At 39 weeks (1/22/08) I had some "bloody show", which was exciting to me because that meant the mucus plug was going away and the baby would be born soon! The next day (1/23/08) at about 3am I woke up, rolled over, and felt fluid leaking from my vagina! I expected the contractions to get stronger so I tried to fall back asleep. I woke up later and called my midwife, Felice, and I called into work. I spent the rest of the day relaxing, doing chores, making food, I took a nap, went on a walk, talked to the family, I really didn't feel that much change all day. Just leaking. I was waiting for the contractions all day. On Thursday (1/24/08) I woke up around 1am with contractions (finally!). It was uncomfortable to lay down so I got up early and started a fire in the fireplace. I kept waiting for the contractions to get a little stronger. Felice stopped by in the afternoon to check on me and my contractions were at a low murmur by that point. She didn't check to see if I was dilated because of the risk of infection. So she told me to rest and call her later.

I tried to take a nap for a few hours, but it was hard to sleep. I would have to get out of bed every 15-20 minutes because of a contraction and I also felt like going to the bathroom with almost every contraction. I got up after a few hours and Erik and I started to play cribbage. I just didn't know what to do with myself! I was uncomfortable, but not 100% of the time. I talked to Felice at 7pm and she said we had a couple of options. She spoke with a doctor at the UW Hospital (the hospital I would go to if needed) and they recommended that I get in there ASAP since the sooner they start me on pitocin the more likely I am to have a vaginal birth. At this point, it had been 40 hours since my water broke. The other option was nipple stimulation. Deborah, the birth assistant, could come over and show Erik how to do it. I didn't want to go to the hospital just yet, especially if there was another option.

So Deborah came over and showed Erik how to do it - firmly rolling my nipples in his fingers until a contraction came. It hurt, but it got the job done. It was nice to have someone else around to help too. I didn't expect to be alone (with just Erik) for so long. I expected Felice, Deborah, and another birth assistant, but since my labor was progressing so slowly, there was no need for them yet, I guess. So Deborah timed the contractions and did some homework while Erik tweaked my nipples, and I tried to deal with stronger contractions. I would pace around the apartment, breathe deeply, and think to myself "Open" or "I will open and you will descend." Deborah also gave me some homeopathic black cohosh to help make my contractions stronger. Earlier in the day the labor tub was ordered and set up, but I couldn't get in it yet. Since there was a risk of infection due to my water breaking earlier, I just had to pace around a huge tub in my living room. The contractions were getting stronger, but they were still 4-6 minutes apart. I remember thinking at one point that I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with stronger contractions because the current ones HURT!

Deborah called Felice and she came over around midnight (1/25/08). She checked my cervix for the first time and I was completely dilated and ready to push! Felice was surprised and asked me if Deborah could check my cervix and feel it as well. Of course I said yes. Felice said that isn't "normal" and Deborah was surprised at how well I was handling the contractions and the few times I did feel the urge to push really was an urge to push! I was so happy to know I could push! The contractions were getting more intense and I really didn't know how much more I could handle. This also meant I could get into the tub - hooray! Sara, another birth assistant, was called in to help.

I got in the tub and it felt nice, mainly because it was a warm tub. I never went swimming with my big belly, so it was nice to be in a big tub and to float around a bit. My contractions were still minutes apart and I could have a conversation in between. We talked about names, Stella for a girl, and Simon or Oskar for a boy. Erik, Deborah, and Sara all surrounded the tub while Felice sat on the futon and recorded information. I didn't really know how to push so Deborah guided me through the first few contractions. After each one they would listen for the heartbeat with the doppler to make sure everything was okay. I pushed for a while in the tub (on hands and knees, squatting, and face up with my arms hooked under my legs), but I didn't feel like I was making much progress, although at one point I did feel the baby's head with my finger- it was only about an inch inside! It was hard to ground myself in the tub so it was suggested that I try pushing outside of the tub.

I squatted in front of the futon and woah! It was much easier and I could really feel the baby descend. My pushing was more urgent and lasted longer. It was really intense, I was much louder too - grunting and wailing, and maybe even singing once! Then Felice said I should decide where I want to have this baby, in the tub, the bedroom? I didn't have a preference and another contraction was coming so I stayed squatting at the futon. They had me turn around and sit on the futon. It took a couple pushes to get used to pushing from that angle and then he was out! It felt so crazy! I even said something about how big the baby was while he was coming out. They put him on my chest immediately, he was all bloody and had a little bit of a cone head. Then Deborah tried to pull the placenta out, but I was leaning back at a weird angle so it wasn't coming out. So I pushed again and it plopped right out and splashed into the bowl.

They helped me get into bed with Baby, cleaned us up, I got stitches, they did a bunch of tests on him to make sure everything was okay. He got the Vitamin K shot and the eye gel stuff. Then we all had carrot cake (Erik and I made the cake while I was in labor) and sparkling apple cider to celebrate Baby's birth!

Erik was amazing and encouraging the whole time! He kept repeating "open" to me, getting me water and snacks, rubbing my back and shoulders, holding me while I was pushing, it was wonderful!

It took us a while to decide on a name, but at one point on Friday night Erik and I looked at each other, decided he looked like Simon and then we both started to cry so we knew it was right.

And that's how baby Simon came into this world.

Simon Wyland Englund
Born 3:30am on January 25th, 2008.
8lbs
23 inches long

Simon was born at home, the way we wanted it to happen, despite my water breaking 48 hours before his birth. We couldn't have done it without the amazing midwife crew from Seattle Naturopathy.

Everyone is doing well and we'll update more later.

Thanks to all of our friends and family for their love and support!