Jamie's Homebirth Experience

After having read many people's birth stories I am excited to finally be able to share my story. Feel free to skip this one if it is not something you want to learn more about. Don't worry though, I won't be sharing a ton of gory details.

Sunday morning, September 9th I realized that labor was imminent and was glad to have the sightseeing trip with my parents as a distraction. During the sightseeing I had some back pain, but I wasn't sure if it was just discomfort from the car ride or contractions. After the drive through the mountains we went to the grocery store to pick up some last minute items - like the chicken that Judy would need for the chicken soup. When we got home I was completely exhausted! And I really didn't do anything strenuous. I took a nap and realized that my contractions were regular, about every 20 minutes or so. I took a warm bath to relieve some of the pain and to relax a bit; the contractions seemed to slow. After talking with Ryan we decided to let Judy, our midwife, know that my contractions were becoming regular and we discussed again when to call her and that I should try to sleep between the contractions as much as possible to conserve energy.


Later that evening we went out for Mexican with my parents. After dinner we tidied up the house and prepared ourselves for labor to begin. I tried to sleep, but couldn't - partly because of the contractions and partly due to the excitement of the whole thing. I tried another warm bath as it had relieved my pain and slowed the contractions previously - the bath didn't seem to work as well this time, I was relaxed, but the contractions continued and got even closer together. I went back and forth between the bed, the bath and the couch so as not to disturb Ryan and to relieve the back pain I was feeling from the contractions. Finally at 2am, when my contractions were 4 minutes apart I decided to wake Ryan and let him know that we should call Judy. I had wanted both Ryan and Judy to get as much sleep as they could; Judy had been up for over 24 hours the day before at another birth.

When Judy arrived around 4am I was 4 cm dilated - she was surprised that I was already that far along. Judy got started on making the chicken soup fairly soon after she arrived and would check on me and the baby's heart rate at regular intervals. Ryan was a tremendous help in encouraging me to relax and massaging my back during contractions. Unfortunately since I had not been able to sleep at all, most of my day was spent lying in bed. I had tried various positions to go through the contrations in, but the baby's heart rate was the strongest when I was lying on my side. Lying on my side was not exactly how I envisioned myself going through my labor at home. I had hoped to be up and walking around in order to use gravity to my advantage. I do remember telling Ryan that I could see why women would get an epidural, and at that point I hadn't even reached the hardest parts of labor.


Judy had me do some exercises on the stairs to try and encourage my labor to progress. I walked around for a little while after this and hoped to find something funny to watch on TV - laughter is supposed to help labor along too. Nothing good was on TV, but my parents stopped by after touring Celestial Seasonings and before going to a movie. My dad made a few jokes and got me laughing; just as they were leaving my water broke. I believe my dad helped my labor to progress.

When I reached the last phase of the first stage of labor (transition - the cervix dilates from 7 cm to 10 cm) I was blessed to have 6 minutes between contractions and I was actually able to rest/sleep between them in order to prepare myself for the next stage - pushing! This is where another surprise came for both Ryan and I. The baby was not born on our bed as we had envisioned, where I had started the pushing stage, but rather the baby was born on the floor in the small doorway of our bedroom. Judy had encouraged me to try holding the doorknob and squatting down to push - this enabled me to use gravity to help move the baby down. Eventually I was sitting/leaning up against Ryan and pulling myself up to a squatting position during the contractions and pushing. Sadly, Ryan was unable to catch the baby as he had hoped due to the tight quarters of where we were giving birth and the fact that I was sitting on him/leaning up against him between contractions. The transition and pushing stages each took about 2 hours (a total of 4 intense hours). Ryan, Judy and Peggy (Judy's assistant) were all very encouraging in helping me to push and stay as relaxed as possible.


After the baby was born I stayed on the floor with Aviella still attached to the placenta in order to reap the benefits of the rich blood and oxygen she was receiving through the umbilical cord. Ryan cut the cord about 45 minutes after she was born. While waiting for this my mom fed me chicken soup to help me regain some energy and strength. After eating the soup and cutting the cord I was able to breastfeed Aviella. She was amazing, she latched on right away. She had been waiting - sucking on her own hand or Ryan's finger until I was ready to feed her.

This was by far the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my entire life! And I wouldn't do it differently if I had it to do all over again. I loved being in my own home and being surrounded by people that loved and cared for me (and whom I knew).

Waiting for Baby

The ladies of Smiley Court (our housing area) decided to throw Jamie a baby shower. Jamie was skeptical if she would even make it to the baby shower as they had chosen to have it the day before her due date. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Jamie made it to the event without the birth of a baby being an issue. Jamie was extremely blessed by the generosity of her new community members as she received many gifts from women she barely knew.


Ryan continued his studies and we both went about our daily tasks as usual hoping that any day the baby would come. Jamie's parents were especially interested in the baby arriving very soon as they had a flight scheduled for the upcoming weekend. When the flight was made, it was assumed that Jamie would be like her mother in that Jamie's mom was early with both of her births. As Jamie's due date came and went her parents had to decide whether or not to delay the trip or come anyway.

Friday night (September 7th) marked two days overdue, Jana (one of our neighbors/friends) invited Jamie to attend the sewing club. Jamie and Ryan were also invited by a couple from the church they have been attending to go to another couple's apartment in a different family student housing area to play games and hang out. Although we would have enjoyed meeting more people from Boulder Valley Christian Church, Ryan needed to study before Jamie's parents arrived the next day. Jamie opted for sewing club in order to give Ryan some time to study.

At bedtime the baby was extremely active - it was actually a bit scary how active the baby was, the baby seemed to be trying to fight inside Jamie's belly. This activity kept Jamie up for a little while, but eventually the baby stopped and Jamie fell asleep. Around lunch time on Saturday Jamie realized that she didn't remember feeling the baby move since about 3am when there was more of the fighting activity in her belly. Ryan listened for the heartbeat, but could not find it (usually he can hear it very clear). Jamie decided to call Judy, her midwife. Judy was finishing up at a birth, but said she would stop by as soon as she was done. This concerned us even more. We sat down and prayed for the baby and almost as soon as we had finished the baby moved. Jamie continued to feel the baby move throughout the rest of the day, but went to Judy's house for another prenatal visit just to make sure everything else was okay.




Jamie's parents arrived Saturday evening and we went out for dinner - Japanese. We then walked along the Pearl Street Mall, hoping that walking might encourage Jamie to go into labor. The next day we had made plans to gather a picnic lunch and drive the Peak to Peak highway stopping to see various sights along the way. Sunday morning Jamie awoke to a sign that indicated she would be likely to go into labor within the next three days. She called her midwife, but it being Sunday morning, she was at church and did not answer. Jamie called Peggy, the midwife intern, and talked to her about Jamie's plans for the day and whether or not it was alright to continue with them. Jamie also spoke with Judy and the picnic lunch plans were fine with her, she only encouraged that Jamie conserve energy and not do any strenuous hikes.

A Night on the Town

After Ryan's first week of classes we decided it would be good to get out and enjoy ourselves before we have a little one to worry about, so Friday evening we had a "night out on the town." Thanks to Andrea and Shane (Ryan's sister and brother-in-law) we had a gift certificate for the Dushanbe Tea House, where we enjoyed a wonderful ethnic dinner in a Tajikistan tea house, check out the amazing history of this place and see pictures of the beautiful Tajikistan artistry at: www.boulderteahouse.com. After dinner we decided to take a short walk and ended up at the Pearl Street Mall - a section of shops, galleries, restaurants, cafes, etc. and of course street entertainers. The CU (University of Colorado Boulder) marching band was out in full force, Saturday was the first football game of the season and fans were gearing up for the big event - CU was up against CSU (Colorado State University), their cross state rival. (CU won in over time! Woo Hoo, I guess we are Buffaloes now.)


Saturday, since Jamie still had not started labor, we decided it would be good to get another hike in. Upon the advice of Anthony (Ryan's brother), we decided to find a shorter hike that we could do multiple times if so desired. Chautauqua Park was our destination - another historic place in Boulder (and popular place to go, the parking lots were all full and there were people everywhere!) At the Ranger's Cottage we got some recommendations on less crowded trails and picked one that was a 1.5 mile loop on the top of the mountain. The hike was quite amazing with views for miles! At "May's Point" we climbed up some boulders and had the most amazing views of both Indian Peaks to our left (snow covered mountains in the distance) and Boulder (to our right). Climbing up and down some of the larger boulders was a bit challenging for Jamie and her very large belly, but she made it. We also spotted several black squirrels along the trail that were quite unique - their ears appeared to be very long which almost makes them look like funny rabbits. On our way back down the mountain we spotted a mule deer doe and fawn grazing on the side of the road. The fawn was a bit more wary than mom, but we were able to take pictures of both.


That evening we played Settlers of Catan with our friends Phillip and Jana. Jana has taken over the planning for the baby shower that the Smiley Court ladies have planned for Jamie. The shower has been moved to this coming Tuesday (the day before Jamie's due date, we'll see if baby waits for the event).


The week started out pretty easy for Ryan with only one class on Monday, August 27th. His busy days are Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesday he decided to drop his Monday/Wednesday class and take a class called Engineering for the Developing World, which is only on Wednesdays (for 3 hours). Ryan will likely hold office hours for his TA position on Mondays and Fridays, so he will have to be over at CU every day of the week. Unfortunately there are still conflicts between his Advanced Solar Design class and the class that he is a TA for. It appears that the best solution may be to have the TA class videotaped so that Ryan can attend the Advanced Solar class. Ryan has been busy doing homework and reading during his spare moments at home. This is a large undertaking and a good challenge for him.



While Ryan was in classes and meetings throughout the week, Jamie continued to prepare for baby's arrival. She cleaned the house, did the laundry, shopped for groceries and prepared meals to freeze for when the baby does come and she does not want to get out of bed. On Wednesday, Ryan and Jamie went to see the midwife Judy and her intern Peggy. They said everything looks good and Jamie is right on track. We are very grateful for Judy and Peggy, Judy is kind of like our mom away from home. Jamie's next appointment is Wednesday, September 5th - her due date. Jamie's mom is hoping that the baby arrives before her and Jamie's dad plan to fly out on Saturday, September 8th.