Alex's Home Birth Story
Birth Stories
Nicky Gets His Heart's Desire
We were very excited to find out we were having another baby: our second child. We joyfully called our midwife, Diane, and I had another great 9 months of pregnancy. (I really believe that our diet helps so much in making my pregnancies go so well. I only gain about 17 pounds and all of my babies have been 7 lbs or more. Then I lose almost all of the extra weight in the first 3 weeks without having to exercise! It is such a blessing!)
We found out the baby was going to be due the same day that Lucas' due date was. My birthday is March15th and that came and went. Then Lucas' birthday, March 19th, came and went as well. But two days after Lucas' birthday I started having some contractions. This time I had already been having some Braxton Hicks contractions for the previous couple of weeks. It was a Sunday and I had just gone to church in the morning and then for the evening service. I had a few small labor pains at church but just assumed it was the false labor.
At 9:00 PM I went to take a shower and that is when the serious contractions began. I tend to always second guess myself as to whether or not my labor pains are real or not because I don't want my midwife to drive the 45 minutes to my house only to find out that it was for nothing. We waited an hour just to make sure they were real. Diane said to wait an hour and then call back. Most people who start contractions in the evening usually have false labor, especially if they have been out during the day, which I had. This was very reasonable, especially since most people labor many hours before she needs to be there anyway.
Minutes after we made that phone call I realized that this was definitely real labor and it seemed to be happening really fast. I couldn't believe how close the contractions were together already. I thought maybe something was wrong or I was timing them wrong. It didn't seem possible that they were already moving that fast. Not to mention the fact that they were REALLY intense! I tried waiting the whole hour to call Diane back but after 45 minutes I couldn't take it anymore. Nicky called Diane and she said she would be leaving now and arrive in 45 minutes.
Up until this point I had been laboring in my favorite position: facing backwards on the the toilet. However, after we phoned Diane I felt I need to move. I crawled into the bedroom and leaned on a stool. A minute later there was a huge bang! Nicky had been trying to get the birthing pool ready for me (which I never needed to use!) and heard the noise and came running in. My water had broken and went everywhere all over the carpet. I knew that I should wait until Diane got there to start pushing so she could check me first, however, it was all I could do not to push! I had read something earlier that week that one way to have a successful delivery is to listen to your body and do what feels natural. So I prayed, "Lord, I don't want to mess anything up so you are going to have to help me! Please help me do this!" During the next contraction I pushed and I felt a head coming out. I called Nicky in and he was so surprised to see part of our baby's head! During the next contraction I pushed again and the baby was out! I couldn't believe what just happened! And neither could my husband. The only one who was not surprised was God. Nicky had always had a secret desire to deliver one of our babies and here God answered that desire!
We found out the baby was going to be due the same day that Lucas' due date was. My birthday is March15th and that came and went. Then Lucas' birthday, March 19th, came and went as well. But two days after Lucas' birthday I started having some contractions. This time I had already been having some Braxton Hicks contractions for the previous couple of weeks. It was a Sunday and I had just gone to church in the morning and then for the evening service. I had a few small labor pains at church but just assumed it was the false labor.
At 9:00 PM I went to take a shower and that is when the serious contractions began. I tend to always second guess myself as to whether or not my labor pains are real or not because I don't want my midwife to drive the 45 minutes to my house only to find out that it was for nothing. We waited an hour just to make sure they were real. Diane said to wait an hour and then call back. Most people who start contractions in the evening usually have false labor, especially if they have been out during the day, which I had. This was very reasonable, especially since most people labor many hours before she needs to be there anyway.
Minutes after we made that phone call I realized that this was definitely real labor and it seemed to be happening really fast. I couldn't believe how close the contractions were together already. I thought maybe something was wrong or I was timing them wrong. It didn't seem possible that they were already moving that fast. Not to mention the fact that they were REALLY intense! I tried waiting the whole hour to call Diane back but after 45 minutes I couldn't take it anymore. Nicky called Diane and she said she would be leaving now and arrive in 45 minutes.
Up until this point I had been laboring in my favorite position: facing backwards on the the toilet. However, after we phoned Diane I felt I need to move. I crawled into the bedroom and leaned on a stool. A minute later there was a huge bang! Nicky had been trying to get the birthing pool ready for me (which I never needed to use!) and heard the noise and came running in. My water had broken and went everywhere all over the carpet. I knew that I should wait until Diane got there to start pushing so she could check me first, however, it was all I could do not to push! I had read something earlier that week that one way to have a successful delivery is to listen to your body and do what feels natural. So I prayed, "Lord, I don't want to mess anything up so you are going to have to help me! Please help me do this!" During the next contraction I pushed and I felt a head coming out. I called Nicky in and he was so surprised to see part of our baby's head! During the next contraction I pushed again and the baby was out! I couldn't believe what just happened! And neither could my husband. The only one who was not surprised was God. Nicky had always had a secret desire to deliver one of our babies and here God answered that desire!
As the baby landed in Nicky's arms he shouted, "Our baby is here! And it's a boy!" We were both surprised because although we didn't get an ultrasound, we had assumed the baby was going to be a girl because the Lord had given me a girl's name. We just thought because I had a girl's name that this baby would be a girl. We called Diane to see what to do next and delivered the afterbirth and waited for her to arrive. Nicky held the baby on the couch with the placenta in a bucket while we waited. We sat there together, just the three of us, and reflected on the surprises of the evening. My labor had been just under 2 hours! As he was holding the baby he looked up and said, "Alexander Peter." Alexander is his dad's name who has since passed away. It means "Defender of Mankind."
Diane arrived shortly after and helped Nicky cut the cord. She then made sure I was cleaned up and comfortable and even managed to get all of the blood out of the carpet! We were so thankful! During this whole thing our oldest son, Lucas who was born two years and two days earlier, was asleep in his room. It couldn't have been more perfect. So the next morning we were able to introduce him to his new brother. And that is how Alex came into the world! Life has never been the same since. :)
Diane arrived shortly after and helped Nicky cut the cord. She then made sure I was cleaned up and comfortable and even managed to get all of the blood out of the carpet! We were so thankful! During this whole thing our oldest son, Lucas who was born two years and two days earlier, was asleep in his room. It couldn't have been more perfect. So the next morning we were able to introduce him to his new brother. And that is how Alex came into the world! Life has never been the same since. :)
Alexander Peter Farmer
Nicky holding Alex while we waited for Diane.
Alex meeting his big brother, Lucas.
