Baby number 6 birth story
Completely natural, unassisted home birth of a 10lbs 15oz baby, with an orgasm
At 41+2 I started having contractions during the night, very sporadic and not very painful.
This went on for a couple days, then at 41+5 I got up and did the school and daycare drop off. I Started having more painful contractions whilst parking the car at the school, and by the time I left to drive back home they were 5 minutes apart, I had to keep pulling over due to the pain!
By the time I got home I managed to put my 13 month old down for a nap, it was taking everything in me to not moan in pain and wake him up.
I called my husband saying I think it’s happening now, with this being my sixth I know when I’m getting close to the end. He left work straight away, and 20 minutes later when he got home he found me swaying my hips back and forth whilst holding on to the dresser, moaning with each contraction.
“What do you need me to do babe?” He said, our plan was to have it be an intimate birth experience just us two. I had a hospital birth with my first and another with my twins, and then 2 home births, one of which I was completely alone, so I felt comfortable with our plan.
I asked him to unpack the kit I’d made (waterproof pads, towels etc) and to put on some relaxing music. I took my clothes off (nothing more irritating than clothes in labor) and I leant my elbows and head on our bed, swaying back and forth, each contraction going all around my huge bump, round to my back and down my legs.
I knew something was different as I’d never felt the contractions in my back to the severity I could. Last scan she was the right way round… but what if she’s turned?
At this point my contractions were 2 minutes apart lasting for a minute, and it had only been 45 minutes since I got home. Things were moving quickly.
My husband starting rubbing my back and holding a cold flannel on my forehead whilst I groaned in pain. Within 10 minutes my contractions were back to back - no relief or escape from them, just pure pain.
Then I felt it - the pressure. The unmistakable pressure of the head moving down, and wow, so much pressure on the bottom of my spine. It was like someone was taking a knife to it.
My husband asked to check me, and when he went to he felt the babies head straight away. He asked if I felt like I needed to push, but I couldn’t even respond. He helped me lie down on the bed and sat behind me, propping me up a little. I had a mirror so I could see what was going on, one big push and I could already see her head.
I pushed for another 15 minutes but her head just kept showing a little, then going back in. My husband was encouraging me and telling how well I was doing, I know it can take a while. But there is nothing more infuriating than seeing that head go back inside you, when you just want the pain to end.
Then my husband put his hand on my clit, and started rubbing it. Something I was never expecting him to do - he finds birth amazing, but he doesn’t have a kink like me. Wow - the combination of the intense pleasure along with the even more intense pain - I can’t even describe it.
My body started to relax and the head was now staying out with each push. I could feel myself stretching, my body opening up. The pressure on my back was still very intense, but my husbands hand being where it was was really easing all of that.
When I was almost crowning, I stopped to allow myself to stretch. I know I make big babies, I don’t want to tear. Whilst the head sat there, stretching me open, my husbands hand carried on rubbing, and I experienced something I never thought I would during birth - an orgasm.
It was the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. The pain of being stretched almost to my limits and the pleasure of the orgasm running through my body. Once it had finished I asked my husband to help me to squat. Once swatting, one more push and I was fully crowning. He commented on how big her head was, and I could see in the mirror. She was HUGE. I’ve never stretched this much, I thought.
One more push and her head came out and it was clear why my back hurt so much, she was facing the wrong way, she was facing up towards the ceiling. For 5 minutes I tried to push the shoulders out but I couldn’t, and the pressure on my pelvis was excruciating.
My husband helped me on to all fours, and with a bit of help from him and a lot of pushing her shoulders came out and she was born after 40 minutes of pushing. 10lbs 15oz - my biggest baby yet!
