Birth Story: Jude August

Skyler and I prepared for a natural birth using the Bradley Method. I am so glad we did; I could not have done it without the constant mental and physical support from him.

A few days before my due date I started having contractions 20 minutes apart. The next day they came 10 minutes apart and that night they had gotten to be 4 minutes apart, but were not increasing in intensity. This went on for an entire week. My mom flew in 2 days after my due date and for 3 days we did as much walking as we could handle. Contractions continued to consistently come and we were all getting a little antsy. We figured that once labor did start, I would jump right into active labor. We were right.

Around 8:45am on Sunday, January 26th, labor started. It was rather convenient, really. We'd slept well the night before and I ate a good breakfast. Contractions came at least every 5 minutes, lasting just under a minute. I wanted to labor at home as long as possible so we tried to stay busy, playing yahtzee and picking up around the apartment. After a few hours, I needed to focus through the contractions more. I spent the next couple of hours on my hands and knees or bending over the side of a mattress, Skyler pushing on my hips and lower back. I also got in the shower and labored on my side in bed for a while, but found little relief in that. I was so determined to eat lunch before going to the hospital to keep up my strength. I'm not sure it was my finest idea. "I'll probably throw that up later," I said. At 2pm, contractions were 3-4 minutes apart, lasting at least a minute. I was getting very uncomfortable. We called my midwife and told her we were headed to the hospital.

We got to skip triage at the hospital and went straight to our room. We asked them to start filling up the birthing tub and once my midwife got there, she checked me. I was disappointed to only be dilated 4cm, but glad to be 100% effaced and at a 0 station (baby was low). I got in the tub and eventually Skyler joined me. My contractions slowed down and shortened. As much as I enjoyed the break, it was overwhelming to think about how long this process was going to take. I enjoyed the sort of weightless feeling of being in the tub, but after about an hour I decided I needed to get out and start walking. My contractions immediately picked up. We walked around and around the unit, Skyler holding my hand until a contraction came. When one did, I would turn and hold on to the railing of the wall, brace myself, and Sky would push against my lower back. After about an hour of this, I got the sudden urge to push. The midwife checked me. I had gone to a 6 in two hours, but no pushing allowed. Time starts to get really hazy here. We continued walking around and around the hospital. I was getting exhausted and hardly opened my eyes from here until delivery. I started talking about needing to throw up, and on the next contraction, did just that. We were right in front of the nurses' station, so a few of them ran over and started covering it with towels. I threw up absolutely everything, which was a lot. We went back into the room and my midwife was talking about signs of transition. I kept complaining about the need to push with each contraction, so we had her check me again. Still a 6. She offered to break my water, but we decided to hold off. I sat and rolled on a birthing ball for a while, then tried out the shower again. I only lasted a few contractions in there. I came back out into the room and walked/bounced around and around. During a contraction I would brace myself against a counter while Sky pushed on my back. Every contraction I would yell out that I wanted to push and my legs would shake underneath me as I resisted. After a while of this, the midwife encouraged me to lay down to give me a rest from all the "dancing," as she called it. I reeeeally didn't want to lay down, but finally gave in. I kept Sky pushing on my back while laying on my side, harder and harder with each contraction. Contractions came one on top of the other and I just focused on breathing through them, all the while yelling about needing to push. The midwife checked me again and I had gone to a 7. While she was checking, my water broke. I got a little frantic about it. "My water broke! My water broke! My water broke!" She calmed me down, telling me everything was fine. It was around 8pm at this point. I knew things were getting close. For the next couple of hours, I labored on the bed, Skyler pushing on my back the whole time. The contractions got more and more intense, along with the need to push. My whole body was shaking. I got checked every half an hour or so and every time it was "just a few more contractions, you're almost there." Finally, after a particularly hard contraction, my midwife said, "Ok, you can start pushing. Go ahead. Push." I was shocked! It felt so much more productive to be pushing. I was in a sort of modified squat and had them bring a squatting bar for me to use. I pulled on that bar so hard my arms and shoulders were sore for days after. I don't know how effective my pushing was at first, but eventually I got into the groove and could feel baby coming down. I pushed for an hour and the midwife told me to look down to see baby's head. The midwife was great at guiding my pushing and within fifteen minutes, at 11:04pm, Jude was born. They put him right on me and I was in absolute awe. "It's a boy!" I couldn't believe we had actually done it and that baby was here.


After giving birth, I am so impressed by any female who has done it, no matter which route they took. It is hard stuff! I think it's important to have the birth that you want and plan for and I'm so grateful ours went as smoothly as it did.

 Laboring at home

 At the hospital

In the birthing tub

Looking fabulous, resting between pushing

Baby Jude

Done!