I might add to this, because I feel like I'm forgetting a lot!
Avery Samuel McIlwraith
Born at home on June 22, 2009 (39 weeks, 6 days)
9:20 AM
10 lb, 6 oz
22 1/2 inches
Who's Who:
Andy - my husband
Caelan - my first son (now 22 months old)
Janine - my sister
Pam - my midwife
Muraiha - my midwife's daughter/assistant
Important Background Info:
I was induced with my first son at 39 weeks, 2 days due to high blood pressure. I had a vaginal birth with no pain meds, but I had 4th degree tearing from clitoris to rectum and was in tremendous pain for 6 months postpartum. This led to breastfeeding issues that took me a month to resolve, depression, and some permanent scarring. I suspect this all was due to the Pitocin sending my body into such a violent, intense labor and my OB encouraging me to keep pushing when contractions were over after scaring me by telling me the baby's heart rate was dropping. I have always regretted agreeing to the induction without fully researching other options for lowering/controlling my blood pressure and/or simply monitoring the baby's safety until I went into labor on my own. I chose a homebirth with a midwife for this second pregnancy in an attempt to heal myself and provide my second son with a more peaceful entrance into the world.
My Story:
On Sunday afternoon (June 21st), we met Janine and Kory (my sister and BIL) at my parents' house and all went swimming. After swimming, we all went out to dinner at this little restaurant we all like that mostly serves junk food. I had a craving for cheese fries and literally ate an entire basket. When Andy, Caelan, and I got home that night, I felt incredibly ill. Caelan and Andy both fell asleep, but I was up and restless. I had nausea, heartburn, and diarrhea, all of which I attributed to the cheese fries. Looking back, those were all early labor symptoms. I felt about the sickest I'd felt my entire pregnancy. I was actually a little freaked out, because when I looked at myself in the mirror, I almost didn't recognize myself. My face looked different to me. I felt so sick and strange that I almost woke Andy up just to rub my head and take care of me, but I decided to let him get his sleep. I managed to fall asleep and slept until around 4 AM, when I woke up with a horrible contraction. After it ended, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I played on the computer for a while.
I eventually decided to try to go back to bed, and I was able to mostly sleep until about 6:30 AM, but I was having contractions on and off the entire time. At 6:30, I realized that the contractions were somewhat regular and REALLY painful, so I woke Andy up to tell him I was pretty sure I was in labor. Caelan was still asleep, so we got up to try to prepare the house for my labor and delivery. We had been keeping the house ridiculously clean and organized since I turned 37 weeks pregnant, but we had managed to get behind that weekend and the house, especially the kitchen, was a wreck. Andy tried to start on the kitchen, and my plan was to change the sheets and get our bed ready in case I ended up having the baby there. But my contractions were already too painful to move or talk through, and they were pretty much right on top of each other (and, for the record, only felt in my back, just like with Caelan - apparently that's just how I labor). A little after 7, I asked Andy to call Pam, my midwife, to see what she thought. I convinced myself that I couldn't be in active labor already, because labor had just started and, despite being close together, my contractions were really short. Pam said she'd come over to check me.
While I waited, Andy managed to get the bed ready and then helped me through the contractions. Standing up and leaning on the birthing ball on the bed while Andy put counter pressure on my lower back seemed to work the best, but OH MY GOD the pain. Caelan woke up in the middle of all this. He always wants to nurse when he first wakes up. I knew we’d be calling my mom to pick him up soon, and I didn’t know when I’d see him again, so I wanted to nurse him and make him happy before he left. I barely got through it! I eventually had to offer him pretzels for breakfast to get him to happily stop nursing!
Pam arrived some time between 7:30 and 8 (times get hazy for me at this point) and immediately checked me. She pronounced me 8-9 centimeters dilated with a bulging bag of waters. I was SHOCKED! Andy was excited! Pam called Muraiha, her daughter/assistant, to come as soon as possible with all their gear. The next little while is a total blur for me. I labored on the ball on the bed with some support from Pam and some from Andy while my mom came and got Caelan, Muraiha arrived, Andy helped bring all the midwife’s gear in, and the midwife and her assistant got set up. Janine also arrived during this time. The chaos eventually stopped, and everyone was able to focus on me and my labor. There was no time to set up the birthing pool my midwife normally provides, so we just stuck with my bed. The birthing ball on the bed thing was working pretty well, so I mostly stuck with that. Janine was lying on the bed where I could see her, stroking my hair and talking to me. Andy was behind me, putting pressure on my back and saying sweet, supportive things. Pam and Muraiha were back there as well. At some point, my water broke, but I can’t say I really remember it happening or even really felt it. It wasn’t too long after that that I felt the urge to push. I tried pushing in that same position, but it was difficult for some reason, so Pam recommend I sit up on the bed with Muraiha and Andy holding my feet for me. I didn’t like the feel of that at first either, because I felt like I was slipping a lot, but I was in so much pain that I really couldn’t think of an alternative, so I sort of just went with it. It was probably around 8:20 when I started pushing, and I had hoped it would go really quickly, since my labor had flown by. I think I fooled myself into thinking I was close to done, instead of remembering how hard the pushing part is. It was EXCRUTIATING. There were a million moments when I thought someone was going to tell me that his head was really coming out this time, but it did a lot of the peeking out then going back up thing! Anyway, his head finally came out, and AGAIN I fooled myself into thinking the rest would be fast, but it really wasn’t. His head wasn’t all that big, but his shoulders were broad, so it was tough to get the rest of his body out. With Caelan, once his huge head was out, the rest of him just slipped out behind it. After not making much progress the way I was, Pam decided I should turn over to push the body out, so I actually got up and turned over onto my hands and knees with the baby’s head already out of me. Andy and Janine said it looked incredibly freaky… it certainly FELT weird. I don’t remember many more details, other than it going a little quicker after that, although I do know that I was fairly certain I was going to pass out at one point, so Pam did give me an oxygen mask to breathe for a few minutes. When all was said and done, I probably pushed for about an hour and Avery Samuel McIlwraith was born at 9:20 AM, a little over 5 hours after I felt that first contraction. He was huge with a ton of hair!
I got to lay with him with the cord still attached for a long time. We tried nursing, but he wasn’t quite ready to latch on, so we just laid there close together, with his face touching my breast and belly. When the cord stopped pulsating, Andy cut it, then I delivered the placenta not long after with Avery still by my side. Pam evaluated me after that… one tiny tear, nothing requiring stitches. I actually never saw or even FELT this little tear. After that, I was able to nurse Avery for a loooooooong time, all snuggled in my bed. He latched on like a champ. My boys are both awesome nursers! After nursing for quite some time, Andy helped Pam clean Avery up and weigh and measure him. 10 lb, 6 oz and 22 ½ inches long… my big boy! I took a shower a short time later and felt almost completely normal immediately, which was shocking to me, since I didn’t feel normal for literally 6 months after Caelan’s birth. Someone had changed my sheets, so I was able to get back into bed all clean and snuggle and nurse Avery while everyone else cleaned up and made food. It was unbelievable! I couldn’t believe I had actually gotten my homebirth with a beautiful baby boy and no complications whatsoever. Within a few hours, Andy and I were home alone with Avery, watching Veronica Mars DVDs and updating Facebook while I nursed on the couch in my own clothes. My parents brought Caelan back that night (and, for the record, he had NO interest in his baby brother!) and he never even had to spend one night away from us. I am so grateful and happy for my birth experience, my amazing husband, my two healthy sons, my supportive family, and my kick-ass baby delivering body!
Shortly after birth...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
Nursing in my own bed after giving birth...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
Super cute Avery...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
Giant Baby in his first outfit...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
Faaaaaaaast forward a few weeks...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
From Avery Samuel - First Month
I will try to post even newer pictures soon, since he's almost a month old now!!!
Born at home on June 22, 2009 (39 weeks, 6 days)
9:20 AM
10 lb, 6 oz
22 1/2 inches
Who's Who:
Andy - my husband
Caelan - my first son (now 22 months old)
Janine - my sister
Pam - my midwife
Muraiha - my midwife's daughter/assistant
Important Background Info:
I was induced with my first son at 39 weeks, 2 days due to high blood pressure. I had a vaginal birth with no pain meds, but I had 4th degree tearing from clitoris to rectum and was in tremendous pain for 6 months postpartum. This led to breastfeeding issues that took me a month to resolve, depression, and some permanent scarring. I suspect this all was due to the Pitocin sending my body into such a violent, intense labor and my OB encouraging me to keep pushing when contractions were over after scaring me by telling me the baby's heart rate was dropping. I have always regretted agreeing to the induction without fully researching other options for lowering/controlling my blood pressure and/or simply monitoring the baby's safety until I went into labor on my own. I chose a homebirth with a midwife for this second pregnancy in an attempt to heal myself and provide my second son with a more peaceful entrance into the world.
My Story:
On Sunday afternoon (June 21st), we met Janine and Kory (my sister and BIL) at my parents' house and all went swimming. After swimming, we all went out to dinner at this little restaurant we all like that mostly serves junk food. I had a craving for cheese fries and literally ate an entire basket. When Andy, Caelan, and I got home that night, I felt incredibly ill. Caelan and Andy both fell asleep, but I was up and restless. I had nausea, heartburn, and diarrhea, all of which I attributed to the cheese fries. Looking back, those were all early labor symptoms. I felt about the sickest I'd felt my entire pregnancy. I was actually a little freaked out, because when I looked at myself in the mirror, I almost didn't recognize myself. My face looked different to me. I felt so sick and strange that I almost woke Andy up just to rub my head and take care of me, but I decided to let him get his sleep. I managed to fall asleep and slept until around 4 AM, when I woke up with a horrible contraction. After it ended, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I played on the computer for a while.
I eventually decided to try to go back to bed, and I was able to mostly sleep until about 6:30 AM, but I was having contractions on and off the entire time. At 6:30, I realized that the contractions were somewhat regular and REALLY painful, so I woke Andy up to tell him I was pretty sure I was in labor. Caelan was still asleep, so we got up to try to prepare the house for my labor and delivery. We had been keeping the house ridiculously clean and organized since I turned 37 weeks pregnant, but we had managed to get behind that weekend and the house, especially the kitchen, was a wreck. Andy tried to start on the kitchen, and my plan was to change the sheets and get our bed ready in case I ended up having the baby there. But my contractions were already too painful to move or talk through, and they were pretty much right on top of each other (and, for the record, only felt in my back, just like with Caelan - apparently that's just how I labor). A little after 7, I asked Andy to call Pam, my midwife, to see what she thought. I convinced myself that I couldn't be in active labor already, because labor had just started and, despite being close together, my contractions were really short. Pam said she'd come over to check me.
While I waited, Andy managed to get the bed ready and then helped me through the contractions. Standing up and leaning on the birthing ball on the bed while Andy put counter pressure on my lower back seemed to work the best, but OH MY GOD the pain. Caelan woke up in the middle of all this. He always wants to nurse when he first wakes up. I knew we’d be calling my mom to pick him up soon, and I didn’t know when I’d see him again, so I wanted to nurse him and make him happy before he left. I barely got through it! I eventually had to offer him pretzels for breakfast to get him to happily stop nursing!
Pam arrived some time between 7:30 and 8 (times get hazy for me at this point) and immediately checked me. She pronounced me 8-9 centimeters dilated with a bulging bag of waters. I was SHOCKED! Andy was excited! Pam called Muraiha, her daughter/assistant, to come as soon as possible with all their gear. The next little while is a total blur for me. I labored on the ball on the bed with some support from Pam and some from Andy while my mom came and got Caelan, Muraiha arrived, Andy helped bring all the midwife’s gear in, and the midwife and her assistant got set up. Janine also arrived during this time. The chaos eventually stopped, and everyone was able to focus on me and my labor. There was no time to set up the birthing pool my midwife normally provides, so we just stuck with my bed. The birthing ball on the bed thing was working pretty well, so I mostly stuck with that. Janine was lying on the bed where I could see her, stroking my hair and talking to me. Andy was behind me, putting pressure on my back and saying sweet, supportive things. Pam and Muraiha were back there as well. At some point, my water broke, but I can’t say I really remember it happening or even really felt it. It wasn’t too long after that that I felt the urge to push. I tried pushing in that same position, but it was difficult for some reason, so Pam recommend I sit up on the bed with Muraiha and Andy holding my feet for me. I didn’t like the feel of that at first either, because I felt like I was slipping a lot, but I was in so much pain that I really couldn’t think of an alternative, so I sort of just went with it. It was probably around 8:20 when I started pushing, and I had hoped it would go really quickly, since my labor had flown by. I think I fooled myself into thinking I was close to done, instead of remembering how hard the pushing part is. It was EXCRUTIATING. There were a million moments when I thought someone was going to tell me that his head was really coming out this time, but it did a lot of the peeking out then going back up thing! Anyway, his head finally came out, and AGAIN I fooled myself into thinking the rest would be fast, but it really wasn’t. His head wasn’t all that big, but his shoulders were broad, so it was tough to get the rest of his body out. With Caelan, once his huge head was out, the rest of him just slipped out behind it. After not making much progress the way I was, Pam decided I should turn over to push the body out, so I actually got up and turned over onto my hands and knees with the baby’s head already out of me. Andy and Janine said it looked incredibly freaky… it certainly FELT weird. I don’t remember many more details, other than it going a little quicker after that, although I do know that I was fairly certain I was going to pass out at one point, so Pam did give me an oxygen mask to breathe for a few minutes. When all was said and done, I probably pushed for about an hour and Avery Samuel McIlwraith was born at 9:20 AM, a little over 5 hours after I felt that first contraction. He was huge with a ton of hair!
I got to lay with him with the cord still attached for a long time. We tried nursing, but he wasn’t quite ready to latch on, so we just laid there close together, with his face touching my breast and belly. When the cord stopped pulsating, Andy cut it, then I delivered the placenta not long after with Avery still by my side. Pam evaluated me after that… one tiny tear, nothing requiring stitches. I actually never saw or even FELT this little tear. After that, I was able to nurse Avery for a loooooooong time, all snuggled in my bed. He latched on like a champ. My boys are both awesome nursers! After nursing for quite some time, Andy helped Pam clean Avery up and weigh and measure him. 10 lb, 6 oz and 22 ½ inches long… my big boy! I took a shower a short time later and felt almost completely normal immediately, which was shocking to me, since I didn’t feel normal for literally 6 months after Caelan’s birth. Someone had changed my sheets, so I was able to get back into bed all clean and snuggle and nurse Avery while everyone else cleaned up and made food. It was unbelievable! I couldn’t believe I had actually gotten my homebirth with a beautiful baby boy and no complications whatsoever. Within a few hours, Andy and I were home alone with Avery, watching Veronica Mars DVDs and updating Facebook while I nursed on the couch in my own clothes. My parents brought Caelan back that night (and, for the record, he had NO interest in his baby brother!) and he never even had to spend one night away from us. I am so grateful and happy for my birth experience, my amazing husband, my two healthy sons, my supportive family, and my kick-ass baby delivering body!
Shortly after birth...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
Nursing in my own bed after giving birth...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
Super cute Avery...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
Giant Baby in his first outfit...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
Faaaaaaaast forward a few weeks...
From Avery Samuel - First Month
From Avery Samuel - First Month
I will try to post even newer pictures soon, since he's almost a month old now!!!