Isaac's Birth Story

I am happy to report that David Isaac was born February 9, 2016. 

He weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and measured 21.5 inches long.

After 52 hours of labor we are overjoyed to have our little guy here. 

Thursday when I went to my final midwife appointment my two grandmothers joined us so they could be reassured about the home-birth. After the midwives assured them everything would go smoothly, we went to measure and listen to his heart beat. The midwife then casually pointed out that it looked like I was having a contraction… and with that the calmness was out the window. Since I hadn’t even noticed the contraction, the midwives again reassured them everything was good and I drove home. 

Of course the next two days were filled with many calls and texts to check to make sure I was fine and not in labor. 

Saturday night I noticed the contractions made me breathless and I texted our doula to ask if labor might start “soon.” 

11:30pm - I texted doula to ask about bloody show and give her a heads up that it was starting. 

3:30 am - Contractions were now waking me up and I was only able to nap the 7-10 mins between contractions. 

around 5 am - I woke Vince up, mainly because I was tired of being alone

We called the doula in about 7:30 am Sunday and that helped. 

My mom and grandmother came down later that evening because they couldn’t handle the wait any longer (Isaac made them wait longer). 

One of the Midwives also came down that night because she was excited and wanted to keep up with my progress. 

Im glad she did. she checked me and I was only 2-3cm, so she gave me some herbs to help me sleep. Sadly they didn’t help as much as I would have hoped. 

Monday was about the same. We spent all day in labor, that afternoon my dad and another midwife came, that evening Vince’s mom, sister, and the 3rd midwife came, and we all waited. 

We did figure out that for some reason I wasn’t dilating. The first midwife decided to try stretching me since i was almost fully effaced and still 2-3cm after 24+ hours, I immediately jumped to 4cm. A few hours later she did the same thing because I was fully effaced but still only 4cm, this time I jumped to 5-6cm. 

Monday night during a check we found that I was 7cm and Isaac’s head was angled into my hip so he wasn’t descending. We tried different positions and got him to straighten up, but he still wouldn’t tuck his head or flip to the optimal birthing position (I have already learned he is a bit stubborn). 

Midwife #1 is the comforting midwife and Midwife #3 is the one that tells you to do something and you do it (Midwife #2 is a nice mix). Any guesses who had me up moving so that Isaac would move?

At some point very late Monday night or early Tuesday morning they broke my water and then things got moving quickly (compared to the first 48 hours). 

Vince and I tried to rest. I wrote up to two strong contractions. Our sweet doula sat beside me and talked me through them so Vince could get some more rest, since we thought it was going to take quite a bit longer. On the third the doula saw Isaac flip in my stomach and I had to push. 

She called the midwives back into the room and I woke up Vince. 

I still had a small cervical lip but the midwife was able to get rid of that and then realize Isaac is coming now, we needed to call my mom into the room. 

After 52 hours of labor it felt like I only pushed for a couple minutes. 

It was the most amazing feeling holding Isaac for the first time. After so long I finally got to see his face and kiss him and it was magical. 

In full disclosure, after Isaac was born there was more bleeding than the Midwives were comfortable with. but they calmly and quickly gave me the needed medicine and delivered the placenta (which came very quickly! before the cord even stopped pulsing) everything was fine. 

Now a week later, we are all happy and healthy. Isaac has really got the hang of nursing and is already back to his birthweight. He has also already grown 3/4 of an inch! 

His pediatrician was very impressed with Isaac and the home birth. The pediatrician lives across the street from our doula and his wife babysat for our doula during our labor, so he already knew a little about the birth. You got to love small towns!