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Birth Stories |
Drake’s Birth Story
In the early morning hours of September 7th, I woke at around 12:30 with some mild contractions. I didn’t think much of them but Todd was timing them and we realized they were pretty regular at 10 minutes apart. This went on for a couple hours until I realized they were getting a bit stronger so we got up at 2am to bake the birthday cake. With the cake done, we went back to bed and I tried to get some sleep. Through the night they progressed to about 6-7 minutes apart. We called the midwife around 5:30 a.m. and she said take a hot shower to see if it eases it up a bit so I can get some sleep. So I took a hot shower and they intensified and started coming 3 minutes apart. We got up big brother Nate around 6:30 and took off to meet the midwife Melanie at the birth center. When we arrived I was 4-5cm, a midwife in training named Beth was attending me most of the time - I was going to be her 3rd birth! They decided I needed to stay so we called the grandparents to come over. We all ate pancakes for breakfast at the center and I labored on the birth ball in the living room for a while until I felt the urge for privacy. I went into the bedroom and labored squatting on the ball at the side of the bed for what seemed like hours (I needed to stay upright since the baby was posterior, just like my firstborn too). The contractions were getting harder and harder. I asked her to check me and I was a 5-6cm. The baby was still posterior so that is why it was going so slowly, she said as soon as the baby turned I would dilate rapidly and be ready to push. I got into the tub at this point, and was told to make sure the warm water didn’t slow my contractions-it didn’t at all. I was comfortable squatting in the tub and on my hands and knees during contractions. They were coming about 2 minutes apart. I got out of the tub for a while and she checked me and I was 7-8cm. Beth went and got Melanie and by the time Melanie got back and checked me about 10 minutes later the baby had turned in the correct position from anterior to head facing my back and I was 10cm and ready to go! Then I felt a pop way up high as my water broke, not much came out, it wasn’t a complete break. She was not expecting that fast dilation from the 7cm and the birth assistant never did get there in time. She said I had just a little bit of a lip on the left side and could she push it out of the way during the next contraction. It was unbearable laying in the bed for the contractions so they got the tub ready again. I got in the tub and waited for the urge to push. I got about a 10-minute break in transition where the contractions slowed to about every 5 minutes then they picked up again. I was overwhelmed and felt like I couldn’t get on top of them. The baby’s head was coming down whether or not I pushed anyways, I could feel the stretching. I tried a few pushes and Melanie told me to try to use the whole contraction. I pushed for about 6 seconds about 3-4 times with each contraction since that is what my body was telling me to do, it was very effective. My bag of waters was still intact over the baby’s head. Beth reached in and nicked it open with her finger, then the head really started coming. I was very verbal and screaming a lot, but I guess that is just how I was coping with it. Melanie was checking the heart rate and all of the sudden it went way down, maybe 20-30bpm. She told me to get up in squatting position and push. There was no time to question anything I just did what she said-the heart rate came back up almost immediately, thank God. I kept pushing when I could and eventually I felt the head come under the pubic bone. They told me short little grunty pushes so I wouldn’t tear. I pushed maybe 5-6 more small pushes and the head was out but still underwater! The cord was around the neck and they untangled it. A few more pushes and the shoulders were out too. Then they brought the baby up out of the water and “it” was laid immediately on my chest in the warm water at 3:00pm. The baby very calmly looked right up at me and hugged me for the longest time. We still didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl. About 3-4 minutes later I lifted up a leg and announced, “It’s a boy!” We still didn’t have a name yet and we both decided that Drake fit him well. Todd brought in Nate who surveyed the situation and said “Maya!” I guess he thought it was a girl. Then about 10 minutes later they cut the cord and Todd warmed him up in a towel. I got out of the tub after the placenta was delivered (I was informed I had a large placenta) and we had our first nursing session together in the bed, which was a great success. We all got cleaned up and then Drake and I took a healing herbal bath together, which he absolutely loved. We were home settling in with our new addition about 4 hours later.