BirthWise Maternity Care, LC

Gentle Births Happen at Home    

The Birth of Ethan

Mother—It was a hard labor—40 hours—and going through it was very painful and emotionally taxing.  What I loved about the experience was the peace that came with knowing I had done my research an knew this was the birth I wanted.  I wanted for my baby to come into the world in a peaceful way—no poking or prodding or testing.  The thing that struck me was that during this entire process I came to love my husband more than I ever thought possible.  He was with me during every one of my contractions and looking back at the experience, it was a turning point of our marriage.  This one experience showed us our potential—what we could accomplish as husband and wife.  We learned how amazing teamwork can be.  The other amazing thing was to have an active part in the birth of my son.  Having choices before and during labor, knowing that I wasn’t subjected to hospital protocol, after Ethan was born being left alone with him and Ernesto for us to bond as a family.  This was the most spiritual experience of my life.  There were many times during labor that I wanted to give up—my mind wanted to give up but my body knew it could endure the pain and fatigue.  The midwives were amazing.   Heather was the hands-on, emotional support.  Melissa was the “let’s be a little more aggressive and get this over with”.  They were both a perfect combination for my first birth.  I loved the experience.  I would definitely endure another 40 hours for my son—he is worth all the pain and tears.

 

Father—One of the things that amazed me most was Ethan.  Even before he was born he was such a strong little guy.  How his heart rate was able to go back to normal after the contractions and to do that for 40 hours.  How he was so calm after he was born because he didn’t have any drugs in his system.  At 6 am on the day Trish went into labor, she made a comment that we could still be laboring at 9 pm tonight.  I knew I did not want to be still doing this at 9 that night.  Little did I know that we would be laboring until 6 pm the next night.  I didn’t know what strength,, endurance and patience I had within me until this experience.  I felt so helpless and frustrated at the pain that Trish went through—that I couldn’t do anything to help make the pain worthwhile.  I knew that Trish was a strong woman, but seeing her go through so much for the love of our son, I really saw her strength for the first time.  How much patience she had to endure 40 hours.   Last but not least our birth team was amazing.  Melissa was knowledgeable about more ways to help speed up labor and Heather was knowledgeable about the natural way to handle the contractions.  I could not have done it or had the experience I was, without both.