The Birth of Jacob

Born February 19, 2010

Submitted by Cassandra MacNaughtan

When I found out I was pregnant with Jacob I was so excited because I had been told with my history of cervical cancer it would be difficult for me to conceive a child. A part of me couldn’t believe it, and it wasn’t until I felt Jacob’s first kick that it really sunk in: there was a human growing inside of me!

My first doctor’s appointment was horrible, I left with more questions then I went in with. I was given a handful of pamphlets and an appointment for an ultra sound. From there, I went right to the Midwives clinic. After my appointment with Diane I knew I had made the right choice, I knew I could do this.

My pregnancy was easy, no complications came up and we were so nervous, as most new parents are. When the question of having a home birth or a hospital birth came up I knew I wanted a home birth, but my husband was hesitant. We attended a home birth information night at the clinic and left knowing without a doubt that our baby would be born at home.

Our estimated due date came and went. We had an ultrasound booked for my 9th day overdue, just to double check that everything was still good to go for the baby’s arrival. My husband was at work and I was taking my daily walk down a fairly long trail in the bush with our two dogs. Thinking back, walking 10 kilometers into the bush at 9 days overdue was probably not the smartest move I could have made, but everything turned out fine. Our dogs would always wonder off from the trail, sniffing animal tracks and chasing wildlife, but this time was different. Both dogs stayed by my side during the walk, at first I thought nothing of it but after a while they started to freak me out, that’s when I felt my first contraction and I knew right away, it was time to head home. I called my husband and after many attempts to reach him I finally got through and he came home to drive me to my ultrasound. I remember the drive being horrible, I just wanted to get out of the car, but then the ultrasound was even worse. Imagine being in labor and having to lie flat on our back, full bladder, not move and not be able to have anyone in the room to support you. I was probably extremely rude to the technician and I left before she was finished and had a ride home that was worse than the ride there.

At home my contractions were easily manageable, walking, squatting and massage was enough to ease the pain. Once our midwife arrived things started to pick up. Then our septic tank backed up into the toilet. From then on, I was the only one allowed to use the bathroom, I think everyone else stopped drinking water in fear of having to squat in the snow. Pizza and kiwi never tasted so good, I was eating between contractions and enjoying every single bite. Sitting in the tub was almost too relaxing, my contractions slowed and we had to break my water. Once my water was broken there was no slowing down! The baby was coming, and he wasn’t waiting for our second midwife. A few pushes and he was born! We didn’t have a name picked out yet, but when we looked at him we knew his name was Jacob. He latched on right away as my husband and the midwives cleaned up. I think one of the many things I loved the most about birthing at home was that once we said goodbye to the midwives we were able to go to bed afterwards without any distractions, other than having a band new baby with us!