Ryan Michael's Birth Story

Disclaimer: while not as graphic as some birth stories, there is some flesh shown in the pictures.

Ryan was born at 41 weeks. For some reason, I never thought I would carry him that long, I thought I'd birth him earlier, so by the time 40-41 weeks came around, I was so *done* being pregnant. On Tuesday I went and saw my chiropractor who adjusted me and did some cranial sacral work. Wednesday I decided to walk. First I walked in the morning with my good friend SaraBeth. We walked along the waterfront on the west side, a favorite walking path of ours (although we usually do a whole loop, walking both the west and east sides, but I was unable to walk that far on that morning).

Last belly shot prior to Ryan's birth, taken just before our walk.

That afternoon I went for another walk -- this time with Mike and Jake down to the village where we picked up some birthday cards and birthday presents and stopped for some ice cream for Jake.
All that walking must have helped! I went to bed early that night and slept soundly until about 12:30, when I began feeling some pretty good contractions. At this point I asked Mike to come to bed (he's a night owl) but by about 12:50 the contractions had stopped, just like most nights the past few weeks, so I went back to sleep.

Then in my sleep I suddenly felt a POP! and woke up instantly. I moved a bit to see if any water would come out, and it did, just a little bit. A huge smile came over my face. It was 2am. I woke up Mike and told him that my water had broken, and he got up and got me a towel and my pager and immediately got back into bed and fell asleep (in fact, he does NOT remember waking up at all, nor getting the towel/pager).

I then paged my midwife:

Lee 2:03 am: Pop! Water broke just now. Waiting on contractions...

Midwife 2:06: Great! What color fluid? Felt baby moving around lately?

L 2:07: Baby is moving. I haven't left bed so don't know color... I'll check.

L 2:11: Clear, and just a trickle so far. (Water bag probably had a small break high up, so just a little bit came out in the beginning, and nothing more until the birth.)

M 2:13: Ok! Try and sleep. Things may start right away...or not. We'll see!

L 3:00: 6 ctx now. 5-7 min apart, 45-60 seconds, last 2 hurt.

M 3:03: Ok. Let me know when you want us to come. Otherwise I'll come when they are 5 min apart consistently, probably soon. I'd have Mike start working on the pool.

At this point I began to get excited, as I was feeling a little discouraged by the contractions being kind of erratically spaced apart, with some hurting and some feeling just like Braxton-Hicks. I woke up Mike and told him to get started on the pool. He woke up Guthrie, and the 2 of them got the pool out of the garage, finished pumping it full of air (it wouldn't have fit through the door had it been fully inflated), and started filling it with water. The hose was connected to the laundry spouts upstairs and then draped over the half-wall to the pool below.

M 3:36: Any change? I'm thinking of heading up now. What do you think? (She lives in Salem, a 35-40 minute drive.)

L 3:39: Ctx kind of far apart but intense.

M 3:40: Like still 5-7 min?

L 3:42: Yes, or longer, I haven't timed the last few, let me pay attn again and let you know.

M 3:43: Ok, well, unless you don't want me to, I'll start on my way. You never know how it may change.

L 3:45: Yes. Last 2 about 4 min apart.

M 3:48: Ok, coming! :-)

At this point I had already left the bedroom and was hanging out in the office -- the office chair was a comfortable place to sit. Mike informed me that the hot water had run out, even though we had turned up the hot water heater 2 weeks prior. So Guthrie started boiling water on the stove. Mike went to sleep on the couch.

I went downstairs and was having contractions regularly about 4 minutes apart. I moved around the room, doing whatever felt comfortable, and also went to the bathroom a lot as it felt like I had endless amounts of pee (I was also drinking water to stay hydrated).

The midwives, Lennon and Angie, arrived at 4:30. I was still moving around, comfortably laboring. At one point, on impulse, I opened the fridge and grabbed some grapes and started popping them into my mouth. They tasted so good that moment.

Contractions started to get more intense and I found myself having to brace myself against something and bend/rock/dance through a contraction. Lennon suggested I get into the birth pool, and after 2 more contractions, I decided it was time, but the water was way too hot. So they hastily added more cold water while I had another intense contraction while hanging onto Mike.

Once I got into the pool it felt *divine.* I had a contraction and it was so much easier in the water. A short time later a contraction came just 2 minutes after the last one and I said "oh, shit." It also felt really good to breathe down through each contraction, and I knew things were really moving along.

During this time, Jake had been asleep in his bed, but he woke himself up at 5:45 and came downstairs. He smiled when he saw what was happening and wanted to know where the baby was. Then he started asking every 60 seconds if the baby was coming "now?" until I had to tell him to stop asking! Mike gave him the iPhone so he could watch videos while waiting as we had no idea how much longer it would be.

Suddenly I began to push, and this was VERY intense. I was making a lot of noise and was unable to concentrate on anything except what was happening in my body. During the second push I could really feel the baby moving down and managed to say "baby's coming.....!" Guthrie and Mike, being deaf, had no idea that I was pushing, until the midwives started grabbing things (flashlight, etc.) and then Guthrie woke up Mike (who had gone back to the couch) and grabbed the camera. Luckily, Mike, Jake, and Guthrie/camera, all made it in time to watch the baby come out.

Ryan was born at 6:08am, in the caul! (Considered lucky.) I was so disoriented from the fast birth (3.5 hours of contractions and only pushed 4 times) that I couldn't get the amniotic sac off his face so Lennon helped me out. As soon as I saw his face I knew he was a boy, he just looked like it! I checked his nether regions to confirm, and announced it to Mike and Jake. Jake immediately said, "but I wanted a sister!" We all laughed.

After about 2 minutes, I sat back to look at Ryan. The midwives, who had been carefully watching him, asked if they could give him some air since he wasn't really breathing on his own yet. He had made some movements, so I wasn't too worried, but they gave him air from a mini oxygen pump and started rubbing his chest and listening with a stethoscope. I talked to him to encourage him to breathe and be with us. His heart sounded fine, but he needed help clearing his lungs, so we turned him over and down to help him drain. After about 10 minutes of working on him, he was breathing on his own and started crying and pinking up.
Once his breathing was more clear, he demonstrated that he had a good set of lungs!
Jake did not appreciate the crying and so he did this:
Lennon talking with Jake, reassuring him...
After a bit longer, I was helped out of the pool, upstairs, and into bed.

The placenta came out with no problems, and then Mike held his new son.

Family. Ryan nursed right off the bat!

8 pounds, 6 ounces.

Jake went to school while I cleaned up and enjoyed my new baby.

Then Mike and I did this:

Naming: The night/morning of the 29th, I had insomnia, so I got up to eat. I became obsessed with figuring out a boy name that I liked (I had none, but had a girl's name ready). So I looked on the internet for 4-letter boy names and read many. I don't remember seeing the name Ryan but I did like the 'R' names. I went back to bed but kept thinking and thinking about a name. Finally 'Ryan' came to me and I really liked it and promptly went to sleep.

A few hours after Ryan was born I asked Mike about naming him and told him I had a name in mind. I hoped he would like this name as I had already started calling him "Ryan" in my own head -- he looked like a Ryan! Mike was not ready yet, hadn't spent enough time with the baby, so I left it alone. In the afternoon I asked him again so he asked to be given time to think of a letter. He sat down and after a minute said, "I think something with a 'R.'" I suggested Ryan and after about 30 minutes he warmed up to it and decided it fit. His middle name, Michael, is obviously for his Daddy.

Many, many thanks to Guthrie for taking all these pictures, and more!

Sean Sylph's (Still)Birth Story

Late in the afternoon on September 10th, at 33 weeks of pregnancy, we found out that baby Sean was no longer alive. The morning of Friday, September 11th, after a difficult night, I told my midwives that I was ready to no longer be pregnant and I wanted to go ahead with the birth (we were originally planning for Saturday morning).

After a morning spent with my parents and Jake, we went home and prepared. I set up an altar and Mike and I made sure the house was ready, then I rested for awhile while Jake took a nap. At 3pm, my parents came and picked Jake up. My midwives, Lennon and Angie, arrived.

First Mike and I performed a smudging ceremony to cleanse ourselves and our space.




Then we went upstairs to get started. I was very pleased to find that I was already 6 centimeters dilated, and then Lennon broke the bag of waters. I went and sat in the bathtub to let the water flow out, and eventually filled the tub with some warm water for comfort. About 15 minutes after breaking the waters, I had my first contraction. The contractions were very mild at first, and slowly built up in intensity, frequency, and duration. I stayed in the bathtub for quite awhile, keeping myself upright to help things move along more quickly. Mike sat in the bathroom with me, and my midwives were in the bedroom next door, ready to check on me whenever I called. I had a candle brought up and lit and put in the corner of the bathtub for something to focus on.

Suddenly things changed and I found I could no longer be in the bathtub. I was immediately so hot and dizzy that I broke out into a sweat (it was 90 that day!) and practically ran to the bedroom where I got on my hands and knees on the bed and threw up into a bucket, except only water came out. This was probably transition! I started feeling a little better after that but the contractions were incredibly intense and close together at this point. I just kept myself as comfortable as I could on the bed with pillows to help prop me up to stay upright. Contractions continued to come and go, and I sipped cool water in between and breathed through each one.


Soon I moved to the edge of the bed and sat through a few contractions to ease the pressure on my knees. I asked for the birth stool, which the midwives brought up and set up for me. It felt great to sit on. After a few more contractions, I had a contraction where I let out a long, low, primal moan that surprised me but felt really good. The midwives immediately came into the bedroom and began setting up for the birth. Pushing was slow, with long resting times in between contractions. The baby soon crowned, but wasn't born until about 40 minutes later.


Sean was finally born at 5:40. Mike was the one who caught him and cut the cord. He was put down in front of me and I gently caressed his face and examined his body, toes, and fingers. This was so hard to do. I could see for myself that his body was not normal, his face hadn't developed properly, but he was still my baby that I had loved and carried inside me for 7 and a half months.

I was given the time and space to just look at Sean and be with him. I sat back on the bed, exhausted, and waited for the placenta to come. It took awhile, just like with Jake's birth. When it finally did come out (easily), the midwives found that it hadn't developed quite normally, either. During this time Mike sat with Sean and held him and connected with his spirit.

After the quick, 2 hour labor and birth, I was able to then sit back on my bed and rest. Sean weighed in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces! Mike and I sat with Sean and just held the peace for awhile, contemplating it all.


When we were ready, at about 8:30pm the guy from the funeral home came, and Mike took Sean down to the car and laid him inside. I watched from the upstairs window and then cried as the car drove away.

My parents brought Jake back, and Mike and I hugged our boy tight.


(The middle name: a sylph is a sky spirit, seen in the form of particularly-shaped cloud wisps.)