11/8 , Monday, 2:30pm

Mom and I went for a nice day out , and ran some errands before my appointment at the birth center. I was scheduled for a second membrane sweep, but didn’t expect any results , as the first one I had didn’t cause any cramping or bleeding.

Midwife checked me and I was already 2cm and 70% effaced ! How exciting! She did a very thorough membrane sweep (ouch !) and I was 3cm by the time we left.

It caused some bleeding and cramping but I was sure it would fizzle out as the day went on.

Monday night, 9:30pm

Contractions started coming hard enough, and regular enough to time. Somewhat painful, but bearable. The most frustrating part was that they would get closer together, and then go further apart again, so I never knew when it was time to go in to the birth center. I assumed this was early labor.

I barely slept that night, and contractions got harder. I needed Hubbys support to get through some of them. They continued , varying from 3min to 10min apart for the next 30 hours.

11/9, Tues morn

Hard, painful contractions, but still too far apart to head in to the birth center. Midwife recommended baths, and trying to rest.

10:15

Midwife called to see how things are going … since things weren’t going anywhere , she said we should come in to the birth center around 12:30, and we would do something to have this baby ! I was hoping to be around 5-7 cm by this time.

1pm

I was only 3cm, after 14 hours of contractions 🥺 they had also slowed in intensity and timing. that was so devastating, and I was already so tired. Midwife felt I was too tired to have him at that point , so she sent us back home to rest. (Which I couldn’t do. ) as soon as we got back home, they started coming strong and regular again (7-10 min apart ). I was starting to use my coping techniques - my birth ball, music, breathing.

11/10, Wednesday morning 12am(midnight)

Midwife called us back in. Without rest , she was afraid I’d end up in the hospital, to exhausted to have him.

I was still in my three cm after 28 hours of labor.

Mom had come up with us , but things were looking so long and we weren’t sure if we would end up in the hospital, so she ended up going home to rest for a few hours.

She wanted to try to slow contractions enough for me to rest before he came. So I laid in the tub, but they just kept coming. I rested in bed, but I was having trouble coping. Hubby was also exhausted by this point , and starting with a cold. So for two hours, he and the birth team rested and i labored alone.

2am

Midwife could hear me moaning my way through contractions, and realized rest was not happening. She set out our options for us:

Cervical dilation via Foley catheter,

Or to Hospital for morphine rest. It would stop labor, i would sleep, and resume in several hours.

I could hardly think straight, I was so tired and scared. I didn’t want to opt for the catheter, and be in labor another 24 hours. I knew I didn’t have the strength. Yet I did NOT want to stall labor and end up in the hospital.

So, at 3:00am, we decided to go for the catheter.

3am

This was probably the scariest part of my labor for me. I wasn’t sure what lie ahead , and mentally, I wasn’t in the space to cope very well.

She inserted the catheter, and it was some of the worst pain I’d ever experienced. However, it was short lived and I don’t think I completely panicked. It was hard, but necessary if we wanted this baby to come.

After getting the balloon inserted and back to bed, contractions actually felt less intense and I was able to fall asleep in between. I woke about an hour later feeling much more refreshed and even talkative. The best news , was that I was 7cm !! I had shakes badly, so they got a heating blanket and gave me some caulophyllum and they settled down.

4am

Midwife said if we don’t break my water right away, dilation would close down and we would loose all the progress we had made. I was so enjoyed the bit of a break i had, and could hardly consent. I knew it would bring on serious labor. But Hubby held my hand and she broke my water. Right away, they intensified, and I lay in bed, working my way through each one.

I never felt irrational, but I do remember thinking - “maybe if I lay really still, and ignore them, they will go away 😂”. Well they didn’t. But midiwfe and Assistant helped me breathe through them, while I focused on soft music playing. They also had given me some stress balls and an acupuncture comb to squeeze, which helped so much.

I would get so warm during a contraction, Hubby would put a cool rag on my face and hold a fan. That felt so good. Assistant did counter pressure during contractions which helped ease the pressure.

The staff had to giggle as I was constantly going from burning up hot to freezing cold. I would ask for blankets , and as soon as a contraction hit, kick them all off and ask for a cool rag and a fan 😂

Time was a blur, and I wondered how long I had left.

After being checked, I was 8cm ! Couldn’t be too long now !

I told Hubby he should call or text mom, if she wanted to be here for the birth. Dad brought her up, and she made it just in time for me to start pushing.

6:30am

During a contraction, Midwife said I sounded ‘pushy’. That was funny to me , because I didn’t feel like I wanted to push. But she encouraged me to try, so I did.

I ended up with a cervical lip, and Midwife said if I don’t let her push it down , during a contraction, while I was pushing , it could take hours.

Yet another decision .. I could hardly let her, I didn’t want to be touched or bothered. But finally I let her , and we got on the birth stool. It took about 30 min to get it pushed down, but we did ! I was so relieved when she said his head was through the cervix, and in the birth canal !!

I expected to feel insane pressure , but I never really did 🤷🏻‍♀️ instead I found it difficult to start pushing , as the contractions were painful. But once I started , my body took over.

She put a mirror under the birth stool, and I could see his hair !! That was so motivating! I told myself, that I’m almost done , and to try really hard ! So I did. I pushed with all my might. Midiwife encouraged me , telling me I was such a good pusher ! And that kept me going.

7am

I didn’t want to tear , so we transition to the bed, and I pushed for another 30 minutes. I was so tired, that sometimes I ‘fake pushed’ because I didn’t have energy to keep going.

Then he was crowning. That was enough for me. I reached down and felt his head and let out a scream of delight. I could NOT believe he was this close. I hadn’t felt insane amounts of pressure , or the ring of fire like I expected. There was some burning and some pressure of course , but not mind numbingly so.

I encouraged myself to give it all I had. So contraction or not, I pushed with all my might.

I found out later , midwife had been concerned with how long he had been crowning. It caused some respiratory issues later.

His head was birthed with BOTH hands. This was why labor hadn’t been progressing- he wasn’t able to sit low enough on the cervix. Midwife quickly pushed his arms back in, and oh what excitement when his head was out !!

One or two pushes later , and his little body was born!! Such relief !! I couldn’t believe it - I did it !!

They got right to work - I was bleeding too much, so I got a shot of pitocin in my thigh. It took care of it, and I was fine.

Baby boy needed some help with his breathing after he was born , but praise the Lord he was ok too.

I ended up with a few stitches ( and even though I was numbed , I could still feel the needle ?! Ouch!! )

We were discharged at 1pm, and oh so glad to be home with our little pumpkin.

My birth didn’t go the way I had planned. I didn’t plan for 36 hours of labor, I wanted to be able to progress slowly and labor in the tub, and birth ball, etc. vs 30 hours of prodromal labor and then sudden, intense labor. but all in all , it was a good experience and I’d do it all over again for him. 😍

Baby was born 11/21. Best day of my life.