and then there was Jackson

[a detailed birth story ... not for the faint of heart ... but if you love birth stories, enjoy!]

Our little Jackson was born 12 days after his due date... which is just late enough that we and our midwives had started to try to help start labour without resorting to medical induction just yet.  On Sunday January 27, I met one of our midwives at noon and she swept my membranes.  My body didn't respond to this, so on Monday morning I drank a castor oil smoothie.  Not so tasty!  Well, actually, the taste wasn't so foul, as much as the way it made me feel.  No contractions at first, but I did feel like throwing up all morning.  Lovely.

Around noon I started to have regular but very mild contractions, so we called the midwife.  She came and again swept my membranes and told me to have another dose of the castor oil cocktail.  The thought of this repulsed me, but I obediently went to the store to pick up what I needed.  By the time I came back and had lunch, my contractions were getting stronger, so I didn't take the castor oil again.  My midwife (Jenny) came back and agreed that I seemed to be well on my way into labour.  Castor oil averted!!

We had been planning for a home birth, so slowly our birth team gathered: Stewart came home from work, Sarah arrived home from school, Megan arrived with a homemade pizza and cookies in hand (she knows me well!), and my Mom was already here helping me for the day.  We shipped the kids off to spend the night with my in-laws, and happily settled in for a night of labour.  Our baby was finally coming!

Unfortunately, shortly after Megan arrived, my contractions slowed and almost stopped.  Jenny (the midwife) decided to go find herself some supper -- it turns out she's a vegan, so our pizza plans didn't entice her.  By the time she returned we decided I wasn't actually in active labour, and we may as well all just try to get a good sleep and I'd do the castor oil cocktail again in the morning.  Blech.

Stew and I went to bed at a decent hour, and I awoke at 1am with strong contractions: 2 minutes long, 8 minutes apart.  I woke Stew up and we both got out of bed to help me cope.  My Mom had decided to sleep over, in case I woke up in the night in labour.  Good call, Mom!  By 2am she heard us and joined us in the living room.  I think it was about 3am that Sarah came out of her room; 4am that both Megan and Jenny came.  It was go time.  For real.

By the time we called Jenny to come, contractions were coming closer to 3 or 4 minutes apart and more than 1 minute long.  As much as labour never qualifies as "fun", it was so good to be able to labour at home, supported by close friends, family, and caring midwives.  So different from my hospital induction experiences.  I felt so comfortable and free to do whatever I needed to cope.  I was always super quiet during my hospital births, but this time I was a little more vocal.  Also, I'm a bit of a foodie, so I loved that I was able to eat and drink whatever I wanted throughout labour!  What a great perk - especially after not being allowed to eat for 17 hours straight when I had Halle.

Around 7am, Gillian, another of our midwives, arrived to help get things ready and assist at the birth.  She is the one who delivered Halle, and it was wonderful to have her there.  I think it was around the same time that Jenny got an IV into me, and locked.  I didn't need it for anything in labour, but since I had hemorrhaged badly with Micah, we had agreed that I would have an IV in and be ready to have oxytocin in case I bled again this time.  (Midwives are well equipped to handle a hemorrhage at home, so this did not exclude me from being eligible for a home birth.)

my first glimpse of Jackson

Sometime in the hour or two after that, my contractions really slowed down again.  We agreed that it would be best to break my water at this point and hope that it would cause the contractions to pick up again.  It worked exactly as the midwives hoped: within a few minutes we were back in strong labour.  Shortly after that I moved to the couch, labouring there on my hands and knees.  Janice, a third midwife, arrived to spell off one of the others, but it was getting close to the birth, so all three stayed.

I knew I had to go pee again before I would be able to deliver the baby, so I headed off to the bathroom.  Relieving myself was all it took for the baby to descend far enough that I really had to push and knew the birth was imminent.  (I believe I said "that's not poo!")

Stewart, Jenny, and Gillian helped me get out of the bathroom and onto my hands and knees on the floor on a pile of blankets and towels.  It was a good place and position to give birth, which was convenient because it was where we had planned on moving to next anyway for me to change position.

I started pushing and it was only 5-10 minutes later that our new baby was born.  While I was pushing, someone asked for everyone's last minute guesses of the gender.  We all, except one, guessed boy, and we were right!  Jackson William Dietrich was born at 10:30am, weighing 8lbs 2oz.


While the midwives delivered the placenta and gave me stitches (only one or two!) for a very minor first degree tear, Stewart, Jackson and I cuddled together there on the floor.  What a sweet time of bonding!

And for those who wondered about my risk of hemorrhaging... I did have a bit of a bleed.  Three hours after he was born, right around the time we thought I was out of the water and at pretty low risk to start bleeding, I did.  It was not a large amount, but more than is considered normal postpartum bleeding.  Janice, the midwife, very calmly got the IV set up with oxytocin and then stayed most of the day to keep a close eye on me.  All is well now, I mostly just feel weak and look really pale.  I plan to start on an iron supplement today to help me regain my strength.  (I took Floradix after my hemorrhage with Micah, had great success with it, and found it to be decent tasting, as far as liquid iron supplements go.)  Also, Janice said to me yesterday, "this is a bit funny coming from a vegetarian, but eat lots of red meat in the next while".  That is something I can do, and quite happily, I might add.

shortly after the birth

Jackson's name means God is gracious, and we have seen God's hand graciously at work over and over and over again through this pregnancy and birth and postpartum period thus far.  We are so thankful to have a healthy baby and a successful home birth, too.  Praise the LORD!  And thank you for your prayers!