Hi there! We’re back today to talk about my birth story, a couple of things I did right, and several things I wish I had done differently.
Spoiler alert: I would absolutely use evening primose oil again. I really think that helped my labor progress smoothly. Also, I wish I had known more about Spinning Babies techniques.
Okay, back to the story! Baby C was born on Saturday, but the story really starts on Friday. I was 39 weeks and 5 days, and I woke up to find that my water had broken. Although I had no contractions, I called my midwife to update her. She said that we could wait for contractions to start, and gave me a couple of suggestions to get labor moving.
I showered, got dressed, and headed out for a hair appointment. I had booked it the day before and decided that if I could sit through the appointment, I would keep it. Even though I was still not having contractions, my husband wanted to drop me off on his way to work so that I wouldn’t be driving. A good friend picked me up afterwards and took me home.
We ended up relaxing through most of the day. I had fewer contractions that day than I had experienced in the two weeks before, which was frustrating. 🙂 I packed up the last-minute stuff to take to the birth center. We tried castor oil and walking, but no contractions. By 6:00 pm, I was getting impatient. I was also getting a little bit stressed – local health regulations don’t allow birth centers to deliver babies when water has been broken for more than 24 hours. I really, really wanted to avoid a hospital birth, but I knew that we were on a timeline.
I called the midwife again to update her. She suggested using a breast pump to try to induce contractions. She also suggested using Spinning Babies techniques to kickstart labor. I started using the breast pump about 6:30 pm. By 7:00, I was having mild, but regular contractions, and by 7:15, the contractions were intense enough that I stopped the breast pump. And once these contractions came, boy, they were strong.
They continued to build over the next couple of hours. The back labor was intense and constant. We would try to time contractions, but the back pain was so constant that I would think the contraction was still going, until I’d feel a new abdominal contraction start. We tried watching a movie and I tried soaking in the tub. Nothing really helped the labor pain. I was so scared of having the baby at home, and I knew that I had been 3 cm and 80% four days before. Terrified to have the baby at home, I called the midwife again and said, “Hey, I need to come in.”
She met us at the birth center a little after 11:00 pm and I was 6 cm! Baby’s heart rate looked fine. Once I knew that everything was okay and we were safe, I relaxed and let my body do its thing. The pain was still there, but I was learning to work with my body instead of fighting the contractions.
I don’t know how to describe unmedicated labor pain. It was very painful, but I was in a calm, dark, environment.
I got into the tub around midnight, and that really helped with the pain.
My husband and I had practiced different pain management techniques. We had snacks, music playlists, and even movies lined up to watch. I didn’t want any of it. 🙂
I didn’t want my husband talking to me or rubbing my shoulders. I didn’t want to have to think about anything else. All I wanted was to have him with me, to have the room dark and quiet, and to hold his hand. So, that’s what we did… for four hours. My husband sat with me, held my hand, held my water bottle, and labored with me. The midwife came in about every 30 minutes to check baby’s heart rate, but other than that, we were on our own.
Looking back, it’s like I spaced out to let my body labor. There was a calmness and confidence that my body knew what it was doing. I think if I hadn’t had constant back labor, it would’ve been different. But I had no breaks between contractions, so I just wanted to focus.
Around 5:00 am, I started going into transition, and my body started pushing involuntarily at the end of each contraction. (This was new for me; I didn’t know this was even a thing, but it’s called the fetal ejection reflex. You can read more about it here). My midwife had me change positions to get my cervix completely dilatated, and I started pushing! After transition, I had no pain. I think my adrenaline was just so high because I was excited to be doing something. 🙂
I pushed during contractions for about an hour. Baby C ended up being sunny-side-up, or facing forward. (Babies are supposed to be delivered facing backward until the head is delivered, and then they rotate to deliver the shoulders.) Baby C actually got wedged underneath my pelvic bone for about 30 minutes, and he came out with a little dent across the top of his forehead. He finally rotated just before his head was delivered. And once his head was out, the rest was smooth sailing.
The midwife delivered his head and shoulders, then looked at us and asked, “Do you want to deliver him the rest of the way?” My husband was more tentative, but I was so excited that I reached down, grabbed him, and pulled him up and out. I laid him on my chest. He started crying, and so did I.
In hindsight, I think he was already facing forward when my water broke. I think his head wasn’t putting pressure on my cervix the way it would’ve been if he were properly positioned, and that’s why my contractions didn’t start for hours after my water had broken. If I had tried some Spinning Babies excercises, I may have been able to get him positioned correctly and had a much easier labor and birth.
I think the fact that I had used evening primrose oil (EPO) really helped. I was already at least 3 cm and 80% before my water broke, so I only was in labor for about 11 hours. That’s not too bad for a first-time labor! Would absolutely do that again.
I also am so grateful that we chose to give birth outside of the hospital. The quiet, dark setting and hands-off approach to labor really allowed me to focus and let my body labor.
And that’s our birth story! Hope you enjoyed, and hope it helped prepare you a little more if you’re a pregnant mama reading this.