I’m glad I am still able to get in to my blog, haha. It is just much easier these days to post on Instagram or Facebook from my phone instead of finding the time to get on the computer and actually do something that isn’t business related.
But back to the important stuff, birth story #6 which apparently many of you are eager to read about, especially considering it was accidentally unassisted…oops.
For those who are unfamiliar with my crunchy ways, we have never done ultrasounds and thus never found out the gender of our babies ahead of time. This pregnancy was no different! It is always wonderful to wait until the end and surprise everyone with whether we had a boy or a girl. We have been blessed so far with 1 boy and 4 girls…apparently God decided we are better at raising girls. Which is truly not a problem for me since I have always been a believer in using the talents God gives you. I guess we will either have quite a few nuns in the future or fantastic wives, ha.
Baby #6 was technically “due” November 11th. Due dates don’t mean a whole lot to me really since I know babies will come when they are ready. But this year we did drive to Florida and back October 23 to November 1 for a dear friend’s wedding and did in fact pack all the birth supplies just in case baby decided to come early…people did in fact think I was crazy, nothing new here.
All of my girls have been late according to their “guess date”, my latest was Genevieve (find her birth story HERE) who was a week late, the others have been 6 days late, 5 days late, and 3 days late, respectfully. So you would think if baby #6 was a girl, she would be consistent like the others and come just 2 days late. Yeah nope.
So then we were thinking since this was an outlier baby, that maybe it would be a boy. Our only boy, Matthew, was the only one born on his due date. Find his birth story HERE. Find all my other stories by searching for “birth story.”
November 11 came and went, the 41 week mark came and went, and everyone kept bothering me wondering how I had not had the baby yet. This is truly the most annoying part of pregnancy…everyone else stressing you out about why you haven’t had the baby yet. Being later than my “guessdate” really didn’t bother me, as like I said, I knew babies come when they are ready. It was getting closer to Thanksgiving though, we had different things come up with the business, and it was cold out so I figured baby was just staying snug and the stress was keeping her from being ready to come earthside. I just kept reminding myself to read my birth affirmations, especially the one that said “Surrender.” After all, it was all up to God.
I went to bed November 21st like usual and got up a few times during the night like usual (pregnancy bladder) and realized I was having contractions but I figured they were just Braxton’s Hicks like usual. I was able to ignore them and went back to sleep and eventually they went away or I just didn’t notice them anymore.
I got up the next morning and realized that I was actually having consistent contractions shortly after getting up. I avoided downloading my contraction timer app and tracking them until I couldn’t ignore them anymore which I think was around 9am. (I think they started around 8). I gave my midwife a heads up and said I would keep her updated.
Keep in mind that all of my babies before this one have been born at night…usually I go to labor in the evening when I am most relaxed and then baby has been born in the early morning hours. So I figured this one would be no different. I was thinking I would probably have contractions off and on during the day and then baby would decide to finally come in the middle of the night like before.
Lol nope is the short version of what happened, haha. Our midwife recommends letting her know when you have contractions 5 minutes apart for at least 2 hours and contractions are at least a minute long. Considering I could still manage these contractions without completely having to stop making breakfast, stop talking, etc, I figured the harder contractions were further away than they really were. At 11am, I hesitantly called her and let her know she should probably head my way. I was hesitant because I really thought it would be a few more hours. Little did I know!
Shortly before I called her, the husband asked if we should blow up the birth pool. I said yes that was probably a good idea. Once again I was hesitant to actually fill it up because I figured the water would get cold before I wanted to get in. I usually don’t get in until I decide I really need the water to handle the contractions better. But we decided to fill it up at least until the hot water ran out, which meant it was filled up about halfway. And the husband said he would put a pot of water on the stove to get it hot in case we needed it before the hot water heater caught up. Yeah that pot was never used.
In these few hours between contractions, the other kids were upstairs watching whatever TV show they find and/or checking up on me occasionally in between commercials. Adelaide kept finding the peppermint essential oil and we were just hoping she wouldn’t spill it everywhere. I use the peppermint essential oil to help with the nausea during labor and especially transition. Hubby was also amazing at doing counterpressure on my hips during contractions. Counterpressure helps an amazing amount!
I think around 20 min after I called Jaymee, my midwife, I realized my water was about to break so I got in the pool. That was earlier than I expected but I knew that with a few of my births, my water broke just shortly before baby was born.
Sure enough, I got in the water and my water broke shortly after. When your water breaks, you no longer have that extra cushion so contractions immediately get more intense. And sure enough, within a few contractions, I was like I can’t do this anymore. Hello transition. Husband was wonderful and was reminding me that this was nothing compared to Genevieve’s birth lol. A contraction later and I was dry heaving (hello nausea in transition) and then the next contraction and baby’s head was born! I think I said “What!” like 5 times in the next few minutes because I was 100% not expecting labor to be that short and baby to be here already! 5 minutes later and baby had rotated to get in the best position to birth the shoulders and the rest of her body and baby was here with the next contraction! And my midwife wasn’t even here yet!
FYI just because the baby’s head is out does NOT mean it is an emergency to get the rest of the body out. Babies receive oxygen via the umbilical cord and usually take a few minutes to rotate to the best position after the head is out and can take a few minutes break before the next contraction helps them be born the rest of the way. If OB’s and L&D nurses knew this and actually believed in waiting for contractions instead of forcing baby out, sooo many moms would have less trauma and a much better birth experience and recovery…that’s my short rant on this for the day, haha.
Yeah so baby being born prompted a quick phone call to Jaymee, who was just 5 minutes away. So technically, I guess it could be called an accidental unassisted birth. I had joked about having an unassisted birth but wasn’t exactly planning on the midwife not being there, haha. Although with most of my births, my midwife is hands off and mainly just checks the heartbeat and my blood pressure during labor. I have delivered 5 out of 6 babies myself and she is just there to make sure everything is going as it should! Which is exactly how I like it!
We waited the few minutes in that bliss that you feel right after a baby is born until Jaymee showed up before we looked and found out we had another beautiful GIRL.
Isabella Patricia was born at 11:50am on November 22nd, weighing 8lb, 4oz and was 21inch long. She was not my biggest baby but she is my biggest girl. Isabella shares a birthday with my brother Eric and her middle name is after my grandmother who passed away a few years ago. Grandma was the reason my Dad is Catholic which is one of the main reasons I am Catholic so she had a lot of influence on our lives!
The kids were all excited to meet their baby sister, although I think Lil Matthew was disappointed for a little bit. Jaymee and assistant midwife Lisa (who showed up a few minutes after Jaymee) were super helpful in the first few hours postpartum as they always are. We are always so thankful for our awesome midwives from In Bloom Midwifery who have cared for us during every one of our pregnancies.
I’m very fortunate that my pregnancy itself is uneventful and without any major complaints. I think my last two pregnancies have been the healthiest since stopping regular prenatal pills and focusing more on healthy meals and nutrient-rich foods. I was adamant on having a real protein-filled breakfast every morning and took Earthley’s Nourish Her Naturally, Energy Plus, and dessicated liver capsules as part of a “prenatal” supplement regimen. In the last trimester, I drank Organic Red Raspberry Leaf tea daily and took Alfalfa (for preventing excessive bleeding postpartum). I also always take Nature’s Sunshine’s 5-W starting at 35 weeks but I found out they were out of stock until January so I just used what I had leftover from the last pregnancy and then took Gentle Birth Formula the remaining weeks of pregnancy.
For postpartum after-birth pains, I always take After-Ease Tincture, along with Arnica (15% off anything on the Ollois site with code MINDINGMYMATTIES) and Turmeric capsules. In the days leading up to labor and birth, I also rubbed my belly with St. Philomena Oil and in the last few months of pregnancy prayed the novena of St. Gerard Majella for a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery.
The innumerable prayers from people from our church and from people I know across the country helped immensely as well. We are grateful for every single prayer and all the help we have gotten in the 2 weeks since Isabella was born. We are truly blessed and loving every minute as a family of eight!
