To listen to this episode, and more than 300 other birth stories in The Birth Hour archives, join our listener supporter group here!
Homebirth, Over 3 Hours of Pushing, Episiotomy
Libby describes her homebirth as a “Victorious Homebirth which included an Unexpected Episiotomy; and, a surprise but necessary hospital stay for jaundice one week postpartum.” Her waters broke around10:30pm on a Saturday night; and, fully expecting to wake up to surges that night, Libby went to bed after texting her midwife and doula about potentially starting labor. Instead, she slept so soundly and snored so loudly her husband had to vacate to the guest room. The next day was spent trying to walk the baby out, a round of homeopathic medicine, and eventually the dreaded caster oil. Surges began at 5:30pm and her doula came to observe at 7pm, at which time Libby was in early active labor. Within about 2 hours, surges were about 2-3 minutes apart.
Together with the support of her amazing birth team, Libby labored in various physical positions around her home. Transition came around 11pm in the form of full body convulsions. She moved to the tub where she labored about 1.5 hours before the urge to push came. Not being able to get grounded in the tub, she moved out of the tub to try pushing in various positions. This was a very frustrating, exhausting and difficult part of her birth. Looking back, she believes her biggest deterrent to pushing was not fully understanding or being able to release the pelvic floor to push properly. She pushed for 3.5 hours, having been crowned for 1 of those hours.
Eventually, fearing a hospital transfer, she asked to consent to an episiotomy. Her husband advocated for more pushing first, and the midwives did the same. When, after about 20 minutes more of pushing there still was no progress: midwives chose to honor the episiotomy request. Baby girl catapulted into the world to the utter joy and relief of her Mama and Daddy.
Libby Tedder Hugus Bio
Libby is a wife, mama, Pastor and caffeine-guzzling podcast consumer. She is married to her darling comedic husband, Jeremy, and together they are raising their wondrous daughter, Harloe. Libby is the the daughter of two continents: North America and Africa and maintains dual citizenship between the USA and South Africa. She believes there is always room for one more around the table and that generous hospitality can and will heal the world. Having moved to Casper, WY in 2011, she has fallen in love with this slice of the windy wester frontier, finding breathing room for the soul in Wyoming’s wide open skies.
Resources
https://www.mamanatural.com/ birth affirmations, week by week pregnancy guide, meditations
https://evidencebasedbirth.com/
http://www.thebabymoonretreat.com/
https://www.kindara.com/wink — I used the phone app to track my cycle without the thermometer
La leche league – Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
No Comments yet!