But let's start at the beginning. Roberto and I had been talking about another baby for years and then two Christmasses ago, we decided that we would look into it more seriously. Well, first attempt, I got pregnant.
Since we had just moved to the Conejo Valley from West LA and as a result I didn't feel comfortable driving over an hour each way to Cedars Sinai for my prenatal visits with my former OB, let alone for delivery, we looked into other options.Interviewing many new moms in our new neighborhood, we relatively quickly decided that we were not willing to see any of the OB's, even though some mothers highly recommended them because we did not like the high intervention rate. For my first daughter, I had an almost zero intervention birth at the high intervention Cedar Sinai. I had an IV with saline and the OB raptured the membranes. That was it. Everything else was just good old nature.
For Miss D, I envisioned a zero intervention, all natural birth. No needles in my body, no rushing the process. Knowing how traumatic birth with medical intervention can be for both, mother and child, we started talking about homebirth with a midwife.
Jeanne Anderson at Whole Hearts Midwifery was recommended to us and after my first meeting with her, I decided I didn't even want to interview anyone else. Her warm and caring energy immediately made me feel comfortable, when discussing our 'ideal' birth as well as other prenatal topics.
During all my visits, Jeanne spent a lot of time with me, explaining everything and making sure that I was well. It felt more like spending time with a friend as opposed to a care provider and especially with giving birth, I want a person, who I can trust.
We had a few scares along the way, such as a potential placenta previa, a glucose test that came out bad, the legally required OB visit ended with him telling me that I could not have a home birth, and last but not least baby facing the wrong way.
Needless to say, that we as expecting parents - although feeling confident in nature - had a moment or two, when we worried, whether indeed we could have the envisioned delivery sans c-section.
During all of this, Jeanne remained calm and ensured us that it was going to be fine, that we could have a homebirth and would not have to go to a hospital.
Then, on our special day came.
As I said, the baby was not in the ideal position and during labour had to turn. And she did thanks to the manouvres that Jeanne directed me to do. When I got weak towards the end, I was allowed to eat and drink. Then, baby's shoulder got stuck behind her back and Jeanne again had to use midwife magic to get it out.
Roberto was amazing, compressing my pelvis during the entire painful back labour. Since I labored and delivered standing up, my man also was in charge of catching baby.
And there she was: Demetra Rafaela. Roberto passed her to me immediately and I sat down with her. It is one of the most magical moments in life, when you see that little person that you seem to know already for the first time. She cried, nursed and we waited until her cord stopped pulsing before Roberto cut her umbilical cord.
It was amazing: There was no rushing around by nurses or doctors; there was also no taking baby to the nursery to weigh, measure and wash her. Everything was peaceful and happy. Demetra remained with me the entire time. The vernix remained on her skin to protect and moisten her skin.
Vernix - It's amazing stuff
My baby has APGAR scores of 9 and 10, she is developing beautifully (only ten days after birth, she already gained 1 lbs!) and I have no tears, was able to give birth naturally without any intervention while in the comfort of our own home.
"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis
Beautiful experience! There are tears on my keyboard! Demetra is so blessed to be born into your family - two parents who adore each other and 2 very attentive, loving big sisters! Wanna adopt me?!!
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