Sarah & JP’s Birth Story
The day of my birth was exciting and unexpected. My son came a week and a half early but like most pregnant women once you are 37 weeks you don’t care when they come out.
11AM Thursday- That morning I felt pretty normal. I had a few Braxton Hicks moments in the morning but nothing major. My mom came to town a few weeks early and was planning on staying a few weeks after to help with our son. So the day of my birth me and my mom were facetiming my grandparents. We were about 5 minutes into the conversation and all of a sudden I had a sharp pain in my bladder area, heard a pop and then a small gush of water came out of my vagina. I hung up with my grandparents and ran to the bathroom while yelling to my mom “ I think my water just broke!” When I got to the bathroom there was only a little bit of water on my underwear so I changed out of my underwear and went on with my day. About 10 min went by and the same thing happened: a pain, a pop and then a small gush. So I went to the bathroom and checked my underwear and still a small amount of water was on them but this time contractions started up. They were about 8-10 minutes apart at that time.
12PM- I called my midwife to let her know what was happening and she said to try to get some rest and to call back if my contractions get closer together. At this time I was on all fours because sitting or laying down was not restful, it was just painful. So I stayed on all fours doing a low moaning sound as I was taught in a lamaze class and leaning over the exercise ball.
1PM- My contractions were getting closer together. They were about 6-8 min apart. So I called my husband and Emily to let them know what was going on. I told my husband he needed to start heading home and I asked if Emily would be able to meet me at my house. Without hesitation she said yes.
1:30PM- My husband got home first. I was in the bathroom at this time still on the exercise ball and still moaning. By this time the contractions were about 5 min apart. Emily showed up shortly after and came straight in and checked on me. She checked my back and told my husband that he needed to get the birthing bag and we needed to start heading to the midwife place. So I threw on a maternity dress and started to the door. It felt like it took forever for me to get to the car. I had about three contractions on the way there. We live on the third floor so I had a contraction in the hall, on the elevator and at the exit of my building.
2PM- I finally got to the car. Contractions were about 2-5min apart. I was so nervous I was going to have our son in the car. My husband was driving and my mom was in the passenger seat. I was in the back of the car still moaning and asking both of them to stop talking. Even when they whispered I couldn’t handle it and still asked them to please stop talking. It’s a good inside joke between us all now!
2:20PM- We finally get to the midwifery place and on the way up I have about three more contractions. Thankfully I finally made it into the office and they asked me to get on the table so they could see how much I was dilated. Before I could get on the table I had two more contractions and by that time I was telling anyone and everyone to stop talking. I got on the table and they checked me out and told me I was 7 cm dilated. They had the room ready and said I could go in.
3PM- My contractions were about 3-4 min apart at this time. I was in the room in the warm tub on all fours with my husband halfway in the tub with me, pushing on my back during each contraction. Emily taught him a way of pushing on my back during a contraction that would help alleviate some of the pain and let me tell you it really did! While he was pushing on my back Emily was putting cold washcloths on my back so I didn’t overheat and I was just moaning through each contraction.
3:15PM- My contractions were about 2-4 min apart and by this time I was telling JP “it hurts”, “I don’t want to do this” even though I knew I could do it. I don’t know when it happened but there was a point when my body took over. I don't mean to sound gross but my body just felt like I needed to poop really bad and I couldn’t stop my body from pushing. 3:30PM- At that time my midwife had a mirror in the water and was looking to see what was going on. They showed my husband and he could see the very top of our son's head and some of his hair. They had me feel after and it felt slimy and hairy. After that they gave me the ok to push so I pushed two times and then his head came out then I waited for the next contraction and pushed and then his body came right out. By that time my husband was fully in the bath and I was holding our son. My husband cut the umbilical cord and that was it.
