Casey Sanders McDougal
Born April 17, 2007 at 1:37pm
Weighing 8pounds and 14oz
21 inches long
10 fingers, ten toes and one big smile!
History and a little bit of “soapbox” stuff:
My decision to have a homebirth was an evolution. With my first baby, 12 years
ago, I was a young, naïve girl of 19. My husband (20) and I did what all the
medical professionals told us to do. I didn’t know I had any other choice. Of
course Austin was 10 days late, so I was induced. Then after having very strong
contractions brought on by Pitocin (the drug they give you to trick your body
into thinking it’s ready to have a baby) for a few hours, the nurse came in,
broke my water artificially (which could lead to infection when done
unnecessarily) and asked me if I was ready for my epidural. Having to arch your
back like a cat while being very still during these artificially induced
contractions that are ripping through your body while someone sticks a needle
into your spine… who wouldn’t want an epidural??
After the epidural, of course, I couldn’t feel my contractions so I again gave
up more control to the medical team around me. I had to rely on them to tell me
when to push and when to stop pushing. After pushing for half an hour the nurse
informed the she could see my son’s head. Where was the Doctor I wondered (the
only person I actually knew was not there yet)? As the nurse started to deliver
Austin’s head, I heard the Doctor walk in and ask if I was ready to have a baby.
Seriously?? I had been trying to have a baby for 9 hours and he was just going
to walk in and take all the credit? After my son was born I wanted to hold him
and walk with him but was not able to use my legs for several hours. They let me
see him briefly then whisked him off to the nursery to be with strangers he
didn’t know while I “recovered” from all the drugs they had given me and from my
episiotomy (because that was also “necessary” since Austin was so big). I do
feel lucky however that I was not talked into an unnecessary C-section like so
many women are these days. After a day of labor, you can almost be talked into
anything that will bring an end to the work and pain of childbirth. It is so
important to have people you love and trust around you. People who would never
try to convince you to do something that is not the absolute best for the baby.
People who do not have their own agendas (or meetings, or golf games,…). Just
for the record, C-sections are billed for almost twice what a vaginal delivery
are billed for and much less hassle for the medical team (more predictable and
less chance for litigation later on). I wonder why the C-section rate is so
high? It must be because it is best for the baby…
My Introduction to Homebirth:
I never really knew what exactly I would have done differently because at that
time I didn’t know it was done any other way. Then I had a psychology professor
at UT Knoxville about a year later who told our class about her homebirth. I was
in awe. That is how it should be!! She was surrounded by people she loved and
was able to make informed decisions along the way. Her husband helped deliver
her baby; not some medical team she didn’t know. It was so romantic and perfect.
I ran home and told my husband that when we had another baby I wanted to have a
homebirth and use a midwife. Because I’m sure he didn’t think I would remember
this conversation when the time actually came and because he probably thought I
was just temporarily insane, he agreed.
Later that year, we were expecting our second child and so we moved back home to
Gallatin to be closer to family. I immediately started looking for a midwife and
my husband started realizing I was seriously going to do this. After reading
about homebirths and studying the statistics of how much safer they were than
hospital births and how special the process seemed to be for all the women we
read about, my husband was on board. Then we had the difficult task of
convincing our family that we weren’t crazy. Finding a midwife was harder than I
thought it would be. We interviewed a few and settled on the only one in
Gallatin. Her name was Lilly. Because we lived so far from a hospital at the
time, we decided to deliver at her birthing center. It was the most spiritual
and awesome experience we had both ever had. We delivered naturally with the
help of a banana milkshake. No tearing, no drugs, and no strangers.
Casey born with Blessings:
Last year, after waiting 10 years to have another baby, no one was surprised
when I began my hunt for a new midwife and began planning my home delivery (my
last midwife was no longer in practice.) Since our last child, I had attended
Vanderbilt and received a BSN in nursing and completed a year of graduate school
towards a Masters in Women’s Health Nursing. I had logged over 1000 clinical
hours and assisted with over 50 births. I was much more informed and knew the
ins and outs of labor and delivery. This only made my convictions to use a
midwife stronger. What started out as a romanticized idea became an informed
no-brainer. Why go to a hospital and expose yourself and your baby to germs if
you are not sick? Hospitals are for sick people. Pregnancy is not an illness; it
is as natural as conception (and how many people do THAT in a hospital??) Women
were built to conceive and deliver their own babies. We have totally lost sight
of that and are convinced by Doctors (who are still predominately men) that we
are weak and cannot handle the pain of childbirth or have the ability to make
our own decisions regarding such a “complicated process”. After praying about
which midwife to use (there are several in the Nashville area), I interview
Kathy Williams who was very close to my own home. After meeting with her for 5
minutes I knew she was God sent. She is a wonderful Christian lady who seems to
view her job as a women’s ministry. She also, coincidentally, had all my records
from my previous birth with Lilly. She trained with Lilly and took over all of
her patients. Wow! I was amazed at how God helped me find the perfect person to
deliver our baby!
My pregnancy was wonderful. Not much sickness and the weight gain was textbook.
Casey was growing and doing great and besides the fatigue and back/hip pain (I
have a degenerative spinal disorder called spodylolithesis), I was feeling good.
I continued to work and take care of my other two boys and expected an easy
labor and delivery. Casey was due on April 13th (Friday the 13th). Around the
1st of March I began having pretty intense Braxton-Hicks contractions. They
gained in intensity so by the 3rd week in March I had Kathy check to see what
was going on. She said I was about 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Since I was
working so far away she advised that I go ahead and quit so that I wouldn’t be
so far away in case I went into labor. She said this was “early labor” and it
could last a few days or a few weeks. I was hoping for a few days. She came back
on the 30th and considered breaking my water since the contractions were still
pretty consistent. I was exhausted and my GBS was positive (I had begun taking
antibiotics a few days prior so the baby would be protected during delivery).
After checking me though, I had only opened up one more cm and we both agreed
that it was too risky. Kathy was great. She brought me a basket of herbal tea to
help me relax so I could get some rest in between contractions. She also brought
me some videos to watch to prepare for the big day. On April 2nd I called Kathy
at midnight after having very intense and regular contractions for about 2
hours. She and her daughter Jennifer, who is also a midwife (and also pregnant
at the time), came right over. Although by the next morning we still had no
baby, they stayed with us all night. By the next day my contractions had
lightened up a bit. I was beginning to feel very fatigued and achy. I was hoping
for a baby very soon.
On the night of April 3rd, strong storms came through. After hearing a loud
explosion outside we realized our “weather head” on the house had been ripped
from the roof after a large tree in the front yard fell. Because this was an
extreme fire hazard we had to have the power turned off and get out of our house
immediately. I realized why God had made Casey wait. We couldn’t have gotten
through the next few days with a newborn and me hobbling around post-partum. We
ended up at the Hampton Inn where I just knew I would deliver this baby. I was
so frustrated because I had prepared my house down to the last detail and
planned to labor in our hot tub and deliver our baby in our bed where he was
conceived. Instead, I was sitting in the Hampton Inn with Kathy’s medical bag
and oxygen tank (just in case). I kept telling myself that if Jesus could be
born in a manger, then it wouldn’t be the end of the world if Casey was born at
the Hampton Inn (but really I was hoping he would wait). We spent Easter week in
a hotel and every day I prayed that God would let our baby wait until we could
get back home. The irony was that on this same weekend the previous year (2006),
we lost our entire store and our life savings when an F3 tornado ripped through
our town. I couldn’t believe we were being affected by Mother Nature again
exactly one year later!
God heard our prayers. We moved back into our house on April 10th. Casey was not
due for 3 more days. I had time to clean up, drain and sanitize the hot tub and
prepare his room down to the last detail.
April 13th came and went. This is really not funny now. I hurt everywhere. I’m
completely exhausted from being in “early labor” for over 3 weeks. I want to
meet my baby. I still feel his hiccups and Kathy says he is still doing great
and growing right on track. My health is still good. I decided to come off the
antibiotics and wait to start them again when labor was active. Kathy suggested
that I try to relax and go to the Lord in prayer for His guidance and peace. She
was right. I gave up the control and the pain to my Savior and He gave me a
sense of security about the whole situation. I just knew Casey and I would both
be fine and he would arrive when he needed to. I knew Jesus would bring my baby
to me when He was ready. His timing is ALWAYS perfect.
The morning of April 17th I awoke around midnight having contractions again and
feeling very wet. I thought I had either had an accident (yep- this is a real
possibility when your over 40 weeks pregnant and have no bladder control) or
just really sweaty. I changed clothes and went back to bed. Around 7:00 we got
up and started getting the kids ready for school. They had TCAP testing so they
had to be there and on time. I noticed the wet feeling again and mentioned it to
Scott. I told him it could just be discharge so not to tell the kids since they
had to go to school anyway. I told him to go ahead and go to work and I’d call
him if it was serious. He said he would stop back by the house after dropping
the kids off just to check on me and make sure. I took a shower and when he
arrived, the contractions started getting worse. After each contraction we
noticed some pretty heavy bloody looking water leaking from me. We both knew
this could be it. I called Kathy and she arrived and confirmed that yes it was
amniotic fluid. My water probably had a high tear and this would be the day!!!
The contractions intensified and I was fully dilated by 11:00.
I walked around the bedroom and chatted with my family during the labor. My mom videoed, Scott’s parents took pictures, Kenna prayed with Kathy and Jennifer, and Scott supported me like only he could. The kids finally made it home (I think my body was waiting for them to be there) and we moved outside to the hot tub. The water felt so wonderful!! Finally some relief. I decided I would give birth in the tub with Scott’s help.
We were in the tub and I began pushing. Pretty soon my water broke with a gush
and we all noticed the fluid was not clear. This meant our baby had already had
his first stool and we needed to move inside so Kathy could suction him out as
soon as he was born (can’t do that under water). We moved into the bedroom and I
began pushing. Kathy was wonderful. I remember screaming at her several times,
“Kathy help me get him out now!!!” and “it burns so bad Kathy- GET HIM OUT,”
while delivering his big head. She and Scott both held me and reminded me how
strong I was and that I could do this. They gave me the physical and mental help
I needed. After about an hour of pushing, our son finally cried his first cry
(after Kathy suctioned him out really well). Scott and I sat on our bed with our
three children and thanked God for this new life. Because Casey was such a
fighter and mover (he used to vigorously kick through the contractions instead
of being still like most babies) he managed to swim through his umbilical cord
at some point and form it into a perfect knot. Pretty rare! He also managed to
get it wrapped around his neck twice so he was born with a double nucal cord.
Luckily it was a long cord and it didn’t tear the placenta amidst all his
playing in there! These are both two circumstances where the hospital would have
intervened but with the assistance of a very knowledgeable midwife he was
perfectly fine and the situation did not create an emergency at all. Scott
prayed over his new son and Casey began nursing immediately. Kathy measured him
and weighed him (8 pounds 14 ounces and 21 inches long). I held him for a long
time and then Kathy cleaned him up while I showered and cleaned up myself. Kathy
and Jennifer cleaned up everything afterwards. Besides our new baby boy, you
would have never known we just had a birth in our bedroom. My brother showed up
and we all ate a hamburger (Kenna went to Sonic) and enjoyed our new little
blessing.
I am not advocating homebirth for everyone, but I am strongly advocating CHOICE.
Every woman should do what feels right for her and her baby. Having a homebirth
for us was the most natural, spiritual and fulfilling experience! I highly
recommend every woman doing research and getting as much information as possible
before making the decision of where/how to bring their child into the world.
Thank you Kathy and Jennifer at Blessings for everything! From the prenatal, to
the delivery (including EVERYTHING that would have been done at the hospital
such as foot printing, APGAR testing, Vitamin K, eye ointment, birth certificate
registration, metabolic screening, and lactation assistance) to the well baby
and post partum visits afterwards (including my pap). You guys have been amazing
and I am so thankful God sent you my way! Kathy took extra time with me and was
always quick to recognize when I just needed to chat. I consider her not only my
healthcare provider, but also my friend. How many of us can say that bout our
Doctors? I trust her opinion and I would call her tomorrow or two years from now
if I had any questions about my child or myself. Thank you God and thank you
Kathy for a healthy baby and an awesome experience!