Finnian's Birth Story
written by his Mother

Everyone always warns you that every pregnancy is different, but my second pregnancy and Finnian’s birth were very similar to my first experience when my first son was born. My pregnancy was very straightforward with no major problems or complaints. My platelets were a bit low so I had to have more blood drawn than I’d like, but other than that, everything was fine. Even during August, I didn’t even have any swelling until about three days before Finn was born.

I felt my first contraction around 4 a.m. early Sunday morning. I decided to do the same thing I did last time, which was stay in bed until a “decent” hour, then get up and really start laboring. I never really could go back to sleep but I did stay in bed until around 8 a.m. I called Mom around 8:30 and told her to take her time and come over after she had a leisurely breakfast. She was going to watch our son (age 2 ½) for us. I saw some bloody show around 8 a.m. and knew that this was really it. I thought the contractions were about 10-15 minute apart but when I went back and checked my husband's “contraction log”, they were already 5-6 minutes apart at 9 a.m. There would be a couple that were 9 minutes apart so I think that’s what made me think they were further apart than they really were. If I’d realized that they were mostly 5 minutes apart, I would have left for the Greenhouse as soon as Mom and Dad arrived.

I took a shower then went downstairs and started hugging my exercise ball. I was really uncomfortable sitting during a contraction so at the start of every one, I’d drop to my knees and lean over and hug the ball. I thought briefly about making waffles for breakfast but ended up having a bowl of cream of wheat instead.

I called the Birth Center’s answering service and Geradine called me back around 12:30. I kind of thought I wouldn’t have the baby until 4 or 5 p.m. but I didn’t want to have it in the parking lot and I wanted to be at the Birth Center for longer than I was at the hospital for my first son's birth, which was 1 hour, 15 minutes. So even though I could still talk (mostly) through the contractions, when Geradine asked me when I wanted to arrive, I told her we’d meet her at the Greenhouse at 1:30. By the time we left, the contractions were 2-4 minutes apart and were lasting a minute.

Just like last time, I ended up going through transition in the car. I had some REALLY bad contractions during the drive. I tried doing the humming breathing I learned in yoga class and that helped a bit. I’m sure they felt even worse since my husband couldn’t rub my back and I was sitting upright and couldn’t really move much.

We arrived at the birth center after the 15 minute drive and Geradine and Nancy were already there. I plopped down on my knees by the tub and immediately started hugging their birth ball. Geradine listened to the baby with the Doppler and asked me a few questions. The contractions were coming really quickly now. Geradine helped me get some pillows under my knees so I wasn’t just kneeling on the hardwood floor.

Geradine said they’d leave me to it and to let them know if I needed anything. I had my husband put on some Tannahill Weavers music, but I didn’t change out of my clothes yet. I remember thinking that listening to the bagpipe music was cool in between contractions. I could feel my tailbone starting to bow out and didn’t want my husband to press on my sacrum anymore.

Geradine and Nancy asked me if I wanted to get in the tub. I was really indecisive but told them to go ahead and start filling it up. Very shortly after that I felt a bit “pushy” and my water broke. Guess I should have already put on that big shirt I bought to labor in. My husband went out into the kitchen to let the midwives know that my water had broken. They helped me out of my wet clothes, then wanted to listen to the baby again but couldn’t even find the heartbeat before I had to lean over the ball with another bad contraction. Then I felt the baby start moving down. I think someone turned the music off at this point because I really only remember hearing one or two songs from the CD.

Geradine had just put on her gloves and I think she was getting ready to check my dilation. That’s when I sort of yelled, “The baby’s coming! I have to push.” Geradine said something like, “Okay, but take it easy because this is happening pretty fast.” Or maybe she said that after his head came out…can’t really remember now. I stayed on my hands and knees leaning over the birth ball and in just a contraction or two, I felt Finn move down and crown. Unlike with my first son's birth when I really didn’t feel him crown or come out at all, I felt it all with Finn. I felt the “ring of fire” and I remember Geradine holding my perineum as he was crowning. That part didn’t seem to last very long though. Then she said, “The head’s out, mama. Pant for a few breaths.” I was able to do a few pants before pushing out the rest of his body. I felt every part of his body coming out. He was born at 2:25 p.m., 50 minutes after we arrived at the Birth Center.

It was a little awkward but Geradine was able to pass Finn through my legs so I could hold him and then I sat down on the pillows I had been kneeling on. My husband was telling me what a great job I did while I held Finn. Nancy and Geradine made sure he was breathing and pinking up okay, which he was. Then they clamped his cord and his daddy cut it. Because of my low platelets, Geradine then wanted to get the placenta out. I gave another push and it came out. Geradine and Nancy had to pull on it a bit to get all the membranes completely out, but everything came out fine and I really wasn’t bleeding too much at all. I tried to get Finn to latch on for his first nursing, but he wasn’t interested yet.

The midwives checked over Finn while I got into the herb bath. The water was still warm from when they had run it before Finn arrived. My legs were a bit bloody and messy so the bath felt really nice. Then Finn came into the tub with me and we stayed in for probably 45 minutes. They told me how he had come out with his hand up by his neck. My husband said it looked like he was waving at him as he was coming out. We tried nursing again and this time Finn latched on like an old pro and nursed for a long time, probably at least 30 minutes. My husband and Nancy took some pictures then we got out of the tub and into bed.

Nancy and Geradine left us alone for a while. We called my husbands’s parents, then mine, then family. The midwives came back in and did Finn’s newborn exam on the bed so we could watch. Everything about him was perfect. His Apgars were 9 and 10 and he weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces. Geradine had everyone guess his weight and she guessed it exactly. My guess was the next closest at 7 pounds even. Then they checked me and gave me the great news that I only had a little skid mark, even though he came out waving at us. Since I felt fine but was too exhilarated to sleep, we decided to go home around 7 p.m.

I definitely liked giving birth at the Birth Center better than at the hospital. No iv, no one telling me I couldn’t sit up to push him out, no continuous monitoring, no one coming in at 4 a.m. to wake me up to draw blood, no horrible hospital food. It felt great to go right home and sleep in my own bed. But everyone we talked to was just shocked that we were home so soon after the birth. I thought that was one of the best parts. That and the tub, and just having two calm women help me get the baby out.