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Baby born underwater while still in the sac - watch the video!
My Waterbirth Story
by Erica Cooper
I sit here today next to my baby boy almost two months after the day of his birth. I can’t believe that it has already been that long; the experience of the day is still so fresh in my mind. I get tears in my eyes and chills just thinking about what a wonderful day and experience his birth was.
When I was pregnant with my daughter almost five years ago I had never heard of waterbirth or birthing centers. I learned of it through some friends right before I started trying for another baby. After learning of it, I knew I had to do it.
The beginning of this pregnancy I started out in another mid-wife’s care. I transferred to Baby Love Birth Center and Samantha McCormick, Nurse Midwife halfway through my pregnancy. I felt so welcomed there and loved the care I received throughout the rest of my journey.
Sunday, June 29th, 2008, I was being awakened in the early morning hours. I kept thinking it was just a backache and that I was sleeping wrong or something. Later around 6 am when I was more awake I realized…it’s not a back ache it’s contractions!!! They were still about ten minutes apart so I didn’t wake my husband for another hour. I woke him and told him the news and he was so excited. We knew our baby would be here soon. When my daughter awoke we told her what was going on and she was super excited also.
I hadn’t lost my mucus plug and my contractions were still not consistent so I didn’t want to call Samantha yet. Throughout the day I kept pacing in my house and breathing through the contractions using the Hypnobirthing techniques. Around 1pm, I was getting tired so I decided to lie down on the couch. This made my contractions intensify and I got sick. Bruce ran a warm bath for me and I tried that. I only stayed in the tub for about 20 mins because I was tired and just wanted to lie down. I tried that again and this labor my body was not having that.
I got very sick this time and was in the bathroom for about 20 mins. When I came out my contractions all of a sudden were two mins apart. Just 20 mins ago they were very irregular and 7-10 mins apart. I leaned over the bed to help ease the pain in my back and told Bruce he needed to call Samantha NOW. Samantha told us to leave in 45 mins and meet up at the birth center. We left our house at 3:10 and arrived at the birth center at 3:40. That was the longest car ride ever!! All I wanted to do was walk or lean over something and that was not happening in the car.
I arrive at the birth center and Samantha checks me. 9 and a half centimeters!!!!! I couldn’t believe I went that far at home! Thank you Hypnobirthing!!
I climb into the tub and at first I freaked out a little. A contraction was happening while I was trying to get comfortable but as soon as it passed I settled in and let the warm water sooth me. I felt the urge to push and asked if it was a go. Samantha said yes and so it began.
While most Hypnobirthers are quiet….um yeah I wasn’t. First it started as a moan but then lead to a yell. It felt good for me to make noise; I felt like it helped me push better and made me feel stronger. My husband, Samantha, and Leslie (birth assistant) helped me through and offered encouragement the whole time. They all let me do what I felt I needed to do. About 40 mins later, at 4:39pm, my little man entering the world in caul (still in the sac or bag of water). My water never broke and my mucus plug was still attached to the bag of waters.
I remember feeling my baby slide out and a sense of joy overwhelmed me. Samantha handed me my baby and tears of joy and disbelief that I actually just did that overcame me. My husband was beaming of pride.
My mother in law, who was also in the room, was crying tears of joy. She had never experience a natural birth in this setting before. My four year old came into the room and welcomed her baby brother. She now tells people, my mommy got into the tub and the baby came out.
Leslie and my mother in law took the baby to be weighed while I birthed the placenta. My mother in law came back to announce proudly that little Caleb was 9 pounds 1 oz. Bruce and Samantha helped me out of the tub and on to the bed where I got to hold and nurse my new little one while my four year old got to sit right there with me.
Samantha and Leslie brought in the cake and sparkling cider and we all sang Happy Birthday to Caleb! It was a wonderful experience; you sure don’t get that at the hospital.
Overall it was one of the best experiences in my life. I felt the love and encouragement of all who were there. I was so happy I birthed my baby naturally and in water. I had no tears and hands down I would so do Waterbirth again at the birth center and hope to do so if/when I have another baby.
News-Press Feature
Erica's birth of Caleb was part of an article in our local paper
August 23, 2008
More moms choosing birthing centers
Baby Love a personal alternative
By Camber Clemence
Special to The News-Press
There is not an electronic fetal monitor, only a midwife. There is no IV threaded into an arm, but a mother allowed to eat and drink as she feels necessary. There are no nurses, no doctors, no residents, no janitors coming in and out of the room - just a husband and daughter looking on, waiting for the arrival of a son and a brother.
Erica Cooper recently gave birth at Baby Love Birth Center in Cape Coral, and she said it was peaceful, natural, quiet and perfect.
"I chose the birth center because I wanted a more personal and less medical setting," Cooper said. "A natural unmedicated birth was appealing to me after my experience with my first birth."
More expectant mothers are looking for birth options other than the hospital, and they are flocking to Baby Love, according to Samantha McCormick, who owns and operates Baby Love. McCormick is a certified nurse midwife and is licensed by the state of Florida as an advanced registered nurse practitioner.
"We offer a low-intervention approach to prenatal care and childbirth," she said. "We believe that childbirth is a natural process and that most women can give birth naturally. We are just here to assist with that process."
McCormick, or Sam as she is commonly called at Baby Love, is the midwife who handles prenatal visits and is present during birth.
Prenatal visits take place in the Baby Love office and are generally 30 to 45 minutes long. The visits are designed so clients can ask questions and talk about what they want and need.
"We want each woman that comes in here to be informed and in control of her pregnancy and her birthing experience," McCormick said. "We strive to get to know each client so that we can assist them in achieving whatever experience they are hoping for."
Laboratory tests are also routinely performed in the office, and sonograms are performed next door with Dr. George Kovacevic, who is Baby Love's collaborative obstetrician and "back up" physician should any problems arise, which is rare.
Baby Love has three private birthing rooms - each with a whirlpool tub, a private bathroom, and a full-sized bed. There is also a full kitchen and a comfortable waiting room equipped with plush couches, a flat-screen television and toys for the kids. The facility offers freedom, privacy, personalized care, safety, choices and bonding. Breastfeeding is encouraged from the beginning, and a new baby never leaves the new parents' sight.
"The best part of birthing at Baby Love was the care I received," Cooper said. "Sam and Leslie offered me encouragement and support throughout my pregnancy and during labor. They celebrated along with my family and I after Caleb was born - it was great. I felt like they were part of my family."
The Birth Story of Zakary Cole
By: His mama, Nicole
I woke up Friday, February 29, 2008 – Leap Day – a little over 37 weeks pregnant and getting anxious and more and more uncomfortable. I was having some mild yet consistent contractions, ranging from as close as 3 minutes apart to 8 minutes.
I gave them an hour to fade, as they had done two days before, and called Samantha when they didn’t. She told me to give it another half hour and to call her back. When the pattern continued, I called again we decided to meet at the birth center. We loaded up our bags and our almost 2 year old son up and started the 40 minute trip.
Upon arrival, an exam revealed I was around 5 centimeters dilated. I had been at 4 centimeters two days before at my appointment, so I was happy to get this show on the road. They started filling the corner Jacuzzi tub in the Ocean Room, my birthing suite of choice, and that’s when it really hit me that I was going to have another baby!
We arranged for my next door neighbor to pick our older soon up after she got off work, so we wouldn’t have to worry about him during the birth. She came and got him around 3 pm, the same time we decided to break my water to aid my progress. There was no way I would have felt comfortable going home that dilated with such a long drive to the birth center! I hopped in the tub right after and got settled in with my iPod and husband at my side.
The contractions really picked up about half an hour later, and I alternated between using the Jacuzzi bubbles, music, my “happy place” imagery, and breathing to cope with the pain. Around 4:30 pm I was involuntarily bearing down with the height of each contraction, and Samantha thought that I was probably complete. I waited another 20 minutes and asked her to check me. The undeniable urge to push that I remember from my first hadn’t come yet, and I guess I just needed affirmation that I was ready to push.
My midwife confirmed that I was fully dilated and ready to go. I think it was around 5 pm that I started pushing. I pushed on my own terms, when I felt the urge, first on all fours, and then sitting up. It was a wonderful change from my first’s hospital birth, complete with episiotomy-turned-4th-degree tear and everyone screaming at me that I was pushing wrong.
As Samantha, my husband, and birth center staff watched on and quietly encouraged me, I pushed until I felt the head crown. It was a two steps forward, one step backwards progress, and the burning sensation was unbelievable but bearable.
I
reached down and felt the head several times, and remember when it slid fully out. A couple pushes later and my second son, Zakary Cole, was born in water at 5:35 pm on Leap Day 2008. Samantha lifted him straight up to my chest, where he cried a few gurgling cries to clear his airway and calmly looked around, comfortable on my chest and in the 99 degree water.
We sat together in the water while I birthed the placenta. I was stroking him, rubbing in the vernix, just totally in love and saying how much he looked like my first son when he was a newborn.
I gave him over to Samantha while the Leslie helped me out of the water and onto the bed. My baby was immediately given back to me and Samantha checked to see if I had any tears. I had two tiny ones that didn’t need repair, fortunately. That's the power of water birth! My husband and I laid on the bed with our new son, taking him in, and the staff came in with a small cake and sparkling apple cider to sing happy birthday to our baby.
Zakary nursed great from the start, and still does. He latched on and sucked on and off for half an hour, and then took the other breast about 45 minutes later. The staff then examined him and took his measurements, and we turned down everything from the eye ointment to the vitamin K, without any hassle at all (and that was much appreciated!)
We stayed the minimum four hour postpartum stay and were back home by 10:30 pm. On the way home, my husband and I talked about what a wonderful experience the entire birth process was, and how the birth center runs circles around any hospital. If we were going to have another, we would do a water birth all again in a heartbeat!
WATER OF LIFE
Some parents are choosing bathtubs over hospital beds
Published in the News-Press September 5, 2006
Writer: Francesca Donlan
Photographer: Amanda Inscore
Some parents are choosing bathtubs over hospital beds | |
Jana Lampe felt her contractions getting stronger after dinner.
About 9 p.m. on July 20 she tried walking outside with her mother and sister in her Cape Coral neighborhood, but she didn't get too far; her contractions slowed her down.
At 10 p.m. her water broke in the middle of the living room. By 2 a.m. the 33-year-old chiropractor was ready to have a baby.
Instead of driving to the hospital, she and her husband, Mike Lampe, 30, drove to The Family Birth Center Fort Myers. 
Jana arrived at the birth center in labor; 6 centimeters dilated. Instead of ushering her to a hospital bed and hooking her up to an IV, Samantha McCormick, a certified nurse midwife, drew up a warm bath.
Samantha lit candles, sprinkled drops of lavender into the water for relaxation and eased Jana into the bathtub. Mike put on his bathing suit in case he needed to help. Jana's sister, Rachel Roeder, and their mother, Margie Postlewate, kneeled beside her.
Jana labored in the bathtub throughout the early morning hours. The warm water alleviated painful contractions. She didn't scream for a single aspirin. About 5 a.m, she wanted to push.
 "You're doing awesome," Samantha coached. Jana's husband, mother and sister all cheered her on.
At 5:48 a.m. Jana gave her final push. With a Neil Young CD playing "Cinnamon Girl" quietly in the background, Marin Lampe slid into a warm bath with a head of strawberry blond hair.
Samantha gingerly scooped Marin out of the water, placed her on Jana's chest and covered the newborn with warm towels.
The 7-pound, 6-ounce infant just looked around. Marin, which means "of the sea," didn't  utter a single cry.
Mike cut the umbilical cord, and baby and mom lay together. Shortly afterwards, Samantha gave the newborn a complete physical. She scored 9.9 out of 10 on the Apgar, which is a standard newborn test. Her tiny footprints were taken and birth certificate filled out.
One hour later, surrounded by her mother, father, grandmother and aunt, Marin Lampe had her first birthday party. The family sipped on champagne and ate chocolate cake at 7 a.m.
 "It's just amazing, so amazing," Jana said when she recalled the sight of Marin. "For nine months you wonder about this child, and then you actually meet her. When she was on my chest, it was the most amazing feeling in the whole world."
Mike beamed with pride.
"It's something no one can really prepare you for," he said. "It's an emotion you didn't know you felt until she came out."
By 8 a.m. mom, dad and daughter curled up for their first nap together on a four poster bed.
"We got to let everything settle in and bond with her," Jana said. "We got to chill, decompress and talk about what we had been through. In a hospital you can't just lay there as a family. This was really great."
And both new parents felt relieved and happy.
 "I felt so powerful too," Jana said. "I did it on my own. I didn't have any help. I did everything. That's so empowering. I brought that baby into the world the way nature designed."
Mike Lampe bonds with his daughter, Marin, just after her birth while midwife Samantha McCormick takes care of Jana Lampe.
Jana and Mike Lampe chose to have a waterbirth at The Family Birth Center Fort Myers.
"A lot of people think regular birth is a medical emergency, and it's not," said Mike Lampe. "It's a natural thing. Most women should not  have problems."
The Lampes are both chiropractors who run their own practices. They wanted a more natural birth experience.
"The water birth is so gentle for the baby and for the mom as well," she said. "The warmth of the water acts as a 'aquaderal' and controls the pain. It eases stress, tension and pain and drastically reduces tearing."
Certified nurse midwife Samantha McCormick, helped coach Jana Lampe through her labor and delivery.
"It was an exquisitely beautiful birth," McCormick said. "It was perfect on every level."
The Lampe family continues to talk about the amazing birth of their daughter, Marin Lampe.
"It's good for women to see that it's an option," Jana Lampe said. "It's a positive experience."
Here are some of the questions the Lampes and others have posed to the staff at The Family Birth Center Fort Myers:
Q. Is underwater birth safe?
Most people worry about the baby breathing under water, and this is a very common question. Researchers into waterbirth have determined that the risk of the baby breathing under water during birth is a false fear.
Don't forget that the baby has been "under water" the entire time he or she was in the womb. Water is the most natural environment for a baby.
Babies are born with all kinds of "reflexes"; automatic behaviors; one of them is the "Dive Reflex." A newborn immersed in water will close its mouth and open its eyes (do not try this at home!).
When the baby is born in water, it is still attached to the umbilical cord and receiving oxygen exactly as it was in the womb. A baby born under water doesn't even realize it is born until you take him or her to the surface. It is a very gentle way to welcome a new life.
The midwife brings the baby out of the water within a few seconds of birth, to minimize any risk.
Q. Why would I want to have my baby in a birth center?
Not only are you allowed to walk around during labor and eat and drink, we actually encourage it. You can have your baby in any position and are never confined to a "birthing bed" or strapped to monitors. During labor we monitor the mother and baby and the progress of labor in a way that doesn't interfere with your ability to move around.
You and your family will have complete privacy. You will get to know our small staff  during your pregnancy and by the end we usually all feel like family.
Your baby will never leave your side. Your partner will play a pivotal role in assisting you in labor. Your other children can be present for the labor and birth.
We will encourage and assist you to nurse your baby soon after birth. We have a pro-breastfeeding policy.
We follow up with a home visit and daily phone calls for the first week, so that we can help you with any difficulties that arise.
Q. What if something goes wrong?
The chances of you having a problem are very small. Unlike the stories one hears or the dramas on television, birth is generally a straightforward and safe process. Most problems that develop during pregnancy or birth have clear warning signs well ahead of time, and we can calmly plan for preventing or managing a problem.
Q. How much does it cost and will my insurance pay?
Because we contract with some insurance companies, we cannot quote an exact price, but complete care at the family Birth center Fort Myers costs about 1/2 to 1/3 of a typical delivery in a hospital.
We have very affordable self-pay rates and payment plans can be arranged. Insurance companies in Florida are mandated by law to cover midwives and birthing centers. | |
Copyright (c) The News-Press. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
The Lampe's were so pleased with their experience that they are planning to have their second child in the new birth center.
Here's Jana, holding 2 year old Marin, in front of a copy of the News Press article.
She is expecting their second child in April 2008.
Everything you always wanted to know about Waterbirth, but were afraid to ask...
(Published in Southwest Florida Parent & Child, September 2005) By Samantha McCormick, CNM
Is being in water during labor or delivering your baby under water really safe? Is it really a better way to have your baby? Can a simple tub of water really manage the pain of labor? How does it work and why does it work?
After 10 years as a midwife and over 100 water births and countless water labors, I can tell you that it really does work, and really is better and that all of the women I have helped to have an underwater birth have absolutely loved the experience. Imagine giving birth to your baby and being able to say afterwards that it was an awesome experience!
Let’s tackle the issue of safety first: the baby knows not to breathe underwater. Don’t forget that
the baby floats in water for 9 months. Being born into water is a smoother transition and less stressful for the baby, because it feels like “home.” The baby is protected by the Dive Reflex – all babies are born with an automatic response to being in water: they open their eyes and close the back of their throat. Please don’t attempt to prove this by tossing your 2-month-old in the pool, but trust that it is true and that all babies have I this ability for the first 2-4 months of life.
The primary effect of warm water immersion during labor is in reducing the pain of labor. Most of us know well the total relaxation a nice bubble bath provides. Being in water during labor does the same thing. It promotes deeper relaxation. As the woman relaxes, her hormones kick in and she starts progressing faster; labor becomes more efficient. Water minimizes pain so effectively that most women need no other pain control.
Water supports the mother’s weight so that she can assume positions (such as squatting) that would otherwise require more muscle energy. Water immersion for labor also promotes more efficient uterine contractions and better blood circulation, resulting in better oxygenation of the uterine muscles, less pain for the mother, more oxygen for the baby, a shorter labor, and helps the mother to conserve her energy while reducing stress on the baby.
Water immersion, with or without whirlpool jets, can be as effective as and safer than drugs or an epidural. At the Family Birth Center Fort Myers, we call our two deep Jacuzzi tubs our “aquadural.” The “Gate Theory of Pain” explains that contact with water stimulates the touch and temperature nerve fibers in the skin, which then block impulses from the pain fibers. We use the same principle when we shake our arm after hitting our finger.
Water relaxes the pelvic floor muscles and softens the tissues of the birth canal, making pushing and birth easier, reducing the need for stitches or an episiotomy. Water immersion during pregnancy lowers blood pressure and relieves swelling.
In the end, though, what the gentle way of giving birth in water provides is a peaceful, private, and empowering way to welcome a new life into this world. When we become parents, we have, after all, committed to the process of creating healthy adult human beings who will inherit the world we create for them. The relationship between a mother and child starts before birth, but is firmly established by bonding at the time of birth.
A mother who has had a beautiful and empowering birth experience will have an especially positive connection with that child; and a baby who has been welcomed with gentleness will have an especially positive association with the parents. The deep, positive bond created will permanently enhance the parent-child relationship. Many psychologists believe that babies born gently grow up to become more gentle adults, and have a greater ability to deal with problems non-violently. Which means that by choosing a gentle way to give birth, you can take a step towards moving humanity in a positive direction. Isn’t that the most empowering idea of them all?
First Babies Born in Baby Love Birth Center
After 9 years in Ft Myers, we moved to Cape Coral in October, 2007
The new birth center is specially designed for waterbirth, with hospital-grade waterbirth tubs
Wyatt Eaves Maxwell
First Baby born in the Birth Center
Jaiden Elizabeth Prouty
First Baby born in the Garden Room
Kaliiayah'Saraii Naomii Hines
First Baby born in the Ocean Room
Ocoee Elizabeth Standridge
Born in the Angel Room
Layla Gabrielle Moss
Born in the Ocean Room
Zakir Abdul-Salaam
Born in the Angel Room
A Father's Story
by Kyle Doty
Kyle's daugher, Sariye, was born December 2, 2007 at the birth center
The contractions had been getting steadily stronger all day long and I noticed that my wife had been acting dissimilar all day; she had taken on a more pale appearance and was very tired, quiet. It was 10:00 P.M. when we decided that we would begin to time the contractions. I took her phone and placed the setting on the “stopwatch” setting and started timing. One contraction would start and the clock would start running. That contraction would end, lasting one minute or more and I’d type it into the excel spreadsheet that I had going. I had already named it appropriately, “Contractions” and dated it. I had four columns: Start Time, End Time, Time Between Contractions and Notes. At first they were nine minutes apart, nothing to get too excited about, but still enough to time them.
It was around 11:45 when I noticed that for a while they had been about five minutes apart and showing somewhat of a pattern. I called Samantha, feeling badly about the time of night, but also knowing that this is exactly what she lives for everyday. Samantha kindly told me that once the contractions are steadily under five minutes apart to call her back. My wife and I, for the next several hours sat in our condo getting ready for the big moment when we could call Samantha back so we could go to Baby Love. I timed contractions while my wife labored in the shower sitting on a kitchen chair. I read to her from the bible, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I massaged her back and kissed her forehead holding her close telling her, “You can do this. Are you alright?”
Finally, at 2:00 in the morning the contractions took a more calculated turn more towards the four minute thirty second route and getting shorter, I made the call. Samantha answered the phone as though she had been expecting my call and said, “Cool, come on in and I’ll be waiting.”
The drive to Baby Love was short as we live about fifteen minutes away, but it’s an odd thing driving at 2:45 in the morning to go somewhere knowing that on the trip back home your life is going to be forever changed. There are few times in life when that happens. For me, which those feelings only swept across me twice before, when I traveled around Central America, North America and the Middle East in search for the true “me” and when I got married. We came to Baby Love and everything was perfect for my wife. The lights were low and the water was running; everything was adequately prepared for the birth of our daughter. There was something enchanting about all of it.
I helped my wife wherever I could be of service. I found that there was nothing that I could do in order to “fix” this particular situation. In most cases when there is a problem or a pain I can help, but this wasn’t anything ordinary and I couldn’t offer any tangible, true help that would take the pain away and I felt the overwhelming feeling of helplessness. The contractions got stronger and the pain my wife was feeling was growing more and more. I was tired, but wasn’t about to complain, nothing compared to what was in front of me. Hours had passed and our daughter was almost here. My wife had been pushing for a while and I could see that soon we would have another little girl. I was excited, but still felt weak. My wife was there in the tub feeling all of this pain, though she said it was manageable and she was in good spirits I still felt like she and I should be sharing this pain. Together in passion and love we made this little life and together we should share in this birth. I felt like all I could offer was my hand to hold even though I knew that my words and my being there was bigger than I saw it.
The moment finally came where my daughter’s head was all the way out and someone said, “I can feel her face.” I remember thinking, “she has a face…oh wow….this is my little baby!” Her shoulders came next and then the rest of her tiny body and then she cried and there she was, after all of these months of preparation and waiting there she was in the flesh! 
I loved her instantly. I was dazed for a while and sat watching the flood of people come in and out and answered the same questions of “are you excited?” and “how do you two feel” with the same answers, not giving anyone the real, true answers. I was just trying to wrap my mind around what had happened. It’s almost like a car accident you just keep playing it over and over in your mind. I didn’t mean to correlate birth to a car accident, but it’s the only thing that shocking that I could think of at the moment.
Everything was faded gray that day, a blur but a day I’ll never forget and even now as I write little moments flood my mind in living color. Sounds and words spoken make me remember the Birthing Center that day. It is something I’d not trade for any sum of money or any experience of a lifetime. I guess to sum things up I need to say that birth really does emphasize the power women have and the amazing things the female body can do.
The birth of
Avery Lee Holland
Born into water, at home
June 12, 2006 at 5:49 PM
8 lbs, 14 oz, 21 inches
In retrospect I think I knew that today was the day. I woke up around 12:30 AM having stronger surges then I had had yet. I had been having pretty strong contrations for a week or so, but nothing like these. So I went back to sleep, just in case. Woke again around 2:30 to strong surges, again. I had a feeling. I was so excited, but forced myself back to sleep for a bit, knowing I would need the energy. I woke
about every hour or so after that, and every time the surges were still there.
Finally my husband's (Mike) alarm went off at 5 AM. I was wide awake at that point and he asked me how I was doing, and I remember saying, "I am in early labor!" Yippee! He said, "Awesome, should I go to work?" I told him to go and if things started to get crazy, I would call him. He decided to go in until about 8 when he had his other counter person coming in.
So, I got up and started running down my "birthday" list that I had been making for the past few weeks. Then I went to the computer andsat on my birth/ yoga ball for a bit and went through my emails and stuff, just trying to take it easy. I made sure all of our birth stuff was in order and tried to have a normal morning. Gabe (ds1) got up around 7:30 and we hung out. My mom called, as she does EVERY morning, and I told her she needed to be "on call" for the day. She was pretty excited, to say the least! It was really happening! Mike got home a little after 8 and the surges had picked up a bit – but still totally OK at that point. I made a nice cup of Red Raspberry Leaf tea and really, really tried to make myself stay calm!
We called my midwife, Samantha, around 10 a.m. to give her the heads up – the surges were about 6-8 minutes apart at that point and she said to call her when they were more 4-5. We got the birth pool inflated, changed our sheets, played with Gabe and did some hypnobirthing stuff. Around 1 or so, the surges had picked up, and I had my mom come and pick up Gabe. I didn't know it at the time, but he would not be there for his brother's birth, which was probably for the best for everyone, as I had been very vocal when I birthed Avery (LOUD!) It probably would have been too much for him. We called Samantha at 1 p.m., and I decided to take a shower.
Ahhhhh, that was one great shower. I probably wouldn't have gotten out except I wanted to make sure we had enough hot water for the birth pool. Everything at this point was so surreal and wonderful. After the shower we did some more relaxation stuff; I was really having to work through the surges now and after a bit I made him fill up the birth pool. I was really focused on how great the water would feel and I needed to be in that pool ASAP! I was in the pool when Samantha arrived – My surges had been coming on strong, about every 2 minutes or so. My midwife's assistant, Tabitha also arrived soon thereafter. It was about 2:30 p.m.. It was getting really intense for me. I was really using my hypnobirthing breathing which helped tremendously. I got out of the pool and had to immediately assume the "polar bear" position on my bed – I did this for quite awhile. This was the only position that was even remotely comfortable at that point.
Around 4 p.m. or so, Samantha asked if I wanted her to check me for some reassurance. I agreed, she checked, and I was 6 cm open. That really threw me for a loop as I had been having intense surges for hours and at that point, I got really frustrated. A few minutes later, I started to lose confidence in myself and everything started to be more "painful." I remember crying to my husband, just whimpering. I got back into the pool and started to lose my focus.
I was probably in transition at that point, but didn't know it at the time. Samantha started reading funny stuff out of the Tao of Pooh that she found on our bookshelves, to lighten the mood, then she called my hypnobirthing instructor, Jaci. I got on the phone with her (not easy) and she assured me we would be OK and that the rest would go by quickly. She told me to put on my headphones and listen to my birth affirmations. I said OK, reluctantly. Sam fixed me a cup of nasty herbal stuff called "Serenity," I chugged it down and put on the headphones and listened to my birth affirmations. Mike held my hand and massaged my arms and a few minutes later the surges started coming one on top of another. Waves crashing. At some point I started moaning (loudly) through them, which really helped – it felt so good! It was such a primal sound, I heard myself and couldn't believe it was me. (The next day, Mike and I were talking about it all and I asked him about those sounds that I made, and he said it was the most awesome thing he had every heard. I love him so.)
After what seemed like an eternity, but was about 10 minutes, I felt the undeniable urge to get my baby boy out! I went from 6 cm to 10 in about an hour. Whew, intense! I started pushing in the pool sitting. That was not working and Sam suggested that I get on my knees. I did, they helped me flip over, and with the next surge I bore down with every once of energy and love that I had in my body. And I let it out, vocally. I just growled through them, bearing down and directing all of my energy to birthing my baby. After 3 or 4 surges, I felt the burning of the head and Tabitha told me to reach down and feel him. I reached between my legs and there he was! He was really there! Another surge and I felt his head being born. Another push and I felt his body come out. The relief – so sweet. So very, very sweet. Samantha exclaimed that he was still in the caul. Then I heard her say "Wow, this is my first waterbirth with the baby still in his sac!" They were all so excited. They had to remove his sac while he was still under the water. They did and then he was placed in my arms and I saw my baby for the first time in this world. Yet, I knew him so well already. Everything felt so beautifully right in the world. His cord continued pulsating for 40 minutes or so, we sat in the water and loved him. My son and parents came soon thereafter. After the cord was cut, I birthed the placenta on my bed. I did tear slightly.
An amazing journey that I cannot find words to do it justice. So incredibly awesome, yet so natural and simple at the same time. This is the way things s