Zoey's Birthday and Birth Story!

Today is my fifth child, Zoey's, 1st birthday. A year ago today, Zoey came into my life in pure beauty, grace, and power.

Here is the story of her amazing birth:

((Warning...Very Long & Graphic!! For Birth Story enthusiasts only!))

Any good story has a back story, so I wanted to go back to when I learned I was pregnant.

I finally had my first ovulation since conceiving my forth child, Emily, nearly two years prior. Emily was 15 months old and I was anxious to receive another blessing. I know my body and exactly when I ovulate, so it was no surprise when I took a pregnancy test two weeks after conceiving (one month after my period) to "confirm" the pregnancy. (I love that the dollar store sells pregnancy tests. They are $14 cheaper than the pharmacy and just as accurate as the EPT tests!) Oh, the joy of staring at those two gorgeous pink lines appearing on the test! Confirming (what I already knew) that I am pregnant and no one but God and I knows, is an intoxicating and beautiful thing, indeed! A baby is growing inside me! Oh, the tremendous blessing!! I kept my secret to myself all day and revealed the news to my husband that night. I wrote him a poem on a leaf I cut into a shape of a leaf. It was cheesy, I know, but endearing nonetheless. Chris shared the excitement with me, but unlike me, he is not fond of keeping good news to himself for long. Immediately, Chris was on the phone calling everyone we knew to share our good news. He drives me batty, but I love his enthusiasm.

I really wanted an unassisted birth, and I would even be OK with a homebirth with a Midwife, but my husband was concerned about safety (me, too, but not about birthing unassisted) and he also didn't want to pay extra for a childbirth. I found an OB practice that had a Nurse Midwife, so I set up an appointment. (But, that didn't mean I stopped planning for an unassisted birth...preparation is half the battle!) I learned that my local hospital 5 minutes from my home no longer allows VBAC's, but I was convinced I could make the Dr's and midwife give me what I wanted. I would NEVER have an unnecessary c-section. Ever. My first birth was an unnecessary c-section. The next three were all VBAC's, with one of them being a homebirth. So with my history of successful VBAC's, I assumed that they would find a way to let me have a VBAC. My first appointment was scheduled with a male OB (Not what I wanted, but I was flexible for my first visit.) After going over my history with him and letting him know under no circumstances will I commit to an unnecessary c-section, he gave me only two options. For starters, Midwife's aren't legally allowed to "catch" the baby of a VBAC. Secondly, I would need to monitor the babies growth via ultrasounds and stress-tests during the last trimester (to make sure a big baby wouldn't try to squeeze out a dreadful, "unmovable, genetically small" pelvis..not!). I would also have to schedule an induction two weeks prior my due date (remember, big baby scare?), and then finally agree to an epidural and constant internal fetal monitoring. That way, I would have a anesthesiologist on call, in case I needed surgery. (The reason for the ban on VBAC's...not sufficient staff for VBAC "uterine rupture" emergencies...ugh...if only they followed the advice based on the current research based on the safety practices on VBAC's and childbirth, in general...I'm digressing...) Well, that was NOT acceptable, since it was all idiotic, barbaric, unfounded, dangerous advice and practice. The other option was to continue to see the OB's or Midwife during my first two trimesters, then transfer my care to the larger hospital 45 minutes from my home during my last trimester. I begrudgingly chose to agree with option #2, but meanwhile I found a Homebirth Midwife to interview. Unfortunately, we are not savers so we didn't have $3000 for the Midwife's fee. Even if we did, I hardly doubt my husband would want to pay $3000 for a homebirth when a hospital birth would be 1/3rd of the cost. Even after we learned the Midwife accepted our insurance (we'd be reimbursed 50%) and she would accept monthly payments, Chris was still not on board with the added cost. "After all," he said, "if we needed to transfer to the hospital, we would have a hospital fee, too." Sometimes a husband can't see beyond the cash... There was the option of just showing up in active labor and give birth the way I wanted. After all, legally a hospital cannot force someone to have any medical procedures done to them, including unnecessary surgery. Also, they can't make me go someplace else if I am prove to be "nontransferable." Being in active labor is all it would take to stay put. So, I ended up seeing the local hospital Midwife for the first two trimesters. I transferred my care to an OB at the other hospital, for my last Trimester. (Meanwhile, I also bought a homebirth kit and prepared myself and educated Chris about my plans for an unassisted birth. I joined online groups for unassisted births, and felt confident that this was the way I wanted to give birth.) It just so happened that the OB I saw in my last trimester miscalculated my due date as July 21st, instead of July 7th. I tried to tell them they were wrong, but lucky for me they didn't listen to me because that only gave me more time to gestate freely without fear of being "overdue" if I ever did make it that far.

July 7, 2009 was Zoey's due date and I was still pregnant. This was the longest gestation out of all my children to date and boy did every part of me feel the need to get her out! I was anxious to have her come before my Mother-In-Law was planning to come visit, too. My Mother-In-Law had already booked a flight on July 9th. I foolishly agreed for her to come visit for a month so close to my due date. She really wanted to be here when i went into labor, so she could watch the kids while Chris and I went to the hospital. But, since I was planning a unassisted homebirth, and not telling anyone, that plan would not work for me. Sometimes, I don't know where my mind goes when I am pregnant! So, early in the morning on the 7th, I decided to speed things along. I was contracting irregularly for weeks, so I knew a castor oil/ root beer concoction would most likely put me into labor. I experienced all the normal cramping and loose stools castor oil produces, but it was obvious that it didn't put me in active labor like I had hoped. Normally, after several hours from drinking my castor oil concoctions, I would have be in active labor and at least would have seen bloody mucus or perhaps even some amniotic fluid by then. I had yet to even see my mucus plug, so I was beginning to have my doubts! By evening, I was disappointed that she wasn't born and my resolve was starting to wane. I was experiencing unprecedented seven to ten minute long, semi-uncomfortable contractions that cycled every five to ten minutes that night, so at the least this peaked my interest. I held onto my hope up that maybe she will come in the middle of the night or very early the next morning. I made the best of my evening by watching movies with Chris, walking around the house, and bouncing on my exercise ball. Despite my feeble attempts to sleep, I did dose off in the wee hours of the next day. I woke up from my phantom sleep a few hours later, to the pull of strong contractions. I couldn't handle lying there, doing nothing but thinking about the pain, so I got up. I sat in a warm bath, but after soaking for about 15 minutes I was compelled to get out since the contractions were getting more uncomfortable. I walked, prayed ("please make this baby come!"), and rocked on the exercise ball, while "listening" to my body. An hour or so later, I finally had "the"contraction which alarmed me. I knelt next to the bed to breathe, moan, then moan loudly through a series of very painful and long contractions. I was starting to really freak out and I was almost crying. I wasn't in a lot of pain. I was mostly in shock at the rapid frequency of the contractions and the way I was dealing with them. I woke Chris up and as soon as he was by my side I felt better. His soothing words, strong hands, and positive energy was all I needed. I laughed at myself for being so freaked out. I knew this was just the beginning of active labor and I needed to mentally prepare for many more hours of labor. I had a couple more strong contractions; one while sitting on the toilet, one standing in front of my bathroom sink, and another next to the crib. Then all of a sudden things took a dramatic change. While standing next to the crib, I had an uncontrollable urge to push...so I did, grunting and all! I reached up to feel a hard head on my perineum. Until then, there still wasn't any bloody show, so I was taken a back. Of course, I excused that from my mind and suddenly realized that not only was I in active labor, but Zoey was about to be born! I exclaimed to Chris that she was coming, NOW! I went straight down on the floor onto my hands and knees, where we laid down a shower curtain covered with bath towels, and immediately started to push her out. I yelled, "she's coming!" and Chris was very reassuring and encouraged me to just let her come. I didn't pause pushing between contractions, like I should have, and just bared down and she was born in one push. (I power-pushed her out too fast because, 1) It hurt, and 2) My memory of Summer's birth came into my present memory and I wanted to avoid a shoulder dystocia.) Chris was prepared and talked me through what he saw; "It's her head," "keep pushing," "she's almost out!" He supported her body and just like that, she was born! Zoey was completely enclosed in her bag of waters as she came into the world. (It is considered a blessing and a sign of wisdom to be "born in the caul.") He gently removed the bag off her face and water gushed everywhere. He unwrapped her umbilical cord twice from around her neck. (It wasn't tightly wound to cause alarm, but wound twice was worth noting!) I quickly turned and sat on my bottom to receive Zoey into my arms. Her energy was powerful and intoxicating. She rested quietly, eyes tightly shut, and didn't make a peep. She was breathing beautifully and was pink as a rose. After 20 minutes, I felt a strong desire to push out her placenta, and out it came intact and without incident. I wasn't bleeding heavily and I was already having all the normal afterbirth contractions. Chris woke up our oldest child, Brianna, and gave her the honor of cutting Zoey's cord. All the other children quietly came into the bedroom to welcome their new baby sister with kisses and much love. Her birth from the time I "woke up" with those painful contractions till her birth was about 45 minutes. She was born at 4:45am, 7-8-9 (Cool date, huh?) She weighed 8lbs 14oz and was 21in long. After a couple hours, we noticed that my bleeding hadn't completely stopped and we were concerned that I tore and that maybe I should go to the hospital to get stitched. So, we called up a friend to come over and watch the kids while we all went to the hospital  We told the hospital staff that she was an "oops, baby." (Admitting to a unassisted homebirth would have made them all go bat-shit-crazy.) I allowed Zoey to also be admitted, but she was never separated from me. They just looked her over and gave her a full bill of health. We were lectured for not giving her the Hep b immunization and refusal of the vitamin K shot, though. (sigh, roll eyes) Once we checked into the ER, they examined me and soon I was sent up to the Birthing Unit. I assumed since I just had a baby and I tore my perineum which was still bleeding, I would see a OB right away. Not so. I waited for five hours in the postpartum room before the Dr. came to stitch me. My tear wasn't bleeding, after all. It already clotted and the bleeding I had was just the normal afterbirth blood. Originally, they hooked me up to a IV, where I was given pitocin (standard procedure in helping the uterus clamp down...not really unnecessary, but I didn't object since I didn't want to seem even more strange.) I now realize that I was never in any danger at home and the bleeding did eventually slow and the tear would have just healed naturally. It was quite painful to get stitched. Actually, it was the 5 shots to my perineum and vagina which caused me to cry and shake all over. It is always an exhausting ordeal to stay in the hospital, not horrible, but just stressful and unnecessary. On the plus side, I got to weigh and measure Zoey! She also got a proper umbilical clamp and an extra hat and onsie shirt. I didn't take dare put on the clamp I had from my birth kit. They would have known right away that we purposely had her at home and I'm positive they would have treated us much, much differently. Someone else change my sheets for me & was able to watch cable TV! I also got those amazing mesh panties and jumbo pads, plus a couple dozen newborn pampers and a package of wipes for Zoey! I also got one of those hideous diaper bags supplied from a formula company, filled with various coupons and free formula. They also supplied me Tux pads, Dermoplast, a script for stool softeners, 800mg Ibuprofen, and Vicodin! Everything worked out well, and I was happy to be home the next morning.