Birth story - Andrea and baby Maren Mae

*Trigger warning* - use of word contraction, pressuring use of pitocin by dr, episiotomy, blood loss.

Everyone thought I was “crazy” for practicing hypnobirthing during my pregnancy but I’m so glad I found the PBC. It truly helped me have a positive birth experience, I can’t wait to take the course again for future pregnancies.

Pregnancy

I was fortunate to have a very typical, uneventful pregnancy. I got pregnant just one month after suspending my birth control use, which was a huge surprise. I had little to no nausea, but experienced a lot of acid reflux and heart burn throughout my pregnancy. I knew early on I wanted to attempt to give birth without an epidural, but knew I had to educate myself and give my anxiety ridden self some good coping skills. I came across the book, Hypnobirthing The Mongan Method and was immediately attracted. I knew I wanted to take a course as well, which led me to the PBC! Educating myself about what my body is physically doing during birth, what to expect from labor, and how to cope really boosted my confidence going into my labor. I felt somewhat apprehensive about having a hospital birth but being from such a rural area in the US, I did not have many options. Home birth did cross my mind, but the closest hospital is 45min-1hr away.

Early Labor

On August 10th I had been experiencing period like cramping, a pinkish discharge, and what I now assume was my water slowly leaking. I stayed active throughout the day on my birthing ball and actually helped my husband tear down some temporary fencing on our farm (he truly believes this is what sent me into labor). I was really uncomfortable at this point (40w+1d) and hadn’t been sleeping well the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I woke up on August 11th (40w+2d) at 2:00am to use the bathroom and felt a huge gush as I got out of bed. I knew it had to be my water because it kept leaking and I eventually had another large gush of fluid. My contractions had not started yet, so I began gathering my things for the hospital and took a shower.

My contractions started about an hour or so after my water broke. They were about 8-10 minutes apart til about 4am. I used my to breathing and lavender oil to keep my calm while I labored at home. They quickly started to get closer together around 5am and I actually had experienced some nausea. We left the house at 6am and my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart lasting 1 minute. Up breathing helped tremendously during this stage, I was able to keep calm for the 45 minute car ride to the hospital.

Active labor

We arrived at the hospital at 6:45am and were quickly moved to a triage room. They performed a cervical check (my very first one ) and I was 4cm dilated. I was having very powerful consistent contractions at this point. I was moved into a room and met my labor nurse. We went thru my birth preferences and she suggested we try different positions due to the back labor I was experiencing. She was amazing helping me breath through the contractions and offering counter pressure on my back. During this time a doctor entered the room and started asking me if I had ever heard of pitocin. I expressed that I did not want pitocin and I was kind of thrown they were suggesting it. The doctor actually told my nurse to hang the drip, and she refused. I was really grateful for her standing up for my wishes.

Around 8:30am my contractions were back to back with no break and I started to feel that I needed some relief. I opted for the IV pain meds which only give you about 30 to 60 minutes of relief. I did not want to commit to the epidural at this point. They checked me before administering the medication and I was 5cm dilated around 9:00am. The iv meds allowed me to relax and get back into the “green zone” of the traffic light. I was able to get my breathing back under control. It really just took the edge off for about 30 minutes.

Things started to ramp up again around 10am, when I was offered more IV pain meds. I had to be checked again before I was allowed more medication, this time I was 9.5cm dilated. So my pain medication had worn off and I wasn’t able to get anymore because the baby could be born drowsy. I started feeling the urge to push around 11am. My nurse was amazing and allowed me to push in any position I felt comfortable. I was surprised at the fact that I felt most comfortable on my back, but I think this was due to the pure exhaustion I was experiencing. I stayed in that transition period where I felt really defeated for awhile. Baby was getting stuck under my pelvic bone. My nurse stayed super positive and offered a lot of positive reinforcement during this time. She was amazing I couldn’t have done it without her. I pushed for almost 3 hours, when baby was finally crowning the doctors felt I needed an episiotomy. They made a small cut and with 2 final pushes she was here at 2:08pm! My first words “I can’t believe I did it!” 12 hour labor start to finish.

Postpartum recovery

My cord was very short so sadly they had my husband cut the cord as soon as I delivered the placenta. After the cord was cut they were able to properly place her on my chest. She was so bright eyed from the moment she was born. I did experience an excessive amount of bleeding after delivery. They were able to get it stopped and get me stitched up. I enjoyed my uninterrupted golden hour with my babe on my chest. They actually let me hold onto her for longer than an hour before getting her measurements.

I was up to use the bathroom about 4 hours after I had given birth. Again my amazing nurse helped me immensely with my postpartum care. I was able to take a shower, get changed into comfy clothes and soak up all the newborn snuggles. I was nervous for my postpartum recovery but it was a positive experience and I thank the frida mom kit!!

Thank you again to the PBC for helping me achieve the positive birth I wanted. It was everything and more than I could’ve imagined. I would do it again 100x over.