Weston's Birth Story

The only appropriate way to start this blog would be to talk about Weston's birth.  I had the most unique birth experience out of anyone I know - I delivered Weston all by myself in my living room! 

Around midnight on March 22nd, I began to have strange sensations, like I had to use the bathroom but it kept happening in a pattern and I wondered if I was in labor.  After using the bathroom a few times and feeling uncomfortable, I decided it was labor and I was so mad.  First of all, I was 2 weeks early and I had convinced myself I would go past my due date of April 5th.  I, luckily, had finished washing and putting away all of Weston's baby clothes THAT DAY (I even put the plastic sheet on my mattress, just in case!) but my house and bathroom were a mess.  In every book I read about childbirth, they made it seem like during early labor you clean your entire house and it just goes on forever until you have the baby 48 hours later. My hair was dirty and I needed to shave my legs.  I remember hoping I could do all these things before I had the baby.  I started texting my midwife around this time and she told me to try and get some sleep, it was going to be a long night.  I really wish I had been more open with her about the pain I was in but I was afraid she'd think I was a wimp (first time mom and all) and would flake out on the home birth and head to the hospital for drugs.  I regret that now, I should have been way more vocal about what was going on with my body.  I was uncomfortable.  I was in pain.  There was no way I could sleep.  I got my husband from his office and told him I was in labor and he should get some sleep.  I spent some more time using the bathroom and bouncing on the yoga ball and really just feeling sorry for myself that it hurt so bad, so soon and I'd have to endure HOURS of it.  How was I going to do that!  HOW!  Soon the contractions started to feel like my body bearing down and pushing on it's own.  I don't know how to describe it but it hurt.  I decided to take a shower, hoping it would slow down labor.  I managed to wash my hair but shave my legs? Not so much.  I ended up back on the toilet, it was the only place I felt comfortable -so strange!  I did have a bloody show so I knew it was the real deal and not false labor.  I started making a lot of noise and my husband woke up and came to find me.  It must have been around 2:30AM at this point.  I asked (demanded) he take the cover off our hot tub outside because I was getting in it, I needed relief.  As I was in the hot tub outside, screaming my head off.  He was trying to inflate and fill up the birth pool in our living room.  I kept telling him to call the midwife and get her to come over but for some reason he didn't call her.  I was mad about this because I was in serious pain and felt like I needed coaching to get through it.  Since I was sitting in hot water I felt a cold gush and knew my water broke.  I reached down and could feel my baby's head!  I screamed for my husband to call the midwife NOW, I could feel the baby's head.  The midwife, Jen, instructed him to get me out of the tub - she thought it had sped up my labor.  I was in so much pain there was no way I was getting out of that tub and walking.  But, I had to and for some reason I ran to the corner of my living room and sat on top of the towel I had thrown there from my shower earlier.  I ended up on all fours on top the towel and the pain stopped.  My body was still bearing down and pushing but it didn't hurt.  With every push my body was doing on it's own, I could feel my son's head coming out further and further.  I also felt that burning, ring of fire sensation many ladies talk about.  My husband is still scrambling around with the hose, filling up the tub even though I told him repeatedly I wouldn't get to use it.  For some reason, I sat up in a squatting position and my baby literally shot out and I caught him and turned him around so he was facing me.  My husband looked up and said, I quote, "holy shit is he breathing?" As soon as he said that, Weston started crying!  I felt strangely calm.  I asked him to bring me a towel to wrap the baby in and I stayed squatting over my towel until Jen walked through my front door about 10 minutes later.  Weston was born at 4:09AM.  He was perfectly healthy!