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The Unassisted Birth of Elian Boaz
~ Read My Unassisted Pregnancy Journal ~
On October 11, 2003 I woke up at 6:30 am for another of many trips to the bathroom. In my half-sleep I sat on the toilet and heard a gushing sound. If Dan hadn’t have heart it, too, I would have thought I was dreaming. Because for the next four hours there were no real contractions. Finally, when we were thinking it was just something freak, I started having strong contractions 10 to 15 minutes apart. Things continued that way from 11 am to about 2:30 pm, when it really started picking up.I worked through the contractions seriously, as they were coming three to five minutes apart, and there seemed to be no real let up in the pain/pressure. This was the first labor when I didn’t prefer laying down; in fact, I totally avoided laying or sitting. I walked and stood until it got too bad. I liked sitting on the toilet, too, which was totally new for me! My sister worked to boil water for the bathtub, since the apartment was strangely out of hot water. Boy, was I ready to get in the tub! I waited in the bathroom on my hands and knees. I was in so much pain/discomfort; I thought, “Boy, am I being a big baby, or what? It’s only been an hour!” While I was there, Nici (who was there during the whole labor and birth) said, “You have to hurt, Mama?” I said, “Yes, honey.” She said, “Yes, you have to hurt. Like when you fall on the floor and bonk your head and you cry. Like my booboo here (pointing to her knee), but it gets better and you pick it off and you feel better then.” It was really sweet!
Getting in the tub was WONDERFUL! It made such a difference right away. But, of course, as things progressed, the contractions were so much harder to work through. I was a bit discouraged, because I was so sure it would be hours yet.
I had a few contractions where I had an urge to push, but I had this with the other babies, too, and it wasn’t anything unusual to last three hours or so. Then Dan exclaimed, “It’s coming out!” I could hardly believe it; I didn’t even feel like it was coming out. Sure enough, the next contraction brought the baby’s head only halfway out. I reached down and felt it, but it was in the bag of waters still.
For the longest time I had no urge to push. Here we were, baby’s head not even all the way out, and time was going by. Dan and my sister were starting to say, “You really ought to try to push it out.” But I had NO urge. I tried to push, but didn’t get far because it didn’t have the power behind it. I asked them to pray, and they did. Then the urge came, and the baby’s head came out, followed shortly by its shoulders and body. He was born in the water.When I opened my squeezed-shut eyes, my first view was a little boy’s butt. LOL! And my second thought was, “There’s only ONE!” (Which by this point I was very thankful!!!) The baby was so big! We were all amazed. And he started screaming right away and didn’t stop! He was born at 4:45 pm on the first day of Sukkot. He has a whole lot of BLACK hair, which none of our babies ever had before. He weighed 8 lbs13 oz. His head we measured was 14.5 inches circumference. His shoulders were 16.5 inches. His length is 22 inches.
All three of our other children witnessed the birth. They were so excited. Uriah was concerned for the baby crying. The cord was very short, and I couldn’t put the baby to breast, so I laid him on my belly while we waited for the cord to stop pulsing and turn white. Uriah said in a very concerned, trembly voice, “Mama, he wants his tag cut!” We cut the cord then, and I birthed the placenta on the toilet. It was small! I was totally amazed. One big boy! Wow!!
I did bleed a lot, but we prayed and the Lord is so faithful. The bleeding slowed up. The baby didn’t want to nurse! That was also a new experience. He has been only barely interested in nursing this whole first day. He has latched on and sucked right different times, but many times when I offer, he is totally disinterested. It’s funny to me, but I’m just using the time to rest. Big boys don’t stay disinterested in eating, that’s for sure!
He is so sweet! And I am enjoying him so much! Thank You, Lord, for such a wonderful blessing!
Copyright © 2002 Christian UC All rights reserved.
