Birth story - Oriane and baby Luka

On the morning of Wednesday December 23rd I was laying in bed, half awake, feeling huge and uncomfortable (I was 41w+3d), trying to decide if I should get up or try to go back to sleep. I tried to get comfortable and I thought I was peeing myself! Once I woke up all the way and waddled to the bathroom I realized that it was my water leaking/ breaking. Honestly, I was disappointed. I knew this would put a “clock” on my labor and I really didn’t want antibiotics.

I figured it would be a long day of laboring and I wanted to get some rest, so I went back to bed since it was only 5:00 AM. I made a mental list of all the things I wanted to do in early labor to distract myself- go for a walk, take a bath, make a gingerbread house. I was able to rest and watch tv until about 8:00 when I decided to get up and make breakfast- again, preparing for a full day or two of labor.

While making and eating breakfast I started having contractions. They were manageable, but were already coming every 5 minutes. I couldn’t sit still during them and just wanted to squat down. I couldn’t finish my breakfast, but decided to go shower instead. During my shower the contractions got more intense and I started moaning, breathing, and swaying through them. Once I got out of the shower I started the hypno tracks on the freya app and that seemed to help. Ben (my husband) started squeezing my hips to take the pressure out of my back.

By 9:30 my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting for over a minute. I was feeling a little overwhelmed and was having trouble keeping my breathing under control. Listening to the counting on the freya app was helpful in keeping me focused. I was most comfortable kneeling on the floor and leaning over the bed. I also labored on the toilet a lot. I had on the mediation and hypnobirthing tracks and put the TENS machine on my back which was also very helpful. All of this helped me to stay calm and focused. I remember thinking that things were moving a lot faster than what I was prepared for. I was also thinking that it was really intense and that I wouldn’t be able to do this for 20+ hours like a lot of first time moms. I threw up a few times and kind of panicked thinking that this could mean transition and my midwives weren’t there yet.

My doula showed up shortly after and supported me through contractions and helped Ben get the birth pool set up. I remember being so excited when she said I could get in the pool because this meant that I was pretty far along. The water was so calming and really helped me to relax. At 1:00 PM my midwives came, after I had been in the birth pool for about an hour. I was still listening to my hypnobirthing tracks and breathing and moaning through contractions. Everyone was whispering and moving around quietly and things felt so calm and peaceful. Shortly after they arrived my body started pushing. It was such a strange feeling because it wasn’t a conscience decision or effort made by me, my body was just doing what it was supposed to do. For quite a while I didn’t push with the contractions, I just tried to relax and breathe and let my body and baby do what they needed to do. This part was so intense and so exhausting. I felt very out of control. I had my eyes closed most of the time, but sometimes I would open my eyes and make eye contact with one of my midwives or doula and their encouraging looks and words were so helpful. Surrounding yourself with a positive and supportive team is so important.

After about 2 hours of letting my body push I was exhausted and ready for it to just be over. I remember thinking that something wasn’t right- that I shouldn’t be pushing for this long. I was ready to just be done, so I started pushing with the contractions and with my body. I asked someone to turn off the hypnobirthing tracks and turn on music, I needed a change of pace. After a couple pushes I could feel the top of baby’s head. He stayed here for a long time. I finally changed positions and gave a few more pushes and then he was crowning. A few more pushes and his head was out. Me and Ben both had our hands on his head, waiting for the next contraction and for the rest of him to be born.

Ben said that he could feel baby’s hand, that it was up against his cheek. I was scared for a minute because I didn’t know what this meant for the rest of the birth. This is also when it “clicked” as to why I had been pushing for so long, I knew that something was off. His little hand had been in the way the whole time! My next contraction was really short and mild and I didn’t push with it, so baby stayed with just his head out, underwater, a little bit longer. On the next contraction I pushed, and my midwife guided baby out. At 3:54 PM me and Ben lifted baby up out of the water and onto my chest. He immediately started crying and looking around.

I didn’t want to put him on my chest, I just wanted to look at his face and talk to him. I kept telling him how good of a job he did and that he was finally here. I finally did lay him on my chest and just kept touching his chubby little arm rolls. It was such an amazing feeling to finally have him here. We stayed in the pool for a little while, but the water was cold by now so we decided to move to the chair in Lukas nursery. After we got to the chair Luka latched and nursed for the first time. This was so special and I’m so happy for this moment.

After a few minutes my midwife said that she wasn’t happy with how much blood I was losing and that we needed to deliver the placenta now. We tried a couple things, but it still wasn’t coming and I was still bleeding. Things got a little more serious here. I was feeling very tired and weak and decided I wanted Ben to take Luka. He cut the cord, and put Luka skin to skin with him. I’m not sure how long it took, but my midwives had to work on me for quite a while and use everything they had to be able to stop the bleeding. It was painful and it was serious, but I never felt scared. I was able to use my breathing to keep calm. Eventually I birthed the placenta and they were able to stop the bleeding.

Once we were all snuggled in bed Luka weighed in at almost 10 pounds! Due to his compound presentation (his hand next to his face) I had a second degree tear that needed stitches. Being at home, there wasn’t much pain relief available and this part was very painful. But I was able to use my up breathing to stay calm and focused.

My birth was everything that I hoped it would be. It was positive, empowering, and so rewarding. I’m happy that I had so much prenatal education and so many tools available to me to stay calm and focused. I am so blessed that I was able to have the birth that I dreamed of.