Warning: this is my honest portrayal of my birth experience with our third child. I do go into some detail that could be graphic for some.
On Friday, August 16, we welcomed the newest member of our family. After a difficult third pregnancy, I was done being pregnant. It’s not that I hated being pregnant, but I had a hard time eating for months, low energy, and difficulty moving due to the babies large size and his position on my back.
When my due date arrived, I was super excited to welcome this little one and have my pregnancy over with. Unfortunately, the baby decided he wasn’t quite ready. I actually made it to 41 weeks and I was getting into a catch-22 situation – I wanted the baby to come when he was ready but I was also done being pregnant.
Part of my frustration stemmed from my progress as the time – I am lucky to dialate before I go into labor. So at 41 weeks, I was almost fully dialated and effaced. All I needed was for my contractions to start.
During my 41 week check-up, my midwife and I came up with a plan to try and start contractions naturally through a massage and hope this would send me into labor.
I was determined to go into labor, so I was moving and shifting my position for several hours. I managed to get some strong contractions, so I called my midwife and she headed my way. This is where things go from 0-60!
I was getting frustrated and decided to go to the bathroom. I kid you not, as soon as I sat down on the toilet, the tone of my voice changed and my midwife and Damon were instantly at my side. I didn’t need to use the bathroom, what I needed was to be in that position (squatting) to go into labor.
Damon helped me stand and my water broke. What happened next was wave after wave of contractions. I was hoping for a water birth, so I got into the tub but #3 was coming faster than the water could fill the tub.
I managed a half squat and felt his head coming out. I then had to reposition into a full squat, which helped him slide the rest of the way out. I guess I should’ve listened to my body the first time, and just stayed squatted. And, by the way, I’m swearing up a storm during all of this. I thought I was loud, but I was told that I was actually pretty tame.
And just like that, he was finally here. I sat in the warm water and was able to take a breath for a moment. That’s when my midwife told me that he came out in 12 minutes. Yup, from start to finish was 12 minutes. And while waiting for him to decide to come out was draining on me, it was nice to have such a fast labor (although, in the moment I was asking myself why I was so impatient for this part to come).
But as soon as I had him on my chest, i forgot almost everything. He snuggled up on my chest and fell asleep (he even started snoring 😍).
Once I got cleaned up, I learned the next surprising news – little guy was 11lbs, 11oz. Yup, I gave birth to a watermelon in 12 minutes. With no drugs and no tearing. My midwife and I were laughing at just how big he was.
Now I understood why I had such a hard pregnancy – I had the equivalent of a three-month old on my back and draining a lot of my resources. And while it was really hard to go through, I was all worth it to have this sweet little guy in my arms.
Heartswell Adventures 