Anyway. I started the pregnancy out in Florida and spent so much time interviewing and agonizing over homebirth midwives. I finally settled on two awesome midwives and shortly after, we decided to move to Utah. Once we got here, I was 29 weeks pregnant and living with family (which put homebirthing mostly out of the question for us), so we went for the least stressful option: the local birth center. Now for the birth.
I'm probably the least anxious pregnant woman you'll ever meet. I was due July 7th and my goal was to go into labor, at the earliest, on July 8th. There was a ton of family visiting and staying with my in-laws (where we were living) for the 4th of July, so I needed them all to be gone before I could go into labor. I had tons and tons of contractions the days leading up to the birth. On July 11th, I woke up around 1am with a contraction. I went to the bathroom and had another contraction. I knew these were real contractions and to be honest, I felt so overwhelmed. I was tired. I was not looking forward to laboring. I just wasn't feeling it, despite being 4 days "overdue." So anyway, I tried to go back to sleep and spent the next 5.5 hours sleeping between contractions. As you can imagine, it was pretty crummy sleep. I just kept waiting for things to pick up, but they didn't, so when I got up around 6:30am, I was pretty confused and bugged.
I sent Skyler to work and spent the next 7 hours having contractions every 5-30 minutes apart. They hurt, and I had to stop and breathe through them. The kids and I went to the library with my mom and just tried to stay generally busy. I was so annoyed because this was nothing like my other 2 labors and I couldn’t even tell if I was actually IN labor. And I was tired.
After lunch, I had the kids watch a movie and I took a nap. I got woken up with contractions a couple of times during the nap and I finally got up. Skyler had also decided to come home at this point (about 3pm). He was pretty antsy for labor to get amped up and I was finally starting to feel semi-motivated. We decided to take the kids to a park and let them get some energy out. The contractions were coming every 5 minutes at this point, which is kind of weird at a park. I was feeling really in control, so I didn't need any counter pressure from Skyler at this point, but I did have to close my eyes and breathe during the contractions. Luckily the park was super busy and no one seemed to notice me. I was pretty convinced I was in labor at this point, but it was so different than previous labors that I still wasn't 100% confident.
We got home around 5pm and I made dinner through very frequent contractions. I always have an emotional part of labor, and this was it. The kids were rubbing my back during contractions and I can't describe it any other way - I just felt so much love. Love from them, for them, just lots and lots of love. We ate dinner together. Skyler reminded me of my tendency to throw up during labor, so I didn't eat too much. I wasn't very hungry at this point anyway. We had 1.5 hours after dinner and before putting kids to bed where we just hung out and my contractions all but stopped during this time. I was disappointed that they had slowed down so much, but it was a nice time as our little family and I knew things would kick into gear once they were in bed. I was right.
We got kids in bed and contractions started coming very frequently and were pretty intense. I still felt very in control and didn't need counter pressure. But I was also being really whiny to Skyler about how I wanted to go to bed and didn't want to labor anymore. I laid down for a while and he rubbed my back. I was in and out of the bathroom and just generally feeling fed up with contractions. I told him I wanted to go to the birth center a bit before 9pm and he was pretty straightforward with me. He told me I should labor at home for a while longer and that I wasn't as far along as I thought I was/wanted to be. I insisted on calling the midwife and after talking with her decided to keep laboring at home. I think I finally mentally accepted everything at this point and got really focused. The next hour is a bit hazy for me, but I stopped being chatty/whiny and started asking for more physical support. With Jude's birth, I would stand and face the wall during a contraction and Skyler would push on my back. With Jane's birth, I'd stand and face the wall and he would push my hips together. This time I would stand and face the wall and Skyler would stand behind me and push on my thighs. It's interesting how preferences change from birth to birth! Shortly before 10pm, we agreed that it was time to head out.
We got to the birth center shortly after 10pm and contractions were coming one on top of another. Skyler and I were working together and I still felt in control, which was rad. I knew the midwife would need to check me and I wasn't too thrilled about it. I laid on the bed and immediately had a contraction. The midwife was awesome and acted so quickly. She grabbed my legs and pushed against them as hard as she could. She's not what I would call a petite person, so it was awesome and effective counter pressure! After the contraction was over, she checked me and I was at an 8. I was really excited about this because I knew I just had to transition and then I'd be pushing! In Skyler's notes it says, "Katie catches happy second wind." Ha! For the next 20ish minutes, the midwives left us alone. Sky and I worked through frequent, long, intense contractions together and not to brag or anything, but I'm pretty good at laboring and he's pretty good at supporting me. It's pretty cool.
Around 10:30 I did what I do every birth and ask to get in the tub, even though I know I won't like it. So yeah, in the tub and then out of the tub. At this point, things were very intense and one of the contractions I started bearing down and being pretty loud about it. The midwives walked in and said, "Getting pushy?" Yes! They asked where I wanted to push and I told them I liked pushing on the toilet with Jane, so I'd be up for that. They offered a birthing stool, which is basically a more comfortable toilet seat, and no water underneath. So they got it all set up, got all their supplies, and I sat down on it. And then I had to pee, so I said, "I have to pee." One midwife told me that was great and I should just pee right there. They had put down tons of chux pads, so go for it. I remember closing my eyes and thinking about peeing infront of everyone and I could.not.do.it. So I got up and went to the bathroom.
I started pushing right before 11pm and could feel that things were going to go very quickly. The pushing was intense! I always forget how intense pushing out a human is! Within a push or two, everyone could see the head and I reached down and felt the bag of water. I pushed a couple more times and the head was completely out and my water broke. I was pretty loud, not holding anything back and yelling quite a bit. But the worst was pushing out the shoulders and body - it was way more painful than I remember and I totally screamed. But then it was over! That feeling is indescribable. We were in total shock to find out that we had another girl! She came right on to my chest and was so calm, just snuggling into me and not crying at all. We spent the next couple of hours at the birth center, nursing and enjoying our little Evie (and passing out on the toilet, but that's another story). We headed home and caught a few hours of sleep before the kids were up and ready to meet their new sister!
After lunch, I had the kids watch a movie and I took a nap. I got woken up with contractions a couple of times during the nap and I finally got up. Skyler had also decided to come home at this point (about 3pm). He was pretty antsy for labor to get amped up and I was finally starting to feel semi-motivated. We decided to take the kids to a park and let them get some energy out. The contractions were coming every 5 minutes at this point, which is kind of weird at a park. I was feeling really in control, so I didn't need any counter pressure from Skyler at this point, but I did have to close my eyes and breathe during the contractions. Luckily the park was super busy and no one seemed to notice me. I was pretty convinced I was in labor at this point, but it was so different than previous labors that I still wasn't 100% confident.
We got home around 5pm and I made dinner through very frequent contractions. I always have an emotional part of labor, and this was it. The kids were rubbing my back during contractions and I can't describe it any other way - I just felt so much love. Love from them, for them, just lots and lots of love. We ate dinner together. Skyler reminded me of my tendency to throw up during labor, so I didn't eat too much. I wasn't very hungry at this point anyway. We had 1.5 hours after dinner and before putting kids to bed where we just hung out and my contractions all but stopped during this time. I was disappointed that they had slowed down so much, but it was a nice time as our little family and I knew things would kick into gear once they were in bed. I was right.
We got kids in bed and contractions started coming very frequently and were pretty intense. I still felt very in control and didn't need counter pressure. But I was also being really whiny to Skyler about how I wanted to go to bed and didn't want to labor anymore. I laid down for a while and he rubbed my back. I was in and out of the bathroom and just generally feeling fed up with contractions. I told him I wanted to go to the birth center a bit before 9pm and he was pretty straightforward with me. He told me I should labor at home for a while longer and that I wasn't as far along as I thought I was/wanted to be. I insisted on calling the midwife and after talking with her decided to keep laboring at home. I think I finally mentally accepted everything at this point and got really focused. The next hour is a bit hazy for me, but I stopped being chatty/whiny and started asking for more physical support. With Jude's birth, I would stand and face the wall during a contraction and Skyler would push on my back. With Jane's birth, I'd stand and face the wall and he would push my hips together. This time I would stand and face the wall and Skyler would stand behind me and push on my thighs. It's interesting how preferences change from birth to birth! Shortly before 10pm, we agreed that it was time to head out.
We got to the birth center shortly after 10pm and contractions were coming one on top of another. Skyler and I were working together and I still felt in control, which was rad. I knew the midwife would need to check me and I wasn't too thrilled about it. I laid on the bed and immediately had a contraction. The midwife was awesome and acted so quickly. She grabbed my legs and pushed against them as hard as she could. She's not what I would call a petite person, so it was awesome and effective counter pressure! After the contraction was over, she checked me and I was at an 8. I was really excited about this because I knew I just had to transition and then I'd be pushing! In Skyler's notes it says, "Katie catches happy second wind." Ha! For the next 20ish minutes, the midwives left us alone. Sky and I worked through frequent, long, intense contractions together and not to brag or anything, but I'm pretty good at laboring and he's pretty good at supporting me. It's pretty cool.
Around 10:30 I did what I do every birth and ask to get in the tub, even though I know I won't like it. So yeah, in the tub and then out of the tub. At this point, things were very intense and one of the contractions I started bearing down and being pretty loud about it. The midwives walked in and said, "Getting pushy?" Yes! They asked where I wanted to push and I told them I liked pushing on the toilet with Jane, so I'd be up for that. They offered a birthing stool, which is basically a more comfortable toilet seat, and no water underneath. So they got it all set up, got all their supplies, and I sat down on it. And then I had to pee, so I said, "I have to pee." One midwife told me that was great and I should just pee right there. They had put down tons of chux pads, so go for it. I remember closing my eyes and thinking about peeing infront of everyone and I could.not.do.it. So I got up and went to the bathroom.
I started pushing right before 11pm and could feel that things were going to go very quickly. The pushing was intense! I always forget how intense pushing out a human is! Within a push or two, everyone could see the head and I reached down and felt the bag of water. I pushed a couple more times and the head was completely out and my water broke. I was pretty loud, not holding anything back and yelling quite a bit. But the worst was pushing out the shoulders and body - it was way more painful than I remember and I totally screamed. But then it was over! That feeling is indescribable. We were in total shock to find out that we had another girl! She came right on to my chest and was so calm, just snuggling into me and not crying at all. We spent the next couple of hours at the birth center, nursing and enjoying our little Evie (and passing out on the toilet, but that's another story). We headed home and caught a few hours of sleep before the kids were up and ready to meet their new sister!
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| Apparently I did laundry in active labor. |
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