....arrived Sunday May 20, 2012 at 12:40 pm . Here's the story:
I had my 40 week appointment on Thursday May 17th. When my midwife checked me I was only 1 cm dilated still pretty thick and baby girl was up pretty high still. So I assumed I would have a longer labor than I did with my son ( I had a very short intense labor with him). My midwife gave me the go ahead to start taking some cohosh so I did. I only took one dose of it a day just to give my body a nudge.
Saturday May 19th was my birthday . It was a TERRIBLE day for me. My husband worked a 16 hour shift and I was suuuuper pregnant and could barely function, so taking care of my 2 yr old and 4 yr old was nearly impossible. I had contractions all day long that day. They were just really intense frequent BH. I was starting to get irritated by them so I stopped taking the cohosh. I kind of felt like my body was trying to go into labor but because I was so stressed out it kept stopping. That night I took some Melatonin and went to bed early because something was just telling me that I needed my rest. I asked my DH if I could lock the bedroom doors and close the curtains and sleep in as late as a I wanted to as a birthday gift. He agreed and that's just what I did!
The next morning (May 20th) I was woken from a deep sleep with a painful contraction. I thought I just had a full bladder so I got up peed and then laid back down. It happened two more times and by the 3rd time I woke up enough to realize that I did not have a full bladder considering it was the 3rd time I'd gone to the bathroom. At that point I found DH and told him to start picking up the house (since we were having a planned home birth) and pack a bag for the boys. He looked at me like I was crazy and it took him a minute to register that I was in labor.
I called my midwife and told her I thought something was going on but she wasn't quite convinced because I hadn't really given it anytime to progress. (I called her after my 3rd contraction because I just knew something felt different..) She told me to call her back if anything changed. I wound up calling her back about 20 minutes later. As soon as my feet hit the floor that morning the contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and were painful. With every contraction I was on the toilet having loose bowels. But since the contractions were only lasting 30-60 seconds I thought surely I couldn't be very far into my labor. I was so confused. I started getting scared because I was convinced I was going to have to endure this pain for hours and hours since my body had so much work to do. But something was telling me that my baby girl was coming fast!
At this point I have only been awake for about 30 minutes and I'm already in the shower breathing/moaning through each contraction. I can't walk or talk through them. I had DH call the midwife to make sure she understood that the baby was most definitely coming. DH didn't understand how intense my labor was already and he kept coming into the bathroom asking me where things were for the kids and I couldn't answer him. So he just kept saying my name over and over to get my attention and I wanted to kill him lol. My friend came and picked up my boys around 11:20 or so . As soon as my kids were gone I got out of the shower and got on my yoga ball. I was only an hour and half into labor and I was terrified. I felt like I was in transition. The level of pain was so high, yet I kept psyching myself out thinking that this was only the beginning. My doula had not yet arrived so I had to put into practice all of the techniques I had just learned at my doula workshop. The only position I liked was sitting on the ball leaning back slightly onto DH. That's where I needed him. I needed to feel him behind me. I didn't need him to say word , just him standing there holding my shoulders was perfect. I kept my eyes closed while I labored. Every time I opened them i would start to panic. With every contraction I just moaned and groaned and kept telling myself over and over "come out baby come out baby". And I kept looking at the time counting down 40 minutes to when my midwife was supposed to arrive. It was a goal and it kept me focused.
So my midwife finally arrives, I'm not exactly sure what time, but I'm thinking it was around 12:20pm. As soon as she arrived she starting telling me how amazing I was doing. She could hear in the pitch of my moan when I would start to lose control and she would remind me to stay on top of the contraction. It was so helpful. I asked her right away if she was going to set up the pool. (We did not have the pool she had to bring it otherwise it would have already been set up). She said she would like to check me first before we did that. She apparently had already set up a birthing stool in my kitchen and asked me to sit on it to check me. When I sat on that stool the pain/pressure was INSANE! But I sucked it up and sat on it because I knew that gravity was doing it's job and was bringing the baby down. I remember how badly it hurt when she checked me. And I will never forget how big I smiled when she told me I was dilated to a 9 cm. I was in the middle of a contraction and I still had my eyes closed by I was grinning uncontrollably. She then told me there was no time for the pool which was fine by me! It was baby time.
While my midwife was checking me she held my cervix open to a 10 and gave me permission to start bearing down whenever I felt like it. I started bearing down almost immediately. I could feel myself pushing the baby down through the birth canal . It was a much different sensation than when I had my water birth. Being out of the water was definitely more intense! Up until that point I wasn't really getting any breaks in between my contractions. They would die down some but never completely end. Well now I was getting a good minute or two of rest in between each contraction. It was so serene. It was the afternoon and birds were chirping and my house was so silent. With another contraction or two the baby was crowning. I eased into. I wanted to push with all my might and get her head out but I didn't want to tear so I let it ease on out. Again, it was way more painful out of the water. I couldn't scream or shout in pain, I was completely silent. Very focused. Her head was out at 12:38 pm. My midwife unwrapped the cord from around her neck and her shoulder and out she came at 12:40 pm. At last I had my beautiful baby girl in my arms. She was all slimy and warm and just absolutely perfect. She didn't cry she just opened her eyes and stared into my soul. Love at first sight. My DH had been standing behind me holding me the entire time. And there we were holding our baby girl for the first time. Just so madly in love with her and with each other. It was by far my best birth experience yet. And also my fastest! 2 hrs 40 minutes from start to finish.
Two minutes after I gave birth to Everlynn my placenta fell on the floor. And yes I said that right...it literally fell on the floor. I didn't have a contraction nor did I push, it just fell right out of me. So we got the cord clamped and me and baby girl got in the bed . She weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20 inches long. She latched right away and we nursed for a while. My boys came back home to meet their baby sister for the first time. They were a little hesitant at first but it didn't take any time at all for them to warm up to her! They just love her.
I thought that I would be devastated if I didn't get my water birth. But I'm not. My experience was so perfect and natural. It wasn't guided by anyone or anything. My body told me exactly what I needed to to do. And I'm actually really glad I got to experience a natural birth outside of the water. I wouldn't change anything about it! Thank you if you read my story. I hope it can inspire someone to have a natural child birth or a home birth. It will honestly change your life!
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