Birth story - Allie and baby Malia

This is my second POSITIVE Birth while using the PBC🙏🏼💖🙌🏻. 

My pregnancy was very smooth for most part. I was technically high risk for most of it due to having placenta Previa since first trimester. Thankfully my placenta moved around 36 weeks more than 2cm away from cervix so I was cleared to have a vaginal birth. 

On April, 27th I woke up at 6:30 am and did my normal routine before my 2 year old woke up. First thing being, using the restroom, and on this morning I noticed my bloody show & part of my mucus plug had made its debut. 

My momma instinct knew this was the start of the labor process for me and that I was going to have my baby on this day. About 20 minutes later I started experiencing very light inconsistent cramps/surges. I went about my normal morning continuing to notice that I was losing more mucus. After a few hours I started to record my surges once they became more consistent using the “Freya app”. 

With this being my second baby I was a little confused on when to leave to hospital as I live 1 hour away from it and also had been told by many mommas that the 2nd baby comes quicker. 

My nerves at this point started to ramp up, so my husband decided to take my 2 year old to their grandparents house so that way I could relax, take a shower and mentally prepare. 

When he returned I used my instincts and decided to leave for hospital around 4pm once surges became about 7min apart for almost 1 hour. 

The drive up I was honestly having a hard time shaking this “nervous” / “anxious” feeling so I popped in my ear phones and listened to the Freya App affirmations. Arriving at hospital and triage at 5pm, I was checked for dilation and they determined I was at a 5cm/almost 6. I was given an IV plug and cordless belly monitors so that I could move around freely. Admitting me into a labor room immediately after being checked , I begun to start my UP breathing as I walked around, making sure to stay in UFO positions. I would also sit down on the hospital bed from time to time to gain strength and relax.

As my surges begun to ramp up and I had to really concentrate I chose a seated upright position on the hospital bed to focus on breathing while listening to the “Freya app” through my own headphones, blocking out all other noises around me. My husband would push the app button for me each time a surge arose and was a tremendous support. Around this time I was asked if I would like to have my waters broken and I immediately declined as I didn’t want to force my body into anything. 

Around 6:30/7pm I was checked for dilation and they determined I was at 7cm. When the nurse checked I believe she accidentally punctured the water sack as I started to lose my waters immediately. They also noticed that meconium had come out with it so a specialist nurse was called in to attend the birth of baby so that baby could be checked immediately after for potential inhalation of the poop that was in its water sack. 

At this point my surges were very intense and becoming very long and strong. Having short breaks between each surge I continued to drink coconut water to refuel and rehydrate which helped a ton. 9pm rolls around and I knew I was coming into the transitional labor due to the sounds I was making and also my surges were becoming back to back with little to no rest between. One of my surges lasted nearly 4 min. With guidance from my doctor, she suggested transferring to hands and knees to help the baby get down and engaged for pushing phase. The doctor rocked my hips side to side helping baby position. I was now ready to push. Giving 2 pushes on hands and knees I felt the need to flip over to my back, but in a more upright position. At 10:30 pm I gave birth naturally after about 4 down breathing pushes to my 8lbs 1.5 oz baby Girl - Malia Rae 💖. 

I do want to note that I did not “rip” and did not complete any perineal stretches during pregnancy. I truly contribute that to the down breathing and steady pushing vs holding breath and straining (which I was coached to do by nurses in my first birth & had 2nd degree rip). 

Thank you once again to the PBC for the love, positivity and guidance through my second successful natural birth.