Before I get too far into my son's birth story, I was told to put a disclaimer for first time parents because my labor and Easton's birth might create unrealistic expectations. Let me just say, the entire labor was BLESSED. I couldn't have asked for anything better. While the pace was surprising, it was exactly what I had hoped for and spent 40 weeks looking forward to.
At 4pm on the 19th I laid down to take a nap, like I did most days. At 4:09 I had some cramping in my lower back and felt a strong urge to go to the bathroom. This happened 5 more times, all 10 minutes a part, before I entertained the idea that labor might be starting and baby was moving low. At 5pm I gave up on the idea of a nap and made a fruit smoothie for sustenance. My mom had made taco soup and I had been looking forward to it all day, but all of the sudden I didn't think I'd be able to stomach it. I spent the next hour relaxing on the couch, still unsure of whether this was real labor or prodromal (which I had for 2 weeks on and off). Matthew came home from work and showered and put clean clothes on instead of pajamas, because things were picking up! I decided to take a bath. I figured if it was prodromal labor it would taper off in the bath. I spent 30 minutes in the bath and all of the sudden my contractions were averaging 4.5 minutes apart, which made me alert our doula with Natural Baby Doulas and call the midwife and tell her we would be on our way soon.
We finished packing our last minute items, and Matthew, my mom, and I headed for the birth center in Chapel Hill. The hour drive actually seemed to fly by, which was great because steady contractions in a dodge pickup are not fun. I was so happy to get out of the truck and go into the birth center!
We got to the birth center at 8:45pm and the midwife checked my cervix and I was only dilated to a 3. A THREE! My contractions were getting stronger and only about 3 minutes apart so I couldn't believe I was only at 3cm. The midwife suggested going somewhere to walk around or getting a hotel room nearby because "we probably won't be having a baby until morning." We told her we didn't have the budget for that so we settled in for a long night ahead (yeah right!).
We made a plan that the midwife would check again in an hour and see if/how I was progressing. I continued contracting, all in my lower back I might add, and things were getting intense. I tried the tens unit but it was a little too overwhelming for me so it came right back off after 1 contraction. Some back rubs from Matthew and hip squeezes from my Doula were helping a lot. Before we knew it, it was 10pm and the midwife was back to check me. "4-5 centimeters", she said. Things were progressing, and I was officially considered to be in Active Labor.
Our new plan was to get some food in me and sleep as much as I could. None of the snacks we packed sounded good so my doula ran to the store for peanut butter and saltine crackers. I was super thankful that she was willing to make the trip because it meant Matthew didn't have to leave, and my mom wouldn't get lost looking for Harris Teeter in the middle of the night in a city she's never been in.
I laid down in bed with Matthew and positioned the peanut ball to help open my hips while I rested. I stayed in bed for 2 whole contractions before I came to terms with the fact that I would NOT be getting any rest.
I told Matthew to try to sleep, and my mom was set up on the couch in the living room area. With them resting and my doula on her way back from the store I decided to get in the shower. I sat on an exercise ball with the shower head directly on my back. This gave me more relief than anything else I had tried, so I stayed in that position as long as it was helping. Sarah, my doula, came back (perfect timing!) and I was no longer comfortable in the shower so I got out and she helped me into my night gown (which stayed on for only about 10 minutes). I felt like I needed to use the bathroom so I tried, thankfully Sarah was recognizing the sounds I was making and staying close by, because I called her into the bathroom and asked her to get the nurse because I felt "pushy". The midwives had gone upstairs to rest for the night so the nurse that was manning the birth center came in and checked me. I woke Matthew up and told him they were going to check me again. SURPRISE! I was 9cm!! She started the tub and went to call the midwives down, meanwhile I stood up and my water broke all over the floor. Matthew went to get my mom. I got into the tub while it was still filling up and my back pain disappeared, followed by an uncontrollable urge to push. 2 contractions of pushing and his head was out. My eyes stayed closed the entire time I was in the tub. My head was laid back and my eyes were shut, don't ask me why, that's just how it happened! My midwife (who got there just as he was crowning) told me to reach down and feel his head, and I did. "There's hair!! Baby has hair!" I said, with my eyes still shut. I had a nice pause before the next contraction to regain a little strength. One more push with the next urge and I was bringing our baby up to my chest! I was only in the tub for about 8 minutes before he was born! He came so fast that his head was bruised and his eyes had burst blood vessels. The only time the midwife stepped in was to help me get his cord around his head (he was wearing it like a scarf). It took him a minute to realize he had been born, he was very still and silent other than the sound of him smacking his lips. I called Matthew over and spread baby's legs and he said "it's a boy, we have a son!" it was so special having him announce the gender like we planned, it was the best surprise ever!
I stayed in the tub with him until I delivered the placenta and his cord stopped pulsing and was white, then Matthew cut the cord and I handed Easton to him so I could get out of the tub. The midwives checked me while Matthew held the baby and then we all settled into bed together! He arrived just after midnight on the first day of spring, after only 2.5 hours of "active" labor. The nurse and the 2 midwives were blown away by how fast he came. They all said they've never seen a first-time mom have that quick of labor without being induced with pitocin. My body was extremely efficient, and it felt really great hearing them all say that I was made to birth babies!
We got our perfect hands-off birth, no medications, no IV, he was born in the water, and my hands were the first to touch him. We were left alone to sleep (yeah right!) for the rest of the night, and we were packed and headed home with our 8-hours-old baby before breakfast the next morning.
GOD IS SO GOOD!!
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