Written by Kate
My birth story starts a few weeks before my sweet boy was born. I had three instances of false labor where I was timing consistent contractions for a few hours, then I would go to sleep, and wake up without any contractions. I was doing the miles circuit daily (and many other natural induction methods), sometimes multiple times a day, for weeks to get baby boy in a better position and hopefully move the contractions along. Finally, I reached 41 weeks and 5 days and went to my final prenatal appointment with Sandra. I decided to have my membranes swept at this appointment in hopes it would be the last push baby needed to make his appearance.
Throughout that evening, I was having mild to moderate contractions but I tried not to think much of them since I had had so many instances of false labor before this. I went to bed and woke up around 1 am to a strong contraction. I tried to go back to sleep but it was getting uncomfortable to lay down, so I decided to get up and go downstairs to time the contractions. I was only downstairs for 20 mins before I felt like needed to wake up my husband. I was in denial that this was true labor starting but my gut was telling me this was the real deal. My husband could tell as well because I was already having trouble speaking during my contractions and they were coming every 2-4 minutes.
We called Sandra, who agreed it was time for her to come over, and my husband starting setting up the birthing pool. I labored for another 2 hours standing, swaying, and breathing through the contractions while holding combs in my hands for counter pressure. When Sandra arrived and observed how labor was progressing, she suggested I get into the birthing pool for some relief. I wasn’t sure if I liked the sensation of having contractions in the birthing pool for the first 15 minutes or so, but after finding a couple comfortable positions, I settled in there for the rest of my labor.
As the contractions were getting more intense, I started to hum and moan through them while also still using the combs for counter pressure. My wonderful birth team also provided counter pressure on my low back while I leaned over the side of the birth pool. I was still able to relax and talk in between contractions which was such a wonderful feeling compared to my first birth experience, where I labored through petocin induced contractions with no break in intensity for hours on end.
I started feeling the slight urge to push after about an hour in the pool and this urge grew stronger in the hour that followed. Almost by surprise, during one of these strong contractions, my sons head was born en caul. His head was out for about 5 minutes while the birth team broke my water sac and helped me get into a better position to birth his body. After another push, my beautiful and healthy son was born!
Overall, I labored for 5 hours and it was the most peaceful, smooth labored I could have ever hoped for.