Susan's birth of Blaise

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From the moment I found out I was pregnant; I knew that the little pea in my pod would be a boy. I just felt it. I also “just felt” that he would certainly arrive earlier than his estimated due date of June 26th.

Nine years earlier, I had experienced the birth of my lovely daughter, Marissa. While a mid-wife attended her birth, it took place at a hospital. Not fun. From the hospital staff telling me, that after only being there for one hour they needed to “speed things along” by giving me Pitocin, to a nurse giving me a shot of a narcotic called Nubane without my asking for it, I knew that one hospital birth was all that I was cut out to have.

It was for these reasons, and a thousand others, that when I found out I was expecting my second child, I set out in search of a mid-wife who would assist me in delivering my baby at home. This person would need to be kind, compassionate, knowledgeable, and considerate to all things important to my family and me. She would also need to be able to listen to my fears and concerns and help me prepare for what would turn out to be one of the sweetest experiences of my life - the home birth of my son, Blaise. This person turned out to be Sharon.

Now, as I mentioned before, I always believed that Blaise would be born early. With that in mind, I began my maternity leave on June 13th. The anticipation of meeting this little man was almost too much to bear. In the days leading up to my “due date” I wondering if every Braxton-Hicks was the one that was going to be the beginning of something bigger. Something, well, like labor. Early in my pregnancy, I decided that I wanted to have a water birth, so it was also around this time that the birthing pool was delivered to my home and erected in the middle of my family room. Since I had long since out-grown the bathtub, this portable Jacuzzi was a savior to my aching back and ever-expanding body. Needless to say, I took full advantage of its presence and gave it more than a few test runs.

To me, every day was “The Day”. My husband thought I was crazy. I think I put at least two calls in to Sharon asking her if she thought I could be in labor. When June 26th came and went, so did my hopes that Blaise would come early. Sharon always told me that babies come when they are ready. Though I may have been ready enough for the both of us, he apparently was not.

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On the morning of Saturday June 28th I woke up at about 5 a.m. After going to the bathroom for the first of what would surely be one hundred times that day, I noticed that I had a little pink discharge. Wow, something new. I wondered if this could be my mucus plug or the bloody show that I had heard so much about. I waited until about 9 a.m. and called Kim, my Bradley instructor and doula. She said that it sounded like it could be my mucus plug, but that did not mean that I would go into labor. It could be another 24-48 hours (was she kidding me???) before I experienced anything else. Okay, not exactly what I wanted to hear, but definitely a step in the right direction.

Saturday, I busied myself around the house, cleaning, and making sure I had everything I needed for the birth. I always heard that you should try to be well rested before labor, so I made an effort to take it easy and get to bed early.

On Sunday, June 29th I woke up at around 6 a.m. and went to the bathroom. Still, a little pink discharge, but no significant change in the way I felt. I waddled back to bed to watch TV reruns and out of no-where a magnificent thought occurred to me. I had read somewhere that nipple stimulation could often trigger labor, and right then and there, as my husband slept beside me, I began to do just that. Now, everyone I tell this to looks at me like I have two heads, and if my husband had been awake, he would have certainly thought I had lost it. But in my heart of hearts, I really believe that this is what helped my body produce the Oxytocin (a natural form of Pitocin) that would initiate my labor. I did this for probably an hour and got up to get ready for church. When I did, I felt a contraction. Good sign. While in the shower, I felt another one. Better sign.

I got out and told Pat what I had done and what was going on. We decided that he should take Marissa to church by himself and I would stay home. After they left I called Sharon and told her what I was experiencing. She told me that she would come over at around 1p.m. just to check everything out and be on the safe side.

It was around noon by now, and the contractions were coming regularly about every 4-5 minutes, though, I had none that took my breath away. I straightened the house, balanced my checkbook and went on about my Sunday. Sharon and her nurse Margie arrived at my home at around 1 p.m. and Sharon asked if I wanted her to do a pelvic exam. I did, as I was very anxious to know if Blaise was finally ready!! When she checked, she told me that I was about 5-6 cm with a bulging bag of water!!! OHMYGOSH! I was in shock. Here I was wondering if I was really in labor and I was already half way through! I called Kim and my best friend Cynthia and mother (who both live about 2 hours away) to let them know that I was in labor and waited for Pat and Marissa to return.

The afternoon slowly unfolded and just as we had planned for the last several months, Marissa and I baked Blaise a birthday cake. While in the kitchen, the contractions started to become stronger and I had to stop and breathe through them.

Pat was very nervous and didn’t know what to do. He’s a phenomenal cook, and as a farewell to my eating-for-two mentality, I asked him to prepare baked ziti with hot Italian sausage. So for the early part of my labor he split his time between the kitchen where he was making sauce, my side where he offered encouragement, and the yard. You see, even though it was raining and I was in labor, he decided that he had to mow and edge the lawn. He really did not know where to put himself. It was quite funny seeing him in such a state!

Kim made it over at around 2 p.m., followed shortly there after by my mother-in-law, who was also very nervous. I walked around the house, ate cheese and crackers and at times just sat in awe. I really could not believe that sometime during the next few hours I was going to have a son.

The atmosphere was so relaxing. Everyone talked and relaxed. Kim started a labor diary and had everyone write something in it. We listened to Carole King’s “Tapestry” and Norah Jones. Her song “Come Away With Me” will forever be my “love song” to Blaise.

This is exactly how I imagined my homebirth to be. I felt so calm and at ease. I could walk around, eat, laugh and progress in my own time at my own pace.

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At around 3 p.m. I decided that I wanted to get into the birthing pool. The contractions were starting to become more intense and I thought the water would be helpful. The warmth and feeling of weightlessness felt wonderful. I was in there for about five minutes, and a couple contractions when I felt a “pop”. “Oh my God,” I said, surprised by the sudden intensity I was feeling. “Oh my God, what?” was Sharon’s immediate reply. She told me that more than likely my water had just broken. All of a sudden, I felt very hot. Unbeknownst to us, we had the thermostat turned all the way up on the pool and the water was becoming very warm. I wanted to get out of the pool and decided that I would try to sit on the birthing ball that Kim had brought with her.

After another contraction, there was a tremendous gush of water. My water had broken and things quickly switched into high gear. Blaise was ready to make his grand entrance.

I could hardly believe how quickly things were progressing. The contractions were quite strong, but in between, I was still able to laugh and smile . . .at least for a little while . . .

I began feeling a lot of pressure, and thought that I might feel more comfortable sitting on the toilet. Sharon brought a pillow into the bathroom for me, and I straddled the toilet, resting my head on the back. I guess my body was starting to bear down with the contractions. Noticing this, Sharon asked me where I wanted to have the baby. Remembering how HOT the birthing tub was, I suggested that we go into the bedroom.

By this time, my poor mother-in-law was a bundle of nerves, and decided that she would take Marissa to the store, as she too was becoming a little upset from seeing me in pain. My friend Cynthia had arrived and was helping with the video camera. But, where was my mother? She had left home at around the same time as Cynthia but was still not there. Someone called her, and she was lost!! Well, I made it to the bed and rolled around a bit, and uttered just one obscenity (I think!) Sharon took a peek and could see the baby’s head! We were getting close and I really wanted for Blaise to be born in the water, which by this time was probably hot enough to boil shrimp! Everyone scrambled around the looking for ice to put in the water, and someone went to the neighbors to get some more.

Back into the tub I went. With every contraction I was pushing, though without really trying. Sharon allowed my body to do what nature told it to and simply stood by me to offer comfort, words of advise and make sure that nothing went wrong. It was so beautiful and relaxing as compared to Marissa’s birth.

At first I felt comfortable in a squatting position, however, as his head started to come down, I felt like there wasn’t enough room for it to progress. In between contractions, I lay back in the pool and had Patrick kneel behind me and support my upper body while I placed my feet on the side of the pool for leverage. Pat’s mom and Marissa made it back just in the nick of time . . .this was it . . .

I must say that there is nothing in this world like giving birth naturally. Every feeling, every sensation is so intense (in a good way!) It was so amazing to me that I could actually feel Blaise moving down my body- could actually feel my bones opening and shifting to make room for him to be born. During the next contraction, his head began to emerge. I had told Sharon that I wanted to be the one to “catch” him, so Kim told me to reach down and feel his hair. I didn’t want to- I was too focused on him being born. Though, in a few seconds I did reach down and touch him, his hair felt soft as velvet. His head came out and I leaned back to rest for a moment, as he rotated within me to be born. During the next contraction, the rest of his body came into the world. Sharon ended up catching him and placed him on my chest. He was so peaceful when he was born and within a few seconds, let out his first cry.

Though he was 22 ¼ inches long and weighed 8 pounds, I was completely awe-stricken by how tiny he seemed. And he was COVERED by what seemed to be an endless amount of vernix. It was so funny, Sharon joked that Blaise had as much vernix on him as all of the other babies she has helped to deliver put together!

We lay in the pool together for a few minutes and once his cord stopped pulsing, Marissa helped cut it. He was then given to his proud Daddy for some bonding while I was helped into the bedroom to deliver the placenta and get a couple of stitches.

Around this time, my mom finally arrived and began to fawn over her new grandson. After a wonderful shower, Patrick brought Blaise in to me to nurse and Sharon left us alone for a little while to be together as a family. She and Marjorie stayed for a few hours after to make sure that everything was okay and then left us to settle in to our first night with our new son.

The entire experience, from my very first appointment with Sharon to Blaise’s birth was intimate and personal. It was everything that we always hoped it would be, and so much more than we ever dreamed possible. For these reasons, and many, many more Sharon and her staff will forever hold a very special place in our hearts.

Blaise Kennerly Day
Sunday, June 29. 2003

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