Birth story - Mikayla and baby Laszlo

On Wednesday morning 5/29, I woke up at 4:30am with very mild period like cramps. I didn’t tell my husband because I didn’t want either of us to get too excited, I just went through my day as normally as possible. I noticed that the cramps started having a steady pattern to them, roughly 10 minutes apart at around 7am. At my OB appointment that afternoon for a NST they confirmed they were mild contractions, and I was 2cm (I had not been dilated at all previously). They didn’t know if it would result in anything, so they scheduled an induction date for me a week later.

I went to our local greenhouses, hung out with my sisters, had lunch with my dad, and just went about my day. The surges were so easy to manage that no one even knew I was in labor. When by husband got home at 6pm my surges were 5minutes apart and I was beginning to have to focus on working through each one. I was managing really well and was so calm, happy and relaxed, I felt like we still had a long way to go. I sat on my birth ball, on the toilet, or swayed against the counter. The toilet was definitely more intense, but I took that as a good sign that my surges were working well! Every time I used the toilet I told myself I would stay there for 3 surges because I could feel them working really well.
The timing was really scattered and ranging between 2-6 minutes apart so I wasn’t sure when I should go to the hospital. I really wanted to labour at home as long as possible and was afraid of being sent home, thinking maybe I could still be at 2 or 3cm. Finally at 9:30 my husband really encouraged me to go in, so we left. The surges slowed down in the car and weren’t as intense, so I thought maybe I was stalling, but they picked right back up once we checked in. The hospital read my birth plan and everyone was so wonderful and calming, I think I was the most calm and relaxed I have ever been. They checked me at 10:15 and I was 7cm, which made me ecstatic; I figured we only had a few more hours to go! I had thought about doing gas and air but I was managing the surges so well I thought I would wait until I had a harder time with getting through them. I decided to go into the shower which was so nice with the hot water on my belly. I was so shocked when a few minutes later I could feel his head! The OB encouraged me to get out of the shower to birth but I felt like I was frozen in another universe, and my husband told her he thought I wanted to stay where I was (I wasn’t speaking at this point) so she just let me do my thing. I could feel my body pushing him down, and it seemed very natural to push with my body, though down breathing was thrown out the window at that point. Three surges later, my baby was born in the shower, less than an hour after arriving at the hospital. I caught him myself and brought him to my chest right away, it was the most surreal and intense experience of my life! My tearing was so minimal I didn’t need stitches, and I birthed my placenta in bed 10 minutes later. No one but my husband and I touched our baby for several hours after he was born.

I debated about a home birth for a long time, but my hospital experience was so perfect. I absolutely wouldn’t change a thing! I never thought I would have such an amazing experience, or that my baby would come into the world so calmly and peacefully. ❤ ❤