Johann’s Birth Story

Tues, Sept 16 – I went in the morning for my massage and it was wonderful! She did some pressure points and I started having some contractions after that, but nothing super strong or frequent. After the massage, I went to pick the kids up at my moms, had lunch there, and came home. I took 3tsp of castor oil in some OJ about 1:45 and laid down for a nap.

Nothing was really still happening when I got up from my nap, so about 5:45, I took another 3tsp dose of castor oil. We took a little family walk around the block, ate the stew I had made for the crock pot that morning, took a bath, and relaxed with a Janette Oke book for the evening.

Around 7pm, I went to the toilet from the castor oil for the first time, and started having contractions, every 2-3 minutes. They were not terribly strong, but were quite regular and frequent. I finished my book around 9pm, we put the kids to bed, and I went to sleep too, after giving my “birthing team” a heads-up, just in case.

I woke up a little after midnight with fairly strong contractions. Fabio still hadn’t come to bed yet, so I laid there a little while, feeling the contractions and timing them. They didn’t last long, but they were feeling like real labor contractions, and coming regularly at 2-3 min apart.

Fabio came in about 12:30 and we started getting the stuff out and set up for the birth. I decided to go ahead and call Cindy (the midwife) around 1am, since she had requested plenty of time to get here, and I didn’t know how long it might take, or how fast it could go.

Things slowed a bit when I started moving around getting things ready for the birth, but didn’t stop. Cindy came around 2am. I laid down and still was having strong contractions, quite close together, but they were still not lasting long.

Cindy went to bed after checking me, and Fabio decided to get some sleep too. I laid down to rest, but the contractions were pretty strong, so I didn’t sleep for a while. Around 2:30, they got longer, like over a minute each, with 1-2 min break before another one would come. Sometime after 3am, I was able to fall asleep, and the rest of the night I dozed off and on while dealing with the strong, but not overwhelming or unbearable, contractions.

Then around 6am, things slowed down considerably. I was disappointed, but slept a bit more. A little after 7am, I got up to go to the bathroom and lost my mucus plug and some bloody show. Good! At least something was happening! I got in the shower, and then in our bedroom, I started to leak some amniotic fluid. Went to breakfast, where I continued to have decent contractions.

But… about 9am, things seemed to fizzle out on me! I took a bath, did the pressure points again, tried a little nipple stimulation, and tried to relax. Still nothing.

At 11:00, Cindy decided we could try some homeopathics to try to jump-start the contracations again. I took 3 pellets every 15 min for an hour. Nothing. So, then we went to the tinctures. Again, one dose every 15 min, for an hour and a half this time. Still nothing! I went outside and did a few laps (walking slowly!) around the house, we had lunch, and I went to lay back down, still leaking water every once in a while.

Cindy suggested the options of acupuncture, and called the place to see if they could fit me in. They could, at 2pm, if I wanted. I decided to first have Cindy do an internal exam to see where I was at. If I was still closed and tight, we might go; if I was further along, we’d wait it out.

The exam revealed that my cervix was very low, with a baby head right behind it! About 4cm, but extremely stretchy. She swept the membranes a bit while she was there and when she was done I was at a good, stretchy five centimeters. So, we decided to stay home and wait it out.

I bounced on the trampoline, sat on my birth ball, walked up and down the steps a few times, did a couple more laps around the house (SLOWLY!), and then took a nap on my left side. Still nothing.

Late afternoon, Cindy decided to go on home so I wouldn’t feel like everyone was sitting around waiting on me, and Mom decided to go to church. That was all fine with me. We all had a feeling that my body was waiting for the kids to go to bed so I could relax and things could kick back in.

We had dinner, and then I had my friend Esperanza take the kids for a couple hours because the noise and activity was really getting to me. Then Fabio and I went to watch a movie, while I rocked on my hands and knees and sat on the birth ball some more. Cindy had said I could try a little more castor oil if I wanted to, but I decided to hold off, since I was sure things would kick in again after the kids were in bed.

A couple hours into the movie, I felt another BIG gush of water and had a couple of good, strong contractions. Maybe things were happening now again!

I went upstairs to wrap things up in the kitchen and wait for the kids to come home. They did, and we sent them to bed. Mom got back here after church, and I decided to try to rest for the work that was sure to come soon.

I laid down about 9:30 and felt several decent contractions while in bed. I just couldn’t wait for them to wake me up after an hour or two of resting!

However, I woke up a little after midnight with nothing! After laying there a while, I got up and decided to do that extra little dose of castor oil. I had a little granola, then downed about 1T of castor oil in a little OJ. Then I got on the computer to waste some time. Around 2am I went back to bed, still with nothing to report, and feeling VERY discouraged by that point!

I woke up in the morning feeling just as discouraged, or more! Nothing much was happening still. I had had a few good strong contractions during the night, but nothing that kept up at all. Would I ever have this baby??

I went in the kitchen and sat at the table with my mom. The kids were still sleeping, and then I started having contractions again. They were the kind I wanted – and I was feeling them all low- in the cervix. They started about 7:15, coming about every five minutes.

This time they did not stop or slow down, but continued to intensify quite rapidly. I would say I was in “active labor” from a little after 8am or so. I went back to the bedroom sometime after 9:00 and was still handling them well. Midwife, Amanda and Suzy (my sils) all came around 10:00 and took the kids outside to play.

We filled the pool and I got in about 10:20. OH, the water made SO much difference! All I could say was “Thank God for waterbirths!!” After a few contractions in the pool, I had about three contractions that felt a little bit “pushy”, and I could feel the baby’s head coming down. Then I really felt like pushing and I could tell baby was coming pretty quick. I called everyone to come in the bedroom and yelled “VIDEO!” so they wouldn’t forget to tape it! I pushed hard through one contraction, and his head was out. A little break, and then another contraction and his body was born.

I picked him up out of the pool by myself and hugged him close and balled my eyes out. It was such an emotional release! I couldn’t stop crying! His cord was super short, so I had to be careful with him, but he was just beautiful. I saw that he was a boy, just as I had thought. He was born at 10:43. The kids came in as soon as he emerged and all googled over him.

We got out of the pool around 11:00 and I got the placenta to come right away. We laid down and relaxed in bed while my helpers got everything cleaned up and served me the fluids and food I needed.

About 2 hours later we cut the cord, weighed and measured him, and took our herb bath. I was totally shocked that he was so tiny – only 8lbs 4oz, and 20.5 inches long. His head was the tiniest yet, too, at only 13.5 inches. Felt MUCH different from my others, who were all 14.5-14.75 inches!

We finally decided on a name about that time – Johann Luiz. Then we snuggled in for a good long nap. J