UNA's Birth Story

September 29, 2017

UNA's Birth Story

I think I'm in labor guys... I think this is really happening. I'm scared, nervous, excited. I'm just ready to be at the birth center where I know it's safe to push her out. As of now, I don't know if I should head out or not. I know this is my 3rd birth but it's hard to recall just how I felt during these moments last time.

I wrote that at about 9:30 pm on September 20th. I remember my heart racing as I mentally prepared myself to give birth. I had been having contractions for about 3 days now; on and off, but mostly on. They would come very frequently, however they hadn't really intensified. It wasn't until I tried to lay down this night of the 20th that they began to intensify to the point where I could not stand to lay down through them. I decided to give my midwife a call and let her know what was going on.

I talked to her at around 8:30/9:00. She insisted that I wait until they were coming more frequently and were more intense. I agreed. I wasn't sure if it were my nerves convincing me to go, or if it were really time. So I tried to hold off a little longer. I laid down and got maybe 2 hours of sleep. The contractions were pretty intense at this point. Hip circles were the thing that helped me to best cope with my contractions. So I did this for a while when I could no longer stand to lay down.

Suddenly, with my contractions came the urge to push. Oh shit. All I was thinking to myself was that I could not give birth at home or in the car. So I resisted all urges to push and called my midwife again. She said we were good to head to the birth center. I was so relieved. I just could not wait to get there so that I could finally feel safe to push her out.

We loaded up the car and headed there. Contractions in the car were dreadful seeing as how I could not stand up to help cope. When I finally arrived at the birth center at around 4am and I saw my midwife's smiling face I felt a wave of relaxation rush over me. Finally, I could push when I felt the urge without worry.

I labored in the Blue Room. The room is painted the most relaxing shade of blue. There is a bed, a shower and a tub.

There were essential oils being diffused, candles burning, our music playing. I could not have asked for a better set up. My midwife immediately began to fill the tub so I could labor in there. I opted against knowing how much I had dilated. Just because I knew that I was progressing. I could feel it.

I labored in the tub for a while, trying to push hard with each contraction. I never remember feeling pain in my other two labors, but damn, did this time hurt. Finally, after about 3 hours of laboring in the tub I decided to have my midwife check my dilation just to see if I had been progressing the way I felt I had. She said I was fully dilated and she could feel my bulging bag of waters ready to burst.

I got back in the tub. I kept wanting to labor in the tub because I was so determined to give birth in the water. I had never had a water birth before. With each contraction and push, I would also reach up to feel If I could feel and possibly held guide my baby out. I felt a huge round ball. Which I guess was the "bulging bag" of waters she was referring to because about 20 minutes later on a very strong contraction I felt the thing pop like an overfilled water balloon.

After, I labored outside of the tub for a little while while they cleaned and refilled the tub. Then I got back in and began to feel that feeling of giving up. I just felt like this baby was never going to come out and that I was going to be pregnant forever. I looked up at my midwife. She could see the desperation in my eyes. She asked if I wanted things to move faster and I of course said YES! She said the best thing would be to get out of the tub and on to the bed. Although I was sad that I would not have my water birth, I agreed. I just wanted this girl out. So I climbed on the bed. My boyfriend held one leg while I pressed the other against the near by cabinet and began to push as hard as I could. With one push, my midwife exclaimed that she could already see babygirl's head. I pushed two more times. I could feel that raging infamous ring of fire...and than she was out! Yes! The best feeling in the world. The cord was wrapped around her entire little body but my midwife quickly unwrapped her.