Amberle’s Smooth Easy Birth with a Midwife

Amberle was born at 6:25ish on May 6. I woke up Monday
morning around 4 with cramping thinking to myself, if I don’t get
back to sleep I’m not going to have a very good time! I plugged in
my easy first stage track on my iPod and didn’t wake back up until
about 6:30. Between 6:30 and 7 though, I had about 5
contraction/cramps and started wondering just how fast this birth was
going to be!

As I went about my day I made sure I got some of my last minute
things done such as grabbing some receiving blankets from the store,
and picking up my Medic Alert bracelet from being repaired. Monday
went along pretty normally save the every 20-60 min cramps.

Although by Monday evening I was pretty sure this baby was coming
out, off to bed I went at my normal time after a nice long hot bath.
I managed to sleep from about 22:00 to 0:30, so I got recharged a
bit. By 1:30 I decided I’d better wake up my husband, and get him to
write down the wave times so that I could focus on my training. With
my first birth, I used meditation to take my mind off of the waves,
and found hypnosis similar enough that it was an easy journey.

We called our midwife at 3:30 and with my contractions actively 3-
5min apart, my husband was starting to think we should skip that
stage and head to the hospital. My midwife kept talking to me on the
phone trying to “hear” a wave, but with my training, and tolerance
thre wasn’t much to hear. She asked if I’d like her to come over to
check on me and I did.

She got to our house around 4:30, watched me for half an hour and
checked me at 5. Then she believed me, not that she had doubted me,
but I was working through the waves so well that she wasn’t sure this
was “it.” Once she found I was 6-7cm dialated though, she was ready
to be guided by me. A few washroom breaks later, the last of which I
had two waves going up the stairs, another at the top, and two in the
washroom while trying to get back to them, we all decided that it was
time to get to the hospital. Rush hour would be starting relaitvey
soon, and it’s better to have a baby when you’re not in a car! 🙂

We arrived at the hospital (she had gone ahead) at 6, and as my
husband, son, and I were walking in, things changed. I went from
great focus to the mantra of “almost there” or “almost done” as I
knew from my son’s birth that if there was this much pressure and
need to push and sensation with the waves, then it was time.

We were in the birthing room at 6, my water broke while pushing in a
squating position at 6:15, and Amberle was born at 6:25ish. The only
catch was when our midwife couldn’t find Amberle’s heart beat
(because she was engaged and too low) and I had to get on the
birthing bed. That’s when I felt tearing start, and did end up with
2nd degree tearing. I’m convinced that if I’d been able to stay
squating, I wouldn’t have torn, but we will never know for sure.

Amberle was 7lbs, 7oz and 20 1/2″ long. She had a smaller head than
her brother, and looks a lot like him, just daintier. Her birth went
much more smoothly than her brothers, and I fully give the credit for
that to our midwife. She let me do what I had to do. I paced
between waves, danced through them with my husband, and up until she
told me I had to get on the bed I was free to work through things on
my own. This was a great experience!