I DID IT!!!!! Naomi Sarai's Home Birth After Cesarean...

I am on a high right now, but I'll try to focus to get you all some details of how this went down. I'll try and write this as short as possible....

After Tuesday's appt. I was having 20 min. apart contractions, never ceasing. I was waiting, and waiting... and waiting. Not getting any sleep or anything, but was still encouraged by the progress made from Tuesday's findings (dilated 3, 80%, 0 station) I went back to the midwife Friday morning, completely exhausted seeking any information on any progress. Little did I know a bomb was going to be dropped. I was remaining so optimistic, outside of my nature, and things were going so well. She told me my "group B strep" test came back positive, (I've never had that before, and it can be fatal to babies if contracted) So I needed to start a serious round of antibiotics ASAP. She found I was then dilated to 4, but said that the babies head was no longer low like before. So high, in fact, her head was off to the side a little. My heart sank because of what happened with Tesh. She also noticed my bag of waters was bulging because of it. That's a risk, if it breaks, because the cord could come down first, which is very dangerous, it's an automatic emergency c-section if that were to happen.  Then, she listened to heart tones, which were very high, (anywhere from 160s-upper 180s) but the fluctuation made her feel a little better about it, but we didn't know why it was so high.She went ahead and "swept" me to help things get going, but didn't want to do anything too crazy, so I could have time to take antibiotics.

I went away from that appt. feeling completely defeated. I cried, panicked, lost my confidence in being able to do this. There were so many things going against me now. I started having contractions, finally! and I felt myself fighting them. Not wanting labor to happen now, because I was scared. Here's where the kicker is for me. I have faith that God will carry out His will. I have faith in God's promises that He works all things for good.... Does that promise life on earth? Nope. How does that comfort me? It doesn't. I had to have my freak out moment, and push it aside, getting back to business.

We went to Panera Bread for lunch, and I was contracting pretty well. I wanted to be home, so we went home. We tried all different "calming" techniques to make sure this was real labor, and not something that was going to go away. After taking tylenol, hot bath, yes, a glass of wine, these contractions were not stopping. It was late afternoon, and we were more positive that this was happening. I wasn't quite over my panicking at the moment, so a few more tears were shed, before I was able to get ahold of myself.

Midwife's asst. came to check my progress at 7pm? I was dilated to 6 and baby was lower once again. Phew! that's better. Contractions were coming strong and I stayed in my "trough" (pool;) I loved being in there. I labored almost the whole time in the water. Then things got "pushy". I pushed my hardest I could in the water, but little progress was being made. Midwife could feel no cord in the way, so that made me feel a whole lot better. But I still couldn't do it, and I don't ever have a problem pushing babies out. All of the sudden, something started to emerge as I pushed...  Midwife says, "that's not a head." I asked, "What is it!!??" In panic. cause really.... that can't be good. I was pushing my bladder out! No joke! But figuring out it was the bladder, just weirded me out. Adding another awkward thing for me to think about. I wanted to keep my bladder. LOL...

They suggested I get out, and I decided to do just that. I needed the gravity of land, and not the buoyancy of water to help me push this baby out. I got out, Josh sat on the floor, with all these blankets and chux pads and I sat in front of him, it was nice being in his arms at such an uncertain time cause once again, I was feeling defeated. I pushed my all, and finally, freaking painfully, the baby emerged within minutes. I know I screamed that last bit as her head emerged with the rest of her body, but everyone else was screaming with me. She was put on my chest right away, and covered in towels so fast, that I plum forgot to even look at what gender she was, cause we didn't know the sex yet. After several seconds, people are asking me, "what is it??!!" I lifted my prize up and it was another girl :) That leaves my Isaiah with 4 little sisters, and no brothers. He was disappointed at first, but the next morning he was completely in love. Eve is so proud, and Tesh has no idea what's going on. lol. Isaiah and Eve were there, watching the whole thing in fascination, but Tesh was asleep.

We named this little bundle Naomi Sarai. Born February 17th at 11:04pm, weighing in at 6 lbs. 4oz, 20 1/2 inches long. She pinked up so fast, I didn't have time to get anxious about color or anything. I got back in the pool for some good soaking and nursed her. She is a nurser!!! She did awesome. I was so awake and alive and so was she. She was so content and vigorous with her nursing, that it made this whole craziness so worth it.

It turned out to be not at all what I expected. However, my goal was accomplished, none the less. I had a vaginal birth after cesarean, AT HOME!!! There are still things Josh and I are experiencing that are way better than being in the hospital. I have no regrets. I'm so happy. I'm completely relieved it's over, and I thank God for holding us, and ensuring our safety through all this, even though the odds were against us. Thank you to every one that kept us in prayer, as we couldn't have done it without that either. Your prayers interceded in a way, you may never realize.