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Or careful what you wish for you just might get it. if you know anything about my carry on with my Trust to get my hwb.
I woke up on Sat at 2.am with a strong period pain and thought I'll lie here as long as possible. 15 mins later I was on the toilet having a poo, thinking 'this is it', listening to dd1 laughing in her sleep and wishing her to stay asleep. At 3am contractions were 5 mins apart and was on my knees moaning which woke dh.
He begins to inflate the pool and i was now in the downstairs loo pooing again, 15 mins later and bellowing through contractions. He said, who do we need to call? So I ring my doula (3.15 am) between the next 2 contractions, then the hospital. Doula says she'll be there within an hour (she lives 30 min drive away) and i say 'I hope you get here in time!' Feeling a touch of desperation now.
By now I can't stand so I crawl back to the living room and hang over the birthing ball, producing a chorus of animal noises, Buddhist chanting, possibly even yodeling and amazed that i could some of them. the pool by now seems 1/4 filled and i wonder if it will be filled in time. i figure that i may end up delivering on land now and i didn't want that because of spd.
Dh puts the tens on but within 20 mins i feel the baby's head in my backside and feels her body take a big flip in my belly! i shout, 'you have to get me in the pool now!'
Dd1 wanders downstairs asking 'what's this?' and 'why are you in there?' i tell her baby sister is coming now and brace for the next contraction, no, bellowing! Dh phones the friends who were to look after her to find out that they had been on the lash and can't pick her up. oh well!
dh, carrying dd1, goes to turn the tap off in the kitchen and takes a fall in a puddle of water that leaked off the hose. i hear her scream and the fright in his voice so all i can imagine is blood. Thankfully he said he landed on her leg so i return back to labouring. I now know that dh settled dd1 on the couch and she watched the birth. by now the phone rings for the second time because the taxi with the midwives is lost.
i feel dd2 crowning and know if i put my hand down I'll feel her head. i tell dh that her head is coming so he looks in and cradles her little head telling me what he can see. and I'm thinking 'thank god she's coming out the right way round,' and settle in for the next contraction.
the shoulders and the rest of her came with the next contraction and i shout to dh to pick her up and bring her up face first. he says he can't because she was under me so i squat on my haunches and see this tiny body with little arms and legs up towards me and i scooped her up. by now it's no later than 4.20 and 2 mins later my doula arrives and 5 mins later the midwives arrive.
dd2 is called Alice Thomasina, weighs 8lb 6oz and has been breastfeeding like a champ since she was 20 mins old.
dd1 has a hairline fracture in her right leg and is smitten with her baby sister.
Oh my goodness - that has got to go down as one of the most amazing birth stories. You will be telling that one for years!! So thrilled for you that you got your homebirth after all the trials. Looking forward to joining you on the postnatal thread too, though not JUST yet .... !!
Hope dd1's leg mends soon - I'm going to be warning dp about that particular hazard before he gets let loose on filling our pool! She certainly won't forget her little sister's arrival will she?
wow i watched my mother give birth to my younger brother and sister, and will always remember it. v positively i might add! congratulations (and best wishes to poor dd1's leg!)
wow ! sounds like you did very well without your doula and MWs. well done. you kept calm in a slightly unnerving situation so sorry about DD1's leg, hope she is better soon.
I've been thinking about how I would react if this happened to me - an unexpected unassisted birth- and I think I would be absolutely terrified. But if my previous births are anything to go by, I'll have plenty of warning and the midwives plenty of time to get to me (at least they know where I live!) Well done foxy for staying so calm.
Wow, fantastic story Foxy - well done! Sounds amazing and you were really calm. Poor DD1, hope she gets better soon, but as everyone has said, at least she'll have a great story about the birth of her little sister
What an amazing story, shed a little tear too(I'm 6 months pg, that's my excuse ). Lovely names - welcome to the world baby Alice, and hope DD1's leg is better soon.
my first labour was an induction from hell due to PE which is why i foughtfor was determined to have a home birth.
lulu and those familiar with Ina May, there comes the point where you can only let your monkey do it.
and i am touched by the kind words for dd1.
she is now treating chocolate buttons and crisps as a food group, sitting on the couch leg propped up, watching cbeebees.
dh is fascinated that a woman in labour can go from an irrational being during a contraction to a lucid one barking instructions to him. and i thank my lucky stars that i made him watch the business of being born a couple weeks ago cause he hid his head in the sand most of this pg. he thinks it was a good experience esp after dd1's birth.
Basically: Your DH woke to your moaning. Neither your Doula or MW can get there in time and you don't have any pain relief. Your DD wakes up to find you in a half-filled pool but can't be taken away because the babysitters are drunk. Your DH slips in a puddle whilst carrying your DD and fractures her leg. You get a phonecall from a lost taxi. You give birth in the pool and bring her to the surface yourself
It does sound rather funny (provided your DD turns out to be okay).
I wanted him to see it because it was such wonderful story, and close to what we really REALLY wanted and missed out on ourselves(although this time the birth was fab)
btw: I really am glad that despite the worry that there must have been, you were able to get exactly what you wanted and have ultimate control over the whole thing
Wow Foxy what an amazing and eventful birth story!! Well done to you and dh
Hope dd1 is better soon. Hopefully dd2 will take her mind off her leg!
Your birth sounds so much like mine with dd only mine was an hour longer. It's a lovely feeling to be able to say "we did it ourselves" though isn't it
well well done foxy. like aitch, i'm v. envious of your accidental free birth! best wishes to dd1 for her poorly leg, but mainly well done you. i think you should write and tell ina may about your extraordinary inner monkey.
Ginger I was using foxytocin as a lucky charm name in the last 4 wks of pg to 'bring on labour'. Seems like it did the trick!
I am considering keeping it as it seems to have a good approval rating round the board plus with a birth story like this one, it seems like a great name to keep.
lulu I was thinking of contacting Ina May. She is in England at the moment. She is one of the Speakers at a conference held by Suzanne Colson and Biological Nurturing. I think she is speaking on the 3rd of 4th. I would have loved to make it but knew that I would have a tiny baby by then.
I do happen to know 2 other members of the Farm who run an organisation called Plenty. They ran this workshop in Belize over a whole year in remote communities. I have worked in this part of the world and it is where my soul lives.
So, yes, I will definitely be sharing my birth story with them and ask them to pass it on to Ina May for me.
Oh god kiskidee; I am in tears reading this. What an amazing, if slightly frantic, experience for all of you.
Firstly, welcome to the world Alice and bloody well done you! what a great birth story
Secondly, poor DD1; I hope her leg heals up quickly and that she isn't too traumatised by the whole thing. I guess a new little sister is dulling the worst of the pain?
Thirdly...well done to your DH for remaining calm (ish) and helping DD2 into the world. What an experience.
dh is well trained. he knows when it makes sense to take instructions rather than give them.
he thinks it was a really good experience. I don't think he'd change anything except taking dd1 to the kitchen with him which he did because he was worried if I started shouting again when he was gone that I'd spook her.
DD1 is gingerly beginning to walk on her cast but getting braver by the day.
Well done DD1. (you have to get used to that "1" and "2" thing now )
Hopefully the fuss over the cast will help with any sibling rivalry. Hope the BFing is going strong. You helped me when DD was small to persevere and carry on. We are still going at 25m - a big thanks to all posters like yourself. X
Dh phones the friends who were to look after her to find out that they had been on the lash and can't pick her up. oh well!
he said he landed on her leg so i return back to labouring. I now know that dh settled dd1 on the couch and she watched the birth. by now the phone rings for the second time because the taxi with the midwives is lost. 
.
- ooops, - sorry! 
that I won't ever.
