Several days leading into labor, the amount of energy I had was immense. Walking the malls, Christmas shopping, trying to get labor to come. What fun it was! I was on fire for sure! Then Friday December 22 comes. Trying to finish everything up before the weekend. The big kids were now on Christmas break. YAY! Well into the night (after being up with our oldest son), we decided to lay down to sleep. At this point it was around 1:15am. Well I felt a “sharp jab” then a “soft pop” in my cervix. My water broke! This is the exact same way my first 2 births happened. No sleep LOL. Just laying down. Got comfy in the bed then BOOM! Baby Time! Typical but so worth it!
Once my water broke around 1:15am or so, contractions started immediately. I called Mary around 1:45am to inform her. Around 2:50am she was heading this way! Contractions were around 1 minute in length and 3 to 5 minutes apart. Once Mary and Christina arrived, I was definitely having some awesome surges. Baby was doing well and so was I. The pool was being filled while I labored bedside. Once the pool was filled and I got in I felt a huge shift. Contractions picked up quickly. I felt as if the warm water relaxed my body some allowing me to progress. I labored in the pool for a while.
From feeling relaxed to going into transition. I was nauseated (as I was with the other two previous births). My wonderful husband was amazing (catching my sickness and all LOL). Mary and Christina were amazing, providing so much personal care (cool rags, support, confidence knowing my body was doing exactly what was necessary). I got out of the pool for a while to change positions. Now I was in full transition. I labored again bedside. The contractions were so intense at this point. I was exhausted and the light of day crept in.
As I labored bedside, the exhaustion was there. I literally felt my body release Melatonin. I crawled into my bed, labor slowed down by a few minutes and I fell asleep (then woke up during a contraction), then fell asleep again. This happened several times. With the last two births, I had them both in the hospital and received a Stadol dose with each during transition. This allowed me to relax and labor progressed fairly quickly. Well with my body allowing me to sleep in between contractions. This COMPLETELY OUTDID any Stadol dose I ever received. It was more powerful, I felt more in tune with my body and the energy level that came out of it to push baby out was far superior than having my mind altered with a drug.
After I gained some energy, I had Mary check me and I was ready. I got into the pool. Felt super pushy. It was time. Baby was coming. The pool was so warm, my body again (although it didn’t feel like it at the time reflecting now) was ready and was relaxed. I pushed, he crowned, pushed again, his head was out, pushed one more time and baby swam out in the warmest water into my arms. He was beautiful, Our heart’s were full.
The aftercare was far beyond our expectations. We did not have to do anything but enjoy our baby. The midwife team did a wonderful job cleaning, removing and making sure I was cared for. They made sure I ate, baby was well. Bonding was good. It was all just a wonderful experience.
If I would of known the level of care I would of received, home-birth would of been our go to with all 3. But now I can tell everyone about our wonderful experience and how beneficial it was to myself, my husband and our baby that we were in a relaxed atmosphere with the ability to make sound decisions without fear. I birthed my baby in complete confidence knowing that every step, every decision and every move I made was because I was in charge. I birthed without fear. The one thing every mother should be able to know that its OK to do.
