Friday, the DH and I went out to see a movie, The Hangover 2. I was excited to see it because I thought that I would have already given birth by this time – 4 days over my original due date. For some reason I had thought that my daughter would come early. I think a lot of first time moms think that, but our average is much later. During the movie I started having really strong Braxton-Hicks contractions and even some crampy feelings in the lower part of my uterus. A few were so powerful that I thought I might have to leave the theatre.  I figured, even if labor was starting I‘d have quite a long time until she was born
 and unless my water broke, there was no need to leave the movie early.

I guess what I felt was early labor. The next two days these strong BH contractions continued along with the crampy feelings. DH and I were so eager to meet our daughter that the weekend was tortuous. Actually the past two weeks had been pretty torturous for us. Me 9+ months pregnant and both of us just sitting around watching for any sign that it might be time. As the saying goes: A watched pot never boils and wow it sure seemed like our pot was never going to boil. On Sunday we went grocery shopping for food for us and our birth team. I also took a nice long shower and did all my personal grooming. I think this was intuition that I wouldn‘t be able to do these two normal tasks for a while.

Later that night at 10 o‘clock pm on the dot, my water broke. I was just sitting down to a lovely dinner of fettuccine alfredo, french bread and broccoli. I leaned forward and felt a gush. Just a small one. So I got up and went to the bathroom thinking it might be my mucous plug or my water, but it was such a small amount that I didn‘t put a pad on or anything. I just cleaned up and went back to eating… took one bite and it gushed again. Ok, this was definitely my water breaking. How exciting!!!!! I jumped up and got an absorbent undergarment on and waited to see if contractions would start. They didn‘t. Just that same crampy feeling that I‘d been having all weekend. I called my midwife to give her the heads up that my water was broken and I was going to most likely have a Memorial Day baby and to get herself prepared. She asked what color the water was (clear) and advised me to try to get some rest. So I finished dinner, talked with DH a little bit about how excited we were, and went to bed.

At 4:30am I woke up to a large gush of water and a contraction. No doubt about it, this was the real thing! Finally! I am so excited! I got up and went to the bathroom to clean myself up a bit. I woke up my DH and told him that this was it and that he should get more sleep because it‘s just starting and we probably have a long way to go. I said good morning to the cats and sat down at the computer to make sure my birthing playlist was downloaded to my iPhone and 
iPod; one for upstairs and one for downstairs. I had another contraction sitting down and had to stand up. So I went to my birthing ball and bounced on it for a few minutes, then I had another 
contraction and had to walk through it. This went on for about 30 more minutes. DH got up at 5:30am and found me walking around and moaning downstairs.

Things started to pick up quickly. These 10 minute apart contractions for an hour were a thing of the past. They started rolling through me every 2-5 minutes and were lasting 60-90 seconds. This happened for half an hour and DH asked if I thought we should call the midwives. I told him that this should be happening for an hour before we call them, and then I had a back to back contraction that doubled me over and had me breathing hard and vocalizing loudly. DH called the midwives. They were on their way with the birthing pool. Yay!

DH was the best birthing partner in the world, I could not have asked for better support. I went into labor land, so he did my rational thinking for me, and thank God he knows me as well as he 
does. He suggested I get into our tub upstairs to get through the 45 minutes or so it would take to get the midwives here, so I did. That helped, but it was so hard to sit on the hard surface. I wanted that birthing pool. I would thrash around during the contractions that were still hitting me every couple of minutes with very little break between them. We were both thinking, ‘is this transition already??!’ Well it wasn‘t quite, but it was close. I had been dilated to 2-3cm at my last prenatal, and when the midwives showed up at 7:30am I was at 7cm.

I was relieved to know I was already at 7cm and then came transition. My midwife didn‘t know if we should even bother with the birthing pool since it usually takes a while to fill it and I
 seemed to be progressing really quickly, but I wanted it. We had turned the hot water heater up the day before (another task done on our intuitive ‘let‘s get ready‘ Sunday) so the tub was full in 30 minutes. I was elated to get in. I though it would take the pain away; it didn‘t. But it sure did help A LOT. I spent almost the entire time in the tub. It was soft, and I fit into it well and I could hang over the padded sides and the bottom was padded.

Ok, now we‘re ready to have a baby – and it HURTS! Not only does it hurt, but it is insanely intense. The powerful waves of pressure and pain flowing through my body was scary.
 This was the most powerful force of nature I had ever experienced. Stronger than the crazy thunderstorms that one is compelled to open the windows and feel. Stronger than the riptide in the ocean. Stronger than the stagnant heat of a blazing hot and humid summer day with no breeze when you can‘t quite catch a full breath of air. I wanted to resist in every way I could. I tried to convince everyone including myself that I just needed a break. I would get maybe 
4 deep breaths and then another double peaked contraction would hit me for 3 minutes. I bellowed. I screamed. Ryan told me to keep my tones low and take deep breaths. I was on my knees holding his hands and pulling them with all my strength to brace for the pain (we were both sore in the upper bodies for days afterwards). I told everyone I couldn‘t do it. They told me that I was doing it. I told them to “get it out!” they told me that I am getting her out. I asked 
them how much longer it would take, they told me as long as it takes. I only swore twice which we found interesting because sometimes I can curse like a sailor. I pleaded with one of my midwives that I couldn‘t do this much longer. She reminded me that I was in transition and that I was close to meeting my baby. That perked me up. Oh, ok, right. This is transition… I get to push her out next and that means we are almost there!

I spontaneously started pushing around 10am. The midwives could tell from the sounds I was making. I was a very vocal laborer. DH heard them comment that I was going to push this baby out in 20 minutes. I pushed for about 30 minutes before one of the midwives suggested I get out and get checked to make sure I was all the way dilated. This was torture. I didn‘t want to get out of the tub, but I did. Sure enough, I‘m dilated to 10. Green light for pushing. So push I did. And I pushed. and I pushed. and I pushed. I pushed into the pain. I pushed with sound and without sound. I pushed until I thought I was bursting blood vessels in my face. This went on for
 2 hours. I begged them to get her out of me. I asked why she wasn‘t coming out and how many more pushes it would be. “As many as it takes.” was the usual answer… sometimes, “one less 
now”.

After 2 hours of pushing and progress, but slow progress, my midwife suggested that I try another position, a reclining squat, to get her head past the pubic bone; as that‘s where she seemed to be stuck. The idea of getting out of the pool was absolutely horrific to me, so I got into a squat in the pool leaning back into DH‘s arms. She started moving down more with the pushes. I started pushing 2-3 times per contraction. ‘This was going to happen’ I kept telling myself. It’s time for this to be OVER. I don‘t care how bad it hurts, I want it to be done.

She came down a little more and I thought her head was almost crowning. It was starting to be seen externally. The medical bags came out and the sterile gloves were on. That was so encouraging for me to see. Ok, we‘re almost there! I pushed a few more times and thought her head was out, it wasn‘t. They put a mirror and a light into the pool so DH and I could see we were so close. He watched, I didn‘t. Finally I felt a stinging sensation in addition to the feeling of pooping out a boulder. The ring of fire! It wasn‘t even that bad compared to the rest of it. I waited for the next contraction to let the tissue stretch. I pushed again and her head came out further. I waited for another contraction. These waiting times were mostly me trying to not hyperventilate and panic and push anyway. I finally pushed her head out. OH THANK GOODNESS! I waited for another contraction and I pushed her shoulders out and the rest of her slipped out into the water. The pain was gone. She was out. I was so relieved that it was over and that I had made it through.

The midwives picked her up and put her on my chest. She looked at me totally calm and alert. I could barely believe it was over and that I had birthed a baby. WOW. I looked into her eyes and she looked into mine. A total, absolutely pure love at first sight. I am still staring into her eyes with complete adoration. I feel blessed to be this baby‘s mother. I feel blessed to have this family that I now have. My entire structure of priorities in life has changed instantly.

She had come out with a military presentation with her head twisted to the left. A very difficult presentation to deliver that can mean emergency cesarean sometimes. I had one small first degree tear that I did not get stitches for. All in all, a very uneventful birth. But for me it was a miracle. I had done it. I was almost in disbelief that I had actually birthed a human being out of my body, but there she was, perfect in every way, my daughter.

Ayla Jane Kathryn

May 2011, 12:37 PM

Born at home in the water
41 weeks
APGAR scores 9 and 10
9 pounds, 2 ounces
20.5 inches long
14 inch circumference head