knee at the side of the tub then I push I heard a 'pop' sound my water just break. I yelled call my hubby then he said my poo came out also. My hubby ask me to get out from the tub to clean up the tub n me so he can refill with new warm water. I went out from the tub, my hand hang on at the toilet sit & my knee on the toilet floor while hubby clean up me & empty the tub. I need to focus to breath rite now I said to myself. When my hubby went out from the toilet to have a smoke while waiting the water in the tub to fill up, at that point I start to really focus I suddenly visualize a youtube video share by a friend about a women give birth on hands & knees how she breath out the baby smoothly. Suddenly I don’t feel the pain anymore but just a sensation to push. When I feel the sensation I take a deep breath then I feel my vagina stretch like something big want to come out from there so I spread my legs wider. Then I felt a burning sensation/ the ring of fire & I breathe out with some vocalization and the baby head came out. I reached down there and touch the baby head & I yelled call hubby. He came & starts to video record the birth. We wait for a few minutes for another surge then I breathe out the baby body out & the baby it’s born catch by my hubby around 11.30am. I turn around to meet my baby for the 1st time. It was the amazingly magical moment after almost 10 months waiting now there she is in my arm. My hubby used a soft small tube to suck softly some fluid from baby nose & mouth. We stay in the toilet about half an hour just to enjoy the moment with three of us together. At the same time I sat on the toilet bowl try to birth the placenta while try to breastfeed the baby. After sometimes I decide to lie down in bed to do breast crawl with baby with the placenta still inside me. I try to birth the placenta naturally with hand knees/all four & squat position on the bed. My hubby start read some note I email him & Google about the 3rd stage because he didn’t read this part yet he said. He tries to increase my oxytocin hormone with light touch massage. I also kept breastfeed baby to keep the surges come to help me birth the placenta. Back in my mind I must birth this placenta, I don’t want to be transfer to hospital for this, I want totally natural birth no drug usage whatsoever. After 2 hours from the baby birth I decide to sit on the toilet bowl back. Once again after my hubby leave me n baby alone the placenta came out. Alhamdulillah end of my childbirth :) My hubby holds the baby while I clean up myself. Then after that I just breastfeed my baby & cuddle with baby, eat drink while hubby clean up the mess in the toilet. We discuss what to do with the placenta & decide to do the lotus birth means let the baby attach to the placenta until the cord fall out by itself. But too bad it didn’t work out; we cut the cord the next day to prevent more drama from the elders. My hubby also took the baby to see a midwife to check either she okay or not, to make them happy & satisfied. I refuse to see any doctor or midwife because I feel fine & I didn’t tear down there so it is no reason to see them. I have a childbirth that I wanted. An absolute natural childbirth without any interventions or drugs in all stage of labor. The result is so great mentally & physically. Your childbirth experience really effect u emotionally, u will become another person after a childbirth. I felt great after my homebirth & the recovery also is so much faster than my 1st hospital childbirth. I have just a normal hospital birth with my 1st son means it’s a vaginal birth with VE, membrane rupture by doc, IV drip with some drug to speed my dilation, episiotomy & unnatural 3rd stage labor. It was a short active labor less than 2hours before my son birth but the contraction so intense & close apart (result of the drug in the IV drip) until I don’t have time to breath or relax or even speak just tears in my eyes. After I had 10 cm dilation they start ask me to push they cheerlead me to push even I don’t feel any surges & I kept try to push & push, that make me so exhausted after my baby birth I don’t bother to bond with him because I’m so damn tired I just want to sleep. The late bonding with my baby effect my milk production, I really produce milk after one week but for my homebirth on 2nd day I already produce milk. So saying about after massages then u have milk not so true, early bonding with your baby it’s the key to successful breastfeed. After my homebirth I still have energy to take a long shower, walk, take care of my baby compare to my hospital birth I easily want to faint/black out, my hubby have to shower me & carry me when I want to go to the toilet. My toilet business (pee & poo) also a traumatized experience result of episiotomy & being stiches up back. I so afraid each time I have to go to the toilet because of the stung pain I will get each time I when to the toilet. But with my homebirth I can go to the toilet free from any pain because I didn’t tear result of the hypnobirthing technique to breathe out the baby when the surges come. I also suffer from baby blues/postpartum depression after I gave birth to my 1st child who I learn it’s can be result from the usage of drugs during my childbirth in hospital. With my homebirth I freely can be on whatever position I comfortable with to birth my baby unlike in hospital I was force to stirrup while birth which I found so uncomfortable. I also free from any pressured to birth by doc on certain time because he/she have other planned with family that day or when for a holiday; I just follow my baby time whenever she ready to meet the world. I hope one day I will found a doctor who willing to support total natural gentle birth so that I will have a great assisted childbirth experience. All women also must know their right to birth, options that available for them by educated themselves & make an informed decisions. Knowledge is power. Birth without fear. |