First here is a list of why we chose to have the baby in a free standing (not connected to a hospital, essentially a home birth):
*We wanted one on one care. The birth center was at this amazing home on lake tapps. My midwife was always there if we needed her. I didn't have to worry about some random doctor that would be on call to deliver my baby.
*appointments were super easy and fast! No waiting for an hour to see an obgyn!
* I wanted to experience a natural birth
* I had heard that the recovery after a natural birth is much much better (it's true)
* I would love to be a doula someday and I figured I should probably have a natural birth so I know how to help birthing mothers in the future.
* I didn't want to be induced for no reason, it drives me crazy when I hear about doctors inducing just so they can get off work early.
* I desperately wanted a water birth, I had heard amazing stories about water births.
* I wanted the freedom to eat and drink whenever I wanted
I watched "The business of being born" and the four more episodes of "more business of being born" on Netflix and it really opened my eyes on the topic of childbirth, If you are pregnant or planning on getting pregnant I would strongly suggest watching those!
Ok so here is my birth center story:
It all started at my 38 week midwife apt on Monday February 25th, my midwife gave me a membrane sweep because she could tell my body was ready for labor. She stretched my cervix to a 3 and said, "see you tonight!"
I went home and tried to take a nap but the contractions started right away. At first the contractions were around every 20 minutes and they slowly got to every 3-4 min. At 1am we decided to go to my moms house because I wanted my contractions to go from 45 seconds long to 60 seconds. Finally around two am we went to the birth center.
My midwife checked me and told me I was still at a 3! I was so upset because I had been laboring for 12 hours! I almost started to cry and she told us it was a false alarm!
Right before we were about to leave she asked me if I wanted another membrane sweep and to see if she could stretch my cervix to a 4. I quickly said yes, even though getting your cervix stretched is very painful, I was desperate at that time!
She was able to stretch me to a four and asked us to wait an hour and she would see if I had made any progression then.
An hour and a half later she checked me and I was still at a four but the contractions were much more intense so she decided that I was going to have the baby and she would break my water.
At 5am she broke my water and the contractions really picked up! I tried to labor on a yoga ball and all these different positions but I felt like nothing was helping! Joe was trying his hardest to put pressure on my back but I was getting mad at him for not knowing exactly where to put pressure and how hard to press down, I remember at one point he took one of his hands off my back during a contraction to scratch his nose and I swear I could have killed him for doing that! I was kind of out of my mind at this point.
I begged my midwife to check me because I wanted to be at a 5 so I could get in the tub (the tub slows down labor if you are dilated less than a 5 usually).
I was at a 5 and she let me in the tub, I think this was around 6am.
Once I got into the tub contractions were at a whole new level! I can't even describe how painful they were! I'm pretty sure it would have been less painful getting brutally murdered. Joe says I was making strange "goat noises", all I remember is that in my head I was freaking out. I had so much hope for that tub, it didn't help me with the pain at all, so much for that "midwives epidural" I had heard so much about".
Around 7am I was starting to push through the contractions and I stared to feel like my back was going to snap in half! I also couldn't handle being alive at that point haha so I got out of the tub so she could check me.
I was only at a 6 and I started to freak out! She told me to push while she was checking me and she stretched me to a 9 and a half in one contraction! I was super relieved I was at a 9 and a half instantly because my body just wasn't dilating on its own.
She then asked me if I just wanted to have the baby and I said, "um YES". I would have done anything to get the pain to go away!
She had me push while she stretched my cervix to a 10 and it took EVERYTHING in me not to scream bloody murder every time I pushed. Finally after only 7 minutes of pushing my baby ( who was sunny side up, no wonder my back was killing me!) baby Ellie Maurine Johnson was born! I remember looking at her and I was just relieved my pain was gone! She looked so tiny to me that I thought she was going to be around 5 pounds but my midwife quickly said that she looked like a healthy weight! I'm just so used to my big boy Connor that she looked extra tiny to me! I am so grateful that my amazing midwife was willing to speed up my labor process because my body had only progressed one cm through the entire labor! I honestly think I would have been in labor for days!
Ellie was born at 7:17am on February 26th 7lb 11oz and 19 and a half inches long.
Having a natural birth was extremely painful but now that I'm days out from the birth I can see why women choose to do it. My recovery has been WAY easier than the boys! I was up and walking right away and I only took tylenol and ibuprofen because the "after birth" contractions were pretty painful when I nursed little Ellie.
We are so in love with this little girl! It's hard for me to be away from her for even a second. I guess you can say that I'm already obsessed! Brady and Connor love their baby sister so much! They are always kissing and touching her. It fills my heart with so much love seeing my big boys love their baby sister so much!
1 comment:
Sunny side up labors are the worst! Good for you on being able to go natural. Ouch!
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