Christian
If you haven't popped over to my husband's blog to read our "official" announcement, go take a peek.
FAIR WARNING: Birth story ahead. Read at your own risk!
Christian's birth went as well as could be! Started labor at 10:20 p.m. and was at the hospital by 11. Lisa was an incredible doula/friend/support- she kept rubbing my lower back and let me cry all over her shoulder during transition. Our much-loved CNM sat back and allowed me to just labor anyway I wanted, which was mostly on my knees or squatting on the edge of the bed. She never demanded that I do anything other than what I was doing- she just watched me to gauge what was going on. The nurse watched the monitor, but the midwife didn't seem to care about it. Very nice! Then when she saw I was in transition, she calmly put on a gown and came over to assist. The only thing she told me to do was to lean back a bit so he could get over my pelvic bone.
I felt like I had to push a long time, but my membranes never ruptured until he was born- they were bulging out and he had to push through them. Head, shoulders, and body all came at once! No oxytocin- the midwife let me deny everything, including a hep-lock, and she just massaged my uterus until she told me to cough and the placenta came out quite easily. No tearing, either. Praise God!
The whole labor/delivery was so smooth and terrific. The nurse God Providentially gave us was an MK who grew up in Africa and she returns for weeks at a time to assist in a clinic in Sierra Leone. She had no problem with the way I was laboring or our denial of anything routine that wasn't necessary.
Feeling very, very blessed!