Grateful - birth story (3rd baby)

After my first two babies were born at 38 weeks via induction for preeclampsia and “hypertension” with my second (but the high risk doctor said I was perfectly fine…), I had my 3rd. First took 60+ hours. Second took 30+ hours.

3rd came on her own in less than 7 hours. Naturally. At a birth center. At 40+2. No major complications. I was home by 3:30pm with my other two kids.

Here’s the story:

I woke up Sunday (11/28) morning to strong contractions about 10 min apart a little after 4am. By 5am, they were 5 min apart, so I texted my midwife. She told me to get in the warm shower for relief.

(I had no idea if it was real because I didn’t show any “early labor” signs. I didn’t know what natural labor felt like but this was definitely different than what I had experienced with my two inductions.)

By 6:30, they were getting stronger and closer together. I texted her again and she said “get your bags by the door and get the kids situated. You’re probably heading to the birth center this morning. By 7am we called grandpa to come stay with the big kids. A little after 8am midwife came to my house to check on me because she had a feeling she needed to see where I was at. The second she walked in, she could tell I was in active labor just based off of my behavior. Turns out, I was 7cm, bulging bag of water and contractions about 2-3 min apart. She ran ahead to the birth center and told me to her there ASAP because the baby was coming! (Longest 4 mile car ride ever)

Around 8:30 I got to the birth center and got right in the tub. I labored in there for a bit. I lost my plug in the tub. My water broke on its own in the tub, too. I had a little cervical lip that was keeping baby in so we switched to the birth stool to help her get past it. 3 contractions later, I got in the bed and “pushed to the ceiling” at my own pace to help her get past my pubic bone and she came out crying. My husband caught her and laid her on my chest. By 10:45am I was holding my baby girl in my arms.

It was amazing. A moment I had prayed for. A moment my family and friends prayed for. We declared that this would be a different experience from the beginning of my pregnancy.

I’m so glad I advocated for myself. I’m so grateful for a midwife who kept a very close eye on me but trusted my body to do what it was made do do. I’m so grateful my husband was supportive of my decision to switch providers. I’m so grateful for my baby girl. I’m so grateful for my body and how strong it is.