{Meri – having her range of motion checked just a short while after birth.}

When it’s time to arrive our babies like to come fast.  This we know.  It is a huge blessing in some ways and a little crazy in others.  We have discussed the idea of a home birth before, but never felt it was right for our family until this last birth.  There are risks that need to be calculated.  We have always had low-risk pregnancies.  Labor and delivery have never been complicated.  We had our doctor do all the blood work and was on board if we needed to suddenly – or not-so-suddenly – have a hospital birth.  We decided on two mid-wives we love and trust.  Ones that insist on proper care and will transport at the first signs of need – no egos there.  We consciously made the decision to have a home birth and there were so many ways our family was blessed by this decision.

A few reasons I loved a home birth:

We had a fairly relaxed atmosphere.  We were not rushing to hospital (it is a 20 minute drive – quite a bit less when Katey was about to be born).

We felt prepared and learned so much along the way.  I learned which vitamins and supplements would help with a lot of my symptoms.  (flavinoids and cayenne for varicose veins; calcium and magnesium for charley horse cramps in my legs; overall better nutrition and exercise for arthritis; water, protein and walking for swelling; & bland diet and papaya enzymes for heartburn}  I loved learning about more natural ways to provide relief.

I took better care of myself.  Especially towards the end I reported weekly on my water intake, exercise (yoga and walking) and sleep.  It was my best pregnancy yet, in huge part to taking responsibility for my care.  I loved the personal care from my mid-wives.  Texts and phone calls to check in were common.

I also learned a lot about the birthing process.  I learned how to tuck my chin to my chest to help curve the spine and help the baby along.  We planned on a water birth and were able to have that at the end of labor and delivery.  Barely.  Labor is fast for us.  By the time the pool was full Meri was almost here.  The warm water totally muted my contractions and I was able to focus for the delivery.  Huge blessings.  I breathed through contractions and gave gentle pushes between contractions to allow time to stretch.  Every other delivery I have torn – partly because of the speed of delivery.  This time we were able to slow the process a little by breathing and waiting and the outcome was much better.  A little nick, nothing more – and it healed up on it’s own.

It was wonderful to have Jim Bob deliver Meri.  After the head and shoulders were through (the tricky part 🙂 ) Jim Bob took over and was able to place Meri in my arms.  She was then wrapped in a towel and we enjoyed meeting each other face to face.

Pure happiness.

My home is a wonderful place to recover.  Jim Bob made sure we were stocked up on Cottonelle toilet paper, a variety of cranberry and grape juices, and crushed ice from Fred’s.

There were a few things I missed about having a baby at the hospital.  I missed the baby heart monitor.  I love hearing the sound throughout labor.  A baby’s heartbeat can be checked often at home, but it wasn’t quite the same for me.  The nurses.  I miss the nurses in our small hospital fawning over our new baby – often the only one there at the time.  Our little ones would get three baths in the day we were there.  It was always fun to watch the sweet, excited nurses.

I know not all women would be able… or would even want to have a baby at home, but it was wonderful for us.  We loved our experience and packed up our pool (minus the liner) for future use.

Meri a few days later: