A note about midwifery: I decided with my third child that I would select a midwife to deliver my baby. I made this decision after having researched natural birthing. Home birth and birthing using a midwife is becoming less taboo as more mothers and fathers are educating themselves on the subject. It is actually safer than hospital births if you are low risk. Hospital births can lead to unnecessary intervention. I did not feel that I had the greatest experience with the birth of my first two children. I felt too restricted. It is not in my nature to feel that accepting drugs such as an epidural is natural in the least. Additionally, I had a male doctor deliver my babies, and the thought occurred to me after seeing him several times was, “How does he know what is best? He has never actually experienced birth himself. Has he even witnessed a natural birth?” I will talk more about him when I post the stories of my first two children.
A day after my “ultrasound due date” I went to work. I am a teacher and I needed to try and get my classroom together before our daughter arrived. I worked for a couple of hours and then ran some errands with my oldest (my son Aidan). I had noticed a pretty serious pinching pain in my cervix that was happening off and on. I had experienced it weeks before, but this time it was different. On my way to Michael’s (craft store), I almost jumped out of my seat from the pinching sensation. I thought I was going to go into labor on the freeway! I got to Michael’s and the thought occurred to me that my waters might break in the store. They didn’t… That evening around 9:30pm I felt a sudden frantic type of energy. I told my husband Cody that I could not give birth in a dirty house and had the sudden urge to want to frantically clean everything. 30 minutes later I felt a pinching sensation again and then a gush of water. My waters finally broke! I started laughing hysterically. I go to the bathroom to change, and of course I keep gushing water. Cody walks in on me and I explain to him that I think my waters broke. He nods in agreement and then we kiss, deeply. Which made me gush more water. I decide to put on a pad and call my midwife Cathy. I decide to lay down to rest, and I start having some mild contractions.
After awhile I decide to get out of the tub and put on my bathing suit top. I do different things like walk around, sit on my birthing ball, eat yogurt, drink water… Cathy asked if she could go ahead and check me for dilation and effacement. I was only about 3cm dilated. I had to wait a little bit longer before getting into the birth pool. I spent a lot of time rocking back and forth on the ball. Cody sat with me and held me through each contraction. I made sure to start “practicing my breathing” by keeping my voice low and my mouth relaxed and open. The contractions were pretty manageable. But a short while later they grew about 3 minutes apart. That’s when my doulas (Joli and Kathleen) show up. I think it was about 3:30am at this point. I get in the water and my contractions slow down to about 5 minutes apart. I remember moving around a lot. I was constantly re-positioning myself to get comfortable. I would float on my stomach, then float on my back. The most comfortable position was being on my knees and leaning over the side.
My kids woke up around 6am. I am assuming that’s what time it was because that’s when they normally get up. I was also making a lot of noise. I looked up and saw Lillian on the balcony laying on her stomach, peaking through the banister rails. She was being very shy. She finally decided to come downstairs. She was very interested in what was going on. I gave her a kiss to reassure her. She hung out for a little bit and then Kathleen helped her get snacks in the kitchen. She sat on Kathleen’s lap for the rest of the labor and watched her sister make her debut. Aidan hung out on the balcony and did not want to come down.
It wasn’t long before the placenta was delivered. Pushing the placenta out was nothing. I didn’t even care. I was so in love with my baby.
I did it! I did it with very little intervention, intermittent fetal monitoring, hardly any vaginal exams, and I got to move around any which way I wanted. The water was amazing. My body felt weightless, and my body was able to relax after each contraction. This was the greatest experience of my life. It is amazing what a woman’s body is capable of. I feel blessed to have had the support I needed. Especially the support of my husband.
Video of Cailynn’s Birth
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