Our Birth Story

PREPARATION:
Before we were even pregnant I knew I wanted to aim for a non-medicated birth. I could write a whole blog post about this topic, but for the sake of keeping this brief(ish), my main reasons were:

1) I wanted the benefits of being able to walk and move around during labor and to birth in whatever position I wanted (ie. not on my back).

2) I wanted to be able to listen to my body's natural pushing cues/rhythm to avoid tearing more than necessary

3) Epidurals can slow down labor, sometimes leading to a cascade of interventions that might have otherwise been avoided (ex. pitocin, vacuum extraction, c-section, etc.).

4) When I weighed the benefit of an epidural (less pain) with the potential risks (drop in blood pressure, severe headache, loss of bladder control, itchy skin, back pain, increased risk of cesarean, etc), I felt that the benefit just wasn't that great.

After hearing from my sisters and many of my closest friends about their experiences with natural childbirth, I felt confident and supported in my decision. To prepare, we signed up for a 10 week childbirth class called Birth Bootcamp. It extensively covered nutrition, exercises, labor positions, and relaxation techniques in addition to the usual "these are the stages of labor" information most people receive.

Throughout my pregnancy, I took a high-quality pre-natal vitamin, 4000 IU of vitamin D, and a fish oil supplement each day. During the third trimester, I also drank several cups of red raspberry leaf tea each day. Then a week before my due date, I started taking evening primrose oil capsules to encourage softening of my cervix.


LABOR:
Our estimated due date of May 12 came and went uneventfully. On May 19th (41 weeks) we had a non-stress test where they monitored Baby's heart rate while I clicked a button each time I felt Baby move. While hooked up to the monitor I could see (and feel) my Braxton-Hicks contractions coming roughly every 3 minutes. We decided to have our midwife check my cervix  to see if a membrane sweep would be possible. She informed me that I was 1 centimeter dilated (meaning we would be able to do the membrane sweep), 80% effaced (meaning my cervix was well on its way to being thinned out and soft for birth), and that Baby was at a -1 station (meaning his/her head was nice and low in my pelvis).

I liked clicking the button because Baby was moving so much!

I was a little nervous about the membrane sweep because I had heard that some women found it very painful. Because Baby was so low, as soon as the midwife started doing the sweep Baby started kicking which made me laugh and enabled me to relax. It just felt mildly uncomfortable to me and only lasted for a minute or so. Before leaving the clinic, we set up an appointment for a few days later to have another non-stress test and membrane sweep.

That evening I had some mild cramping and then at 10:00 pm I noticed that my Braxton-Hicks contractions were starting to wrap around to my back and feel more achy. I called my doula, Brittany, and told her I believed my labor had started. She recommended that I try to sleep and to call her if anything changed.

I fell asleep around 10:30 pm and didn't wake up again until 3:30 am. The contractions had gotten a little stronger so I just relaxed in bed and timed them to see how regular they were. They were coming every 4 minutes. Around 4:30 I was starting to feel like I wanted some company so I woke Robbie up and told him how my contractions were going. We talked about how excited we were and packed a few more things in my hospital bag. Then we started watching some Disney movies I had selected in advance.

Here I am relaxing and watching Tangled during labor.

I started to feel overwhelmed emotionally around 9:30 am so Robbie called Brittany and asked if she could come over. She told me she would shower and be over in about an hour. During one of my contractions I told Robbie I felt like I needed to cry (not from pain, but just from feeling like I had pent up emotions) so I cried a little bit and almost instantly felt better. Brittany got there a few minutes later and we spent the rest of the morning walking around my neighborhood, drinking some tea, eating snacks (a piece of bread with some peanut butter and honey, a boiled egg, a granola bar, etc.), and even painting a little canvas for the baby room.

The mug is a tradition from our church in Fort Collins. People take "mug shots" with their mug and send them in to be shown on Sunday mornings. This was my labor mug shot. :)

The things I found most helpful during labor were tying a hot pack to my low back, getting down on my knees and leaning forward onto my birth ball, and doing low-pitched moans through each contraction. I also made sure to take a sip or two of water after every single contraction. Robbie and Brittany took turns rubbing my back and arms and we set up an oil diffuser in our living room with a calming scent. At the end of each contraction Brittany reminded me to "take a deep breath in and blow the contraction away" then bring my breathing back to a normal pace.

At about 3:00 pm, Robbie started to feel exhausted since he had stayed up later than me the night before. I wanted him to feel refreshed for the last part of labor so Brittany stayed with me and he went upstairs to take a nap. From 3:30-4:30, my labor really intensified. I threw up a couple times and then started to feel like I couldn't control my breathing during the contractions. Brittany continued to rub my arms and talk me through each one.

Robbie woke up around 4:30 and came downstairs just as I felt like I was hitting the transition phase of labor (I started to puke and cry). We decided it was time to head to the hospital. Brittany and Robbie quickly took our things to the car. I remember telling Robbie, "I might scream during my contractions on the way there. I'm totally okay, I just need to scream. Don't speed. Just drive carefully to the hospital." We had almost all green lights so it took us about 10 minutes to get there. I luckily brought a pitcher with me because when we got to the check-in desk I gave the woman my name and date of birth between puking heaves.


DELIVERY:
They got me back quickly and checked my dilation--nine centimeters with a lip! Twenty minutes later it was time to start pushing. The midwife recommended a side-lying position to help prevent tearing so I laid on my right hip and a nurse supported my left leg. My best friend, Jeanette, arrived and started filming and taking photos. It felt amazing to have Robbie, Jeanette, and Brittany there supporting me.

Robbie getting ready to catch our baby

I found it difficult to control the intensity of my pushing at first; I felt like my body wanted to go all or nothing. The midwife reminded me to take my time but I did end up with a second degree tear. I loved that no one was counting or telling me to push harder! As each contraction started, my body automatically told me to push. After 45 minutes, we welcomed our baby girl into the world! It was the most incredible thing I had ever experienced!

The moment they brought her up to my chest and Robbie announced "It's a girl! We have a daughter!" we burst into tears of joy.

Enjoying some skin to skin time!

I happily announced that her name was Jubilee! Once the umbilical cord stopped pulsing, Robbie got to cut the cord. It helped so much to hold her while they stitched me up. The fundal massage was another aspect of birth that I was nervous about but once again it was more uncomfortable than painful. We spent a long time doing skin to skin before they did a few quick measurements. When they asked me to guess her weight I guessed just under 8 lbs. I was shocked when they told me she was 8 lbs, 10 oz and that she was 22.5 inches long!


RECOVERY:
We stayed at the hospital for 2 nights. While we were at the hospital we met with the lactation consultant to get some help with breastfeeding (Jubilee's latch felt EXTREMELY painful at first). Those first 4 weeks were mind-numbingly exhausting. I had never experienced being so sleep-deprived in my entire life. I even looked online to see if you can die from sleep deprivation (don't worry-- you can't). But steadily, things improved. My stitches took just over 4 weeks to completely dissolve and my bleeding stopped around week 5. It took me about 6 weeks to really feel like breastfeeding was going well and even now at 8 weeks it still can be a little frustrating at times.

The things I found most helpful during my recovery were ibuprofin, a stool softener (for the first couple weeks), ice pack pads, lukewarm water in a peri bottle, and dermoplast numbing spray (the plain kind, not the kind with antiseptic in it--that crap burns!). I also drank tons and tons of water.


FINAL THOUGHTS:
Looking back, I feel extremely blessed by our first birth experience. I had several (well meaning) people tell me I would want an epidural once those contractions started. I also had a couple people tell me that I would be yelling at Robbie in the delivery room about how this was all his fault, etc. I feel proud to say that those were both incorrect assumptions. Not only did I not want the epidural, but I can say with confidence that any future births we have will be done the same way (barring any actual medical problems of course). I also did not once get angry with Robbie during my labor (I have witnesses who will attest to me telling him how much I love and appreciate him--even during the pushing stage).

It was almost comical how many people had an opinion about what my labor and birth would be like (based solely on their experience) and yet how different every single opinion was from the previous person's. No two women are exactly alike so why would we expect any two births to be exactly alike? Many women who have had more than one child would even say that each birth was different from the others.

So my final thoughts are this-- your birth is yours and not anyone else's. If you know someone who is pregnant, don't project your birth experience onto them. Just because one person's birth went one way does not mean that is how yours has to go or will go. Choose the support team you need and make the birth choices that are right for you.

And now let's look at some adorable baby pictures.