Homebirths and vegan pregnancy

[HoneyNBen]

I'm taking a suggestion to start a new thread...so here please post your homebirth stories so we can read them! I love hearing about births. I hope to find someone (midwife) to have one myself before my next pregnancy. The only midwife available only does the birthing center in a hospital...it's nice LIKE home...but it's still not home. Also, if you were vegan and pregnant would you mind passing along any words of wisdom? I know I'll be fighting in-laws about being vegan and pregnant so if you know of any really great things to help...or can help send me to areas that help I'd really appreciate it.

I really want my children to be surrounded by family as they grow up. Unfortunantly I also want to include our meat loving families... :mad: Blast my loving ways! hehe! Any stories, advice on homebirths, and such would be appreciated and eagerly read.

[sophie]

Well, here's my homebirth story in a nutshell. My first two children were born at a birthing centre which focussed on natural birth. They were both amazing! My first labour took 14 hours, and my second took only 4 hours, and was a waterbirth. Both times I had no drugs and was lucky enough to need no intervention (which would have meant transferring to a hospital). Anyway, we live 45 minutes from town, and only made it to the birthing centre with 30 minutes to spare when I had Lily (my second). So with our third we decided to have a homebirth. I am so glad we did! It was such an awesome experience. I went into labour at 5am on my due date. It was a gorgeous crisp, clear morning, and I watched the sun come up over the harbour (we live by the sea) as I breathed through my contractions. My midwife, who was amazing, had come over straight away, as did my older sister who was a support person. My partner, Al, dropped the kids at our friend's place, and then we all just relaxed, drank tea, ate toast (except me, I wasn't in the least bit hungry) and talked and laughed a lot. It was such a nice atmosphere. Slowly my contractions intensified, and I would retreat into my own space every time I had one, then would resume talking. Every now and then my midwife checked the baby's heartbeat, it was the first time I'd heard the heartbeat as up till then we'd used the pinnard rather than the doppler. I couldn't believe I'd be holding my baby soon.
For pain relief I had two wrapped hot-water bottles, one on my abdomen and one on my back, which my sister re-filled with hot water every time they cooled down.
At about 10.30am, five and a half hours since my labour began, we were all laughing hard about something when my waters broke! My midwife said she'd never seen anyone laugh so hard they ruptured their membranes! From this point on things got very very intense. I went from sitting cross-legged on my favourite armchair to kneeling on my birthmat on the floor, leaning against a pile of cushions on the couch. The pain became excruciating and the contractions relentless. My sister sat to one side of me, my partner on the other side, and my midwife behind, all of them co-operating to put hot, wet towels on my abdomen and back. Between contractions Al would feed me water and my sister would mop my face. Soon the head started to come down and I heard my midwife say " your baby's not far away Sophie" which gave me a boost. I wanted to push and asked my midwife if I could and she said to do whatever my body was telling me to do, so I began to push with all my might. At 11.11am I gave birth to my beautiful boy, who was caught by his daddy. We named him Solomon Felix, meaning "peaceful, happy one". His birth was so perfect, incredible and empowering. I love homebirth!

[sophie]

by the way, there are pictures of Solomon at
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/s/solly
(the password is diaspro)

[HoneyNBen]

Your births sound wonderful! I love when a midwife says one should listen to their body. That's the number one thing between home and hospial. Encouraging women to pay attention and do what their bodies are telling them. I just hope I can find a midwife that'll do a homebirth before our next pregnancy. I too had my children in a birthing center. It was nice more homey than the hospital, but it was still the hospital. You know...they should do a book over vegan homebirths and pregnancy...humm... Would you guys be interested in something like that?

[capersmama]

For my last pregnancy (#4)and homebirth I wasnt vegan (just vegetarian).

I had pretty much been forced on the concept of "inducing" labor because the dr thought I was gestational diabetic. (still unsure since I was given 2 results for the same darn test) Onetime he said I wasnt GD..then 3 days later he said I was and that no further tests were run. Personally I think he got my results mixed w/ another patients because he had me checking my glucose 4 times a day and my #s were never high)..but none the less...he insisted on inducing because all the MACHINES at the hosp (ultrasound) said baby was 9'3/4 pounds and I had NO amniotic fluid. This was a Thursday. He tried to have me go into the labor room and be induced right then and there. I had to fight with him tooth and nail to give me the weekend to do natural induction because I believed baby was NOT THAT BIG and baby was still flipping so I couldnt have been low on amniotic fluid.

<deep breath> I left hosp and called my midwife (who I secretly was planning a hb with)in tears. Explained the situation to her and we collectivly decided to do an herbal induction the next morning (Friday). She came in and ruptured my amnio sac and I filled 3 surgical pads full of amniotic fluid so obviously not low on fluids..:-) I was already at 3 cm.
Then she started me on a combination of blue and black cohosh every 15 minutes. The off for a huge mexican lunch topped off with 4 ozs of the most gosh darn gag a maggot yuckiest castor oil.
After that yummy treat..lol..off to the mall we went where she and my dh walked my big hiney from one end to the other and EVERY store in between..lol where I started contractions.

We went home to check my progress...still 3-4 no pain..just intermittant contractions. I got in the tub of warm water and contractions picked up. I got out and got online in a homeschooling chat because I was sooo excited! I sat and yakked in the chat until I was almost 8 cm. Its 11pm now.

It was then that I realized we had forgotten a camera! So I called my MIL who lived 3 doors away from us to borrow the camera..and got an ear full for calling so late..when I finally got it through to her that NO IT CANT WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW AS BABY IS COMING NOW! rofl..I tolf her my 14 yo son would be running over to get it..when in the background I hear my midwife yell..."oh no he isn't..you can walk over there and get it". So off my dh and I walked..lol...contractions every 2 minutes and not very painful at all.

When we get back home Im advised to get in the tub to help relax..where I sat for about 1 1/2 hrs. LOVED THAT TUB! All of the sudden my dh disappeared from the bathroom and my side where he had been from the very beginning..and my midwife appeared..and announced I needed to get out to be checked because my dh was freaking because there was a small stream of blood in the water. I got out and was checked and come to findout the blood was because I dialated to 10 very quickly. Time to push.:-)

I pushed maybe 5 times and the head started out and my midwife asked if we could take a second to pray that our decision to induce was God's will and that all will be well with the baby. She said the most beautiful prayer. I resumed to push and yelled for my boys to come in to see the birth. When they came (my #3 the 6 yo had fallen asleep)in I pushed 2 more times and Caper was born. We all oohed and ahhed over him for about 5 minutes then my oldest went and got his guitar and played Happy Birthday and we all sang to him. He weighed 7#'s even. And to think the ultrasound said he was almost 10 pounds! :-/

Come Monday morning it was time for my appointment..and I walked in with baby.lol. Nurse and receptionist were fussing over baby when they asked my dr why he hadnt told them I had the baby over the weekend. He said "because I didnt know!" lol
That was when I said "see what happens when you put deadlines on me?" He asked how and I told him of the blue and black cohosh and he checked them out and checked baby and assured me all was well.

Just to think if I hadnt listened to my body and my gut instinct..I could have ended up with an unnecessary hospital induction which would most likely have ended up in a cesarian because my #1 and #2 were C's. My midwife is now affectionatly known as my angel! I adore her! I am using her again with this baby due in Feb 2004.

[HoneyNBen]

Sigh! Ahhh! Big smile....

[capersmama]

HoneyNBen,
I didnt know if you knew about this site or not so thought Id pass the link on. http://www.midwiferytoday.com/forums/default.asp
I thought maybe you could get a bit more info about midwifery there.

[tina]

Well...my first was an unnecessary c-sec...so soon after I recovered I began to explore my options and found a GREAT group of midwives.
my second was WONDERFUL!!!
I began to feel a bit ill 9 days after my due date. After checking in with one of the midwives I relaxed in the tub with some lavendar oil. (as much as I could since my 3yo jumped in with me) I started timing my contractions to see if they were getting closer or were just braxton hicks (I really didn't know if I was in labor) they were getting closer so I called the midwife again as well as my mother and my friend who would be attending for her doula training (and she's a massage therapist!) The contractions got a but more intense, but nothing I couldn't handle. I spent the next few hours being massaged from all sides (one midwife on each arm and leg, an MT at my back, and another midwife holding cool rags on my forehead)...the pampering was amazing!!!
As things got more intense I climbed into the birth pool my husband had set up in the family room...and that our cat had punctured a hole into to check out the water...(this meant that during the time I was in somehad to continually pump air into it...oh yeah, and our water heater broke so my mother spent the night ading hot water from the stove top to the pool so it wouldn't get too cold!) I really enjoyed the pool! They had to convince me to get out and use the potty...after which I decided to sit on the birthing ball and eventually started pushing...Once I did, baby was out in just a few minutes! It was so great! Labor lasted just over 9 hrs total. She was a successful 10lb VBAC at home! Although lots of little things went wrong that night...it was still perfect! I could do it over and over again!!! :D
The BEST part was right after birthing the placenta we climbed into the birthing pool to relax together. It was so peaceful and she loved the feel of moving freely in the water as I floated her back and forth. The sun had just come up and there was a soft glow coming in the windows. That is a picture that I cherish in my mind. I wish so much that I had explored my options more before the first baby. I will always have my babies at home.
BTW - I was only vegan for the first half of my preg. I gave in to some cravings...which I will never do again. But immediately after the birth I went back to being vegan and she still gained over 2 lbs a month! And is developing almost too rapidly for me! If only they could stay babies forever...she is now almost 10 months old and almost walking. She definitley isn't losing anything nutritionally! I believe she's much better off and that allowing animal products into the diet during pregnancy or lactation can actually harm the baby somewhat.

[HoneyNBen]

Lovely! I believe I fall in love with every birth story I hear, see or experience. I swear...I'll be a midwife soon! (10 years+!!) At least I still get to experience more births through all of you! Quick question...Do any of you live in Ohio? I've been unable to locate a midwife who will do a homebirth...actually they're all CNM, which I love mine, but I think the whole huge focus on doctors and all makes them a bit more distrustful of a woman's body... So anyways, do you know of any midwives who live in Ohio ( Cincinnati-Dayton?)

By the way...the most beautiful part of the last story was the sun coming in in the morning and you talking about the baby loving the feel of you floating her back and forth...I bet she felt right back "in" there. Ladies, give those babies some extra love today/night!

[molly]

OK, I've put off this question long enough. I know I should remember, but what does VBAC stand for??? (I haven't had my first pregnancy yet, if that makes me sound less stupid for not remembering.)

[tina]

VBAC means Vaginal Birth After Cesarean
Don't feel stupid at all for not knowing...there are tons of people who don't know.
Tina

[HoneyNBen]

What's the old saying?...the only stupid question is the one not asked? Or something like that. None of the others here knew what a VBAC was until they read about it or had one.

By the way...to you VBAC's...

Way to go ladies!!!