The Business of Being Born Message Board

In 2003, my husband and I welcomed our first child, Elissa, into the world. She was born underwater in the “green room” of the Greenhouse Birth Center. Twenty-one months later in 2005, we welcomed our son, Julian, in that very same tub. It was only natural then, that we would repeat the process should we get pregnant again. We did, and we welcomed our third child and second daughter, Lorelei, into the world in 2007, in the green room tub. Three children, one tub – all underwater! Although they were all born in the same tub, in much the same way, their stories have all been different. Here is the story of my youngest…

On Sunday, May 27th, my water broke at 7:30am. I got up, called my mom, mother in law, and the midwives. No contractions had started, but I wanted to let everyone know what was going on. I waited and waited, and by noon, I still hadn’t had anything more than a few Braxton Hicks type contractions. Around 2:30pm, I decided to go grocery shopping, since this had worked to spark contractions with my son. Sure enough, they started as I walked into the grocery store!

After shopping for about an hour, I headed home (I had somewhat regular contractions while shopping). About an hour after I got home, the contractions lessened and finally disappeared. That night, I had to sleep in a semi-upright position, because when I attempted to lie down, I began to leak amniotic fluid as Lorelei hadn’t moved into the head down “engaged” position. She was head down, but her back was still along my side. Needless to say, I only got about three hours of sleep that night.

On Monday, the 28th, I woke up with still no contractions. Later that afternoon around 4pm, I started having contractions which were about 30 minutes apart. Over the next couple of hours, they picked up and grew more intense, and were approximately thirteen minutes apart. They continued in intensity, but became irregular and were approximately 30-45 minutes apart. I again tried to get some sleep; basically napping in a seated position surrounded by pillows.

At about 12:30am on May 29th, I got up to use the bathroom. When I walked out of the bathroom, I went into the living room and told my husband that we would probably need to go soon, as contractions had gotten very close (5-7 min. apart) in a very short amount of time. He went to get dressed and get our bag ready. When he came back I told him we needed to get the kids in the car and go. He called my mom, his mom, and the midwives to let them know we were on our way. We packed up the kids and headed out at approximately 1 am.

We got to the birth center at about 1:45am, and contractions had been regular and very intense during the entire drive. My mom met us there, and took charge of Elissa and Julian. I immediately got into the birthing tub, which was already waiting for me - filled with nice warm water. Elissa, Julian, and my mom came in and out of the room while I was laboring, talking and making sure “mama was ok”. I labored for approximately an hour before Lorelei was born. Less than 30 minutes of that time was actual pushing, and Lorelei didn’t rotate into the correct position until I was already in the pushing stage - it was a strange feeling to feel her rotate. As soon as her head started to emerge, my husband put his hands in the water with mine, and we guided her out while one m/w took pictures, and the other stood close by should we need assistance. Lorelei was born at 2:50 am; just two and a half hours after active labor began. Lorelei Arin weighed in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces and was 20 ½ inches in length.
The plan was to have my husband, my mother, both kids and my mother in law in the room when the baby was born. Lorelei came so fast though, that as I was pushing her out, my mom and the kids were just walking into the room. My mother in law was walking through the front door of the birth center. Not quite as we had planned, but special in its own way.

We chose not to find out the gender during pregnancy, so it was very exciting to see her emerging and discover that we had another daughter. My husband helped me place her on my chest, and I quickly looked to see the gender. After I’d announced that we had another girl, we waited in the tub together while pictures were taken and for the placenta to be born. Clarice (midwife) commented that I had one of the shortest umbilical cords she’d ever seen, and she was surprised that I could hold Lorelei on my chest. The cord was apparently quite taught.

The placenta was born, and my husband cut the cord. Lorelei was wrapped up and gently taken out of the tub, while the midwives helped me get out of the tub and into the bed. Once I was in the bed, Lorelei and I were wrapped in warm blankets and given some food to eat. Lorelei tried to nurse and did well, and about an hour after she was born, we took measurements and weight.

About two hours after she was born, the midwives checked me for tearing and for any excessive clotting. I had one superficial tear - too small for stitches and no excessive clotting. We then took our herbal bath, after which we got ourselves ready to go home. We were there for a total of about four hours, three of which were after the birth. While we rested with all our kids on the big bed, one Kip made a placenta print and then placed our placenta in the fridge (to be picked up the following day for drying and encapsulating).

This is our last planned birth. We have three beautiful children, all of whom were born in the same loving place. This particular birth was very special to me, as it is my last, and I am very thankful that I was able to have the same peaceful experience as I had enjoyed with my previous two children. Looking back, if I had been under the care of a physician, I am not convinced that I would have had the same outcome. I’m quite certain that the circumstances surrounding the days before Lorelei’s birth might have resulted in my having a cesarean section. This was ultimately avoided by my choice of where to bring her into the world. I can now look back on all three of my children’s birth stories with love and affection.