Birth story - Averie and baby Robin

*Trigger Warning* - tearing, bleeding, hemorrhaging, passing out, tongue tie.

Pregnancy:

I was lucky enough to have a fairly simple and straight forward pregnancy. After loosing 15lbs during the first and second trimesters due to constant nausea things went smoothly.

Labor/delivery:

I awoke on my ”due date” 12/8 to my bloody show and shortly after made my way to our regularly scheduled weekly appointment. The midwives confirmed my mucus plug had released and it was in-fact the “bloody show.” I then received my first cervical check of my pregnancy where they found me to be 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. We were sent home and told to try to get things moving with home remedies and exercise. We did just that!

I bounced on my birthing ball and we practiced the reflexology foot rub techniques shown to us. I began to feel tightness in my belly around bedtime 11:30pm I started tracking on the Freya app to see how close my surges were, eventually falling asleep between each one.

I called the birthing center to inform them when I was having regularly spaced surges (about 6min apart) I was recommended to have a shower and try to rest until I couldn’t anymore or surges were 4min apart. Within the hour my surges had picked up to every 4 minutes so we called the midwives where they said I was welcome to come in or I could wait till I felt they were closer together. Thanks to PBC and listening to my BRAIN I could tell my body was ready and we needed to get moving so I decided it was time to pack up to head to the birthing center!

We arrived around 4:30am and were taken to our room to be checked. I was dilated to a 5 and fully effaced. I was so glad I listened to my bodies signals and didn’t put off going in.

Things progressed quickly after that. I was unable to rest due to the increased frequency of the surges. It felt best to stand and do my up breathing or lean over the birthing ball. I had put in my birth preferences that I was open to using gas and air and the birthing tub for relief but did not plan on having a specific water birth. When I started to feel my body changing to transition mode I asked for the water to be run for the tub as I wanted to get nice and warm and cozy for some relief.

I entered the tub at around 9:45am and was informed I was dialated to an 8. My husband held my head and played with my hair as one of our cleaning/massage techniques we had chosen

He also repeated my favorite positive affirmations “my surges can not be stronger than me because they are me” and “each surge brings me closer to meeting my baby.”

After about and hour the down breathing came into play as my body started to let me know and involuntarily push baby down during the height of each surge. I had asked to have a check to see how far down baby had come and was informed she was a knuckles deep away from the vaginal opening. It was time to let my body do the work!

I breathed through each surge letting my body push her down and then release he slowly back upwards. I began to get frustrated with the amount of time I was “pushing” and was feeling more pressure than I was able to handle. I decided to take matters into my own hands and push with my surges instead of only breathing through (this is what I believe caused my tearing) I pushed until her head popped out halfway and then breathed through the next surge till her head was fully out.

Baby was still in her waters or sack when the head was out it was very cool to see her still that way! Her shoulders came with the next surge and broke the water or sack then at the next surge came the rest of her very long body. I had requested to “catch” her or bring her up to my chest myself after delivering and I was able to do just that. My first words to her were ”you did it.” I was so proud of my body and my baby for knowing when and how to be born.

The tub was drained during these few short moments of pure joy of hearing her hoarse little cries as she breathed fresh hair for the first time at 12:15pm after only 3.5 hours laboring in the pool. I was then helped out if the tub while still connected to her with my placenta unborn and her cord being unclamped.

When I stood my placenta rotated and released. I lost a substantial about of blood during the transfer to bed from the tub. My placenta had rotated and gotten caught in my cervix and had to be forced from my body by the midwife while I held baby on my chest for the golden hour of skin to skin.

After our golden hour I was told it was time to use the bathroom and when I sat up I immediately got lightheaded and passed out. This was a lot scarier for my husband and the midwives than I was for me. I just awoke in my nice fluffy pillow feeling refreshed after what I thought was a nice nap haha!

Everything since has gone swimmingly! Baby was born with a full tongue tie but was able to push through a breastfeed like the fighter she is. We had the tongue tie revised and now we are ready to take on the world!

I am forever grateful to the entire PBC team and Siobhan for the digital pack that allowed this Texan to learn how to enjoy her birth and trust her body.