Birth story - Kat and baby Cora

As a first-time mom, I had mentally prepared my entire pregnancy for my baby to come at 41 or 42 weeks – I even told everyone a fake due date that was ten days later than my actual due date. It was a huge shock for me when my water spontaneously broke at 38+1!

The day I was 38 weeks pregnant, my husband and I both had the day off and spent the day running errands. We slept in, I worked out, and then we went out and bought tons of groceries and enough dog food to last our dog a couple months! I also finished packing the hospital bag that day – my husband speculated later that my body must have known that something was about to happen! In the evening, we went out for dinner downtown at an Italian restaurant, then came home and watched Brooklyn 99 (hilarious – great for oxytocin!). I had been feeling Braxton-Hicks contractions since about 20 weeks, so I was not concerned when I began feeling them while lying in bed. I noticed that even though they were very mild, there was a distinct pattern to them, so my husband downloaded a contraction timer so that we could “practice for the real thing.” We timed a few contractions and went to bed around midnight.

Around 1am, I woke up to feel the baby kicking strongly and felt something wet. I got up to go to the bathroom to investigate, sat down to pee, and felt a lot of water pour into the toilet. After texting my mom, who is a midwife, I decided to try to get some sleep since I wasn’t feeling any contractions.

Two hours later, I was still lying awake in bed, too excited to sleep. I woke my husband and told him that I thought my water broke. He was instantly awake and ran out of the room to get his copy of the Birth Partner book! He consulted the book, which prompted him to ask what color the fluid was (clear). We agreed that was a good thing, and we nervously/excitedly chatted for a while, and then we tried to go to bed to get some sleep for the next day. Since my water broke, we knew that the hospital would prefer that I have the baby within 24 hours.

My husband drove me to my 38-week appointment in the morning, and I was only feeling mild contractions. They slowed significantly after arriving at the hospital (although my husband and I enjoyed talking to the baby while on the monitor and seeing the changes in the baby’s heart rate!). I consented to a pelvic exam, and the midwife said that my membranes were obviously ruptured. She checked my dilation and was very excited to tell me that I was already 3 cm, 90% effaced, and at -1 station. Hooray!

My husband and I left my appointment both excited and slightly nervous. I called my mother, who was already on her way to our house. After meeting at the house, we went out for a big brunch and then went back home to take a nap – I hadn’t slept more than an hour the night before, and I wanted as much energy as possible for the night ahead! Around 3pm, we checked into the hospital. After the nurse checked us in, she mostly left us to labor in peace, which we appreciated. We were shown to the “low-intervention room” with a big tub and a birth ball, and we set up our candles, diffuser, music, and a laptop with a slideshow of our wedding photos. Since we felt that we had a time deadline, we set to work trying to augment my labor ourselves, by looking at our wedding pictures, walking the halls, and doing lunges. My husband and I also did some kissing and nipple stim in the bathroom, as we felt awkward doing it in front of my mother!

After a few hours of these tactics, my labor was definitely starting to intensify! I was doing my up-breathing through every contraction. Knowing it could be a very long night, my husband ran out to get some fried chicken across the street while my mom and I marched up and down the halls. During each contraction, she encouraged me to move into a deep squat, which made the contractions more intense.

After 6pm, the on-call midwife called us in the hospital room and asked how I was progressing. She recommended some Pitocin to augment my labor since we were going on 18 hours since my water had broken. The nurse came in to start the Pitocin, and since I was now tethered to an IV, we raised the hospital bed, and I labored on the birth ball leaning over the bed. My labor started picking up very quickly, and I snapped at my husband and mother for talking while I was trying to focus on my up-breathing! I decided to get in the pool, which was a great decision. I labored leaning over the front of the pool and tried to stay as forward and open as I could.

The contractions became very powerful until I could no longer do my up-breathing through them – I found myself rocking my hips back and forth and vocalizing through each one, which really helped. My mom kept putting cold washcloths on my head, which felt amazing.

Around 10pm, the nurse came back into the room, took a look at the monitors, and said that it was time to increase the Pitocin. My mom said, “I think you should listen to some contractions.” The nurse must have been convinced that I was making adequate progress because she left again and did not push the increased Pitocin.

A few minutes later, I felt my body involuntarily pushing down at the end of a contraction, which completely surprised me. I looked up to my mom who was kneeling beside the pool and said, “I pushed a little on that one.” She replied, “I noticed!” with a huge smile on her face – she was happy and surprised that I had made it through transition without anyone noticing! At that point, I got out of the pool and onto the hospital bed (hospital policy prohibited water birth ☹). I pushed on all fours for a while, and then moved onto my side with a nurse holding a leg up. My husband gave me constant encouragement as I squeezed his fingers into oblivion 😆 he later apologized for excitedly cheering me on as if I were a horse at the races 😂 Pushing was hard work – I was surprised at how intense it was and how much energy it required! I was not able to do the down-breathing while pushing, instead I had to grunt and roar like a tiger! My mom tried to encourage me by telling me to reach down and feel her head, which felt very wet and squishy! Eventually I gave a few mighty pushes, shouted the f-word a few times (sorry, Mom!), and Cora slipped out into the world, with my mom catching her and unwrapping the cord as she emerged. The on-call midwife had just made it to the hospital a few minutes prior, but she decided that my mom had everything under control, so she stood back and watched!

Cora was handed up to me and I brought her up as far as her cord would allow. She was wiped off by the nurses as I looked at her beautiful little face for the first time! She was able to nurse a few minutes later with no issues. After everyone was satisfied that she was completely healthy and hadn’t passed any meconium, the hospital staff cleared out and left us in peace. Afterward, my mom told me that she could see Cora had been trying to participate in the birth by moving her head in the birth canal to try and get under my pubic bone and out! I thought that was so sweet, and I appreciate my baby's help! 😍

I’m so pleased I was able to have my positive birth, and I felt like a rock star for weeks afterward, especially because my husband kept telling me how impressive I was and how easy I made it look! But if I can do it, anyone can!