Due 8/7 and came 8/9 at 7:06pm. 20.5in long and 8.2lbs

Hubby and I had sex on the night of 8/8 and almost immediately after I started getting contractions. This was about 10pm so we went to bed in the yurt and I was able to sleep for 45min to 1hr spurts the entire night. I didn’t inform Ryan that anything was going on as I had been having prodromal labor since July 4th and I wasn’t convinced these would ramp up. I would wake up to a contraction and having to pee then fall back to sleep.

Rude awakening! The contractions started coming on pretty frequently at 7am (every 3 to 4min lasting 1 min) but I was still not fully convinced I was actually in active labor yet. I woke Ryan up and said it’s happening, we are having a baby. By 8am, I had been timing them for the last hour, they were coming every 2 1/2-3min lasting for about 45sec to 1 min. I informed the midwives and decided to make coffee while listening to music, dancing and have a protein shake. I finished by doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Then, I decided I needed a cold shower at about 9am. Finally, at 9:30am, I told Ryan we should probably go now. We got in the car for the 2hour drive and about 30min in decided I could not labor in the seatbelt and was kneeling on my passenger floor and then the seat. In my hand I clutched the orange palm stone from our friends Jeff and Jenna while playing my labor Playlist. I had to stop on the side of the road to pee once.

We arrived at 11:30am after what seemed like an eternity. They were wearing masks, our temperatures checked and we were taken to our room where we found out I was 4 almost 5cm dilated and 80% effaced! I took all my clothes off, turned the music on and used the shower head to soothe my back labor and clean my dirty feet. They filled up the tub to sit in for some relief but that didn’t last very long. I decided to lean over a yoga ball and had my husband give me a hip squeeze and use the rebozo through contractions. I was having lots of back contractions. While leaning on the ball at about 2pm my water broke, I then had the bloody show and continued to leak fluid. Ryan and the midwives fed me coconut oil and honey sticks, bone broth and protein squeeze pouches. Then Ryan left briefly to go grab food down the street between my contractions. He fed me french fries and meat from the sandwich to keep my energy up.

At some point I laid on the bed on my side squeezing crystals and using a peanut ball between my legs while cuddling Ryan. This was transition, this was where I wanted to finally be done. I then moved to the toilet to get through the contractions and would float between there and the bed. I kept feeling like I had to poop. Ryan realized after 3 rounds of me sitting on the toilet that I needed to do something else as it was really straining my hemorrhoid. I decided the warm tub was my best bet.

My body started involuntarily pushing that last round on the toilet and I hadn’t been checked so I had no idea where I was at. The tub instantly relaxed me. I told the midwife Savanah I felt an insane urge to push so she checked my dilation and I wound up being 10cm dilated but still had a cervical lip. She decided to hold her fingers on it through a contraction to see if she could get it to move. It did, and I could indeed start pushing. I used the tub for support and counter pressure while pushing. Gripping the edge and breathing between contractions. I pushed for about one hour total. I was in a trance. She started crowning at about 6:45 and my husband looked at me at one point and said to push really hard. One more push after that she was out, Ryan caught her while I was squatting and clenching the sides for support. 7:06pm, I sat down and in my arms they laid her seconds later. She began to let out her first cries and puke up fluid. She let out her first meconium poop into my hand. The tub was drained and I was moved to the bed where the placenta delivered moments later. She is perfect and we are so in love.

The midwives left us to bond and see if we could get her to latch. We let her lay on me and explore the boob herself when she was ready. Something they call the breast crawl. If you’re unfamiliar it’s baby led breastfeeding. They have natural instincts to wriggle towards the nipple and latch without intervention. It works extremely well and promotes a good breastfeeding relationship between you and baby. After some rest she was weighed, measured and dressed. They checked my uterus and the carseat, then sent us on our way at 12am.

We were staying down the street at a rental where we could relax, bond and continue the newborn checks. Lots of sleep, breastfeeding and eating happened during this time. Visits from the midwives to check our health and do the newborn tests. It was finally time to bring her home.

Regardless of being in the midst of a global pandemic, I felt my birth was normal besides everyone else wearing masks. The most wierd times for me in this process were actually prenatal care and visits which you can read about in previous blog posts. I feel lucky to have chosen the birth center vs. a hospital delivery early on. My decision became even clearer after the pandemic started spiraling out of control and hospitals began filling up with sick people. I knew I made the best choice for my family without even knowing it at the time. So many people were trying to switch to birth centers and home births after it sank in there was no end in sight. I was glad to already have secured our spot. I’m grateful that we are all happy, healthy and thriving.

Have a lovely day!