We wanted to announce the birth of the beautiful and perfect Amelia “Mia” Marie Metzger and share her birth story and some photos!

 

On Tuesday (7/23) around 8 pm while eating dinner at home I noticed a slow amniotic leak. We informed our midwife who told us to get to bed and hope that my birth waves would start overnight. The midwives reached out to me in the morning and one of my midwives, Kamil, came by the house around 8:30 am to check on me and listen to the baby’s heart tones which sounded great. She gave me some homeopathic remedies that could bring on labor and we discussed that my options would be castor oil and (if possible) acupuncture or pitocin in the hospital. Though I wasn’t thrilled about the castor oil I chose that. Chad and I went for a 2-3 mile walk and tried a few things to bring waves on. I took the castor oil around 11 am and an acupuncturist came by the house at 12 to do some labor inducing points on me. Before the acupuncture I was having some very mild waves but they definitely picked up after her and I started timing them around 1:30 pm. 

 

As things picked up I went upstairs to focus more on the waves. I really only enjoyed being upright during each wave with my knees bent and hips moving. I used the HypnoBirthing blossoming flower photo as my visualization and words like "open" and "down." Chad was with me through every wave. I didn’t enjoy being touched much during the waves but we used light touch massage and other massage techniques between waves. I did vomit twice during this phase but I believe it was due to the castor oil.  My midwife came back to the house around 5 pm and at this point my waves were about 2 minutes apart. My waves were having a double peak which she suggested may have to do with fetal positioning (we think she was OP during this phase due to the double peak and the shape of her head after birth) so she suggested some different positions. I tried on my hands and knees over a ball for a bit and then asymmetric lunges with one leg up on a squatty potty. This I believe stopped the double peaks. Things continued to pick up and I vomited again after a particularly intense wave- I was probably in the transitional phase. 

 

Kamil called my other midwife to hurry up and get there and chad filled the birth tub. As soon as it was filled enough to get my belly submerged I got right in. The water felt good but waves were coming very quickly at this point. Since my membranes had released early on, I had no cervical checks so Kamil told me if I wanted to I could reach in to see if I felt anything. When I tried this i actually felt the top of her head the distance of my index finger away which was so wild. She told me that anytime I wanted to I could start pushing but I wanted to wait until my body was pushing. I labored in the tub for about an hour and then my body started involuntarily pushing with each wave. My other midwife, Kathy, wasn’t there yet, she probably got there about 10 minutes before baby was born. I used my breathing down breaths to assist my body and pushed for about 45 minutes only during a wave when my body told me to. Once her head was born the rest of her came out with the next push. We looked and determined that she was born at 10:02 pm.  

 

They got me up and helped me out of the tub and over to my bed to birth the placenta. While we waited for the placenta, Mia initiated nursing and latched right on like a champion. Her cord was pretty short so once it turned white before the placenta was born they had Chad cut it. My placenta came out with a few easy pushes. I had a mild labial tear which required 4 stitches but nothing in my perineum, thank G-d. 

 

The post birth oxytocin high was hands down the most amazing feeling I’ve ever had! I showered up and we did her infant exam and got a tour of my placenta which was fascinating! She weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz and was 19.5 inches long. 

 

She was checked again today and is already 6 lbs 10 oz! She is an amazing nurser but I am having a little nipple soreness on one side. We met with a lactation consultant on Monday and she showed us some things that were really helpful.  ​

 

We both truly believe that the fact that her birth was so calm and peaceful that it has helped with her overall demeanor and that it has helped us establish good breastfeeding. She is the most amazing and beautiful creature I’ve ever set eyes on and we are all so in love.

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We really appreciate all that we learned during the classes. I really pulled on those tools and certain tidbits/things that were taught during the HypnoBirthing classes which really stuck with me during the labor. In particular the thing about relaxed oxygenated tissues being stretchy and pliable vs holding muscles tight with nerves and anxiety. I thought about that a lot during labor while focusing on relaxing my pelvic floor muscles.

 

I am praying that every one of us has an equally amazing birth and I can’t wait to hear about it and see all of the beautiful babies!!

Sending our love to everyone,

 

Dana, Chad & Mia