Alaina’s Birth Story by Cindy Lee


Natural Home Birth With No Medical Intervention (4 weeks before due date)

 
After having a home birth with our first pregnancy, Daniel and I knew we would want to do another home birth with this pregnancy. We thought we would know what to expect… but this time was very different than our first!
 
Pregnancy was rough for the first 3-4 months with nausea, tiredness, and constant tummy pain. On top of that, I was running after with a toddler and taking care of three English Bulldogs.
 
At close to 34 weeks, I started to have some strong round ligament pains to the point where Daniel needed to help me up and down from bed to the toilet.  I really thought the baby was coming; but it was a false alarm.  I had overworked my body which ruptured my round ligaments. I had been cleaning and nesting the past few weeks and I may have carried some heavy boxes and bathed my three English Bulldogs (40-50lbs). At this point though, I laid low and took it easy that week and rested a lot.
 
However, at week 35, there was some bloody show.  This time, we went to the hospital to get checked to make sure the baby was okay.  The main fear was that I had Placenta Previa (where the placenta is over the cervix).  After 5 endless hours in the hospital, I got discharged with preterm labor, no Placenta Previa (thank goodness!) and a happy healthy baby.  I went home and took it easy again the next few days.  There was more blood again but no sign of baby so, I was glad to just rest.
 
On Tuesday, February 14th (at 36 weeks), my water broke at 6:45am.  I tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t and I didn’t want to wake Daniel up either as he had a busy day ahead of him.  I also didn’t know how long this day would be because my first birth experience was 14 hours. Plus, I had only fallen asleep at 4:00am and knew I would need whatever rest I could get!

 

At 7:45am, Daniel finally woke and I told him my water broke but by that time my labor started and there was no way he was leaving me.  He quickly called the midwives and found a good friend to watch Madison.  During all this, my contractions were getting stronger and stronger with no breaks. Luckily I had Hypnobabies to keep me calm and relaxed.  By 9:15am, my midwives arrived and checked me and I was already 7-8cm dilated (wow that was fast!).  I needed to pee so everyone helped me to the restroom from the bed, but that was a bad idea because it just caused more pain and took a long time to get to the toilet.  Soon after I peed, it was already time to push the baby out.  I was glad to hear those words but at the same time I was already so tired.  To my surprise, after 20 mins of pushing, Alaina came sliding right out (a 5lb 6oz healthy baby). 
 
I’m so happy that I was able to still have our second child at home even though she came early.  I have to give big thanks to my midwives (Amy and Jamie) who trusted, believed and had confidence in me to help me bring beautiful Alaina to this world.  I am also so grateful to have a loving husband who supported me in every way and was there for me every step of the way.  
Lastly, there are a few very special people that I would like to thank specifically. Thanks to our dear friend Stacey who came to help us baby sat Madison and puppy sat @scarletandgraybulldogs. Thank you to our wonderful friends Hong and Vanda who brought food for us while we were recovering. And last but not least, grandma and grandpa Hamilton and grandpa Lee for visiting and showering our girls and our household with so much love!
 
I feel so blessed to have another birth experience to share even though this was a totally different and opposite of my first experience!

Read Cindy’s third baby’s homebirth story