Ocean David's Birth Story: A Planned Breech Home Birth

This is the detailed story of Ocean's birth (it is long)...I've finally finished and finalized it! It is very detailed and raw, so if it makes you uncomfortable to read some things, at least I warned you. There are pictures at the end of labor and after the birth, those are very raw too, but not graphic so don't worry :o)

I also plan to write a blog post soon about why we chose to deliver him breech at home and a little info about our journey with my pregnancy and the significance of his name and why we chose it, so stay tuned!

On October 13^th, 2010 (my due date) I was awakened from a deep sleep, the middle of a dream, actually, to a mildly strong contraction. I didn't really know what was going on at first but once I was fully awake I figured it out. I thought that maybe I just needed to go the bathroom and figured if another contraction came I would be awake enough to tell what it actually was. A few minutes later I felt another one. The clock said 4:38 AM. I got up to use the restroom and I had very obvious bloody show. I went back to bed determined to get as much rest as I could and to make sure it was actual labor. I knew, though, that it was real but didn't want to wake Jeff up yet or assume too much until it got serious. I had a couple more contractions spaced approximately 10 minutes apart. At some point during that time I did tell Jeff because he was starting to stir. 

We stayed in bed knowing we still needed to try and get as much rest as possible. By this point, though, after only about four or five contractions, they seemed to be getting closer, more like 7-8 minutes apart and I was having to breathe through them. I couldn't stay lying down anymore because it was too uncomfortable and more painful in my back. I went and sat on the toilet. Jeff timed the contractions for me and then I took the ipod into the bathroom with me so I could time them and he could sleep. It was much more comfortable to be on the toilet. I gathered my bible, my phone (to play solitaire) and my Bradley Childbirth handbook and brought them in with me. I didn't get to use any of it as the contractions got much much closer together leaving me with too little time in between.

I was trying to wait until around 6:30 or 7:00 to call my midwife b/c I figured by then it would probably be fairly close to when she normally wakes up and figured she should get as much rest as possible. My contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and were getting stronger. Then they started to get even closer, more like 3 minutes apart or less, consistently. I called my midwife, Laurie, at 6:25 AM. She said she would gather her things and head over. Jeff was up by this point and started calling work and his sister, Michelle, who would be coming over to hang out with Evening. In the meantime I started clearing out some things in our bedroom and Jeff moved the bed over to make room for the birth tub.

I decided to get in the shower. I wanted to feel clean while in labor and I knew the hot water would feel good, I remembered this helping a lot when I was in labor with Evening. I cleaned up in between contractions and when I would feel one coming on, I got down on my hands and knees and moaned through them. At first I tried just standing while leaning forward against the wall, which is what I did with Evening, but it just didn't seem to be as comfortable as being down on the floor (not that I was actually “comfortable” during a contraction, but you get the gist). About half way through my shower, I opened my eyes and Laurie was sitting there. She asked how I was doing and I think I said something to the effect of wishing the contractions weren't so close together. She told me that just meant he was coming soon. 

*It's funny how you feel in labor. You want the pain and discomfort to ease up and you wish you could escape from it, but you know the only way to deal with it is to except it and work with it, because that is the only way you'll get to the finish line.*

Laurie then informed me that the other midwife, Sasha, who had attended multiple breech births and had a lot of experience with delivering breech, would not be able to make it (otherwise, the plan was that she would be the second midwife). Two other midwives, Julia and Nina, would be coming over instead.

Laurie got things set up in the bedroom while I finished my shower. When I got out, I sat on the birth stool near the bed so that Laurie could check my progress. I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the birth stool was! After laboring through several contractions on the toilet, which at that point had been the most comfortable, the birth stool felt like heaven to sit on. Laurie checked me and I was very excited to find that I was already dilated to an 8! This was only about a little over two and a half hours after labor had started. I didn't expect to be quite that far already, but I was hoping to at least be close based on the kind of contractions I had been having. Shortly after that Michelle and the other two midwives arrived.

In between contractions, I had Jeff take a belly picture for me. I really wanted to have one last picture before he was born, plus I was 40 weeks, so I wanted to document that too. Around this time, Evening woke up and Michelle brought her down and got her breakfast ready. I came and hung out with everyone in the kitchen. I hopped on the computer and updated on Facebook, etc. From around the time that Laurie had checked me, until then, my contractions had spaced out some and became very mild. It seems very strange to have had that break while I was dilated to an 8. I welcomed it, though. Laurie told me later that it was probably my body slowing down so that I could help get Evening settled in.

When the contractions started getting stronger again I decided to try the tub to see if that would help. We had already decided soon after Laurie arrived that we would not have time to set up the birthing tub. We weren't planning on delivering the baby in the tub, anyway (though that is what I had originally planned on) because of the baby being breech, but were going to use it for labor since our bath tub was kind of small. Jeff got the tub filled up and I spent maybe 15-20 minutes in there. I must have been in transition at this point because my contractions were much stronger and I was starting to wonder if I could make it through. Jeff did great and encouraged me even through my complaining and Evening came in to visit....she was probably attracted by the sound of running bath water and hoping that she could join me. Thankfully she was happy to just stick her hand under the water and then go back to playing, there would not have been enough room for both of us in there!

I felt like the tub wasn't working. It felt great to relax in the warm water in between contractions but I couldn't get comfortable during the contractions. I'm not sure if it was because the tub was just too small or if it was simply because I was in transition and the contractions were just so much more intense than before. This was when I started holding onto Jeff during contractions . Seriously, I couldn't have done this without him! I needed him for every single contraction after that.

Since the tub was not working I got out and went back to the birth stool. Laurie checked me again and I was dilated to about a 9 with a bulging bag of waters. This was around 9:30, about 30-45 minutes after I had first gotten into the tub. I had been curious if the baby was still breech. I assumed he was, but thought it would be funny (after all our preparation for a breech birth) and very surprising if he had turned at the last minute! Laurie did not try to check his position because my bag of waters was so low that she did not want to interfere with it's spontaneous breaking.

Oh, and a “bulging bag of waters” means, literally, a bulging bag of waters! I could reach down and feel it right there on the surface and you could see it bulging out. I told Jeff to take a picture since it was, really pretty crazy. Another contraction came on before we could get a picture and my water broke with a pop. It was a new and strange feeling for me since my water had broken under water last time and I did not feel it. After this Laurie was able to confirm that the baby was breech. I was still dilated to a 9 but soon got to a 10, I'm not sure exactly when. I was pushing a little with each contraction by around 10:30, even though I didn't really feel the urge to push. Julia suggested I get up to pee and after that I definitely had the pushing urge and my body started pushing even if I was not consciously doing so.

I tried kneeling by the bed to push but that wasn't as comfortable in between contractions, so I went back to the birth stool. I started to feel the “burning” and knew he was really starting to come down. Laurie suggested I get on my hands and knees during the contractions and when I was doing so they could see his bottom coming down. The contractions were very strong and intense during the pushing stage, stronger than I remembered them being with Evening, and I was still moaning quite loudly through each one. I guess my body just knew it had to work harder this time. I did have some “mini” contractions, as we called them, every so often which was a welcome break.

It was very uncomfortable and tiring to stay on my hands and knees in between contractions so I would get back up on the birth stool after each contraction. This started to wear me out after a while and at one point when I sat up after a contraction I felt the baby move all the way back up inside me. That was a very strange sensation, to say the least. After that Laurie figured I should just stay on the birth stool and push there. She kept reminding me to use my whole contraction to push (with Evening I had a hard time doing this). Most of them were very long and intense and I could really feel the burning as my body pushed. I'm thankful for her encouragement and for reminding me that I am a good birther (every laboring woman should have someone there to tell them this when it gets really hard!), it helped me stay focused on working with my body and letting it move forward with the process rather than slowing it down.

I was working really hard and feeling very tired and worn out. A couple of times, after really strong contractions, I would be very out of breath. Though, I don't think I remember ever feeling more relaxed and peaceful than I was while in between contractions during my last hour of labor. I would close my eyes and lean on Jeff and he would stroke my hair and gently scratch my neck and back. Nina was putting cold wash cloths on my neck (which felt soooo good!) and our worship/music play list was playing in the background. A couple of times I think I actually fell asleep.

Julia had been checking Ocean's heart rate in between every contraction and at one point they had trouble finding it. They weren't sure if it was really really low or if they just couldn't locate it (as I was informed of later). I didn't really know for sure what was going on, but they were whispering and I new it was related to his heart rate. Laurie told me I needed to really push with this contraction and they quickly put an oxygen mask over my face. I pushed hard with the next contraction, not holding back at all. I felt him coming out and I opened my eyes in time to see him hanging there with his head still inside. It was burning and all I could think was that there was no way I was going to sit through that until the next contraction. I kept pushing and even when I thought it was about time for the contraction to be ending, it kept going and my body kept pushing and pushing, then out came his head!

I was so relieved to have my baby on my chest, and so happy just staring down at him. I could hardly believe he was here and I was finished and that he had come out all in one contraction! He was very calm, but almost immediately started making little noises and rooting. He latched on right away (and has been a pro nurser ever since)! He was a perfectly healthy, content, breathing baby boy, no oxygen or resuscitation needed! (It is very common for breech babies born vaginally to need resuscitation.)

My placenta birthed itself about 10 minutes later and Laurie helped me into bed. He nursed some more and Jeff brought Evening into the bed so she could see him. We clamped and cut the cord about 15 minutes later. We were very surprised to find out he weighed 8 lbs, 10 oz. Not that that is huge, but it's a little on the bigger side and it wasn't what we were expecting at all. Evening was only 7 lbs. More shocking, though was how long he was, 23”! Plus, I practically didn't even tear! I just got a little “nick” as Laurie put it.

“God You're Beautiful” was the song playing during Ocean's exact moment of birth (at 12:02 pm), which couldn't have been more perfect. The whole birthing experience as God made it is such a beautiful and supernatural thing! It's not just the baby that is God's awesome creation, but the whole process of being born. Even giving birth to a breech baby, which is not the ideal way, God still designed our bodies to know what to do and the baby to work with the process. We had so much peace about this birth, before, during and after. God protected me and Ocean during the entire pregnancy and delivery and I had the most amazing birth team. I had an awesome midwife, and the other two attending midwives were the perfect match for Jeff and I. And no one was more incredible than Jeff, the best labor partner on the market....really...all birthing women need one of him :o)

I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience!...Well, except for a pain free birth....maybe next time :o)

Last belly photo at 8cm dilated.

Middle of a contraction.

Resting in between contractions.

I did it!

His breech pose.