Lizzie was born on January 28 at 6:34 a.m. This is her birth story: I was having pws for a long time before I actually gave birth. I did things a little bit different this pregnancy because I really wanted to go natural. So I really focused on increasing my protein (which is really hard for me) to strengthen the placenta I also rubbed basil (DoTerra Essential oil) on my right ankle every night to help strengthen the placenta. Both of my previous pregnancies have ended with me being induced because of placenta problems. About 3 weeks before my due date (so when I was 37 weeks) I started listening to birthing day affirmations. I also had a massage where my massage therapist focused on pressure points that encourage labor and she used clary sage, which is a labor inducing oil. About that time I would get pws, but they weren’t anything big. At 38 1/2 weeks I started drinking raspberry tea and started rubbing clary sage on my ankles (both sides) and my little toes. I also started listening to my “Come out Baby” track.
On the 26 (Thursday night) I was having pretty strong pws and I thought this might be it, but nothing. On Friday (27) I went for my weekly checkup with my midwife and I had her strip my membranes. That was about 11 that morning and I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced. I came home and was feeling pretty good, I was having pws, but nothing major. My doula texted me and told me that I needed to get into hypnosis early and that she was going to Las Vegas for her daughter’s gymnastics meet, so if she didn’t make it to the birth, then that was how it was meant to be. After lunch I listened to my deepening track and started having some really good pws. My husband put the girls down for nap/quiet time and I told him we needed to start getting things ready and that I thought the girls should go over to a neighbor’s house when they got up. I started walking up and down the stairs, listening to my birthing day affirmations and my pws stopped. So we didn’t end up taking the girls to a neighbor’s house. We played a game and then the girls got up. We made dinner and while we were making dinner my pws started up again, so this time I listened to my fear clearing session while dinner was in the oven. I had several pws during dinner and we started timing them, I think they were 5-7 minutes apart.
After dinner I listened to another track (I think it was come out baby). My husband started putting the girls to bed and my pws stopped again. I called my mom and gave her an update and then checked the news and then took a shower. While I was in the shower I was doing belly lifts to encourage the pws and help the baby turn if she was posterior. After my shower I decided we should probably go to bed, so we went to bed about 9:30 (normally we don’t go to bed until around 11). Both of us had a hard time falling asleep, but I think my husband finally fell asleep around 10:30. Usually listening to my tracks helps me fall asleep, and I was drifting in and out, but the pws started up again and they were getting more intense, so around midnight I asked for my husband’s help and I went out to our living room, he got the Easy First stage cd out and put that on and I was leaning against the ball and rolling it around etc. I think this was also helpful in getting Lizzie into the right position. They seemed to stop again, so we went back to bed. For the next hour I was having really intense pws, but they were only like 15 minutes apart. At the end of the hour I had 4 in about 24 minutes so about 6 minutes apart. So I woke up my husband and I told him, “these pws are as intense as right before I got the epidural with Jenna.” During her labor I was at about a 6 or 7 when they gave me the epidural (and I only got it because they were telling me I would need pitocin, and I didn’t think I could handle the contractions with pitocin, however, she was born 1/2 hour after they gave me the epidural!). So my husband decides that we should go in and calls our neighbor down the street and my midwife. I hop into the shower and continue to do belly lifts. I get out of the shower and talk to my midwife who tells me she has had another long night (she was inducing a patient that night and had been up the night before delivering a baby) and so she is going to lie down to rest and wait until I am all checked in to come.
Our neighbor gets there and my husband has all the stuff in the car, so we go out to the car. We drove to the hospital. I had a couple of pws on the way in. They decide to put me in a triage room (first time that’s ever happened:) and check me. They knew that my midwife liked to check her own patients, but I told them that she was sleeping and not to bother her, so they checked me. I was at a 4 1/2 and that really discouraged me. They told me that I could walk around for an hour and they would recheck and if I had progressed they would definitely keep me. So my husband and I walked around, I was walking using wide hips and was listening to easy, first stage. I also put some clary sage on my belly and ankles and made plenty of trips to the bathroom. Right before they checked me again I told my husband that I didn’t think that I could go home at this point. When they checked me I was at a 6, so they got me all checked in and into a room.
My midwife comes along and checks to see how I am doing. She left for a little bit and I started to feel pushy. When she came back I told her this and so she checked me. I was at an 8 1/2 and my bag of waters was in front of the head. She told me that my waters would probably break soon and I would feel a big pop. At this point I was definitely “ahing” during my contractions. I had to go to the bathroom and she told me if I felt the baby coming we would have to go back to the bed, however I made it back to bed before anything happened. However my “ahing” changed to a much deeper gutteral sound. At this point my midwife is telling the nurses, she’s having this baby. My nurse was actually helping with another delivery and so I guess the nurses weren’t really around, my midwife said this was great because then she didn’t have to check me etc. She was constantly telling me to listen to my body and if I felt like pushing to push (even when she checked me and I was only an 8 1/2)! She was also rubbing my shoulders and neck and my head. My husband was putting counter pressure on my back. I was leaning against the bed on my knees with my hands over it — kind of like a chair. However, I switched to my hands and knees as I started pushing. At one point I was kind of kneeling down so that the baby wouldn’t be able to come out, and my midwife said that I would have to open up more so they could get the baby. I know I had the pushing baby out track playing, but I wasn’t listening to it. Interestingly enough, my pws still weren’t regular. I remember having like a 5 minute pause between one and then the next one was like 90 seconds. My midwife asked if I wanted her to break my waters so the baby would just come out, and I agreed, so she broke my water. At this point I just felt a constant need to push. I know I took breaks, but I just felt like I had to keep pushing to get her out. It seemed like it took a really long time, but I’m sure that it didn’t. She finally came out and my husband announced, “it’s a girl” and I got to hold her. I definitely feel like this birth left me so empowered and I am so glad that I finally got my all natural birth!!!:)
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