Willam's Birth Story
I went to bed cramping a bit, then woke up at 11:15 with some pretty regular contractions. They weren’t super intense, but enough to wake me up. Around midnight I decided to get up and time them. They were coming every 2 minutes and lasting about 45 seconds. So I woke Dusty at 12:30. He was sleeping like a rock. Knowing him I expected him to jump out of bed in anxious excitement, but he grunted and barely moved, lol.
After some cajoling, Dusty finally got out of bed. I called the midwife and with the contractions’ frequency she suggested I head in. I contemplated taking a shower because they still weren't too intense but (luckly) decided against it. We packed up the last odds and ends for the hospital bag, woke my mom who was staying with us to watch our older son (I was expecting the same nervous excitement, she also just rolled right over to go back to sleep 🤷♀️.)
We arrived at the hospital at 1:30. The midwife checked my cervix. I was only 3 cm dilated and station -3 (that means he was still really high in my pelvis; from top to ready for delivery the stations go -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3 with +3 being ready for delivery). With him being so high up and little progress made in my cervix the midwife was deciding between sending me home or to the delivery room which was incredibly deflating especially already being 3 days late.
They hooked me up to the monitor for 20 min to check out my contractions and his heart rate response. During that time my water broke (at about 2 am) and the contractions immediately started getting more intense. There was no going home then!
From there I headed to the delivery room at about 2:20. The contractions continued to get more intense but I was still thinking I was a ways away. I got into the tub for relief while the nurse began asking me all of the intake questions. The warm water instantly relaxed me. I had one contraction immediately followed by a contraction more intense than anything I’d ever felt before. I reached down and could feel his head. I couldn’t believe it considering about an hour before I was only 3 cm at station +3. The nurse and the midwife came running. I did not intend to have a water birth, only to use the tub for pain management, but at the point I wasn’t going anywhere! I had 3 more contractions, 2 pushes and he was out at 2:54. It was crazy intense!
Dusty and I were both in shock! We had planned for a completely different experience. We learned all the positions, acupressure, and techniques for pain management and helping progress labor in the Love Your Labour Course. We brought music, essential oils, massage tools… We used NONE of it! I’m definitely not complaining. I’m incredibly grateful that my labor was quick and I was able to have a completely natural birth.
The natural birth was important to me for a lot of reasons, one being avoiding or at least minimizing tearing during delivery. With my oldest, I got an epidural and followed the nurse’s directions while pushing - chin to chest, hold your breath and push as hard as you can...I firmly believe that this is what cause the intense tearing I experienced (and by extension a good bit of my pelvic floor/incontinence troubles that followed).
My first question to my midwife during all the “after birth” stuff was “did I tear?” and I was ecstatic to find out the answer “NO”! This time I ignored the nurse who was telling me the exact same thing, listened to my training and gently pressed into my feet at the sides of the tub and exhaled (very loudly if I’m honest) while I pushed.
I’ve heard so often, “as long as the baby is healthy.” While at the root of it that’s 100% true, my experience and my body also matters. This was a wonderful (and intense) experience!
Your experience, your thoughts, your body matter too mama!
A major player in my abilty to birth naturally was the education and prepartion I found in the Love Your Labour Course.
I went to bed cramping a bit, then woke up at 11:15 with some pretty regular contractions. They weren’t super intense, but enough to wake me up. Around midnight I decided to get up and time them. They were coming every 2 minutes and lasting about 45 seconds. So I woke Dusty at 12:30. He was sleeping like a rock. Knowing him I expected him to jump out of bed in anxious excitement, but he grunted and barely moved, lol.
After some cajoling, Dusty finally got out of bed. I called the midwife and with the contractions’ frequency she suggested I head in. I contemplated taking a shower because they still weren't too intense but (luckly) decided against it. We packed up the last odds and ends for the hospital bag, woke my mom who was staying with us to watch our older son (I was expecting the same nervous excitement, she also just rolled right over to go back to sleep 🤷♀️.)
We arrived at the hospital at 1:30. The midwife checked my cervix. I was only 3 cm dilated and station -3 (that means he was still really high in my pelvis; from top to ready for delivery the stations go -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3 with +3 being ready for delivery). With him being so high up and little progress made in my cervix the midwife was deciding between sending me home or to the delivery room which was incredibly deflating especially already being 3 days late.
They hooked me up to the monitor for 20 min to check out my contractions and his heart rate response. During that time my water broke (at about 2 am) and the contractions immediately started getting more intense. There was no going home then!
From there I headed to the delivery room at about 2:20. The contractions continued to get more intense but I was still thinking I was a ways away. I got into the tub for relief while the nurse began asking me all of the intake questions. The warm water instantly relaxed me. I had one contraction immediately followed by a contraction more intense than anything I’d ever felt before. I reached down and could feel his head. I couldn’t believe it considering about an hour before I was only 3 cm at station +3. The nurse and the midwife came running. I did not intend to have a water birth, only to use the tub for pain management, but at the point I wasn’t going anywhere! I had 3 more contractions, 2 pushes and he was out at 2:54. It was crazy intense!
Dusty and I were both in shock! We had planned for a completely different experience. We learned all the positions, acupressure, and techniques for pain management and helping progress labor in the Love Your Labour Course. We brought music, essential oils, massage tools… We used NONE of it! I’m definitely not complaining. I’m incredibly grateful that my labor was quick and I was able to have a completely natural birth.
The natural birth was important to me for a lot of reasons, one being avoiding or at least minimizing tearing during delivery. With my oldest, I got an epidural and followed the nurse’s directions while pushing - chin to chest, hold your breath and push as hard as you can...I firmly believe that this is what cause the intense tearing I experienced (and by extension a good bit of my pelvic floor/incontinence troubles that followed).
My first question to my midwife during all the “after birth” stuff was “did I tear?” and I was ecstatic to find out the answer “NO”! This time I ignored the nurse who was telling me the exact same thing, listened to my training and gently pressed into my feet at the sides of the tub and exhaled (very loudly if I’m honest) while I pushed.
I’ve heard so often, “as long as the baby is healthy.” While at the root of it that’s 100% true, my experience and my body also matters. This was a wonderful (and intense) experience!
Your experience, your thoughts, your body matter too mama!
A major player in my abilty to birth naturally was the education and prepartion I found in the Love Your Labour Course.
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