Home birth takes unexpected twist
By RANDY ERICKSON/Editor
Ted and Angie Wedul welcomed their first child - daughter Ella - 19 months ago in a hospital delivery room in the traditional modern way. With their second pregnancy, they decided they were going to do it the traditional old-fashioned way: at home, with the help of a midwife.
There was nothing wrong with their hospital birth experience. They just saw some advantages in home birth.
For one thing, the Weduls figured a home birth would mean a lost less exposure to infectious agents for their child than they would have at a hospital.
For another thing, a birth at home would be a lot more calm and relaxing than having to pack up and make sure somebody was on hand to watch Ella before making the drive from their home in Holmen to a hospital in La Crosse.
Ted and Angie Wedul had their first child in a hospital delivery room. With their second pregnancy, they decided on the old-fashioned way, at home with a midwife, but Ted ended up delivering the baby on his own, with advice from the midwife on the cell phone.
Photo by Randy Erickson
Of course, it's not quite as relaxing when the baby's ready to be born in Holmen and the midwife is somewhere between Viroqua and Coon Valley.
The Weduls had planned all along for Ted to be the one to deliver the baby, with midwife Denise Doerr standing by with aid, advice and encouragement. As it worked out, Doerr did provide some aid, but it was through the speakerphone as she drove from her home in Viroqua.
The Weduls' big adventure started at about 1 a.m. July 29, when Angie awakened Ted. Her water had broken. This was good news, as she was already 15 days past her due date. She had overshot the due date by 15 days with Ella, too.
Ted called Doerr and began getting things ready for the birth. At 1:39 a.m., Angie gave Ted some more news: It was time to start pushing.
Ted called Doerr again, reaching her somewhere around Coon Valley. "I've never dialed a phone so fast," Ted said.
He told Doerr that Angie wanted to start pushing. Doerr, having been through almost 300 births, advised that if Angie felt like she needed to push, then she should push.
A couple pushes and the baby's head was out. Ted could see that the umbilical cord was looped around the baby's neck. This could have been disastrous, but the cord was not tight and Ted quickly untangled the cord.
The rest of the birth was over in a flash, with just one more push. At 1:51 a.m., an infant of roughly 9 pounds was lying on Angie's chest, showing all the usual signs of being a healthy baby.
"Well?" Doerr demanded over the speaker phone. "Is it a boy or girl?"
In all the excitement, Ted had not even thought to look for the telltale signs of gender. He lifted the blanket covering the infant and discovered that he and Angie now had a son. They named him Luke.
"It was probably the most powerful experience of my life," Ted said. "It was so surreal."
Doerr arrived 25 minutes after Luke was born - the first time she missed a delivery in 270 cases.
If Doerr had to miss one, the Weduls' birth might have been the one to do, as Ted and Angie are probably better equipped than most to deal with birth complications. Ted is a chiropractor, who has been running Holmen Chiropractic Wellness Center for about three years, while Angie is trained as a nurse but is putting her career on hold for child-rearing.
Despite the slight glitch in their home-birth plans, both Ted and Angie are sold on it. "I really think this is such a safe, loving environment for a child to come into," Angie said.
"I'd encourage more people to try it or look into it," Ted said. "It was just an unbelievable experience."
Ted told the midwife, however, they wouldn't be taking any chances with the next pregnancy, especially considering the track record of having each child on the 15th day past the due date. "If we have any more kids," he told her, "you're moving in on Day 14."
All stories copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Holmen Courier and other attributed sources.
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Home birth takes unexpected twist
