Welcome Kyle

On Friday, August 14 (1:35 am), after 25 1/2 (ouch!) hours of labor, Kyle Austin Sher was born at home. He weighed 9lbs 2oz and was 21.5" long. Mama and baby are doing fantastic!

My thoughts are the home birth are favorable. I thought the entire process was amazing.

Brad prepping the birth tub

Glenda's water broke at 12:30am on August 13th. During her 25 1/2 hours of labor she was able to "relax" at home. She had 2 of her close friends/massage therapists rubbing her through each contraction. She had another friend who had already been through the home birth process...twice, mentoring her. She was able to rest in her own bed and she even took a few walks in the swimming pool. Every person present seemed to have a role in the process. The doulla, Marcie, assigned me as the tough love sister.

Glenda walking in the pool with Marcie watching

The hard thing about a home birth (well, besides no epidural), is it seemed hard for Glenda to rest. I am sure that is the case with any birth, but in this case she had a tight knit group of ladies and a loving husband taking care of her. Glenda being the great host that she is, was more worried about everyone's level of entertainment vs. resting. As a result, she put unecessary pressure on herself to speed up the process. Well, that and she was ready to have the baby out. At this point, Glenda was 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant. She 100% thought she was going to deliver early, so when she went over the 40 weeks, she was more than ready.

Cheryl massaging Glenda

The great thing about the home birth is once the baby was born, Glenda got to crawl into bed with Kyle and rest. Before that, while in the tub the midwife didn't cut the umbilical cord right away. The time with the cord attached was given to Glenda to rest, appreciate the moment and bond with Kyle. Once the cord was cut, they crawled into bed. She was in her space, they examined him and she didn't have to stay in a hospital. The kids woke up about an hour after the delivery and ran into the room to welcome their new brother.

Kyle less than 24 hours old

The best part of all, because she was in water, the 9lb 2oz baby was able to make his way out without a tear or rip. Glenda went through the pains of labor, but now she will have less pain post partum and less recovery time.