Vera Faye’s Birth Story

Published by admin under In The Begining on May 13, 2009

The day of Vera’s birth I was 4 days overdue, and had a pre-natal appointment with Holly our midwife. I had eaten Burger King the night before, and thought that I had gas from eating the flame broiled burger with onions haha. It turned out my stomach was hurting because I had been in active labor. When Holly performed my exam she was amazed that I was at 7 cm already. She almost frightened me with her reaction. She told us to go home and fill the labor pool with water, and she would be right behind us.

We all got back to our apartment, and Matthew’s mother had met us there too. I had previously decided that I had just wanted her and Matthew to be the only ones there besides the midwives. Matthew and Holly began to fill up the labor pool that we had already had erected for weeks in our apartment. I had been tempted earlier in the week to go swimming in it haha, but didn’t want to waste a liner. While they were doing that my contractions were picking up in frequency, and pain. Our hot water heater ran out of hot water half-way through the pool being filled up so I got in anyways why they boiled water and finished filling it. The warmth from the water, and just the water itself relaxed my muscles and eased the pain. Between contractions the weightless feeling the water provided also allowed me to focus on my body, taking deep breaths, and the end result. It almost felt like I was being held. During labor I turned inward and focused on letting the contractions roll over me like you would waves. Matthew was my anchor, and stayed with me the entire time even though I think he had to go to the bathroom haha. I had the lights off in our room, and everyone was quiet for me. Matthew’s mother waited out in the living room since our room was small, and prayed for me. If it weren’t for the pain every few minutes it would have been like being at a spa or something haha. Everyone was encouraging, and they checked on me ever now and then. I barely even noticed when they did check.The contractions started to pick up after four hours of being in the pool, and my water was still in tack. Holly asked me if she could break it since I was fully dilated and not really progressing as far as pushing. I got out of the tub for her to break the water(which was clear), and then the contractions got more painful and close. I almost didn’t even want to get back into the pool. Once I got back in I could tell it was time to push. My body was practically doing it by itself. Every push I was so close to meeting the little person I had carried for nine months. I pushed for about an hour, and then her head crowned. It stung a lot, but at that moment I realized only two more pushes and she would be here. It was the only moment that I cried out, and Holly encouraged to me keep my vocalizations low and in control. She also asked me if I wanted to touch her head. That I refused hah. I was in control, and did not want to loose it/get sidetracked in thought. The moment she came into the world was so quiet and peaceful. She was asleep. I held her in the pool as she stretched out and opened her eyes. Once she realized she wasn’t in the uterus anymore she started crying hehe. I held her close, and she stopped crying. Holly, and Jennifer(the assisting midwife) wrapped her up in towels while I was still holding her, and instructed me on birthing the placenta. That was quick and painless. It was amazing how short Vera’s imbecilic cord was. Matthew thought that was odd haha. He joked she must have been using the placenta as a bean bag since she couldn’t go very far. The midwives cut her cord after it stopped pulsing since Matthew didn’t want to. After that was done we laid down on the bed, and I was able to nurse her while they did my examination. I did not even tear, but had a couple of lacerations internally. Water is amazing! After Vera was done breastfeeding they did her Apgar tests,vitamin k shot, eye drops, and weight. She was a healthy 7lbs 8oz and 20 inches long. Holly and Jennifer cleaned everything up while we laid in bed with Vera. It was such a beautiful and peaceful birth. I knew that that was how childbirth was meant to be.