I was attended by my husband David, my sister-in-law Sarah, our midwife Kate and her assistant Jill. My fabulous mother-in-law Pat and other sister-in-law Anna, as well as Sarah's husband Tim, did a great job babysitting our active 18-month-old boy, Elijah during the labor so that I didn't have to worry about him and David could support me.
Ketzia's birth story really has been a journey across several continents. We found out we were pregnant in the spring, in Zambia where we live. We immediately started thinking ahead to our end-of-year plans, thankful that we already intended to be traveling to the UK and the States at the end of this year, so we could work out the logistics to have the baby where we would be supported by family. In the meantime we arranged for prenatal care in Zambia. In the Lord's providence our friend Christine who has so generously opened her home to us during our occasional visits to Lusaka is a doctor/gynecologist and I became her patient!
Because of homebirth laws, we planned to settle with David's family outside of Philadelphia and have the baby there. It would be remiss of me to not mention Sarah's willingness to have us live with her for a couple of months, not only opening her home but also supporting me in every way in the planning and preparation for my homebirth in her home! We can't express how much this means to us. In the Lord's providence we were able to use the marvelous Kate who was Sarah's midwife for the homebirth of Thomas this past summer. And Sarah also had a birth pool and all the supplies, so we were all set. Amazing!
So Kate, my U.S. midwife, and I were in correspondence via email. Every time I had a prenatal appointment with Christine, my doctor in Zambia, I sent all the reports to Kate so that she could add them to my file. I am thankful for technology which allowed me to be well-cared for. In mid-October we left Zambia and I was given all my medical paperwork by Christine and a certificate of good health which allowed me to fly. In the UK I had another check-up with a doctor and received another certificate of good health. On the 9th of November I traveled with Elijah to the States to spend a few weeks with my parents, and on the 5th of December we ended our travels and settled in Philly with David's family to await the baby's birth.
My "due date" was December 22nd, but I had a feeling that Bump would decide to arrive early. We certainly hoped that this would be the case, since it would start the birth certificate/passport paperwork process a bit earlier.
On the evening of Sunday the 11th of December, I started having regular Braxton Hicks contractions around 6:30pm or so, which carried on for several hours. They were so regular and so distracting that I honestly thought I might be in early labor. After pacing around the house for a couple of hours, it was bedtime and I was so tired. I decided to go to bed, figuring that if this was "real" labor, I should get some rest before things ramped up, and if it wasn't, then I would get a badly-needed good night's sleep. Sure enough, the contractions went away after I lay down. I had never had a "false alarm" with Elijah so I found this an interesting experience. It was clear that the baby had "dropped" so the week started with me feeling like labor was probably imminent and could start at any time, even though I wasn't due for more than a week.
At the end of that week, during the night on Saturday (or rather, in the wee hours of Sunday morning) I woke up needing to use the toilet, and had a contraction. It was a real contraction and I could tell right away. However, I didn't have a watch so I had no idea what time it was (so I don't know when labor officially started). I went back to bed and fell back asleep, but continued to have contractions. Since I had no way of timing them, and I was sleepy, I don't know how frequent they were, and I was able to drift off in between. But I didn't get much more rest that night. The contractions continued, and around 7am I woke David and told him, "I'm not sure I'm going to make it to church this morning - I'm having contractions." Eventually I went downstairs to get some breakfast, feeling it necessary to get some nourishment and thinking "This might be it" -- but at the same time, I was still debating about going to church that morning! I had a difficult contraction while in the kitchen and didn't manage to get any breakfast other than a yogurt and some orange juice. David came in and found me kneeling over the birth ball during a contraction and said, "YOU are not going ANYWHERE! Get back upstairs and rest, you're in labor!" So I went back upstairs and didn't come back down for a few days. :-)
David told me I should go ahead and call our midwife, Kate, to give her a heads-up since she lives a full hour's drive away, so I did. Then I settled in the bedroom with the birth ball and focused on staying comfortable. I ended up spending the majority of the labor in just one position - kneeling on the rug on the floor and leaning my upper body on the birth ball. Sitting wasn't comfortable because it put too much pressure on my stomach and if I rested my body weight on the ball it helped me relax during the contractions. I realized that things were moving faster than expected, and so David had to scurry around to finish preparing the birth pool. It needed to be inflated a bit more, so I spent more than an hour of labor trying to focus through contractions while David was in the same room endlessly inflating the birth pool with a horribly noisy pump! Then he had to get the hose hooked up to the shower head and start filling the pool. He also had a lot of phone calls to make... to his mom to ask her to come help us instead of going to church, to his sister Anna who lives in Delaware so that she could leave church and come up, to my parents to let them know I was in labor...
using the birth ball... birth pool filled and keeping warm
I called Kate back and told her to come. I had lost track of timing the contractions but they had been coming every 6 minutes and sometimes a bit closer. Then I got David to hook up the TENS machine to help me with the contractions. I used the TENS machine during my labor with Elijah and found it to be SO helpful, and was surprised to learn that the maternity TENS machine is virtually unknown in the States! So I purchased one in the UK and brought it along with me. It definitely helped take the edge off the contractions and keep me focused.
The house started to scurry with people but I was in a zone. I felt nauseous and vomited once and thought "Am I in transition already?" I vomited during transition with Elijah. Kate arrived. Sarah and David were in and out of the room and bringing me water bottles, etc. The assistant midwife, Jill arrived. I just kept hitting the "boost" button on the TENS machine!
Time kept passing. I wasn't wearing a watch so still had no idea what time it was, and didn't mind that. Eventually I could tell that the TENS machine wasn't helping as much with the contractions anymore. My fear is always that I will get into the birth pool too soon and slow down my labor, so with Elijah I had waited until I couldn't cope with the contractions any longer before I got into the birth pool and the timing had been perfect. I intended to do the same thing this time, so I felt that was my "cue" that I could transition into the birth pool. I had been kneeling on the floor for hours so was looking forward to a change. I took off the TENS machine and got into the pool. Unfortunately I still couldn't sit comfortably so was unable to labor like I did with Elijah. I stayed on my knees and rested my head on the side of the pool. Sarah and David were excellent at rubbing my shoulders, holding a cool washcloth on my forehead, and encouraging me to stay relaxed. I was only in the pool for a couple of minutes before I started sounding "pushy." Kate encouraged me to just listen to my body and push if I felt ready. So I did. Unlike with Elijah, when I experienced the "fetus ejection reflex" which was uncontrollable and involuntary, this pushing experience was totally different -- my body was telling me to push, but I had to do all the work. It was exhausting. What I found hardest to cope with was the searing pain in my lower back. It was excruciating. And it didn't necessarily go away between contractions.
but it wasn't all bad! :-)
I pushed for more than two hours. It was an entirely different labor than Elijah's (I only pushed 40 minutes maximum with him). I was tired, very tired. At the very end, as Ketzia was being born, I was struggling to keep my focus because of the horrible, horrible pain in my pelvis and lower back which was making it impossible to breathe. I just kept thinking "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I did it! My waters finally broke only a couple of contractions before she was born (as with Elijah -- part of the reason for the excruciating back pain).
Ketzia Anne Lachman was born at 1:24pm on Sunday, December 18th after less than 11 hours labor (no idea how long it actually was). Her cord was wrapped around her neck once but Kate skillfully untangled her so quickly that I didn't even realize it until someone told me much later. Ketzia was not breathing at first so Kate immediately gave her supplemental oxygen for a few minutes. I was holding Ketzia, tickling her feet and calling her name and rubbing her back and she started moving and making noises. Kate was holding the oxygen mask over her nose and Jill was checking her heartbeat. She immediately starting getting her color and was fine! She "pinked up" beautifully and starting nursing within minutes, as soon as I got out of the birth pool. She has been a great nurser from the very start, and a very contented baby.
Jill on the left, Kate on the right
There were plenty of hands to help and after getting settled in bed with Ketzia I was brought food (glorious food!) and after a good long while and a good long feed Ketzia was weighed and measured and cleaned up and dressed. She weighed in at 8lbs 10 oz (a full pound bigger than Elijah at 7lbs 9oz) and 20 inches long. I was able to take a shower and felt amazing. My recovery has been so much easier and quicker than it was the first time around!
me fresh out of the shower, Ketzia with Aunt Sarah
me having something to eat, Ketzia with Mutti
Ketzia with her daddy
Ketzia with Aunt Anna
Ketzia meeting her big brother!
resting after a big day!
We are so thankful to the Lord for working all the details out, in His providence. For providing us with skilled caregivers both here and in Zambia throughout this pregnancy. For protecting Ketzia and myself during the bout with malaria when I was 19 weeks pregnant. For sustaining me throughout all the travels during the last trimester of my pregnancy. For allowing us to be with family. For giving us a safe and peaceful birth in the comfort of our (temporary) home. And for our beautiful, healthy little girl.
David has posted even more photos on Facebook for those of you who would like to see more... as well as an explanation of the significance of her name.
