It was the morning of October 27th. I had already
taken vacation days from work because this was supposed to be the last weekend
before Leo’s due date. I had big plans to finish deep cleaning every nook and
cranny of our house. After a good, full and restful night’s sleep, I got up at
8am to let the dogs out and went to the bathroom. Since it was my day off I
decided a little more sleep wouldn’t hurt and laid back down in bed. I
started to drift off when I felt like I was starting to pee just a tiny bit. I
didn’t think much of it; I was nine months pregnant- that stuff happens
sometimes. But then the little dribbles kept coming. So I get up to go back to
the bathroom and when I stood up: WHOOSH! I said “Andrew, I think my water just
broke.” As though there was a spring under Andrew, he jumped out of bed and started asking about what I needed him to do.
As I rushed to the bathroom and figured out what my next
steps were, Andrew got on the phone with Mandesa, the midwife on call at
Baby+Co. I start running around packing our last minute items, trying to
remember everything. It was like a cartoon- I was running around, trying not to
leak everywhere, Andrew was getting the dogs taken care of and trying to make
sure I’m ok. Since we live an hour away from the Baby+Co, AND I was GBS+ (group
B Strep- which requires antibiotics that have to be administered at least four
hours prior to delivery), Mandesa told us to come on in. We arrived around
9:45am.
One thing they don’t tell you about your water breaking- IT
KEEPS COMING. It’s not just one big whoosh- oh no, it’s buckets and buckets and
it DOESN’T stop. That being the case, when I stood up from getting out of the
car, ANOTHER big WHOOSH of amniotic fluid gushed. Mandesa was at the door of
the birth center laughing hysterically as I squatted outside of my car while
water gushed beneath me- and I’m sure the guy standing next to his car in the
parking spot next to us laughed a little too. Another cartoonish scene.
I got in the exam room and she checked me: 4 cm.
I was a little disheartened. I HAD to be further than that.
I spent the night in the hospital at 36 weeks due to pre-term labor like
symptoms and left being a “loose 3cm.” I had Braxton hicks very regularly every
day following up to D-Day and thought for sure I was more than 4 cm.
But lo and behold, I was only 4 cm. After checking me, she
stripped my membranes- I don’t really know what that is- but it hurt REALLY
bad. As soon as she was done, I vomited.
Even though I was only 4 cm, on to the birthing suite we went. They usually only admit you when you are at least 6cms. But again, since I was GBS+, they wanted to take extra precautions. Mel, our friend and
photographer, had already arrived bringing us Chickfila (of course!). My
contractions were still three- five minutes apart, so I felt like I was able to
eat without any problems. It was yummy the first time, but the second time- not
so much. Almost immediately after I finished my chicken minis- they reappeared. I
got in the shower, then the tub. I threw up. Got on the bed, back in the tub,
back to the bed. I threw up. After about an hour or two (time got away from
me), I started feeling this overwhelming urge to poop. I started to labor on the
toilet (don’t hate it until you try it, ladies!). Once again, I vomited. I
probably vomited 5 or 6 times before it was over. It was the way my body was
dealing with the pain. Though I wasn’t feeling a lot of back pain- anytime I
would try to lay on my back or side during a contraction I felt like I was
going to die. I just couldn’t do it. I’m SO grateful for the ability and
freedom to move around, but the most important part of the labor was breathing
through the contractions and making sure I was relaxing my face. As cheesy as
it might sound, verbally saying “I can do this,” “My body was made for this,”
and “Relax and breath” was SO helpful. I spent a lot of time in prayer too- asking God for strength. Andrew read my birth affirmations to me
and kept reminding me of how great of a job I was doing. That too, was
incredibly helpful.
Then I hit the transition phase. One minute long or longer
contractions with less than 15 seconds in between them. I felt
like transition lasted for about an hour, but time was a foreign concept at
this point.
After four hours- right about 2:15pm, Mandesa came in to
give me my antibiotics and check my progress. I was expecting to be maybe 6 or
7cm. Nope. 9.5 cm! I was ALMOST THERE!
After she got the antibiotics in me, she got me in the tub
(where I wanted to give birth) and then pushed the IV’s through. Here was another cartoonish moment. Since I was allowed to go into the birthing suite early, Mandesa didn't admit me- thinking I'd be in labor for quite some time since this was my first child. She was rushing around calling for the other midwives, doing the paperwork to admit me, laughing the whole time at how fast I progressed.
Within a
minute of finishing the fluids, I was ready to push and I involuntarily started
to. I pushed for about 15 minutes before she let me feel for him and once I
felt his head, I knew I could do it. I was so close. I pushed for another 5
minutes and then Leo was out! And get this- no lie, "Ice, Ice Baby" was playing during his grand entrance!
That moment was so surreal. He was handed to me immediately for that skin-to-skin. The moment was absolutely precious. A wave went over me and the only pain I felt, or remembered feeling was a sore throat from all the vomit. No labor pain, nothing. It's funny how our bodies make us forget the pain. I could solely focus on my baby and making sure he was healthy.
That moment was so surreal. He was handed to me immediately for that skin-to-skin. The moment was absolutely precious. A wave went over me and the only pain I felt, or remembered feeling was a sore throat from all the vomit. No labor pain, nothing. It's funny how our bodies make us forget the pain. I could solely focus on my baby and making sure he was healthy.
We spent
the next two hours skin-to-skin and I breastfed for the first time. That was way harder than I anticipated (read my last post about breastfeeding). And then I watched
Andrew as he loved on our son for the first time. My heart was overflowing with joy and love.
My whole birth experience was incredible. It was perfect in
every way. God knew that we needed some sort of assurance of when my labor was
starting. Because of that, my water broke. We were both able to get a good, full night's rest before going into labor. I needed four hours of antibiotics
before I could deliver without needing to stay late for observation- I gave
birth 4 hours and thirty minutes after getting my first dose. One of my biggest
desires going into delivery (aside from having a healthy baby) was that I would
have a water birth- I was able to. Andrew was
absolutely incredible- I couldn’t have hired a doula better than Andrew. The midwife I had
grown the closest too was on call when we went into labor- and let me tell you,
Mandesa was amazing. Mel was able to capture the intense and beautiful moments
leading up to, during, and just after, Leo’s birth. I would not change a thing
about Leo’s birth day. Having a natural water birth with the support of my
husband and midwife was more than I deserved and I don't take any of it for granted. God has blessed us tremendously by giving us Leo.
Here is the birth video I made with the photos taken by Mel.
I highly recommend hiring a birth photographer! Sure it might be a little
weird, but the images captured are so worth it.
Content Disclaimer: Most of the video I am wearing only a
bathing suit top and an adult diaper. If seeing my pregnant belly or my beautiful
but deep stretch marks makes you uncomfortable or offended- this video is not for you.
I was hesitant to post because I show more skin than I would normally feel comfortable sharing. However, these moments are so beautiful, my body is so strong, the day so unforgettable. Giving birth is an incredible experience and while it's intense and a surreal- its also incredibly beautiful. I also hope to encourage other pregnant women/ new moms who might feel disgusted by their bodies. I hope that they would see that their bodies are strong, beautiful bodies that created another human inside of them. It might be a different body than you're used to- but its beautiful none-the-less.
Quality Disclaimer: While the pictures are beautiful and
professional, the video editing is not. I threw this together using imovie in
just a few days. Don’t judge the video making too critically. J
Thank you so much for watching and reading!
