November 11- Ainsley's due date. I woke up around 3:30 am and was having pretty regular short contractions, but was able to go back to sleep around 6. Had contractions for most of the day, but they didn't seem like they were productive (felt like Braxton hicks contractions). My midwife came to my house for my forty week checkup. All vitals were good, Ainsley was moving, etc. She did a cervical check, and I was about 1cm dilated, not effaced, and Ainsley was still pretty high up (she didn't give a specific for that). She didn't make an appointment for the next week, but said we would keep in touch. Contractions mostly died off and the rest of my day was normal.
November 12 - woke up with contractions at about 3 am. I could tell these contractions felt different than the day before, more like menstrual cramps with a little bit of backache occasionally. They weren't lasting very long, and I was able to go back to sleep around six again. Got up around seven and I think contractions were on and off at this point, still feeling more productive but still very short. I talked with Leah, then went out to breakfast and ran errands with my mom and Declan. Had contractions off and on, nothing that felt serious or that took any focus to handle. We got home around 1 and I laid down to nap. Was able to sleep for about an hour and woke up a little after two with more of the same type of contractions - short and somewhat sporadic. Around 4:30, I called the midwife because my contractions were short (less than thirty seconds long) but pretty close together- about 2-3 minutes apart. We talked it over and agreed that she probably didn't need to head over just yet. I also called my doula to give her a heads up. Shortly after I made those calls, my contractions started getting a little stronger and I was walking or sitting on the toilet to handle them. Adam got home from work around 5:15 and I told him I was pretty sure things were rolling and that tonight was the night. He put The Incredibles on for Declan, and Declan stayed in the living room for the rest of my labor.
I decided to get in the shower around 5:40, which was helpful. I also got really emotional at this time, because Declan was going to go to my in-laws to stay the night, and I wanted to make sure I said goodbye, and he wasn't going to be my only baby anymore, and so on. I was trying to eat something, too, because I missed lunch, so I had my mom stand outside the shower and hold my plate of food (peanut butter toast with bananas!) so I could eat and shower at the same time. After I ate a little, I handled contractions on my knees with my hands on the back of the tub, and I was also swaying my hips back and forth. Then I felt like I had to poop, so I was going between the shower and the toilet to handle my contractions. My contractions were still about 18-30 seconds long, but around 6:15 I had a couple of really, really intense contractions. I told Adam to call my doula and the midwife, because I figured they should head over (my midwife lives about 35 minutes away and my doula was about 45 minutes away). Shortly after that, I got a heat pack for my back and turned off the shower so I could just sit on the toilet for my contractions because I still wanted to poop. Around 6:25, I was wanting to poop, but it also felt like I was pushing while I was "pooping," so I was trying not to poop. All of a sudden, I felt what I thought was Ainsley's head crowning. I got down on all fours in the bathroom between the tub and the cabinet and called to my mom, "Mom, can you see if the baby is crowning?" And she comes and looks and says "yes!" So they called the midwife, who had not yet left her house, and she started to talk Adam through what to do. She told me to lie down, so I laid down on my left side, still between the tub and cabinet on the bathroom floor. Adam asked me if I wanted to try moving out into the kitchen (our bathroom is off of the kitchen) after my next contraction, and I said maybe. But after the contraction, I told him I really felt like I didn't want to move. So I was laying on my left side with my right leg up on Adam's shoulder, and Adam was on speakerphone with the midwife. It turned out that her head wasn't crowning, it was the bag of waters starting to bulge out. I had a contraction and tried hard not to push, but man, I wanted to push! So I was half pushing, half trying to not push by hissing. At this point, my contractions slowed down so I had a few minutes to rest in between, which was amazing! It was sometime around then that Adam asked my mom for some hot water, because he had not had a chance to wash his hands since he'd gotten home. I said, "Mom, just come hold my leg really quick while Adam washes his hands." So they switched for a minute while Adam washed up. I think it was on or just before the next contraction that I felt her head crowning, and her head was born, in the amniotic sac. The midwife told him to break the sac, which he did (although he said it wasn't easy to do!). On the next contraction, she was born to the waist. Either on or before that contraction, I felt her turn around inside of me, it was totally weird! But she was trying to get in a good position to be born, I guess. I remember the midwife asked a question some time around then, and I leaned up to try and help Adam answer it and saw her half-born! I don't remember if I actually had another contraction or if I just decided she needed to come out all the way, but I gave one last push and she was born! Adam handed her to me and I rolled onto my back, still on the bathroom floor, and put her on my chest, covered up with a towel. He still had to deal with watching for the placenta and checking my bleeding, so we didn't check to see if she was a boy or a girl until maybe fifteen minutes after she was born. My midwife and her assistant arrived about thirty minutes after Ainsley was born, and my doula arrived just a few minutes after that.
I am so thankful that we had a safe birth/delivery and that God gave us a healthy, beautiful girl. Ainsley Kay was born at 6:41 pm on 11/12/14, one day after her due date, weighing 7 lb, 11 oz, and 21 inches long. I found her name in a book I read when I was about eighteen and just loved it! I knew, when I had a girl one day, that I would name her Ainsley. I've been waiting for you for ten years, baby girl! Her middle name is Adam's mother's middle name. She is the first great-granddaughter for my grandparents and the first biological granddaughter for my parents.
Interesting facts:
*The umbilical cord was a velamentous cord insertion, which is very rare and can be dangerous depending on how the birth goes. The cord usually connects directly to the placenta, but her cord was connected indirectly to the placenta by blood vessels.
*Normally, labor is serious once contractions are lasting sixty seconds or longer. Granted I was timing my contractions myself, so there is room for error, but my longest contraction was about thirty seconds long.
*It is very fortunate that we were planning on a home birth, because we wouldn't have made it to the hospital given how quickly my labor progressed. This way, we had all the supplies we needed and knew where everything was, and we had a midwife who was able to talk us through everything.
*Our midwife has been at over 400 births and has only missed five, including mine.
Similarities:
*I pushed/delivered both Declan and Ainsley laying on my side (right side for Declan, left side for Ainsley).
*Once again, I am the poster child for the fact that it doesn't matter if you are effaced/dilated, labor can happen at any time. My OB did one cervical check for Declan, I was not dilated or effaced, and went into labor the next night.
Differences:
*I never saw Declan until he was given to me right after being born.
*I pushed for much longer with Declan and felt like my pushing was much less effective. Ainsley took about six contractions to be born, and when I did push, it was very effective.
*Obviously, labor went much faster this time around. I talked about it with my midwife, but I don't remember if we said active labor started at 2 or 4, approximately. Either way, it was a really fast labor. My midwife said that for the next baby, they would basically head over as soon as contractions started to be on the safe side.
*I was much more aware during this labor than with Declan. By the time I was pushing with Declan, I was definitely in baby mode and would not really have been up for conversation. With Ainsley, I was talking normally between pushing contractions.
*I bled quite a bit after having Declan, but had only a normal amount of bleeding after Ainsley.
*I didn't tear!!! And overall, I feel much better physically than I did right after having Declan.
