Birth story - Brittany and baby Quincy

*Trigger warning* - Use of the word cramp, as it’s not negative to me and actually helped me picture them as period cramps!

Pregnancy:

I had a straightforward pregnancy. I was sick with nausea and vomiting for the first 18 weeks, and after that didn’t have much desire to eat, but baby and I remained healthy throughout. I had quite a bit of anxiety throughout my pregnancy to the point where I was too anxious to drive for awhile, but reading the stories about mamas getting to meet and birth their babies on here really helped. I worked out almost every day which also helped with my mood, anxiety, and I truly believe helped with my labor as well. Other things I believed helped me along with the positive birth course was drinking raspberry leaf tea, my exercise ball, curb walking, and the gentle birth tincture!

Birth plan:

I had originally planned on birthing in a hospital because my husband was more comfortable with that, and so was I being a former neonatal intensive care nurse, and him a pediatrician. At 32 weeks my husband and I moved to Alabama and I had sought out a new OBGYN who I was excited to meet. Our visit did not go as planned however when the OB immediately mentioned induction because she had a vacation planned on my due date. I had told her I did not want to be induced because there was no reason to be and I wanted as natural of a birth as possible, and she brought up the arrival trial and disregarded my preferences immediately. I left the appointment very upset that I was now 32 weeks along with no plan on where or who would deliver our baby. On the drive home I decided to call a midwife and ask about a home birth. Where we live, there was only one midwife who would come for a home birth as it has not been legal for long in the state of Alabama. The phone call went so well and I instantly felt at peace with the decision to have our baby at home.

Labor:

I woke up on September 10th (40+1) at 4:30am with mild period like cramps. They would come every 5-10 minutes, but I could sleep through them and didn’t think much of it. A few more cramps came that were stronger by 8:00am and I started getting excited thinking this was my labor even though I was still googling “early labor” to make sure. Instead of relaxing like recommended, I had my husband start to fill up the tub as I knew it would take awhile, and after around 11am we went to the gym for a workout. I walked on the treadmill as my husband worked out and had to stop in between cramps to breathe. They weren’t painful by any means, just not comfortable to walk through at this point. We got home around 1pm and I had a smoothie and snack and we finished getting everything around for the birth in case this was it (we still weren’t sure at this point).

Around 6:00pm I decided to have my husband check my cervix because the cramps were still consistent and I began getting tired and really wanted to know if this was labor or just cramps. To both of our surprise I was 3cm dilated (I was 1cm the night before when he checked me)! I then called the midwife and asked her what she thought I should do. She suggested I go for a walk down the street, so my husband and I headed out. After only about 10 minutes of walking it became increasingly difficult to focus when a cramp would come. I used my up breathing and held onto my husband and rocked while the cramps came and went. They were lasting 45 seconds and were 2-5 minutes apart at this point. We got to the end of the road and I began feeling very emotional because the intensity was picking up but I still refused to believe this was labor. At this point I called my midwife and told her I think she should head over just in case. She had an hour and a half drive to my house, and arrived at 9:12pm on September 10th still. She later told me she smiled when I called because she knew this was it by the sound of my voice on the phone.

By the time she arrived I was in the tub breathing through the cramps, and still felt in control. I talked to her and the midwife who was assisting her and we laughed and joked. I asked to be checked, and the first midwife checked me and said I was 8cm. I was ECSTATIC. I jokingly asked how we could speed the labor up because I wanted to have her before 9/11, and the midwife suggested I get out and walk around. Getting out of the tub made the cramps more intense, but I was ready to meet my baby so I did laps around the kitchen and leaned back into my husbands arms when a cramp would come. Things began to ramp up intensity wise so I asked to be checked again. Prior to labor no doctor or midwife apart from my husband had checked me, and I did not want to be checked in my preferences either. During labor though I became eager to know my progression. The older midwife who was more familiar with checks then agreed to check me and said she believed I was only at a 6-7cm and an hour and a half had gone by at this point. We later realized I was further along, but the lip that had begun swelling up didn’t make it seem as I was. At the time though I didn’t know about the lip, and was very discouraged by this and the midwife who checked me went to lay down immediately after because she had a delivery the night before. In her mind she thought it would be awhile longer, but I felt the opposite. This is when the midwife’s believe I was actually transitioning when debriefing the next day about the delivery with them. At the time though I tried not to focus on the fact that I wasn’t as far along as I thought, and got back into my zone. I was bouncing on the ball, trying to go to the bathroom (pushing urge had came), hung on a door, and was jumping in and out of my tub at this point.

Around 1:00am I began feeling very desperate and exhausted. I began to lose control and only could scream through the surges I was experiencing. I begged my husband and midwife to take me to the hospital. I got into the tub and reached down to feel my cervix and see where I was at myself. All I could feel was a swollen chunk of tissue, and I had no idea what it was. I told the midwife something didn’t feel right. The elder midwife came out at this point and agreed to check me. We found that I was completely dilated, but a lip had formed that was keeping baby from descending down the birth canal. She offered to hold it back while I tried to push her head around a few times and I happily agreed. The other midwife held pressure on my perineum as I gave some pushes which felt amazing and helped me to know exactly where to push and focus my energy down to. My body had been pushing each surge at this point for around 45 minutes but the lip prevented labor from progressing and I was fighting the pushing urge. Her head came around the lip with three pushes once the midwife assisted, then I got onto the birthing stool the midwives had brought.

At this point I was unaware I was supposed to be pushing her out. I was so used to women being told when to push from working in the hospital that I thought they would tell me when it was time, and even after giving a few pushes to get her head around the lip I had not realized it was time. I was fighting the urge to push then heard the midwife call the photographer over because she could see the head. I was shocked by this. I reached down and sure enough felt my babies head and honestly, it freaked me out. The next surge came and the midwife got behind me on the couch and grabbed my shoulders and told me to relax and pulled me back onto her. As soon as she did this Quincy’s head came flying out. We waited for the next surge, and with it her body shot out as well. She came so fast that my husband and midwife failed to catch her and our little baby girl took a small tumble onto the floor. I was so oblivious to this at the moment though, and just so happy that she was here. She was born at 2:00am, which was around 5 hours from the start of active labor.

Holding her for the first time was absolutely the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve never been so proud and empowered by my body. I felt like superwoman. The hormone surge is absolutely the best thing to look forward to. My husband handed her to me and climbed behind me on the couch as we held our baby girl. We laid on the couch together for over an hour and she breastfed almost immediately. This was the best feeling ever. It all was.

My placenta came 10 minutes after birth and we waited to cut the cord until it went white. The midwives checked me and to all of our surprise there were no tears even with her fast delivery! Everything went better than I could have ever imagined. As a person who struggled with anxiety my entire pregnancy I can tell you that it’s all worth it and to just trust your body and baby, they’re working together.