It’s Friday night October 19, 2018. I'm tossing and turning, not getting much sleep. I’ve had a healthy perfect pregnancy up until this moment, so I don’t think anything of it, except that I don’t seem comfortable. My husband and I had our first labor unassisted in our birthing pool so we were in no rush as to when this baby decides to arrive. (Unassisted means not having any medical professionals present at birth.) According to my last menstrual cycle, I was due October 25, 2018. We didn't know the gender of the baby, I monitored my weight, blood pressure and maintained a healthy diet throughout my pregnancy. Thankfully, we had all the materials from our first unassisted birth like birthing pool and baby scale, pump to fill the pool etc. Dad and I were ready and confident in delivering baby number 2 with our 2 year old son.
Fast forward, now I’m officially awake Saturday morning. Dad is getting in the shower so that I can braid his hair before work. At 6 am, I felt very light cramps as if my period was about to start. I didn’t think anything of it but to monitor them. Some background about my first pregnancy I lost my mucus plug on a Friday had my son following Wednesday. My water broke a couple minutes before he was delivered in our birthing pool.
So, it’s 7am now, the very light cramping is still light. I’m feeling it every 4-5 minutes for the past hour and I’m confused. Dad is out of the shower and getting ready. I’m over prepared with information so I'm thinking, "Well maybe this can be Braxton Hicks, I don’t know what it feels like but maybe this is it?". I’m finishing up his hair, then i get this gut feeling and say to him “We’re having baby today". He says ok, makes a phone call to tell his employer he won’t be in today and starts to fill the birthing pool.
Our son is now up running around and I’m nursing him off and on. I breastfed him throughout my entire pregnancy. I’m bouncing on our exercise ball and rotating my hips, drinking water and trying to make sense of what I’m feeling. Our La Bassine Birthing pool is up and filled, we get in. Our son is excited, he’s happy to be playing in a pool in our living room. We’re talking and explaining to him baby is coming soon. I feel a stronger cramp and it forces me to get on my knees and I lean over the top of the birthing pool. I’m remembering to breathe, "I got this, don’t push, no tears, my ancestors are with me, relax". Then it happens, my body pushes, my husband says he sees the head. (Still no water has broken, nor mucus plug.) I remain there, present, not moving, waiting for the next urge and on the second push the entire body releases in the water into dads hands. Our son says “Baby”. Dad is holding baby as I turn around with baby still attached to the placenta. It’s a girl, I was in shock, I couldn’t believe we did it again and that it’s a girl. I was convinced it was a boy, I had chiropractic adjustments during my pregnancy and he suggested it was a boy also. I was totally present, no screams, no tears, so thankful.
We all sat there in admiration, our son looking and taking it all in. We check the time now, it’s 10:45a.m. Dad gets out of the pool with our son and cleans them off. It’s just baby girl and I. Dad returns freshened up with our son, he holds baby as I focus and deliver the placenta. I put it in a Pyrex glass bowl as it’s still attached to baby girl. We’re waiting for it to stop pulsing which is called delayed cord clamping. Two hours later, I cut the cord. By this time I’m in bed nursing my daughter on my left breast and my son on my right breast. Dad had steeped me a liter of Earth Mama Organic Raspberry Leaf Tea. I’m drinking that and receiving it's amazing benefits like strengthening and toning my uterus, increasing my milk production all while fueling me with B vitamins, iron and much more. As I write this I’m still in awe. It went very smoothly, no pain and I totally surrendered to my process.
Here I am, a month later, co-sleeping both of my babies and I became the tandem nursing Goddess. I never imagined I would be nursing two babies at the same time, but here I am, balancing it all.
