The Birth of DD1

This is the type of tub I used for this birth,
used to be available at Canadian Tire

On the 7th day past my estimated due date I had my first contraction at 1am.  Of course I do what I tell every mother not to (you'll find I am not exactly good at heeding my own advice...) and stay up even though I only have contractions about every 10-15 minutes.  But how could I sleep!  I am so excited to get to finally meet my baby and also that I will get to give birth myself for the first time after wondering forever what it feels like while watching other women... .  Finally by 6:30 my contractions are regular, 3-5 min apart and pretty strong.  I wake up my husband who promptly turns around and goes back to sleep, after 3 tries he finally gets up.  Needless to say, mornings are not his time of day... .  We live in our newly built log house (moved in 2 weeks ago), where we have power, but no running water (yet) and inconveniently the phone line is not in yet either.  So, we drive a ways towards town (we live 70km away), until we get reception with the car phone, because I absolutely have to tell my Mom that I am in labour!  We also call the other midwife H., my friend Kati who studied with me is staying at our place so she is already there.  Contractions in the car are an absolute killer, I hate not being able to move around like I want to.  It gets worse, because in the middle of nowhere I have to go to the bathroom, number 2... .  So I am out there with noone but a million mosquitos to keep me company and my contractions in between...  so nice to get back home!!!  We get my tub ready and fill it with nice warm water from our temporarily hooked up hot water tank.  Wow, the water feels extremely nice!  I loose track of time and just labour away at my own speed, watched and waited on by my wonderful husband, my 2 midwife friends and sometimes the videocamera, held by another close friend.  I always thought I would want to be massaged and touched all the time in labour, but I actually can't handle anyone touching me while I have a contraction at all.  I just want to breathe, do my voicing and have people be quiet so I can concentrate.  After who knows how long I start feeling some pressure and I feel like I should push along a little which I do, but only very gently.  The pressure increases along with my cervix hurting more and more until it becomes almost unbearable.  I feel like I need to do something, so I get out of the tub (was in there for a long time) and try some extra gravity.  After a while I ask H. to do an exam and she can feel a big (cervical) lip getting squished between the posterior head and the pubic bone.  Ouch!  She tries to push it out of the way while I push during a contraction, wow that hurts, but it works.  My water breaks and the lip is right back and here we go again breathing and pushing it away.  I have to say I understand what this posterior thing is all about and it really does hurt a LOT!  I feel desparate and tell everyone:  you have to tell me that I can do this!  Of course they do and it helps.  I am squatting on my husbands lap, one of his legs is asleep, but I can't let go of him.  I can tell he is about as desparate as me, but a lot more scared, because I know deep down I can do this and I will.  Finally everything is open and I feel the right kind of pressure, my cervix stops hurting and I can push.  I am amazed at how good it feels to push and feel the baby come lower, but it also takes courage and a lot of power.  Once I almost black out because I push with such force.  And then I can feel the head way down there, already we can see it a little in the mirror when I am pushing, so off we go back into the tub.  I want my husband in there, too, I am squatting and he is opposite me holding my legs apart the way I want him to.  I am pushing and I can feel that burning ring of fire all the way around, wow!  This is where I say to him:  It is only a matter of time now, knowing this is crowning.  He has no clue and says, what do you mean, it has been a matter of time all along!  But I know, this is it and I slowly push and breathe my baby out, keep my hands there to feel how hard I can push without tearing, stretching slowly.  Finally it is time and the head slides out, what an amazing feeling!  I touch the head and the tiny ears while I wait for another contraction, and tell him to touch it, too, we can't see the face because when the cervix was gone baby did a big turn and is not sunny side up anymore.  But here comes the next contraction and baby turns and out she comes with outstretched arms she dives up to the surface like she wants to say here am I catch me if you can!  And I catch her and hold her close and look at her chubby cheeks and find out that she is a girl while Daddy cries and our little girl takes her first breaths, still attached to me slowly transitioning to life in this world of air and light.  We greet her in the tub and let her float in the warm water close to us, she opens her eyes and looks at her parents who praise God for this wonderful birth and this beautiful little miracle!  I keep having to thank God for letting me experience this!

DD1 weighed in at 4000g/ 8lbs 15oz, with a 36cm head and she was 52cm long (in case you are interested...).  Even though the birth was painful at times, especially when that lip got squished... I enjoyed every minute of it!  Giving birth is the most amazing, empowering thing a woman can do.  We get pushed to our limits, yes, but we are made to do this and I would encourage every woman to embrace her experience with all she has!  Of course this kind of birth requires patient care providers and no interference, unless absolutely required which, sadly, is not necessarily the norm.  That is what I am trying to achieve in my little corner of this world, to let women give birth with loving support and without interference, helping them the best I can when needed.

I was born and raised in Germany, so other than my Greatgreatgrandma allegedly being from Hungary and maybe even gypsie (I like to think...) I am 100% German.  Rather boring heritage in comparison to most Canadians... .  Anyways, I studied midwifery in Germany, got my license in 2000 from the midwifery school in Giessen that is attached to the Justus-Liebig-University Frauenklinik (women's hospital) and moved right away.  I have lived in the Yukon since September of 2000 where I have been raising my family with my wonderful husband and doing midwifery as possible. 

Hello, my name is Christina Kaiser and I am a midwife.  I have a homebirth practice up here in the Yukon, Canada, where I have been living and practicing since 2000.  I also am a stay at home, homeschooling mother of 6, all born at home.  You might hear me say, being a Mama is my job, midwifery is what I do for fun :o).  I am starting this blog as a little show and tell to who I am and how I practice and we'll see where it leads from there... .