Why We Chose a Homebirth for Our 2nd

I almost feel hesitant to write this post. I have this image of a woman who is 39 weeks pregnant and is planning on delivering in a hospital with an OB, and after she reads this post she flips out because I have painted a horrifying picture a mere week or two before her labor and delivery. However, I really wish I had read a post like this when I was pregnant with my first. I would have done so many things different.

So here it goes.

My philosophy and outlook during my first pregnancy was very mainstream. I would use an OBGYN and deliver in a hospital with meds, because who in the world would prefer to endure labor when there are epidurals around? I actually remember having conversations about it and saying, "Heck yeah I'm getting an epidural. Why wouldn't I?" I was also pretty certain on the fact that I was delivering this baby vaginaly. Absolutely no c-section unless it was 100% necessary. 

About a month before my due date my doctor recommended that we induce because the baby was getting big according to measurements from the sonograms. My doctor was afraid that I wouldn't be able to deliver the baby vaginally if we let him get too big. My husband and I, being nervous first timers, went along with her advice. I was adamant that I was not having a c-section, so whatever she said that increased the chance of having a vaginal birth sounded swell to me. SO we scheduled to induce on a Thursday morning...an entire day BEFORE my due date. Stupid. 

We checked into the hospital at 7 in the morning on May 30, 2012. By 9am my water had been broken by my doctor and pitocin was being administered through an IV. If you are a first timer and don't know yet, pitocin is the drug that causes the uterus to contract. This point in labor was still very fun and exciting. We had family members and friends visiting and we were never alone save for the nurse visits when it needed to just be Hayden and me. I was beginning to feel contractions, but they felt pretty mild. I'd say sometime around noon the contractions strengthened quite a bit, so Hayden asked everyone to leave the room, we ordered an epidural, and I listened to Mumford for the time being. An hour later I had my epidural.

Oh my goodness, how chill it was from there. I was relaxed (not being able to feel from the waist down will do that) and people were in and out visiting again. After about two hours my doctor came to check me and announced that I had not progressed. I was stuck at 4cm dilated. No big deal at this point and the nurse would check me again in an hour. She came. Nothing. No progress still. The next time my OB came in the word "cesarean" began to make ugly occurrences in the conversation. I remember thinking "But it's only been like 8 hours...let me finish!" She agreed to let me keep going, but if there was no progress on the next check she was going to advise a cesarean. 

So here I am, trying to will my body to dilate while being totally numb from the waist down. Obviously I was restricted to the bed and walking was not an option. I'm thinking, "Crap, how can I make this happen?" Luckily, I had one heck of a nurse attending to me after a shift change. Her name was Stephanie and she was my champion. She completely understood my seriousness in having a vaginal birth and she spent a lot of time helping me reposition on the bed to encourage the baby to move. Thankfully, on the next check I had progressed to a 5! A hard earned centimeter for Stephanie and me! 

I progressed pretty consistently from there and at about 10:30ish I was apparently ready to push. I still can't feel a thing, so my mind really has no idea how close we are. I am put into position, on my back with knees up, and I start to push. Fifteen minutes and one episiotomy later BigE made his appearance! They placed him immediately onto my chest and started to wipe him down. He was so beautiful and strange looking and BIG. He was an average size baby weighing 7 pounds 12 oz and measuring 21 1/2 inches in length, but I remember looking at him and thinking, "There's no way he was just inside me, he's so big!"

The next 24 hours were full of firsts and so much joy, which I will talk about in a different post. This post is still about why we decided to go with a homebirth for baby #2. So here I am with a new baby and I still can't walk. I am also extremely tired and hungry beyond belief (you're not supposed to eat while you're in labor at the hospital). Around midnight they moved us to our recovery room where the 3 of us would stay. I threw up on the way there, a side effect of all of the drugs that had been given. We got to our room and tried to sleep. I needed help with everything from getting up to go to the bathroom to getting water. It took the epidural awhile to wear off and it sucked. 

At Eli's 24 hour check-up they determined that his jaundice levels were too high, although they never conducted a test to confirm so, or if they did I didn't know about it. He spent the next two days in the damn nursery under lights. I was not even notified when he was circumcised. They just wheeled him in screaming after the fact. I was livid. They brought him to us for feedings since I was also adamant about breast feeding. We were advised to supplement the breast milk with formula since his system was apparently not filtering through quick enough to kick out the jaundice.  Again, as first timers, we agreed. I was a wreck and cried a lot those two days. I wanted to go home and actually spend time with the baby that I had spent 40 weeks waiting to meet. 

On June 2nd, three days after check in, we were told we could go home. Thank God, get me out of this hospital! We were out the door and in the ever so cautious first-time car ride scenario in no time. What a relief. I felt so many things, but the most obvious feeling was of relief to be out of that hospital. Next to that I was totally elated! I had just had a baby! It made it easier to forget all of the hospital crap, which I did. Until two and a half years later when I got pregnant again. 

With a new baby on the way, I started thinking back to the hospital experience and really began to dread the whole thing. I knew that this time I wanted to not be induced, because I don't believe it was warranted with a legitimate medical reason last time. I started researching hospital interventions during labor (pitocin, epidurals, caesareans, ect.) and the more I learned, the less I wanted. What I learned was so reflective of my personal experience that I felt ridiculously naive for not doing more homework the first time. Here are some simple truths about hospital interventions during labor:

>Pitocin causes contractions that are longer and stronger than natural occurring contractions.

>This may lead you to wanting an epidural.

>This causes your labor to slow because you can't feel a damn thing.

>This increases the chance that you will either be given more pitocin or will be wheeled in for a cesarean section.

>If you are given more pitocin you will likely not feel the difference because you have had an epidural, but that baby will. 

>The longer and stronger contractions may cause the baby's heart rate to drop.

>Your doctor may recommend a cesarean for the sake of the baby and you will agree because that's scary. 

Okay so pitocin and epidurals may lead to a cesarean, I just won't have either one of those and I'll be fine. So now more research on 100% natural births in hospitals. It was relatively grim. It's totally possible in the right hospital with the right doctor and the right support team. BUT without these aspects in place it's difficult. You're faced with alot of interruptions in a hospital and a lot of pressure to progress through labor quickly, but the interruptions are more than likely going to slow your labor. 

Well crap. None of this sounds like what I want for my second labor and delivery. At this point I have definitely decided to go all natural, but I definitely don't want the word "cesarean" to make any ugly occurrences if I'm not progressing quickly enough according to my doctor or any other hospital staff. Labor is going to be hard enough without having to battle pressures like that. 

It was at this point that I began to consider a homebirth.   

I have cousins who have had home births, so I wasn't totally ignorant of the concept. It was just never something I had considered for myself. More research and then I stumbled upon "The Business of Being Born" documentary on Youtube. I watched it and my mind was set. The only thing I had to do was convince Hayden that this would be right for us. He watched the same documentary and his mind was open to it. He wanted to meet with a qualified midwife and question her before he was sold. Which we did, and he totally is. After our initial meeting with our midwife, I felt so at ease and in control. I was also pissed because in one meeting she gave me more knowledge than my OB had in the almost 40 weeks I had been seeing her. Our midwife is very big on educating us as we go. She has  also made Hayden a more active participant which I think is amazing. You can tell that she really wants the experience to be ours, which is exactly what I was looking for. We are currently 30 weeks along and I am still extremely thrilled and confident in our decision. I will keep y'all posted!

Until next time,
Elizabeth