emi's birth story

With only two sleeps left until Emi's 2nd birthday, it's only natural that I post a sentimental recollection of her birth story right? I thought so too.

Right away I had my mind and heart set on a natural water birth at home. Robert, my parents and everyone else tried to talk me out of it saying I was crazy and what if something went wrong. But it felt so right. I found a great midwife right away and dragged both my mom and Robert to appointments to let them ask all of their questions and voice any concerns. Pregnancy with Emi was the best out of all the others. I was sick off and on in the beginning but nothing I couldn't handle. I was happy to skip the regular glucose test, morning sickness meds and do everything as natural as possible with tinctures and good nutrition. I saw my midwife and her team once a month just like you would a regular OB. At 37 weeks my birth tub was delivered to the house and I ordered my home birth kit. Although it was an extremely hot summer, I was in no rush for her arrival, especially knowing this would be my last time experiencing pregnancy and giving birth. I was never nervous about the fact that I would be home, never worried about anything going wrong. On Saturday July 13th, five days passed my due date I woke up at 5am to some pretty good contractions. I sent a text to my midwife to let her know, and she was quick to send over the other midwives and assistants because my previous labors had been 8 hours and then 4 hours and she was concerned that I would go very quickly. My main midwife, Lorri is based out of Goldendale but serves many Yakima patients and has a clinic here as well for office visits. The others were Lindsay (midwife), Hollie (student), and Eudine (student then, now midwife). By 8am my house was full of these lovely ladies who set up camp around my dining room table catching up on paperwork, while I labored independently between our living room and master bedroom. Throughout the day I went on walks with my mom around the neighborhood, baked muffins, took a couple of naps, showered and painted Taya & Asha's bedroom. Yes, that seriously happened. All while my contractions were exactly 5 minutes apart. At around 4:30pm things started slowing down to the point of no contractions and I was at 6 centimeters. I was pissed. I decided to send everyone home and go to bed for the night. An entire week went by with not a single contraction. On Friday the 19th, I went to my usual weekly appointment at Lorri's office and there were no changes. Pretty much by that point I decided I was just going to be pregnant forever and I was okay with it. That night at exactly 12:30am (so Saturday) I woke up to a contraction that wouldn't let me talk or move. I immediately got on all fours in bed, face into my pillow, booty in the air (because my body decided that was comfortable) and dialed Lorri. Contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and I knew there wasn't much time. She said she was leaving Goldendale right then (poor thing had just gotten home from Yakima!) and called Lindsay and Hollie to get there first since they are local. Maybe 5 minutes after I hung-up with her I was in excruciating pain with my contractions and nudged Robert to wake up. He started getting things ready in the living room and filling up the tub with hot water. It was the only thing I would talk about between contractions, "I want the water. Fill up the tub. Is the water ready yet? Why is the tub not ready yet!? Baaaaabe, the water!" Lindsay arrived around 12:50 and wanted to check my dilation which SUCKED, but as soon as she was done I waddled down the hall to the living room and got into that glorious tub full of warm water. Best feeling EVER. At the same time Lindsey and Hollie arrived, so did my mom and best friend Brittnie. I clearly remember demanding Brittnie to get my hair in a headband and bun because it was driving me nuts and apparently I tried to smack my mother for shushing me because did I mention all three kids were home and sleeping peacefully in their rooms? Yep. 

I labored in the tub on my knees, with my arms hanging over the side for a little bit and then my body just knew when to push. I pushed that little mermaid baby right into my hands under the water and brought her up to my chest at 1:32am. 8lbs 11oz, 20 inches long. She was perfect and didn't even fuss, which is quite normal for home water births.

I got out of the tub and onto our couch with her before I even delivered the placenta. At that point I started bleeding a little too much and Lindsay had to give me a shot of Pitocin and some other meds which stopped it pretty quick. Early on in my pregnancy I had decided to do delayed cord cutting for all of the benefits I had educated myself on, so the first time Robert held her she was still attached to the placenta which was plopped into a container that sat beside him. Once the cord stopped pulsating, he cut it and I got her back for some skin to skin and started nursing her right away. Sometime around then, my midwife Lorri arrived. Around 4am, I snuck away for a long hot shower and by 4:30 the three of us were back into our own bed for some sleep. Having a homebirth truly changed my life as it has led me to my career choice and planted a passion in my heart that will never cease. Robert mentioned to me afterwards that he was so glad I put my foot down and pushed for this experience because it really was the perfect birth for us. You are so loved Emilia Rae Deacon.