Cosette

All I had to do was have a baby to finally do a post! As you know I had another little girl just over 2 weeks ago. I had a home delivery this time and wanted to share the story! Cosette Madeleine was born on Wednesday June 22nd, at 8:48pm. I had originally decided to do a home birth because Mercedes labour and delivery was so great that I knew it would have been that much better if it were at home, oh and if Gabe had been there! So I found my midwife Sherri Price when I was about 12 weeks pregnant and she was awesome. I was looking for a midwife that had the same beliefs and ideas as me about pregnancy, health and delivery so she was perfect!

Being pregnant is not one of my favorite things but as far as MY pregnancies go, this one was the easiest, but still not easy! Needless to say I was happy to be in labour 2 weeks early! The Friday before we had her, I was having contractions all evening and was praying that I could just have another week to prepare so my prayer was answered and I got a few more days. So Wednesday morning about 5:30 am I was woken up with contractions and I knew that this might be it. So I spent the morning tidying up and had to run to the store to get a few more items for the delivery. Meanwhile I was having contractions but only every 30 mins or so. Around noon I decided to call Sherri and ask her if she could check me out to see if anything was happening so I stopped off at her house on my way home and she told me that I was about 6cm dilated and 95% effaced and that I would in fact be delivering today! So we had made plans for her to come over around 8pm, after her last appointment unless I called her sooner.

My final hours of being pregnant

So I spent the afternoon relaxing as much as possible because I really wanted my girls to be in bed before I had the baby so I wouldn't have to call someone or worry about them. Around 6pm my contractions were getting worse and I knew that I had to call Sherri. Sherri and 2 apprentices came over right away and set everything up. Gabe and I put the girls to bed around 7pm so I could now just focus on having the baby! I had the tub filled and ready to go but didn't want to get in until I was ready to push. By this time I was 9.5 cm and Sherri told me I could start pushing anytime. So I jumped in the tub around 8pm. The water was fantastic and helped a lot with the contractions. It was very different being completely in charge of what was going on. I pushed when I wanted to, for how long I wanted to and that was very different from Mercedes delivery. So after about 5 or 6 big pushes she was out, Gabe had the opportunity to catch her on the way out so that was special for him!

Daddy cutting the cord

I was in the tub for a while after she was born until I delivered the placenta, which felt like it took forever! I just wanted to get out of the tub already. But eventually it happened and I jumped in the shower to rinse off and then into bed to breast-feed Cosette. She latched on right way and was a nursing champ from the start. Another thing that was very different with the home birth is how long Cosette remained attached to the placenta, they were waiting for it to stop pulsating before they cut the cord and that took about 45 min. I kept my placenta just in case I came down with any post partum depression but everything has been good so far. Cosette was 6lbs 10 oz and has been a wonderful little baby. She hates being naked and when she is hungry, she is hungry NOW, which I guess is most babies. She really doesn't cry much except to warn you that she needs attention. Kayla and Mercedes can't get enough of her and love holding her and kissing her cheeks all day long.

Morning after the birth