So excited to be able to share my birth story with you all! Layla is my first baby and I was so grateful to have a very smooth pregnancy with her. I was due on July 5th, so after my due date came and went, I started to get pretty antsy about when she was going to come because I really didn’t want to be induced/risk out and I had friends and family texting me every single day for updates.
I read online that for FTM, it’s pretty common to go to 40w5d, so I decided to hold out hope until then. When that day came and went, I really started to get anxious. I started doing all the things (Miles Circuit, raspberry leaf tea, sitting on my birth ball all the time, etc.) to try to get her to come. Finally, on the way to my 41w appointment at NB, I started noticing that I was having somewhat “regular” Braxton Hicks contractions. I was hopeful, but also tried not to get too excited since they told me at my appointment it could be closer to 41w3d.
The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully and I wasn’t feeling the BH contractions anymore, so I decided to just stop thinking about it. Funny enough, around 11:30 PM that night, not even 30 seconds after my husband and I had turned off our bedside lamps and laid down to go to sleep, I felt my first REAL contraction - the feeling was unmistakable and unlike anything I had felt before. I was hit with a burst of adrenaline and jumped out of bed, feeling like I suddenly had enough energy to run a marathon. The contractions immediately became regular and were coming about 10 minutes apart, and I couldn’t believe that this was the sensation I was going to have to get through for the next 12+ hours. I began questioning whether or not I could actually do this natural birth thing after all.
I called my doula and the midwife line and they both told me to try to relax as much as possible and get some sleep, since that whole night would just be nothing but early labor and I would need my energy for active labor the next day. I took a nice hot bath and was able to get the contractions to slow down, but once I tried to get back in bed and go to sleep, I realized it was going to be impossible. My contractions were already fairly intense and anytime I would drift off to sleep in between them, I would wake right up when the next one came. So, I told my husband not to worry about me and to sleep as much as he could so at least one of us could be rested for the next morning. I resolved myself to lay in bed in the second position of the Miles Circuit and watch Netflix on my phone, resting as much as possible between contractions and drifting off when I could. I prepared for my labor with Hypnobirthing, and the breathing techniques and mindset shifts I learned are what got me through the night.
When 6 AM finally rolled around, I was at 5/1/1 and knew that things were starting to progress pretty quickly. I called my doula and the midwife line again and they both told me to try to wait a little longer if I could, especially since I was a FTM and could likely have quite a few hours left to go. My doula suggested we could go to the birth center and walk around the parking lot for a couple of hours, but I knew as soon as I got up from bed and tried to walk around my own house, that was not going to be possible. The contractions started coming much harder and much faster, and it seemed like any change in position I made (like getting up from laying down or going to sit down on the toilet) brought on a powerful contraction that was at least a minute long. When I couldn’t talk or move through the contractions anymore, I told my husband we needed to get to the birth center right away (it was a 45 minute drive) and told my doula and the midwives to meet us there.
We arrived around 8 AM and they checked me, and I was already 7 cm dilated. I got straight into the pool for relief and hoped that my baby girl would be born in the next couple of hours with how quickly things were progressing. However, after breathing through really painful contractions for the next 3 hours, nothing seemed to be happening. I asked to get out of the pool so I could be checked again, and it turned out I was at 8 cm. Lauren (the midwife who was there for my delivery) told me that my water was so big and full that it was likely blocking my cervix from opening any further and that they could break it if I wanted to, but things would likely become a lot more intense from that point on. At first I really wanted things to happen completely naturally, so I said no and my doula tried having me labor in standing positions to make the contractions more intense. At this point though, my energy was fading fast from having spent so much of it in the pool and I was feeling really discouraged that all that work was for nothing.
After about 30 minutes of doing standing positions which were insanely intense and painful, I’d had enough. I started to cry and say things like “I can’t do this anymore,” “it’s too hard,” and the like. I decided wanted them to break my water, but if things were going to get even more intense than they already were, I genuinely didn’t know if I could handle it. Then I remembered that I had the option of nitrous oxide, so I asked if I could have that ready as a backup in case they broke my water and the increase in intensity was too much. They agreed it was probably a good idea and brought in the tank. It was a LIFESAVER and just what I needed - I took my first dose of it and I felt so good and such a huge amount of relief that I actually started laughing. I couldn’t believe how wonderful it was. They broke my water, and soon after I began feeling the urge to push. Less than an hour later, my baby girl was born.
Natural childbirth was hands-down the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it was so incredibly worth it. I can’t express enough how grateful I am to Mindful Family Wellness (who also took these amazing photos) and Lauren, Nicole, and Meliea for making my birth experience so wonderful. I wouldn’t change a thing about how it went and I can’t say enough about how truly amazing of a place Natural Beginnings is. I hope you all enjoyed reading my story and I’m sending best wishes that your labor and birth are everything you wish them to be!
コメント