Apparently I was in pre-labor all day...! Since this was my first pregnancy/birth and I hadn't had really any "pre-labor" signs up until this point, I had no idea I was in the beginning stages! My girlfriend Ana arrived from Spain the night prior, so we had plans to hang out and catch up all day. We took a 2 mile walk in the morning, went to the pool for a few hours, showered and rested. In the late afternoon we took a drive up to a local health food store to grab some items, including 2 homeopathic liquid supplements my midwife had recommended to help "nudge" me into labor. I figured why not?! Next, we grabbed a chai tea, then dinner, and finally made it home around 10pm. All day I had been feeling a little crampy, but I didn't really think anything of it because the sensation wasn't intense and had no pattern, which is what I thought I should be paying attention to if I was starting labor. Around 11pm I felt the cramps getting a little stronger and I texted my doula Dawna to let her know what was up. She said usually cramping is a sign of the cervix thinning, and when contractions begin, the cervix dilates. She said, you may wake up in the middle of the night with contractions. Wow- this is really happening! I went to bed at 11:30pm with many emotions and anticipation, having a strong feeling the baby was on his way.
Sunday March 25:
I woke up at 12:30am to pee (of course) and as I got back into bed, my water broke. I called Dawna, who asked me to try to describe what happened. Once I did, she told me to call the birth center so they could connect me to my midwife Becky, who was on call. She called me back about 10-15 minutes later, and as I was describing what happened and she was discussing my options for coming in later that morning to get checked, I had my first contraction. It wasn't what I expected... everyone said I'd feel a tightening across the top of the belly that may radiate into my back. Instead, I felt a wave of cramps across the lower abdomen that lasted maybe 30 seconds and then subsided. Once I was off the phone with her, I called Danny, who was on his way home from work (he is usually home much earlier but it had been a particularly busy night and he had to stay late). I told him not to freak out but my water broke and I just had my first contraction. He still had about a half hour drive to get home, so I said please not to speed and to be careful, and I was going to get back into bed. He got home a little after 1 am and after checking on me and giving me his cell phone to start monitoring the contractions on the "contraction app" he had downloaded a few weeks prior (!!), he ran around the house getting bags together and jumped in the shower after a 15 hour work day. Poor guy!
By the time he got out of the shower, I asked him to take over the contraction monitoring because I was getting more uncomfortable. By 2am we had been monitoring the contractions for an hour and the app told us the contractions were lasting 50-70 seconds and were already about 3-4 minutes apart. I really couldn't believe it! Danny thought MAYBE we should call Dawna back and have her come over, and contact Becky to let her know we should be heading over to the birth center. Once we talked to everyone, Dawna said she'd be on her way in a couple of minutes and then we would head out. I finally had Danny wake up Ana because I felt bad waking her up earlier- she was still jet lagged and I wanted her to rest! I got out of bed and labored on an big exercise ball for another 20-25 minutes as the contractions intensified to about a 7-8 out of 10 on a pain scale of 1-10 (haha, chiro's you'll appreciate that description!). I did my best to allow myself to ease into the contractions and to let my body relax as much as possible so that I was working with it instead of against it. I used the breathing techniques I learned and feel they did help me relax. When I did this, I felt the most intense part of the contraction only lasted a small amount of time before it slowly subsided. I did spew out a few curse words at this point but overall, I felt I handled each contraction pretty well! When Dawna arrived she talked to me for a few minutes and then we headed to the birth center (about a 20 minute drive from our home).
Having contractions in the car is not very comfortable, and with each one, Danny sped up a little faster. He flew by a police car, which suprisingly didn't stop us! We arrived at the birth center around 2:45 am and Becky was still setting up the room for me and filling the tub with water. I laid down in between contractions for them to check me and I was already 9.5 centimeters dilated! THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING! Within a few minutes, I was in the tub, which felt really great. At this point the contractions were very close together and definitely a 10 out of 10 for pain and intensity, but the support from Danny, Dawna, Ana, and my midwife assistant Elizabeth helped me get through each one as calmly as possible (still a little cursing going on, but I didn't care!). After about 20 minutes in the tub, Becky checked me again and I was at 10 centimeters. I could not believe how fast this was all happening! I didn't really have time to prepare myself for the speed in which this labor progressed, but I think it was better this way because I just went with it, what else could I do?! Throughout the progression, baby's heart rate was checked with the fetal heart rate monitor and everything was perfect each time. Becky told me if I felt like I wanted to push, I could start pushing with each contraction. This is when some of the uncontrollable screaming started.... right around the time that my parents and in-laws arrived at the birth center and were sitting in the extremely quiet waiting room. I felt so bad screaming as I pushed but I couldn't help it! Ana was there waiting with them, and soothed my mom, who was upset hearing me in pain. Over the course of the next 30 minutes or so (who knows at this point?!), I pushed baby down with each contraction. At one point I think I said (screamed?!) "I WANT HIM OUT!" and Becky and Elizabeth said they could see his head and he was almost here! Within a few minutes and with a few more pushes, baby arrived into the water, and onto my chest at 4:36am ! What an amazing feeling to FINALLY meet my son!
It was extremely surreal how everything happened so quickly, but I don't think I would've changed anything about the experience. I had truly incredible support from wonderful people, and Danny was absolutely amazing. Once I got out of the tub, and baby and I were checked, we tried to get baby to latch on to breast feed. When the cord stopped pulsating, Danny was able to cut the cord and then he got to hold his son for the first time and it was a beautiful moment for the three of us. He then brought Ryder out to the waiting room to meet the Grandma's and Grandpa's and reveal his name! Daddy and Ryder came back in so Becky could weigh and measure baby (8 lbs, 9 oz, 21 inches, healthy, and perfect in every way!).
I am so happy that I trusted my body to know what to do. Of course I believe it helped to be in good physical health before and during the pregnancy, and baby was very healthy throughout the pregnancy as well. It also helped that I am extremely laid back and low anxiety, which obviously is important when you are planning on a labor and delivery that is unlike what most people are "doing these days." Taking the hypnobirthing class, having a doula, a supportive birth center team and most importantly a husband who backed me 150% was exactly what I needed to remain confident and strong through the entire process. We are so happy to finally have Ryder in our lives and thank everyone for their love and well-wishes! Life is good :)
Pretty awesome pictures captured by Dawna... <3
