My Birthing Story

One week ago today I gave birth to my baby girl.  I can’t believe how naturally I have fallen into motherhood.  Reese is amazing in every way.  Such a calm and peaceful energy, her cries are few and far between.  She trusts us and knows how deeply we love her.

I knew I was going to go into labour early.  I had been telling my beautiful baby girl since the 37th week that she had a safe and loving home to come to, whenever she was ready. I just kept picturing her in my arms and trusting that things would happen the way that they were supposed to.

I finished up work on a Saturday night...and on Monday morning my water broke just 2 hours after my partner left for work.  I was so excited, thinking this was ‘go time’, and I texted him the great news.  I then called my midwife Sarah, and she asked me to come into the clinic for noon saying that labour would likely start within 24 hours.  I realized then that it’s a common misconception that water breaking means labour is not far behind.  I wish I would have waited before contacting family and friends.  The hardest part was all the texts asking what was going on.  I had to start ignoring them, and asked Deryk to do the same.  It was more important to me to wait patiently then to continually say "not yet", "nothing happening yet"...my hippie way is not to focus on what's not happening.  Again I came back to trusting that my birth plan would work and refused to put energy into anything else.  

Sarah confirmed that my baby’s heartbeat was still strong and that there was no need to rush the process along.  Since it was very important for me to let things happen naturally, I decided that waiting patiently and trying natural ways of inducing labour was the best choice.   Sarah then admitted that she was taking a few days off and that my secondary midwife, Diane, was on holidays.  This meant that the two beautiful women with whom I had spent numerous hours, were unavailable for my birth.  I was quickly introduced to Anne , who would be one of my replacement midwives, a Scottish woman that I had never seen before.   She told me that she had a student working with her and asked if I would consider having her come along.  This would be in addition to having another midwife, 3 new people in all.  Sarah told me to think about it and I came home and had a bit of a cry.  But I knew that rushing off to get induced just so I could keep my midwife was not the best choice for my baby girl.  So instead I trusted that things were happening the way that they were supposed to.

Pulling myself together, Deryk and I put the breast pump together and I began pumping to stimulate my nipples.  I also snuck off to masturbate, another suggested way to naturally induce labour.   Sarah also recommended homeopathics (Cimicifuga and Caulophyllum, to be taken together) yet Deryk tried calling 4 different health food stores and they all carried one but not the other.  So, feeling like we had done all we could, we popped in a movie and snuggled on the sofa, hoping that by morning I would start to feel some cramping.

Early Tuesday morning I received a call from Anne asking what my plan was.  I knew that my chances of going into natural labour had dropped significantly, yet I chose to stick to the vision I had in my mind and trusted that I would have a natural home water birth as planned.  I told Anne that I wasn’t comfortable with the student coming, and she understood that two new people were enough.  She asked me to come into the clinic for 11:30 to have a fetal monitor scan, again to ensure that my baby was not at risk.  She had other suggestions to naturally induce labour, one being the stretch and sweep, quite like a pap but a little longer and a little more uncomfortable.  I had that done before leaving the clinic.  She also gave us the homeopathics that were recommended, as she was able to get some for us.  Having that hour and a half with Anne was exactly what I needed.  I realized that she had the same philosophy as my midwives and I connected with her quickly.

Deryk and I then grabbed some lunch and headed home with a plan of taking the homeopathics, again doing the nipple stimulation through breast pumping, and more manual stimulation to encourage contractions.  Deryk then suggested sitting on my exercise ball to rotate my hips, and claims that was the final kicker.  By 11pm that night I was starting to feel the cramping, followed by periodic contractions.  And by midnight Deryk had started to time my contractions, now 4 to 5 minutes apart, lasting a minute in length and going on for an hour.  He called Anne at 1am and I made my way to the birthing tub.  Deryk then followed out my request, putting the spa channel on, and lighting the candles.  It was the tranquil, calm atmosphere that I wanted.

Anne arrived by 2am and I was labouring in the birthing tub when she got here. She positioned me so that she could see how far I was dilated.  1 cm?!  I was shocked when I heard that, so I just kept imagining my baby girl in my arms and thinking over and over "I am 10 cms dilated and ready to push".   She and Deryk moved me to the bedroom so I could continue labouring on the bed.  I remember shivering uncontrollably and feeling weak and needing their assistance.  But lying on my side would help my baby girl to get into position.  My memory of the 2 hours labouring in bed is kind of vague.  I remember being sick whenever I would drink water, so most of my experience was with a dry mouth, only moistening when necessary.   

The last 40 minutes was the hardest.  I was back in the birthing tub, contractions only 2 minutes apart. Deryk pushed on my lower back with every contraction, if he thought it was over and moved his hand too early, I would shake my head and he would instinctually press again until it was over. He was amazing.  He just let me do my thing and waited patiently, as did my midwife. They were both incredible. When Deryk relayed the message that I could start pushing, I was so relieved. I pushed hard three times, 10 minutes in total, and she finally emerged.  Anne told me to reach down and catch my baby and bring her up, and I did...feeling the umbilical cord holding us together. She was so beautiful and we just stared at one another, her and I, both silent, in awe. She was so calm and relaxed, the reason I chose water birth as it's meant to be an easier transition for babies. Anne urged her to cry a bit and I soothed her in the tub while Deryk cut the cord.  I was then moved to the bedroom to birth the placenta.  It was then that the second midwife arrived.  A brand new face that I connected with instantly, Stephanie was amazing and jumped right in to take over while Anne completed the necessary paperwork.    It was such a beautiful experience, even though the pain was intense for the full 5 1/2 hours. I went through each contraction focusing on my strength and ability to continue a natural birth until finally she was in my arms. 

The first name that came to mind when Deryk saw his daughter was Reese, a name that had been on our list, even though we were pretty sure we were going to name her Lochlyn. We told anyone who asked about her name, that we would wait to meet her and choose a name that suited her.  I was a Kelly until I was born.  Then my dad decided that I looked more like a Sandy. Because of that, we wanted to wait. And since Deryk was the one with a better look at her, as I was just looking down, I trusted his instinct. We waited about 4 hours and then I agreed that Reese was the only name that suited her.  She looks like a Reese. Reese Lillian Rachel Schouten. Lillian after Deryk's grandmother who is very special to us both, and Rachel after my Dad's mother who passed away when he was a teenager, someone who I have always felt to be a guardian angel in my life.  Reese is a special little girl and I can't believe that my dream of becoming a mother has finally come true. I have such a special man, a beautiful daughter, a patient golden retriever, Mazzy, and I feel so grateful.

My home water birth experience was incredible.  From the time my water broke to the time Reese made her arrival.  I hope that my story will encourage other women to consider this beautiful way of bringing a child into the world.  There was no chaos, no stress and no rushing to a hospital of bright lights and strange sounds.  I gave birth to my baby girl in my home, and everything happened just as I had imagined. (okay minus the intensity of the contractions and the vomiting).  Would I do it again?  Not tomorrow.  But absolutely.  

Sandy Jamieson
First time momma at age 37.

A special thanks to my Burlington midwives...Sarah, Diane, Anne and Stephanie.   The journey was amazing with all of you at my side.  

Also to Lara, with HypnoBirthing® Hamilton, the birthing tub was perfect and your hug meant the world to me.