Our first homebirth--Dominic Peter May

Dominic's story will always begin with our decision to have him at home.

With the 7 kids we already had filling our days and the two babies we lost last year, Bill and I have had a variety of good and bad experiences with hospital births. Over the the years good friends have shared their encouraging experiences with homebirthing, but it always sounded too risky and crunchy and not for us.

Our minds were more open after seeing the movie The Business of Being Born, and when we found out in Oct that I was pregnant again, we decided to look into homebirthing with Donna. It didn't take much--was it her saying "Stop running and gain weight"?--for me to feel like this was the right place for me to be. And that is how, after 40+ weeks of pregnancy, appointments that felt like Mom's Day Out with the kids in tow, and lots of repeating "a certified nurse midwife is a medical professional" to concerned friends and family, we found ourselves here.

At 8:40 pm on Tues I called Donna and told her--or she told me?--it was time for her to come.  Between contactions Bill and I got sleeping bags and kids together and Bill dropped them off at our friends' house.

Unfortunately, a severe thunderstorm blew in immediately after I called Donna to come, so they drove almost an hour in the pouring rain, and on the way one of their windshield wipers blew off. The room we chose for the birth flickered with the lightning outside which was a beautiful distraction for me while I bounced on a birthing ball and waited.

11:10 pm About an hour after Donna, Dawn and Karen arrived, I was at 8 cm,
  in the birth pool and laughing with Bill while telling the story of how we met.

12:30 am An hour later I realized I was having too much fun and would have
to force myself to focus if I was going to ever have a baby.

Joseph's birth had been so fast and easy that when this baby didn't just shoot out, I was surprised...and even at one point missed Pitocin!  Well, Pit does the work for you.  Without it, I had to spend several contractions praying and telling myself to move into a better position.

1:10 am with minutes to go:  In the hospital it had been hard for Bill
to be close with all the wires and tubes.  When I felt him take my hand
and start rubbing my hair during a rough contraction, I instantly relaxed.
I felt so grateful that we were where we were.

And then...tada!  1:22 am There was this little person in my arms and
Bill was grinning at me.  We all felt all along that the baby would be a girl, but we decided
to look anyway.  My determination: "It's ... an umbelical cord?"  I couldn't see.

A boy! A boy!  We have another boy!

So surprised and so happy!

Shortly after this things became more serious when I started to hemorrhage.  Donna's eyes became focused and intense beneath her headlamp as she took control of the situation.  While Donna directed everyone and massaged my uterus, Dawn gave me meds and started an IV and Bill kept time.  Karen watched and learned while quietly remaining in the background. The atmosphere was calm and under contol, and Bill and I felt very comfortable the whole time--not at all nervous or fearful.  In about 15 minutes Donna's face relaxed and she took off her headlamp and smiled. 

My barely visible IV and the fish scale are a nice juxtaposition
 of the different ends of the spectrum of midwifery care. 

Newborn exam shows we have a healthy 8 lb boy. 

We are so grateful to have little Dominic Peter here as a part of our family.  The kids are ecstatic and a little too enthusiastic to see him, kiss him and love him.  Bill will be home for a few weeks to help while I recover, and I feel typically tired but otherwise fine. Baby Dominic is breastfeeding, sleeping, snuggling, and working his way deep into our hearts just like he should.