The Birth of Lincoln Anthony

When my husband Michael and I found out we were pregnant we were very excited! We knew we wanted to have a home birth for sure this time around and we knew Terry would be our midwife. Having had a 32 hour long and very taxing back labor with our first son, I was diligent about getting this baby in the right position. I had regular chiropractic adjustments and followed Terry's wonderful instructions on positions to use at home. I also ate pretty clean and was faithful to take my vitamins this time around, with much encouragement from our midwife. With my first babe my placenta was small and dull, so a big goal of mine was to have a beautiful placenta this time.

Fast forward to May... I knew that our baby would be coming soon, because I had all the tell-tale signs... Lost my mucus plug, body cleansing, and several bouts of consistent contractions that only lasted long enough to get our hopes up. All this started on a Saturday, which was perfect because hubby has three day weekends. But no matter how hard we tried to keep the contractions going, they stopped. Then they started again on Sunday... And stopped. Then on Monday morning they were there again; this time I was doubtful, which was good because they stopped within two hours. Tuesday morning I woke up and suspected that my water was leaking. I called Terry and asked if we could do a swab and she said yes to come in at 9 am. Since it was Tuesday our amazing chiropractor would be at the birth center so I went ahead and scheduled what I hoped would be my final appointment with her during this pregnancy.

While making breakfast, my suspicions of a broken sack of water were confirmed - with a gush! Now all there was to do was wait. I called my mom and let her know this was the day (for real this time) and she should go ahead and start on her three hour trip to get to us. I finished getting Micajah and myself ready to go to the birth center. Unfortunately, my car died a few miles from the house, not the best timing but I really wasn't bothered too much. Terry came to our rescue since I couldn't get in touch with anyone else. After getting adjusted we hung out in the lobby and chatted with other mommas, and walked around the garden in the back until my mom arrived to take us home. I still wasn’t having any noticable contractions at this point, so I let hubby know that there was no rush for him to get off of work. Mom made it to town about the same time Michael got off work and we met at the grocery store. We shopped for two hours while waiting on tires to be changed. Towards the very end of the trip I was feeling contractions consistently and started secretly timing them- I got a good giggle in when mom matter-of-factly told the cashier that I was in labor, but it wasn't serious because I wasn't even having contractions yet. We came home and put away groceries and I did the laundry while my mom and mother in law visited and prepped stuff in the kitchen.

Around 6:00 pm the contractions were getting stronger so I let Terry know. Shortly after Terry's arrival the intensity escalated to where I had to really focus during each contraction. For the most part I labored on a birth ball and hands and knees with hubby rubbing my back and using a ribozo. By 8:00 pm the contractions moved primarily to my back and were pretty tough. This was disappointing, but I knew I could make it through. Soon after, we moved to the birth tub and finished laboring there. I can remember my mother in law bouncing Micajah on the birth ball in the living room during my transition- it was a sweet sound, him giggling and enjoying himself. After about 10 minutes of pushing (which felt like 3 hours) our little boy came earth side into his daddy's hands! Everyone was right there with us. Micajah was just above my left shoulder and immediately came over to cuddle and examine his baby brother. Lincoln Anthony weighed 6 lbs and 8 oz and had strawberry blonde hair. I was only in active labor for 6 hours! Woo-hoo!! I was also super pleased by my placenta- it was big and red and beautiful, thanks to my Shaklee Vita-lea! I could not have asked for a better birth or birth team!