Mom’s Story

Pre Labor

Being my first, I was fully prepared to have a long labor with early labor starting and stopping or lasting a day or two. I had some minor cramping at 38 and 39 weeks for a day or two and then nothing until 40w3d on Saturday, June 18th. Matthew and I started our morning with a one mile walk. When we were a few houses away from home, Matthew let our dog Blanca get frisky and torment a cat. The cat lover I am, wanted to get down and apologize when Matthew took Blanca away. Bad idea as the cat attacked my arm and I had 5 puncture wounds. I was more annoyed than anything and after cleaning it well, monitored it over the next few hours. I went to get a pedicure and a few groceries. Around 2:30pm, my wrist had swollen with increased tenderness and redness around the bite, so I called Austin Regional Clinic who couldn't get me in and recommended we go to the ER. We looked up urgent cares in our network and the first we drove to was closed, the second had a 3 hour wait and didn’t carry the rabies vaccine and also suggested we go to the ER. I had to laugh as they asked “labor and delivery?” to which I responded, “no, cat bite”. I’d only been to the doctor twice my entire pregnancy with every intention of having a natural homebirth, and here I found myself in the ER at 40 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Fortunately, we were taken back and seen quickly. I was given a prescription for an antibiotic and we left around 6pm. 

Early Labor

While leaving the ER, I felt my first what I considered, “new cramping sensations”. It wasn’t until after I’d delivered Calvin that I realized this was when early labor started. I was ignoring them as they weren’t painful and we stopped to pick up dinner and my prescription on the way home. Our pharmacy was already closed and Matthew insisted I start the antibiotic that evening so he drove over an hour to pick it up at another pharmacy. While he was gone, I talked to my best friend Bailey on the phone and mentioned these “new feelings” in addition to having diarrhea several times that day, assuring her it was nothing and if anything was starting it would still be days until Calvin arrived. I attended Bailey’s home birth 6 years ago and really hoped she could be at mine. Thank God for Bailey’s intuition as she told me she was going to wake up at 5am and drive to Austin (a ~6 hour drive from Lubbock). When Matthew got home  after 8:30pm, he commented on how I seemed very worked up as I sat on the exercise ball. I told him I wasn’t sure if/when I should have Bailey come and when I should call my Mom. We prayed together and I decided to follow the advice to rest as much as possible while knowing maternal exhaustion is the number one reason for hospital transfer from a home birth. Bailey text me at 9:40pm that she had decided to hop in the car and drive to Brownwood to get a hotel that would put her 2 hours away in the morning. At this time I still wasn’t calling these “sensations” contractions and was trying to ignore them. I laid in bed while listening to my Christian hypnobirthing app at 9pm. I wrote on a piece of paper by my bed, “6-9pm ~15” referring to how many of these “sensations” I’d felt. I was resting, but wasn’t able to completely fall asleep between them. I wrote down the time as they happened but wasn’t timing them. They were coming anywhere from 8-15 minutes apart. By 11pm I had a couple that were 5-7 minutes apart and decided I wasn’t going to sleep as I had to get up to go to the bathroom with every other one. I assume this is when I entered first stage labor. Matthew was still awake in the living room and I kept encouraging him to sleep, but he could sense the intensity changing as I became more antsy and uncomfortable. I don’t recall a lot between 11pm-1am other than asking Matthew to put my worship playlist on. We hadn’t started timing the contractions, but I told Matthew as they intensified that they felt like electricity/tree branches reaching through my low back. I remember thinking I was already at a level of discomfort that I couldn’t imagine getting in a car to go to the hospital and I’d made up my mind I was going to do this. At some point I had Matthew get an ice pack from the freezer to put on my low back and after that, I needed it pressed against my low back during each contraction. I also had him give me two combs that I’d squeeze during each contraction and I didn’t let go of them until just before Calvin’s delivery. I threw up twice just after 1am and mentally felt nervous at how intense things were while thinking I had many long hours ahead of me. After I threw up, I told Matthew to go ahead and call my Mom to drive the 3.5 hours home from the beach. Before hanging up I said “take your time!” again thinking I would be in labor for another day or more. Matthew and I think this is when I went through transition as from that point on I was unaware of much going on around me and I embraced each contraction while focusing on resting in between them. I was still telling Matthew not to text and bother our midwives in the middle of the night. He could tell I was further along than I thought and he was getting anxious being alone with me so he text the midwives who told him to start timing the contractions and draw me a bath. He was also concerned about my hydration since I had been having diarrhea/throwing up and wasn’t drinking much water. When he started timing the contractions, they were lasting 40-60 seconds and ranging from 2-5 minutes apart. While in the guest bathroom I asked Matthew to switch the worship playlist to the Christian hypnobirthing tracks I listened to the last 3 months of pregnancy. Shortly after 2am Matthew text the midwives he needed someone with him and called Bailey to skip the hotel and come straight to our house. Our midwife, Kate, arrived at 2:45am and I was in the bathtub. It was very helpful that she told me the next few contractions would get more intense each time I changed positions. She helped me move from the tub to our bed where I was side lying and able to completely rest and go limp between contractions. This is when I really got into a rhythm with each contraction, going into a deep, low moan, squeezing the combs and having the ice pack pushed into my back. While on the bed, I had Matthew switch the speaker again to play my labor playlist since I realized I couldn’t hear anything during contractions through my low moaning. Bailey arrived at 4am and Kate had me move to the bathroom to try to pee so she could test my hydration levels. While having a contraction on the toilet with Matthew pressing the ice pack on my back and Bailey kneeling in front of me, I experienced what felt like a balloon popping beneath me as my water broke at 4:11am. Due to this, my hydration couldn’t be tested and I went back to side-lying on the bed and Kate let our other midwife, Sam, know to head our way asap. I hadn’t had a cervical check and in our appointments I expressed I didn’t want to know how far along I was, so when Kate checked me, she held up 10 fingers to Matthew and Bailey. I was encouraged that my water had broken and I had been feeling the contractions in my bones as everything was shifting. When Bailey told me I was dilated to a 10, I knew Calvin would be here soon. Since things had progressed so quickly, Kate hardly had time to set up her own supplies and the birth tub was still in a box in the garage. Kate said “if you want to have this baby in the tub, it needs to be set up now!”. Bailey stayed with me through contractions as Matthew rushed to get the tub set up. They thought the noise may have bothered me, but I was still unaware of much going on around me. I was later told that when Matthew turned on the water, the hose flung around spraying water on the carpet and Kate’s computer. At 4:54am Kate helped me move from the bed to the birth tub where I had a contraction immediately upon stepping in the warm water. The water felt good and I tried to rest between contractions like I had been doing, but the pressure had become extremely intense as I felt Calvin lower down the birth canal. I arched my back during contractions and expressed to Kate that I didn’t want to tear. At 5:12am she grabbed my hand to reach down and feel Calvin’s head start to crown. At 5:15am Kate’s doppler accidentally fell in the water and Sam arrived. Matthew was holding my hand and patting me with a cool, wet washcloth. Bailey was coaching and encouraging me while filming as I knew my Mom might not make it in time. At 5:24am I pushed Calvin’s head out and felt a huge release in pressure. I reached down and felt his head and knew I would be holding him soon. Since Kate couldn’t check Calvin’s heart rate with the doppler and she could tell I tore from the blood when his head came out, she told me when to push, and Calvin slipped out at 5:27am and I reached down and pulled him to my chest. I was immediately relaxed and all I felt was joy. I was finally holding the tiny human I’d been carrying and praying for. I remember feeling pain while crowning and when his head came out, but overall I don’t recall being in pain for long, just feeling extreme pressure. I also remember being very aware of the songs that were playing while in the tub and was encouraged by the lyrics like “He can move the mountains” and “bless the Lord oh my soul”. The songs that played throughout my pushing were How Great is our God, Mighty to Save, Today is the Day, and Calvin was born to 10,000 Reasons. I am confident I was able to labor so efficiently and never had the thought “I don’t think I can do this” because of how prepared we were. From our midwives, Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth, a 12-week Bradley Method course, the Christian Hypnobirthing app and instagram account, the Pain Free Birth instagram account, and the Birthful and other podcasts; we were equipped and ready. I also couldn’t have had the amazing experience I did without my birthing coach, best friend and husband, Matthew.

Postpartum 

I’ve told people that God answered every specific prayer I prayed for my labor and birth experience but humbled me with some tearing. I had two second degree tears and while I would have preferred to not tear, the recovery was better than I could have asked for. Kate and Sam took their time stitching me up and I joked they were “making vaginas great again”. I attribute my recovery to their care and Calvin’s quick latching and breastfeeding. I was given a pitocin shot in my thigh from the amount of bleeding after the birth, but there was never any concern. I was grateful for the Frida Mom postpartum kit, the perennial cooling pads were my favorite. The first week I did feel like my insides were going to fall out everytime I got up and I hated to cough/sneeze/blow my nose. I was afraid for the first poop, but it wasn’t bad at all, nor were the following. After the first few days, my bleeding decreased and unless I was too active, I was done bleeding after the third week. Friends had mentioned night sweats after giving birth and they were not joking. Mine started about a week postpartum and lasted almost two weeks. I would sleep on a towel, under a towel, with a towel on my pillow and have another one close by to wipe off. It was so much sweat and maybe the most unenjoyable part of postpartum as it interrupted my already limited sleep and added a lot of laundry. I am grateful for each stage of my pregnancy, labor and delivery and hope I am fortunate to do it again one day.