My Natural Birth Story: Stage Three

This is my last stage of my natural labor story, if you have missed the others, I would start at My Natural Labor Story: How it all began.

At 12:25, June 2nd, my baby boy, Cedric Christopher Meissner was born.

It's funny how you hear the stories of how mothers feel right after birth
when they are holding their baby, but to be that mother, you know your life
will never be the same, and you are at total peace with that. 

        I love how at the birthing center they NEVER took the baby away from me or out of my sight. The first thing they did was put my baby naked against my skin so that he could bond and feel his mommy's warmth. It is such a magical experience to FEEL your baby's skin and movement outside of the womb for the first time. Then they covered us both in warm blankets so we wouldn't get chilled. Shaking legs are very common side effect from your body going through that much work as all your hormones and muscles are all out of whack. It was such a weird feeling. So as I am holding my precious boy, the midwife was feeling my stomach, pushing down on it, and getting ready for the third stage of labor, delivering the placenta. 

I was anxious to see what it looked like. One, I think our bodies are so intriguing, blood and all. Second, I had read if you are REALLY healthy during your pregnancy, you can tell by the umbilical cord's thickness how well it performed in sending great nutrients to your baby.

Let's just say my cord was frikin' awesome looking! 

        In my birth plan I had said to hold off on clamping the umbilical cord for fifteen minutes. It is very crucial for the rest of the blood and oxygen to have the opportunity to be transferred from my body to the baby. If you clamp the cord right away, it can cause your baby to have anemia from not getting all the blood needed that was left in the cord. After about fifteen minutes the placenta came out, and my labor was officially over. It didn't hurt when I helped push out the placenta, it just felt strange after having just pushed out a baby. Everything is more sensitive down there. 

After about thirty minutes I let my dear husband finally hold Cedric. So cute to see your man holding your new little man. We then got the opportunity to have our golden hour to ourselves, for the first time being alone as a family of three.

    I started sipping orange juice to replenish my sugar levels. I also finally had my appetite back and snacked on trail mix. We would have ordered take out, but being 1 a.m. in the morning, nothing was open! The midwife encouraged me to try breastfeeding right away. With how alert and awake Cedric was from not being doped on drugs, he GOT IT right away. That bonding was one of the most magical, incredible experiences, too.  Right there, you know all your baby will need is you.

      Since it was past 1:30 by this point, we allowed our parents to come in since they had patiently been waiting. I did not make myself up or even have clothes on, just covered by blankets, and I really didn't care. They knew what I had just accomplished, and of course only really wanted to see their new grandson anyway. After the quick visiting session, it was time to check out Cedric and make sure everything was in order. The best part, the birthing center did it RIGHT on the bed, so I didn't have to move, and I got to see everything they did to my baby. He weighed seven pounds on the dot and was exactly twenty inches. Hallelujah, he was only seven pounds. Good size, not too tiny, not too big! They really didn't need to do TOO much with him. I refused the vitamin K shot and the eye droplets. With a healthy baby, you really do not need those synthetic medicines, and I knew I had been giving him all the nutrition he needed through my nutritious diet. 

      I also appreciated that the birthing center did not bathe Cedric. The vernix (white cream that covers and protects your baby inside your womb) is really good to keep on your baby. It acts as a lotion and rubs into the skin to keep it extra soft and healthy. A baby really doesn't need a bath until after the first week. After he was wiped dry, my husband put him in his first adorable little nighty while I got to rinse off my body and feel clean and done in the bath, 

      Around four am, we were done! I didn't have to spend the night in an unfamiliar bed. We went home. I put my baby in the bassinet next to me, but really all I  wanted to do was just hold and stare at my newborn. 

 I got about one hour of sleep that night. 

I had bathed and was finally clean after nine hours of labor!

Hope you appreciated my birth story. It really was an intense, blessed, incredible experience I will never forget. With not being medicated, I really do remember every moment of it and will really appreciate the bond I made with my husband as we BOTH went through this labor and delivered our very loved Cedric Christopher. IF you have any questions about natural birth or about my birth story, ask away. I am an open book and would love to help enlighten or address any questions or concerns you may have for your future pregnancy/labor.