Birth Story
Rowan is a week away from being 3 months and just now can I finally sit down and write out his birth story. It's not that I haven't had a second to breathe..it's just that I only get 12 weeks of leave and I wanted to soak up every second with my beautiful son. Anyways, here we go! Prior to labor I read a book called mindful birthing which gave a different perspective on how to think of contractions. Basically each contraction brings you closer to meeting your baby. They only last about a minute so try not to think of it as pain but how your body is using contractions to move your baby down and out of your body. It also advises to enjoy the time between contractions. Your body is flooded with endorphins and you can relax between each contraction and get excited about meeting your baby. This mindset really helped me through natural birth. Obviously the book goes into more depth and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to have an unmedicated birth. It was about 4 a.m. on December 5th and I started feeling what can best be described as period cramps. I was 38 weeks and 5 days along and wasn't expecting to go into labor for 2 more weeks considering it was my first baby. It seemed as though the cramps were coming and going on a regular schedule...every 7-10 minutes. At first they weren't too intense and I kept falling asleep. By the time I had to get up for work at 6:30, I couldn't talk during the cramps. I called my Midwife and told her what I was experiencing and she did not think I was in labor and just told me to continue about my day. I decided to go into work because I wanted to make sure my classroom was in order. I was still having contractions every 7-8 minutes. I called the front office and told them I could teach my first class but would need to leave after and that's exactly what I did. I taught my fourth graders about perspective through my contractions which were getting more intense as the day went on. At 8:45 I went home. I called my Midwife again and she said to get some rest and if it was labor, I wouldn't be able to ignore it. I tried to rest at home, but the contractions continued to get more and more intense. Every time I had one, I had to get out of bed and walk around or sit on the toilet. I had been in contact with my doula and she said she would come check on me. I labored around the house not even knowing I was in labor. I walked, I sat in bed, I sat on the toilet. I put my body in every position I could think of to get some relief from the contractions. Before my doula came, I lost my mucous plug while on the toilet. I also felt a huge burst of liquid come out of me and I wasn't really sure what it was but it was my water breaking. When my doula got there, she let herself in as I was in the bathroom. The first thing I said to her was "I don't like this." She had my lay on the couch so she could listen to the baby and we found the heartbeat right away which made me feel better because he wasn't moving very much during everything. After that, she timed my contractions and she told me that they were 3 minutes apart. I started to feel intense pressure during contractions and she told me it was time to go to the birth center. We got my birth box and bag together and headed out to her car. I called my husband and told us to meet us there asap. My doula has a very nice Mercedes and I remember telling her I didn't want to have contractions in her car, haha! She put a towel down and told me to get the heck in!! We got into the car and hard candy Christmas was playing on the radio..it made me think of my mom. The birth center was only 10 minutes away but it felt like an eternity labeling in the car. My contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and they were very intense at this point. I couldn't talk or think during them but my doula kept asking me questions to keep my mind off of it all. We got to the birth center and went into one of the rooms. The Midwife on call wasn't one of the midwives I had been seeing throughout my pregnancy and she didn't really think I was going to give birth that day. In fact I think she asked my doula privately if I was just being dramatic which is so funny to me! She finally came in to see how dilated I was. I watched her face while she was checking me and she looked puzzled and said "hmm" and I thought..I must not be very far along (which would be devastating because my contractions were close together AND intense and I wasn't sure how much longer I could do this) but finally she said "you're 9 centimeters!" and we all laughed because I don't think any of us thought I was THAT far along! My husband still wasn't even there and this baby could come at any time! Bill finally got there and I got into the birthing tub. It felt so good to float in the warm water. I leaned over the edge of the tub and sat in a kneeling position with my hips wide and swayed through every contraction. My husband held my hand, put cool cloths on my head and talked sweetly to me. He had me drink ice water through a straw. He even played the Alabama shakes pandora station as we worked to meet our sweet babe for the first time. My doula worked me through my contractions and told me how and when to push. She empowered me and encouraged me. She said "this is mothers work..this is how we meet your baby." I felt completely supported and loved. My Midwife occasionally stopped to listen to the heartbeat. After about 30-45 minutes of pushing, baby's head was finally there. My doula told me to feel my tummy and it felt empty! He was so far down and almost out. I changed positions quite a few times. I pushed his head in and out slowly to help stretch and not tear. It definitely felt like the ring of fire everyone describes. Once his head was out, his whole body shot out into my husbands hands under the water. It was a boy! He was perfect. He put him on my chest and I couldn't believe that I did it! I had a baby. We all had a baby. He was perfect. I was looking down and rubbing his back and I looked up at my sweet husband who was crying and counting all of his little fingers and toes. I sat in the tub with my baby and waited to deliver my placenta. That was a little awkward. I could feel the cord inside of me and anytime I would move baby, I could feel it. Finally I had a couple of cramps and it came loose. Bill cut the cord and took our sweet boy and I got out of the tub finally. The Midwife checked me and I just had a small tear that didn't need stitches. We got quiet time with our babe in the room and had a yummy meal. My doula helped me latch Rowan for the first time and he nursed for 30 minutes. After that, Bill took the baby and I took the best shower of my life. About two hours after he was born, we took him home and it was awesome. That's the story of my Rowan's birth. I can't imagine it any other way..it was perfect. I can only hope all my future babies come into the world this way.
