Owen's Waterbirth

Hi guys!

I'm back!

And I had my BABY!

YAY!

Here he is! (Right after birth.)



We named him Owen Russel Jacobson
He was eight pounds and four ounces and twenty inches long.

I feel so good! I'm exhausted but so happy to be de-pregnated. :)

Six weeks ago I wasn't so happy. About six week ago at this time I was completely dilated and effaced... moaning and groaning and sweating and aching and finally giving birth to my second son, Owen, in a bath tub.

You read that right, Owen is a water baby... born in a bath tub at a birthing center without drugs, monitors, machines, scalpels, nurses or an Obstetrician.

I know, I know. You probably think I'm nuts.

When I found out I was pregnant with Owen, I was SHOCKED... and worried. (He wasn't exactly planned.) We didn't have maternity insurance and we didn't have time to sign up for supplimental insurance before he was born. I knew we couldn't afford to pay for a normal hospital birth with an OB, so after doing a TON of research on the safety of home births and birthing centers and interviewing midwives all over the state, we decided to use a midwife team and a birthing center.

My prenatal care with my midwife team was excellent. I never thought I would ever use a midwife but now I don't ever want to go back to ab OB. The midwives we used were AWESOME! They are highly trained, experienced, and licensed. They did the same exams that my OB would do at his office, just in a smaller office without the high tech machines and monitors used at the OB's. I really liked talking to a midwife about my prenatal care and the laid back atmosphere at their office.

I prepared for labor and delivery using Hypnobirthing (relaxation and breathing techniques) because at the birthing center I used, they don't even offer drugs for pain. Before I got pregnant, I didn't think I would ever use Hypnobirting, but the more I read about it, the more it made sense and worked for me.

When labor started I felt confident and prepared to give birth with the help of my midwives. The kids and I were driving home from dropping off my brother and sister at the Airport and I started to get those all too familiar Braxton Hicks contractions. As I drove home through traffic, the contractions became stronger and stronger and STONGER. By the time Garrit and I got to the birth center a few hours later, I was already dilated to a six. After about an hour of hanging out in the tub at the birth center, I was complete and ready to push.

I'm not going to lie, even with all my Hypnobirth training, and even in the comfort of the birthing tub in my little birth suite, giving birth naturally was no picnic. The last half hour of labor was INTENSE. My whole body was tingling, I couldn't feel my fingers or toes and there were times that I thought I was either going to die or PUSH THAT BABY OUT!!! I prayed and prayed and prayed through each contraction that I wouldn't die. I prayed for God's help and for strength to make it through and I know that God really did help me. In the end I DID IT! After my midwife broke my water, I pushed the baby out in five minutes (literally) and I can't describe what I felt when it was all over. I felt awesome. Like I had conquered the world. There is nothing like natural childbirth. It is amazing.

Here's a video of me and O like a second after I had him. (Don't worry, it's G rated... you won't see anything shocking... except some bloody water and runny mascara...)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

You can see I'm totally in shock when it's all over. Funny.

It was quite the ride.

A lot of people have asked me if I would ever go natural again. I have to say that I honestly don't know. I think it would depend on the situation... like how old I was, and if I was in good shape physically and emotionally (oh yeah, and if I had an extra two grand to spend on an epidural). But I do have to say that I would never, ever attempt to give birth naturally in the hospital or with an OB. My midwives were awesome and I loved being able to move around and get in the tub during contractions. I think it would have been ten times harder if I was strapped to a hospital bed. Yuck.

So, there you have it. I recovered from the birth in about a week (another benefit of natural birth) and didn't use anything for pain except some ibuprofen.

Now we're back to real life and we're all doing great. (Besides the usual lack of sleep and piles and piles and piles and piles of dirty laundry.)

The End.