After her birth, poor Stella had a pretty oblong skull and a hematoma on the top of her head from where she’d been banging against my pelvis for so long, so we opted to do the Vitamin K shot to help with blood coagulation (which they didn’t do immediately, but waited until I needed to give her up for a second so they could switch out the sheets on my bed). Other than that, she was totally healthy and beautiful! They waited to clamp the cord, skipped the antibiotic eye ointment, and generally followed my birth plan to a T. Thank you MMH hospital staff! I can’t tell you what a wonderful feeling it was to feel so supported by everyone around me and to know they were following my birthing wishes.
I unfortunately tore on those final two pushes (2nd degree), and my midwife said that was because Stella still came out slightly crooked and those extra few millimeters of head circumference make a big difference. She turned just enough to make it possible to get her out, but not quite enough to get her out without tearing.
Let me tell ya, she was 100% worth it!
We got to spend every minute of those first two hours with Stella, which was beyond wonderful. She was alert and looking around and nursing – all good things! I’m incredibly glad that my midwife suggested asking for two hours instead of just one hour with her before any newborn procedures were done – we enjoyed every minute of those precious “firsts” with her!
Right after Stella latched on and started sucking for the first time, I could feel my uterus contracting. WOW. Shawna massaged my abdomen (either then or just after – I can’t remember?), and told me it was time to deliver the placenta. They had given me a shot of pitocin post delivery (after asking my permission, which was perfect!) because I was bleeding pretty heavily, and between that and the natural oxytocin from the breastfeeding, I just pushed a couple of times and out came the placenta. I never did see it – it honestly never occurred to me to ask, but I assume all was well since nothing was ever mentioned about it again.
At about the two hour mark, Charlie’s parents showed up (yes, at 4am!), and my midwife returned from delivering another woman’s baby in order to sew me up. The timing actually worked out great – Charlie got 45 minutes with just his parents and Stella while I got to relax and laugh with the nurse and my midwife while she fixed me up.
Shawna warned me that the numbing needle was going to hurt quite a bit and that it would be followed by a ton of burning. I used my hypnobabies finger drop cue to drop back into self-hypnosis to use my anesthesia, and honestly, the needles weren’t bad at all. Shawna was pretty impressed that I was just calmly breathing through the whole administration of the numbing agent. I was also eating a snack size bag of Cheetos that Charlie had grabbed me from the vending machine, and it was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s., but that’s neither here nor there. 🙂
Once it was in, Shawna started stitching and the three of us started chatting.
(FYI, the nurse was about 30, my midwife in her 50s.)
Our conversation went something like this…
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Nurse Alisa (who was finally filling out the paperwork that was obviously skipped when I got there): “Do you have any piercings or tattoos?
Me: Nope. Well, I used to have nipple piercings – that shouldn’t affect my ability to breastfeed now though, right?
Midwife Shawna (not phased at all): Nah, you should be fine. Speaking of piercings, Alisa, have I told you my piercing story yet?!
Alisa & me: What??
Shawna: Oh yeah, it was a scene. Thanksgiving with my family – Dad was DD, and it was one of those days were the mimosas started at breakfast and just never stopped. By the afternoon, my Mom, my daughter and I decided to visit a tattoo parlor and get piercings. I got my nose pierced!
Alisa & me: *staring quizzically at her non-pierced nose*
Shawna: Well, it got infected and was a total drunken mistake – it was out by two days later! Note to self, never go to tattoo parlors with my Mom and daughter while drinking.
Alisa & me: *busting up laughing*
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Have I mentioned how much I love my midwife?!! 🙂
Overall, I really am so happy about how the entire birth experience went. It wasn’t perfect. She got a little stuck, the back pain was pretty awful, and it was hard work getting her out. BUT, thanks to hypnobabies and all of my preparation, I never felt crazy out of control. I never felt fear. I never felt like every bit of pressure and back pain wasn’t all leading up to the most amazing moment of our lives…the moment when our daughter Stella arrived.
Life is good. 🙂
Congratulations on a perfect outcome, no matter how she got here! 🙂 Great story though!
Wow. So amazing. You are so lucky to have had just the experience you both wanted. Stella is a lucky little girl to have parents to care so much about her arrival and making sure everything was perfect. You are a wonderful mommy!
Also- she is gorgeous!
I was stalking your blog waiting for this part. I loved reading all three parts it sounded like an amazing birth and I am happy to know it all worked out for the three of you. You and Charlie really know how to make one adorable baby. Congrats again Josey.
She is so perfect. I could not possibly be happier for you and your family.
A perfect end to a perfect story resulting in a perfect baby. Love.
Awwwwww, look at those ruby red lips!! I am so thrilled that your birth plan wishes were respected. What a great experience. Congrats again!
Great story with a perfect happy ending!True story, when I delivered the placenta, my OB said, just give me one push. Well, I pushed with the same intensity as when I was delivering Taylor and my placenta FLEW out. …yeah.And then my OB gave my husband a detailed tour of my placenta. …double yeah.
Sounds like you were the rockstar during delivery! What a gorgeous little girl! Over the moon happy for your family!
Just amazing 🙂 Stella's little lips are so cute! I just wanna kiss em! 🙂
You and your oh so cooperative placenta. Go figure! 🙂 Dude I loved the series, I'm glad it went so well and that you're pleased with how everything turned out!
Congratulations Josie! She's perfect! I'm SO glad you were able to follow your birth plan AND avoid an almost-certain C-section! I wish you had kids before me and I found your blog before that. The research you did and your opinions were so eye-opening. It almost makes me want to have another baby so I can use some of your ideas. (Almost.) 🙂 Congrats again!!
Life is good. I just got a little thrill rush through me when I realized how long I have been wanting this for you and how perfectly it all turned out. So amazing! She's the most perfect little girl there ever was and I am so happy you are officially on the other side of the IF hill….you need an over the hill pin or something hehehe. Welcome offically to motherhood. You so deserve this!
I am so happy for you Josie! Thank you for sharing this story – all three parts. I was completely drawn in. I'm so glad it was such a positive experience! You deserve it. xoxt.
What an amazing story and I love love love that last picture! There is nothing more magical in the whole world than a sleeping newborn!
Finally getting to read this last installment. So perfect. We have been together since almost the very beginning of our TTC journeys and it feels like we've come full circle now that Stella is here. So happy to be able to go through it with a friend like you!
HFS!!! 😉 YOU ARE MY HERO!!! I had some insane back labor as well (and I had an epidural!) I loved reading all of the installments of Stella's entrance to the world! Congratulations! She is perfection!!!
Ok, it's really not fair to do this to a pregnant woman. I'm sitting here crying my eyes out reading your story. It's beautiful and I am so happy to have found your blog and learned more about hypnobabies. I've already found my local teacher and we're going to attend classes in July. If we're so lucky, we'll have a midwife deliver at home and I'll be following just about everything you did. You making giving birth sound like what I'm hoping for… an incredible experience of bringing your baby into this world. Not about fear, or pain, just incredible. Thank you for sharing!!