The entire weekend I had been feeling VERY pregnant. I was having a lot of Braxton Hix contractions, building pressure in my pelvis, and a “ready to pop" type feeling. Friday, Zach and I decided to go on a date. My parents watched Tucker at their house while we went mini golfing at Vitense in Madison. It was so fun! I totally crushed Zach! It was nice to have some alone time before the baby arrived. After mini golfing, I really felt like I could go into labor any time. I just knew she’d be here soon! Well, it didn't happen that night, nor Saturday. I began to think that my “very pregnant” feelings meant nothing. I thought I should really get my mind off the birth and onto something else! It was driving me crazy, just wondering when it would happen.
Sunday came around and we started the day off by going to church. I talked to a number of women about my pregnancy and told them that I was feeling ready. Afterwards, we decided to go to the National Water Ski Show Tournament in Janesville. We spent about 1hr there and ate some lunch. It was a beautiful day to just sit outside and watch some fabulous skiing. On the way home, I once again felt very labor like. I had the most intense Braxton Hix contractions every few min for the rest of the day. No not labor contractions, still the practice ones, but more painful than normal. That evening, Zach and I watched the closing ceremony of the Olympics. It was a nice way to relax and call it a night. We thought “could this be the night?” Zach and I both had a strong feeling that I would go into labor that evening/early morning. I remember Zach saying to me, “we are going to have a baby tonight. I can just tell.”
Sure enough, I woke up around 3:30am to go to the bathroom. I had to pee very badly. I remember thinking, “well, tonight must not be the night.” I randomly decided to stand in the middle of our living room for a few min and just breathe, gathering my thoughts before heading back to bed. At 3:40am, all of a sudden I felt a trickle of liquid in my underwear. I rushed to the bathroom to see what this was all about. As soon as I saw that the liquid was tinged pink and it started to flow more, I knew I was in Labor. I had one mild contraction and rushed to wake Zach, If this labor was anything like Tucker’s, we knew it was only a matter of time. I woke him by saying, “Zach, It’s happening”. He excitedly responds, “are you serious?!!!”.
We both rushed into the living room and kitchen to start gathering things together. I called my midwife while Zach started gathering the birth items. After just one ring, my midwife answers her phone. To my surprise, she sounded very alert and intense. I thought she would have been sleeping. Well, I totally forgot to tell her who I was. Little did I know that she and the other 2 midwives were on there way home from a “false alarm” birth, or a “fizzled out” one. When I called, I said, “ Debbie, I’m in labor. My water broke”. She responds very sharply, “your water broke?, Is the baby moving?, etc. One question after the next. My phone then dropped the call. Ahh!! I called her back. We chatted some more, and then she says, “Ok, we’re turning around”. I was confused. I said, “Oh, wow, you guys are fast!” “You’re turning around?” huh? She was confused as well. Suddenly, ding ding! It clicked that it was I who was calling. She thought that I was the other woman whose labor fizzled out. They were heading back to her house! Debbie, says “Oh, is this Ashley?!!!” “Yes!” I said. She quickly says, “we’re on our way!” and then we hung up. Talk about confusion! LOL.
Right after we hung up, the intense contractions began. Zach made the rest of the phone calls. He called our Doula friend, Megan and my sister Allie. Megan was thankfully only a few min away and arrived within 15 min. Allie was on her way from Madison to be on “Tucker duty”, just in case he woke up during the birth.
About ½ hr into labor, I was in “birth land”. Completely in my own world, and unaware of what was going on around me. I think the midwives arrived around 4:30am. I got down on my knees on our living room floor and laid my upper body and arms over the sofa. I knelt on a couple pillows. Megan was helping me with my breathing before the midwives arrived. I remember feeling panicky, from the intense onset of strong contractions. I was making high pitched noises, so she had me lower my sounds and hum/groan. It actually helped me calm down a bit. I remember the midwives rushing in when Zach opened the door. They immediately set up camp. Lots of action going on around me, but I was unaware of the detailed process.
My labor was already in full force. The contractions were SO close and unbearable. I remember biting the leather sofa and pulling it back with my teeth! I can’t believe I didn’t put a hole in it! Zach was like, “Ashley, you’re going to ruin the sofa, bite on something else like a rag”. I couldn’t believe he was worried about our sofa at a time like this! Haha, now I understand and I’m glad he got me the rag.
My birth team set up all around me. I had someone on each side of me, holding my hands. I squeezed them will all my might during the contractions. There were also a couple people behind me...manning my naked lower end. Haha, talk about being in a vulnerable position! But I didn’t care, I wanted that baby out!
Very intense contractions continued for over the next hour. I thought to myself many times, “What did I get myself into?” Why am I putting myself through this pain, when I could be in the hospital getting pain medication?”, “This is the last baby I will ever have!!”. The pain was so strong, I didn’t think I’d be able to get through it. At some point, I realized my situation and had no choice but to do this. I remember telling myself I could get through it, and to imagine the baby moving lower and lower through my pelvis. It helped that my midwife suggested this. It made me feel like I was making progress with each contraction. With every contraction I could feel the babies head move down. What an incredible sensation! It was very powerful, like the intensity of an ocean wave moving through my body. I could barely breathe when that happened. I was getting so impatient and expressed how frustrated I was that I was having so many contractions and still no baby. Haha! It had only been less than 2hrs. But I was in the heat of labor, soon entering transition. Debbie whispered to me gently, “stop doing contraction math”, focus on getting through this current contraction.”
I remember breaking down in tears at one point, getting very nauseous and gagging. Also, pooping like crazy! Ahh! So embarrased, but the midwives reassured me that it was very normal and that everyone does it. Maybe it was the position I was in, on all fours, with my butt in the air and everyone behind me that caused me to feel so embarrassed! Whatever, I quickly got over it. I was obviously entering the pushing stage.
Debbie kept reminding me to let the contractions do the work of pushing the baby through the birth canal, instead of me pushing so hard. The contractions would be a lot more powerful than my pushing would be. I resisted the urge to push, but it was very hard. I was getting impatient and wanted it all to be over with. Suddenly, I felt the baby crowning. A similar burning sensation that I had with Tucker’s birth. Finally! I thought. I knew that my baby would be here in no time and all the pain would be gone. Debbie told me to not push, but to grunt instead. This would allow the area to stretch slowly and not tear. I so badly wanted to NOT tear with this birth. I had a 2nd degree tear with Tucker’s birth and the recovery process was very difficult.
I think I only pushed hard a couples times and her head came out! The midwives had Zach ready to catch his daughter. This is something pretty routine with home births, If all is going well with the birth. When the head came out, I could hear Zach whispering “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh”.... in utter amazement. A couple more grunts and the rest of her sweet warm body slid out. I was so relieved! She cried immediately after she was born. Since I was on all fours, she was born behind me. So I didn’t see her right away. I was so desperate to hold my baby. I believe I was crying and yelling, “Where’s my baby? give me my baby!”Over and over again until I actually got to hold her. Zach said it had only been about 10-15 seconds, haha. They had to unwrap the umbilical cord from around her belly, before giving her to me.
As soon as she was in my arms, I burst into uncontrollable tears. I was sobbing the words, “my baby, my baby, my baby...”. I held her tight to my body and squished her cheek against mine. She was so warm and beautiful. Insanely perfect. At one point I felt the overwhelming presence of God. I remember picturing the face of Jesus and seeing him smiling down at me. There was an incredible amount of peace and joy. I cried, “Thank you God!” I felt as though I were in heaven; experiencing nothing but pure joy.
Next, I delivered the placenta. This was more painful than I remember. With just a couple contractions and slight pushes, it came out. What a relief!
Soon after, I started bleeding pretty excessively. The midwives jumped into action and were all over it. I remember Debbie ordering, “I need Pitocin!” I almost immediately received an injection in my thigh. The Pitocin would help my uterus to contract to allow the blood to slow down. It wasn’t stopping fast enough, so I received another injection in my other thigh. On top of that, another drug that would dissolve under my tongue. At this point I was getting pretty nervous. But my sweet daughter actually started breastfeeding a few minutes after birth. She was a pro! The breastfeeding actually helped with the bleeding, causing contractions. It was almost as if she knew the situation and wanted to help her mama get well. We were so connected. Simply amazing. Thankfully, the bleeding slowed down. All was well once again.
Now, I was fully able to relax and enjoy my baby. I sat on the living room floor, leaning against the couch, for a long time. The umbilical cord had been attached for around 15-20 min. The midwives had Zach cut it. Her cord was much smaller than Tucker’s. For some reason Tucker had a very thick cord. Next, one of the midwives, Lovesta, showed me the placenta. I love this part. It was so interesting and fascinating to see my baby’s life support.
Next, we had Zach bring out Tucker to meet his baby sister. I remember hearing Tucker wake up when I was in labor. He woke up about 1/2hr before the birth. It worried me that he would be scared to hear his mama in pain. Everyone reassured me that he was being well taken care of by my sister. I remember hearing Thomas the Train music/movies coming from the other room. It was relieving to know he was being entertained and also comical to be listening to this during labor! When Zach brought out Tucker, he looked wide eyed. Probably very confused seeing all these people in the house and mommy on the floor holding a baby. He points to the baby and says “baby”. Zach then leaned him into me and he gave me a kiss. So sweet.
The rest of the early morning consisted of getting me prepared to get into bed, eating some pancakes, Rosey’s newborn exam, and cleanup by the midwives. Once we were all nestled in, the birth team headed out. Tucker went to my parents for the day and Zach, Rosey, and I rested and cuddled over the next few peaceful hours. Such an amazing experience!
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| The position I stayed in for the entire time |
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| The midwives at work |
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| A few seconds after she was born |
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| working to stop the bleeding |
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| Happy but very tired |
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| Daddy keeping her warm |
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| Her newborn exam |
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| Being weighed |
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| Rosey Lei Robinson Born 8/13/2012 at 6:02am
Weighing 6lbs 7oz and 20 1/4 in long
Labor: 2hrs and 20min! A new record for me! (Lei is pronounced like Lee) |
Unexpected, yet comical, circumstances
The next day, in the evening, I had a couple people over to help clean and do laundry. I was nursing Rosey in my bedroom when I all of a sudden smelled smoke. I next hear all this commotion from everyone trying to figure out where it was coming from. Zach ran over to check on the washer and dryer. It was banging very loudly and it was smoking. It had locked itself shut during the cycle, so he had to unplug the entire unit. Talk about scary! It could have started on fire at any moment. Tucker, Rosey and I quickly went outside to escape the smoke. We must have sat out there for a couple hours.
Unfortunately, the smoke didn't clear out fast enough before dark. Zach and I were very upset and were clueless on what to do. I decided to call my midwife to ask her opinion. I was pretty much hysterical at this point. She advised us to either get a hotel room or head to my parents house for the night. Zach and I knew that it wasn’t safe for our newborn baby to be there, so we decided to pack up and go to my parents. Talk about overwhelming! My wonderful parents quickly rushed out to our house(35min away) and helped us pack up everything we needed. We ended up getting to their house around 10:30pm.
We quickly got everything unpacked and nestled in for the night. My parents gave us their bedroom and they slept in the guest bedroom where Tucker’s bed was. We ended up staying almost 1 week because the help with Tucker was so amazing. My parents really helped take care of us those first few postpartum days. So the whole experience was actually a blessing. Plus, I’m getting a top of the line front loading washer and dryer out of this!
The next day, in the evening, I had a couple people over to help clean and do laundry. I was nursing Rosey in my bedroom when I all of a sudden smelled smoke. I next hear all this commotion from everyone trying to figure out where it was coming from. Zach ran over to check on the washer and dryer. It was banging very loudly and it was smoking. It had locked itself shut during the cycle, so he had to unplug the entire unit. Talk about scary! It could have started on fire at any moment. Tucker, Rosey and I quickly went outside to escape the smoke. We must have sat out there for a couple hours.
Unfortunately, the smoke didn't clear out fast enough before dark. Zach and I were very upset and were clueless on what to do. I decided to call my midwife to ask her opinion. I was pretty much hysterical at this point. She advised us to either get a hotel room or head to my parents house for the night. Zach and I knew that it wasn’t safe for our newborn baby to be there, so we decided to pack up and go to my parents. Talk about overwhelming! My wonderful parents quickly rushed out to our house(35min away) and helped us pack up everything we needed. We ended up getting to their house around 10:30pm.
We quickly got everything unpacked and nestled in for the night. My parents gave us their bedroom and they slept in the guest bedroom where Tucker’s bed was. We ended up staying almost 1 week because the help with Tucker was so amazing. My parents really helped take care of us those first few postpartum days. So the whole experience was actually a blessing. Plus, I’m getting a top of the line front loading washer and dryer out of this!
