The Home Birth of Norah Hope

41 weeks 1 day pregnant--The time had come finally and thank the Lord because this ole body was ready. I had an appointment with my midwife, Michelle Ray on Monday, April 29th at 10am. Last week, the baby's hand (and possibly the cord) was above her head so Michelle used the ultrasound to check her out. Praise the Lord! Her hand was not above her head. They were at her mouth and pretty sure she was sucking one of her thumbs and/or fingers. I kinda melted...

Knowing there was no obstruction, after dinner on Monday, I pulled out the moxibustion sticks from the last birth and lit them up and placed them on the induction pressure points. After all, I had been having crazy contractions for over 2 weeks. The kids surrounded me with indelible curiosity about the moxibustion. Immediately, the baby began moving a lot and contractions started. I continued pressing the pressure points through out the evening before bed and turned in early around 930pm.

I woke up at 3am because of some leaking. I cursed myself thinking I peed on myself. Pregnancy woes... Went to the bathroom, did business and then wiped a nice chunk of mucus plug with a tinge of blood. I laid back down and then got up several times to "pee" again after wetting myself and quickly realized it was not urine. I got back in bed with a towel between my legs instead of continuing to change underwear. I soaked through the first towel by 3:45am. It was weird to have a slow leak. Contractions were pretty far apart so I didn't notify Michelle until later in the morning around 9am. Figured one of us should get as much sleep as possible. I tried to sleep but was hungry. I waited for Chris to wake up with his alarm at 4am to let him know what was up. He stayed at home from work. We kept the girls at home because they wanted to be present for birth. Chansol went to school.

I finally got out of bed around 430am and decided to get a shower while Chris made breakfast. After eating, I blow dried my hair and drank a cup of red raspberry and nettles tea and settled back into bed for a nap. By noon, the contractions were 7-8 minutes apart and 2 mins long but I was still able to talk (which means still a ways to go). I went for a walk down the driveway and did several laps. The midwife and crew came over to the house around 230pm. The contractions continued to move closer together throughout the evening but by 8pm when I was checked, I had only dilated 3cm. Ugh! Never something a mama wants to hear but we know that's how these things go. You just never know how fast you can go from 0-10cm. (Note: this is only the 3rd time in 4 births that I allowed a cervical check.) The midwives went to eat dinner and see if some down time would help things progress. With the kids home all day, Nana, the 3 piece midwife crew with lots of chatting and it being daytime, it was very distracting and hard to relax and focus. In hindsight, I wish I had been sleeping. I definitely kept wanting to lay down on my left side. Right before everyone left, around 8pm, I decided to do some moxibustion again on the induction acupressure points to see if that would help things along. I got into bed knowing I really needed some rest BUT the contractions got harder and stronger even though they were further apart at 5 mins than earlier at 3 mins. I let Michelle know when she checked in. She asked if I wanted them to come back but honestly, I just didn't know. It had been a long day for us all. Michelle was going to stay on the mountain at one of the student midwives' house so she wouldn't be as far away so at 9pm we agreed we would just let them know if we needed them.

I tried to ignore the contractions and get some sleep but that proved impossible so I got in the tub in some warm water. In hindsight, I was REALLY laboring. I have a habit of denial... The water and the warmth always makes the contractions more bearable but it was impossible to stay quiet through them. This should have been the first clue. They did seem to slow down the frequency but they were so painful that I opted to stay in this time whereas I got out earlier when they slowed down. I moaned through each contraction slightly begrudging Chris who was snoring loudly in bed. Sounds reminiscent of Naomi's birth...lol. About 11pm, I decided to get out and he woke up and helped me out of the tub. Laura came back over at this time so I'm guessing this is when Chris notified everyone we were back in business. I tried every position 2-3 times and nothing was really comfortable. It reminded me of Lila's birth. I switched often searching for the magic one that would be bearable. I kept feeling like I needed to have a bowel movement. In my last birth, this was really just the baby's head moving down but this time, I really had to go every time I sat on the toilet. And the sitting position was truly unbearable whereas I loved it in Naomi's birth.

Michelle suggested I try getting in the shower. In hindsight, I was REALLY pushing in there. Notice a pattern? It was a bit more bearable through the contractions with the warm water on my back but still oh so painful. I wanted to sit, then stand, then bend one knee on the bench. I have no idea how long I was in there (not long I don't think) but when I got out, I knew it was time to go to the bed. Again trying several positions and the baby's heartbeat indicated she didn't love any of them. I was given oxygen which I had never had before. I think I might have been a little freaked out by it, not to mention the mask was kind of annoying combined with the pain of pushing. I remember seeing Lana and Lila come in the room and they came over to sit on the other side of the bed. I think they were a bit wide eyed but they were quiet in their observation. By then I had rolled over to my back and my body was telling me, it was really time to push. I remember thinking this hurts and saying, "God please help me!" Each push and guttural moan left my throat sore but there was no other response I could offer to the ring of fire. I don't feel like I pushed very long at all (Chris thinks maybe 5 minutes) but I remember feeling like my bottom was trying to run away from the painful pushes. LOL. In a few short pushes, I felt her head fully emerge and I was so glad for that to be over. I took a break so Lana could come closer to me. She wanted to help catch the baby so bad but she seemed a little timid but with some encouragement from everyone, she reached her hands out with Michelle's to help. I didn't see anything after that. I just knew I needed one more good push and so did baby girl. Norah ("woman of honor") Hope ("confident expectation of what God has promised") arrived on 5/1/19 at 2:08am. She was immediately brought to my chest as Michelle investigated the blood coming out of me a little too quickly. I was given a shot in each leg, pitocin I imagine and some other meds rectally (whoa!) guessing I was hemorrhaging based on my first home birth experience. Michelle said I needed to get the placenta out immediately. So I tried pushing several times and it didn't feel like it was going anywhere.

After a short break and a few more push attempts, the placenta finally was delivered and it was then that horror was quickly masked on Michelle's face. Norah seemed to be fine. They wanted her to cry a bit more to make sure she was good. All our vitals were checked and we were good. Praise the Lord! The midwives discussed the placenta and the problem they saw and let us know that this little baby was truly a miracle as God's hand of protection was over her as they showed us the placenta, blood vessels and where the water broke. There was no other place for the water to break and give a safe passage for this baby's exit. Vasa previa. You can look it up if you really want to know but it's not good. The death rate in vasa previa is really high and if not caught during the anatomy ultrasound, you don't find out until the baby is delivered stillborn due to being bled out during the delivery. What, WHAT?! Given it was not caught during the anatomy ultrasound done by the Women's Diagnostic Center, even a hospital birth could have yielded the same devastating outcome, possibly worse or quicker due to certain protocols. It took several days to process it but all I have been able to keep doing is thanking the Lord for this precious gift. I still get weepy if I think about it too long. We had several prayer warriors covering us and have no doubt her presence here with us in nothing short of a miracle. We are so grateful to be holding and adoring this miracle rainbow baby in our arms every day.

She nursed for a bit. After we got cleaned up, an herbal bath was started. Somewhere here Naomi woke up to come meet Norah. I passed Norah to Chris for a while and then when it was time to put the girls back to bed, Nana Laura got to rock her for a bit and get acquainted. The girls were so excited it was hard for them to get back to sleep. I got in the tub to soak. The student midwives were busy cleaning up and getting the suture station ready. I tore a little, no where near as bad in previous births but enough to need stitches. After that was over, we sat in a clean bed to watch the newborn exam. She weighed in at 7lbs 10 oz and 20.75 inches long. She is as perfect as can be! It was about 5am when we wrapped up things and I was tucked into bed with my little rainbow miracle baby for a well deserved nap.

I'm so incredibly grateful to the Lord for another amazing pregnancy and safe passage for this precious little girl surrounded by our sweet family in our home. The miracle of life and life giving abilities of a woman's body never ceases to amaze me. We are so thankful to our midwife, Michelle Ray, who has been the gentle hands to help deliver all four of our girls at home and covered us with prayers. Thankful to my neighbor, friend and Nana, who is always available to lend a helping hand before, during and after and more.