Full Circle Midwifery

Naomi Hope Roberson’s birthday – 12/26/08

I had some false labor on Sunday, 12/20, which thankfully turned out to be nothing because there was another awful snowstorm that night. Nothing much happened for the next few days. We spent Christmas day at my parent’s house. I was really uncomfortable and felt lots of low pressure and contractions during presents. I didn’t have much of an appetite, either.

We got home about 8pm and ended up stuck in the end of the driveway because of yet another snowstorm. Mike said I could have the baby anytime the next day as soon as he could fix the snowblower and get the van unstuck

Well, he wasn’t going to have that opportunity! I only slept for a couple of hours and began feeling some contractions about 2am. I stayed in bed a while, hoping I’d go back to sleep, but I wasn’t able to. I decided to get up and have a little snack and walk around. That was about 3 o’clock. I was still having some light contractions but fully expected them to stop, as I’d been experiencing nights like this all through December. I went to the bathroom a few minutes later and realized I had lost my mucus plug…no stopping this time!

Mike called Patrice to let her know things had started. We wanted to make sure she had plenty of time to travel here safely, since we’re about an hour away. She told us to keep her posted and she’d get ready to head up. About 3:45 I was doing some laundry and my water broke, so we called again and decided she should probably get started. We also called our parents.

My parents arrived a little after 4 and I had a big burst of water shortly after that. Contractions were really starting to pick up in intensity already, but I had long breaks between them. I was feeling good, but it seemed a bit surreal that labor was actually happening. I walked around, leaned over the side of the crib, sat on the toilet, just moved around a lot. Patrice and Barb arrived about 5am.

I was hoping for a water birth this time, and I really thought this was going to be a fast labor, so I got in the tub a little after 5. I’ve found that, for me, contractions seem stronger as soon as I get in the tub and I can relax well between. I snacked on a bit of fruit, Mike and my mom took turns staying with me. I asked Patrice to check me around 6 and I was at 3-4cm. I was bummed! But she reminded me that I usually deliver very soon after I get through transition. That was a little encouraging.

By 6:45 I was already tired of the tub…so much for the water birth! I tried lots of different locations & positions for the next hour and a half. I could really feel the baby moving down through my hips during that time.

As the other 4 kids woke up, the grandpa’s were great at keeping them entertained and helping them get dressed. Mike told Levi that today was the day the baby was coming and he got so excited! He came into the bedroom and gave me a huge hug. It was just the bit of encouragement that I needed.

Around 8:30 I wanted to know how far I had progressed and asked Patrice to check me again. I was still only at 5cm, and started to get discouraged. I spent some time lying on the bed, trying to rest between contractions, and really started to feel fear creeping up on me. My mom and mother-in-law never left my side, they were so encouraging and prayed for me. I had a little emotional break-down and cried, but I finally was able to release my fears and stop fighting my body. The next few contractions were powerful and different, I knew the baby was truly moving and I was opening up for delivery.

The grandpas dug our minivan out of the driveway and at about 9 o’clock they decided to take the kids to McDonald’s for breakfast. It was perfect timing because I was really starting to get noisy at that point and was worried that I would upset the kids.

9:25am, I turned over to my hands and knees, my favorite position for delivering. Within 10 minutes I started to feel a little pushy. At this point, the experience felt very out-of-body: I was there, but couldn’t really believe it was happening. I started to get goofy! I made everyone in the room (Mike, my mom, Mike’s mom, Patrice and Barb) tell me that I was their favorite! A few minutes later, I was waving my hands through the air and told everyone to chant with me, “open, open,” as I was visualizing my body opening up for the baby to come forth! It was a pleasing sound to hear them laugh and encourage me along.

Patrice encouraged me to push gently and blow, not wanting the baby to come too quickly. Oh, it was good to push and hard to blow! I just wanted to bear down and get that baby out! When the head was finally delivered at 9:56am, the baby had been turned slightly to the side  – which probably explained a little longer labor than I had hoped for! Baby was blowing bubbles and making sweet sounds with just the head born! 9:59 – Naomi Hope finally arrived! What a glorious moment!