Stephanie + Nick’s Birth Story

This was my first baby, so I had no idea what to expect for labor and delivery. When I reached 39 weeks pregnant, I still felt great. I never had a feeling like I was ready for the pregnancy to be over with. I had Braxton Hicks contractions all throughout my pregnancy starting very early on in the 2nd trimester. At the beginning of that 39th week, I had one episode where my BH were more frequent for an hour, but then died off again to their normal randomness. I hadn't had any signs that labor was near, other than I could feel baby very low in my pelvis. I drank Red Raspberry Leaf Tea religiously starting at the beginning of 2nd trimester, increased to 2 cups per day (sometimes with double bags) at 36 weeks, and made an extra strong batch on July 25, and was going to start drinking that until delivery. I had one cup that morning. I also ate 6 dates per day religiously starting at 36 weeks, went to acupuncture every 2 weeks throughout pregnancy, went to a chiropractor weekly, stayed very active, and did the Three Sisters every night. On July 25, looking back, I was extremely off that day. I was unmotivated, wanted to rest and do NOTHING. I was very emotional, I cried hard for almost 2 hours for no reason, and had this odd feeling of impending doom. I also had a period of bad nausea, and threw up a bit at one point (which was weird because I never threw up in the first trimester even though I was always nauseous). I knew things were strange, but I didn't get my hopes up. After binge-watching some Big Little Lies with my husband, we were up late and didn't go to bed until 11:30pm. Shortly after midnight, my contractions woke me up from sleep, and I knew these were different. They wrapped around my entire abdomen to my back, were more intense than my BH, and I couldn't sleep through them. They also felt pretty close together, so I decided to download an app to start timing them. They were already about 5 minutes apart, but I had read so much about people starting and stopping labor, that I still wasn't sure if "this was the real thing". After an hour of them staying consistent, I woke my husband up just to let him know, and he went back to sleep. I also continued to lay there and dozed off in between contractions, then would get woken up by the next one, but I knew I needed the rest. I let this continue until about 5am, when they started to get even stronger, and when I went to the bathroom, I noticed I had started to bleed. I knew this was my mucous plug, and it was then that I started to think this was the real deal. I called my midwives to let them know, and she told me, "We'll probably be seeing you later today". For some reason, I was still skeptical. We also called our doulas, Dara and Joy, who were switching shifts right around this time. They gave us things to do during contractions: rebozo sift for 30 minutes (I think we made it to 25). But then the most comfortable position for me was laying on my left side, where I stayed for the next few hours, breathing, moaning, and doing horse lips through contractions. It was just what came naturally to me. I also envisioned each contraction with a purpose, like this is opening my cervix, this is getting my baby in the perfect position, and that helped to think of them as less "painful", and more "purposeful". I would get up and walk around a bit, but I couldn't stand to do the billy lift and tuck that Dara had recommended during 10 contractions. It was too painful for me. Nick was so amazing, letting me lean on him, rubbing my back during contractions, putting cold towels on me, and encouraging me. I always tend to downplay things. At around 9am, my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart, and about 45 seconds long, but for some reason I still thought I would have hours and hours of labor left. We asked Dara to join us at this time, and she arrived to our home a little after 10am. She MADE me do tummy lift and tuck, and she knew what she was doing. I did this for 10 contractions, then did hip sways for 10 contractions. All throughout my entire labor, I could not pee! I was drinking TONS of liquids (water, bone broth, coconut water) but for some reason I could not empty my bladder. I remember being vaguely concerned about this. Dara tried peppermint oil, running water, but nothing worked. I couldn't eat much, and I remember Dara feeding me an overripe banana that was grossing me out. I couldn't eat it. Around 11am, she suggested I take a shower and do another exercise during 10 more contractions. My contractions were about 2 minutes apart, but we had really stopped tracking them. I got really intense pressure in my rectum area, during each contraction and almost had the urge to push. I told Dara I didn't think I could make it through 10 contractions in the shower. She convinced me to quickly rinse off while she talked to Nick about going to the hospital birthing center where I had planned to deliver. They packed up our things, Dara helped me dress after the shower, and put a large pad on for me in case my water broke in the car. I don't remember much of the car ride, except the darn speed bumps in our neighborhood, those were terrible. I kept my eyes closed most of the way. When we got there at 11:45am, we quickly valeted the car, and headed up to the 9th floor. I had to stop several times on the way up during contractions, people were staring, and fortunately there was no one else in our elevator because I definitely roared in there. We checked in, and had to wait about 20 minutes because it was apparently a very busy day. I got into triage, where they took my vitals, checked baby's heart rate, and then told me they were going to do a pelvic exam. I hadn't had one yet throughout pregnancy. They said it would determine if I go back home or not depending on how far dilated/effaced I was. I knew there was no way I was going back home. As the triage midwife was examining me, I heard her say, "I don't feel any cervix at all! Just a small lip. You are 9.5cm dilated and completely effaced!" I was in shock. I think I said, "So I already went through transition?!" Because I had heard this was the most trying part. This knowledge gave me the strength I needed to continue, I knew I was close. There was also no time to move me to a different room. Dara had me go sit on the toilet backwards, leaning over a pillow. Nick was wiping me with cool towels and feeding me coconut water, while Dara was sitting on a ball behind me, massaging my back and squeezing my hips during contractions. I remember the nurse periodically coming to check baby's heart rate. Shortly after, my water broke with a loud pop (conveniently over the toilet). There was a several minute pause, like labor was giving my body a break before the real work came. Then with the next contractions, I had the intense urge to push and my body was just naturally pushing. I would pull on the bar behind me with each one. Then, Dara suggested I stand up. She had me stand by the bed, put my left leg on the ground, right leg up on the bed in a 'Captain Morgan' stance, and lunge laterally with every contraction and push. He was crowning and I definitely felt that "ring of fire". It was intense! After 3 on that side, we moved to the other side of the bed. They had me reach down and feel his head, which was a little weird. But after a few more pushes, and guttural, primal noises, out he came! Arthur James was born at 1:23pm, I took him in my arms immediately with a blanket. It was so incredible, indescribable. I had no IVs, no pain meds, no nitrous oxide, nothing, and it never once felt like I needed it. I was so in the zone, so connected with my body and what it was doing, and everything just unfolded, surprisingly, almost exactly how I had envisioned it in my head over and over again. I don't think that was coincidence. Sure, I had a birth "plan" but I knew nothing goes to a plan. I certainly didn't envision delivering in the triage room. I labored for 13 hours, only 1.5 hours in the hospital, and pushed for a little over 30 min. I was in utter awe with my body and what it had just done. They moved us to the bed, and we had skin to skin. He crawled to my breast and fed within 40 min. I delivered the placenta after about 25 min, which felt like nothing. I tore in two spots, requiring some sutures, but again, that was nothing after birthing this baby, who was then weighed and measured at 9lbs 4oz and 22 inches long! I sometimes still cry tears of joy when I look at my baby and think back to this L&D. I want to do this over and over again :) I truly believe all the preparation I did to prepare my body and get baby in a good position helped immensely, but I think the biggest contributor to an amazing birth was the power of my mind. <3