On November 18 we all woke up & started our normal routine for the day, Tom happened to be home & working on homework while my daughter, Olivia, and I were playing. That morning I consulted the lovely Magic 8 Ball just for fun on whether or not we were going to have a baby today, answer was ‘Most Likely’. Not much of a definite answer.
So around noon I decided to take Olivia to her room and try to put her down for a nap. While rocking her to sleep I started to feel very small pressure waves, nothing alarming but I did mention to Tom what was going on. Looking back I am so thankful I had one last time to rock my sweet girl to sleep and snuggle with her one last time before we welcomed her brother or sister. Olivia and I napped together till around 2:00 and by now the waves were still mild to me. I decided we needed to get out the house and distract ourselves because I knew we would start watching the clock.
We went to run some errands and by 3:30 Tom suggested we call our doula, Roxanne. I called her told her what was going and she “Ok, I’ll probably see you tonight” We got back home around 5:30 pm that evening and waves had started to pick up a little but I knew I wouldn’t be ready until Olivia went to bed so I could fully relax.
Tom put Olivia down to bed at 8 pm and I laid on the couch and started to talk to my cervix and baby to say I was ready for this. Almost instantly a wave came & it actually felt good to feel them I kept telling myself “just a squeeze from a blood pressure cuff” like the track says & welcome the waves. Once the waves started to pick up I went to bed to rest and listen to my tracks, by about 9:30 pm waves were 8 minutes apart but didn’t feel very strong. After about an hour or trying to sleep with no avail I started to pace the hallway so I had something to do.
Our doula suggested we call the midwife on call and let her know what was going on. I spoke with Susan and she said to call back with the waves were stronger & 5 mins apart. Roxanne asked if we needed her & I told her no that I was listening to easy first stage and felt good. We had been in touch with my friend Anna, who would be coming over to stay with Olivia once we decided it was time to go, around 11:00 I texted her and told her to go ahead and come over. By midnight I spoke to Susan again and told her how I was feeling and she predicted we had some time.
After that phone call I stayed in our bedroom going back and forth our room & the bathroom by this point I wasn’t talking much. I began to sit on the toilet (which YES the toilet feels amazing to sit on) and swaying back and forth during waves. Tom came in to see how I was feeling, I mostly wanted to be alone because I couldn’t focus much on anything else. Through some waves Anna reminded me to keep low tones during the noises I was making.
By 1:15 Tom decided to call Roxanne and tell her to come over. 1:30 we decided we needed to head to the birth center, I had no idea how far apart the waves were but Tom said they were 2-3 minutes apart and he knew they weren’t slowing down. We made our way to the car, which I wouldn’t get into, I kept pacing back and forth to which Tom gently suggested we really need to go. I had to sit on my side because there was so much pressure on my cervix. Tom called Susan and told her we were on our way.
The car ride was the hardest part & I said to Tom “Now I know why women have home births, so they don’t have to ride in a car during labor” We arrived to the birth center at 2:05am along with Susan, Sharon & Roxanne. Susan took one look at me said we should go ahead and go downstairs. We got downstairs and I headed straight for the bathroom to walk around. Susan began to fill the tub and Sharon said she needed to check my dilation.
Sweet, sweet Sharon, she was so patient with me as I would walk over to the bed try to lay down then walk away, I think that went on for quite a few minutes. I decided to climb on to the bed on all fours then try to lay down from there. Checking my dilation was worrisome for me because I was 7 cm when I opted for an epidural for Olivia and I was nervous to hear how far I was. Sharon was able to check me (very quickly, thank goodness) and I immediately returned to all fours.
Tom & Roxanne were leaning onto the bed holding my hands when Sharon said “Fully complete, bulging bag” I could not hold back my tears of joy, I looked to Tom and said “I made it” By this time the tub was full and they told me whenever I was ready I could get in. While on the bed my water broke, such a relief and took away quite a bit of pressure. I got into the tub staying on all fours because that felt the best, Sharon reminded me to keep my bottom down in the water since I was starting to move it out. That’s when I felt baby start to descend & my body began pushing & I had a moment of panic & lost some control of my breathing & apparently said “This does not feel peaceful!” Susan quickly and calmly told me to slow down my breathing and everything was ok & I began to focus again.
One more small push came then Tom decided to change and sit on the side of the tub. The next push I began to feel I decided to keep going until baby was out. Once I pushed the last push the rest is a blur, next thing I knew I was sitting in the water, Tom behind me saying “You did it! You did it!” I looked at him and said “What? I did what?” Then he told me to look down and baby was in my arms! Then we both had the chance to say “It’s a girl!” November 19th, 2:58 am our beautiful baby girl, Camille Magnolia came Earthside, all 8 pounds 21 inches of her. I’m told just a few minutes after giving birth I said “I could do this again” which I blame on being high on adrenaline and oxytocin.
All in all I couldn’t have asked or prayed for a better healing birth experience. I don’t recall being in any pain or much discomfort. I truly believe Hypnobabies helped me to remain in a state of peace & calm throughout my birthing time. I’m thankful we were surrounded by so much love and support from our midwives & doula.
Julie Byers 