Birth story - Kayla and baby Jace

*Trigger warning* - use of the word contraction

I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy. I went to a chiropractor regularly, which I think saved me from back labor with this sunny side up baby. That, and the fact he was born in his amniotic sac. Leading up to labor I had been having extremely inconsistent contractions for three days. The day prior to delivery I was taking black cohosh and cotton root bark at my midwives recommendation and he was born the following morning. I don’t know if it helped at all, but I also did nipple stimulation and had hubby help soften my cervix the night before my labor established.

My birth in 7 pictures!

[1] Made it to the birth center at 8:30 AM to get checked because my contractions and pressure were INTENSE. I had kind of consistent contractions since 3AM (they varied widely in time and frequency) but I was shocked to find out I was 7cm dilated, so I chose my room and got ready to have a baby . For almost my entire labor I remembered UFO and found the most relief when leaned over a counter, really letting the weight of my stomach fall during breaths. Oh and also “floppy face floppy fanny” (or horse lips) how relaxed your face is, is how relaxed your fanny will be, so I refrained from tensing during contractions to allow my muscles to work.

[2] 9:13 AM - thought I was cute and took a smiley pic between contractions.

[3] 9:26 AM - felt like I was being punished for smiling in the picture because my contractions started coming back to back. I knew that meant I was in transition. Really utilized deep vocalizations to make it through transition. Remember transition is the quickest part of labor-you can do it, and when you feel like you can’t anymore that usually means you’re almost at the finish line!

[4] 9:36 AM - struggling BUT breathing through contractions while they checked baby’s heart rate. I was starting to have urges to push.

[5] 9:45 AM - baby Jace was born IN HIS SAC, my water never broke! I didn’t get a pic of it, but it was so cool . My doula didn’t even make it in time for the birth, it happened so quickly.

[6] 9:55 AM - dad cut the cord

[7] 2:43 PM - back at home and big sister Mila is absolutely enamored with her baby brother. She won’t let us take him from her

It was a quick and amazing experience. No stitches, which was probably due to being in the water and trying my hardest to breath him out.