Home Birth

I was born at home under water, so I grew up thinking this was a very "normal" thing to do.  When I was pregnant with my first and started telling people I was going to deliver at home I received many different reactions, "Why would you do that?";  "Isn't that dangerous?"; "Ohhh really? Hmmm".  We were living in California and you would think people would be a bit more open minded, granted we were not in Sonoma County where I grew up, we were living in the Sacramento area which is a little more conservative.  However I was connected to my midwife through a friend who worked at my university.  We moved to Seattle when Kieren was about a year and a half and later that year I found out I was pregnant with Zoe.  This time when people asked where I would deliver and I replied "home", there was practically no surprise in their reaction, in fact they were very supportive (for the most part).  I found a great team of midwives in Capital Hill and my birth experience with Zoe was much different than the first.  With Kieren my water broke first and then my labor went on through the night into the next afternoon.  Our midwife at the time lived about 45 minutes away but even though she came pretty early on, she ended up sleeping on our couch because as it usually goes with the first, things were moving slow.  With Zoe I was three days past my due date and somehow not patient enough to keep waiting for her to come in her own time so I took caster oil to help induce labor.  Let me take a little break here to say that although I am a HUGE supporter of home birth and believe strongly in it's benefits, I also think that each woman must birth where she is most comfortable and feels safe.  I do not think I am "better" or "more brave" than women who birth in the hospital, which leads me to the point of my tangent...if I had been in the hospital with Zoe, I would have been begging for an epidural.  To any of you who have been induced with pitocin, all I can say is WOW.  Caster oil is sort of the "natural" version of pitocin but mild in comparison.  The contractions were so intense, with no breaks in between.  I literally thought I was going to die.  Needless to say...this baby can take her sweet time and although I'm not very comfortable, I will NOT be doing that again.  Anyway, my midwife arrived with the student that was working with them just in time for me to get in the tub and start pushing.  Things went pretty fast and the student was actually the one who delivered Zoe, it was beautiful.

As you know, we were not planning to have a 3rd baby...but surprise!  In less than two weeks she is due to arrive.  We live in West Seattle now (for those of you out of state, it's sort of like it's own little island west of the main downtown area) and it's a great little community.  I was very lucky to find a midwife team right in the heart of West Seattle and very close to where I live and work.  Zoe comes with me to my appointments and "helps" them check my blood pressure and listen to baby's heartbeat.  It's a very warm, welcoming and relaxed environment.  I sit on a couch with a ton of beautiful handmade pillows and they ask me "What's on your mind?  How are you feeling and sleeping?"  This time around, I don't have much to say other than a couple questions here and there.  I mean, it is my third pregnancy.  However this time has also been much different in that I have needed a few house calls (which can I just say is the coolest thing that they actually come to my house!!).  I had a weird vertigo incident which was possibly linked to low blood pressure and paged my midwife in the middle of the night.  She came over to check my vitals and babies and make sure I was okay and didn't need to go to the ER.  I've also had a lot of light contractions this time and more than once have paged because I thought maybe "this is it".  Usually you hear stories of women who rush into the hospital and are sent home because they're not in true labor yet.  I will brag a bit about how nice it is to lay in my own bed, as my midwife comes to my house to make sure things aren't progressing and we're okay.

Like I said, home birth is not for everyone.  If you have a "high risk" pregnancy or something else going on that requires close monitoring, medical interventions are a wonderful thing.  For me though, I am so thankful to have grown up with home birth and chosen it for my own children.  This time we have decided to have our other two children present because we didn't want to send them away and make them feel like they weren't included.  My assumption is that if I am in labor during the day and they are awake and in the house, Kieren will be grossed out and want to do something else and Zoe will be by my side trying to make me feel better.  Who knows how they will react but it is important to me that they learn that birth is a beautiful, magical miracle.  A messy and maybe scary miracle, but amazing at the same time.

I am so thankful for all the midwives and doulas in the world, YOU ARE AWESOME!  Seriously, it takes one strong, confident, courageous woman to be a midwife (not to mention the sleep deprivation!).  After this little one is born, I will have had three very different and special home birth experiences and I could not have done it without the love, care and support I received from my midwives.