My Birth Story: A Personal Blog

It has been a minute since my last blog was posted, but for good reason! We welcomed our sweet baby girl, Maisie Barbara, on Monday April 28th at 40+6 :)

I went on maternity leave the Friday before my due date (Tues April 22nd). That first week of leave was spent doing lots of cleaning projects inside and outside of our house. Even though part of me wondered every night as I went to bed if I would be waking up in labor in that night, I was grateful to catch up on some much-needed cleaning and prepping for her arrival. Contractions occurred randomly but never consistently. I also had a lot more patience this time around, compared to my last baby. My previous baby went to 41+1 so I knew it was a possibility for my body to go that long and I wasn't feeling in a rush. I also felt really good physically so I never really reached a point of feeling over being pregnant (other than the times that I had to bend over and pick something up and my belly got in the way!).

Sunday the 27th was a normal day for our family. When we got home from church, I laid down after lunch because I noticed the baby wasn't moving as much. She thankfully kicked right away and my worries dissipated. Again after supper though, I noticed again that I hadn't felt much movement and laid down again around 7 pm, and within a short time, she started kicking. As I laid there reading my book, I noted a couple of contractions, but that had been happening all week so I didn't think much of it. However, by 8:00 I had had a few and started keeping an eye on how often they were happening. By 10:00 it was apparent that contractions were occurring consistently but not frequently, about 10-15 min apart. I texted my midwives saying we would likely have a baby in the morning and got ready for bed. However, the intensity was slowly increasing to where I had a hard time falling asleep. The adrenaline of actually being in labor also played a role in this too!

By 1:00 am the contractions were getting strong enough that I couldn't stay still during them, and I also noted a couple times feeling the beginning of pressure in my tailbone. Neither my husband or I were interested in having an unassisted home birth so I texted the midwives again, asking "how does a middle of the night baby sound instead?" We got the birth pool set up in the meantime. Carrie, Caley, and Morgan all arrived around 1:30 am and got the items prepped for a birth. I felt a sense of relief and peace that they were all there, alongside a feeling of anticipation and pressure that hopefully the birth wouldn't take very long!

We put out snacks in case anyone had the midnight munchies (and to keep energy levels up) and I started sipping on electrolytes. My husband brewed up a cup of coffee around 2:00 am, which I teased him about but good thing he had some caffeine in his system to keep his energy up for all the counter pressure and tailbone rubs he did during labor! Contractions slowed briefly so I laid back in bed and once the contraction intensity got strong enough, got into the birth tub. The warm water felt good to relax in!

Contractions continued but I no longer knew how long they were taking or how quickly they were coming. I was doing my best to not keep an eye on the clock, but the longer I was in the tub, the more I wondered how long it was going to take. My previous deliveries had all been around 11 hours from start of contractions to baby being born so I knew roughly by 6 am we would probably be holding our baby!

Time got blurry but Derek and the midwives knew I was getting closer when I started getting emotional about still being in labor and saying "I'm so done with this". I kept envisioning being on the 11th mile of the half-marathon, when it's hard, you're tired, and you want to cross the finish line. I was offered a cervical check but declined. My fear was that I'd get checked and be hardly dilated so I didn't want to have that on my mind. As the contractions moved downward, I kept envisioning her descending, being born, and holding her on my chest. It was different from my other deliveries though, in the sense that I would feel her descend downward and then move back. This was frustrating because I wanted her to descend and deliver, not take a step back! I was used to feeling them descend, my water breaking, and baby being delivered in a short amount of time.

This is where I met my edge, as they call it. I was tired (it was about 4:00 in the morning at this point), the intensity of the contractions had me feeling very restless, shaky, and slightly nauseous. Thank goodness for my husband's support, the counter-pressure from the midwives, and the cold washcloth that kept my sanity! I remember tearfully asking Caley, "I'm almost done, aren't I?" to which she calmly replied "Yes you are almost there", which was very reassuring. After another strong contraction Carrie gently said "Sometimes when your bag of waters hasn't broken yet it can feel confusing and overwhelming, and that is okay" and that was extremely validating to hear, because that was exactly how I felt. I briefly thought about asking to have my water broken to see if it would speed things up but decided to not.

As the cycle of contractions continued with the sensation of my baby moving down during the contraction and then moving back up while on my hands and knees, Carrie encouraged me to go ahead and bear down during the contraction if it felt good. I'm not sure that it felt good, but I was definitely ready to meet my baby so push I did! I moved into reclining against the tub at this point and gave it my all during the next few contractions. My water broke, her head emerged, and then finally the rest of her body at 4:33 am. Giving birth is wild, intense, and incredibly amazing! I joked with my sister in law afterwards that I don't know that I can call giving birth beautiful though, because in the final moments my dignity was an after thought and I felt very raw!

The absolute sensation of relief to be done and holding her against my chest is indescribable. We were over the moon to meet our sweet Maisie at last :) I was also immediately starving and thoroughly enjoyed the snack of dark chocolate roasted almonds and dried mango! She cried and latched right away while we hung out in the birth tub for a short while. We then moved to the bedroom and I got tucked in bed while the newborn exam was done. She was a big girl, weighing in at 9 lbs 8 oz, my biggest baby so far! Her cranial bones also had a pattern similar to a posterior positioning in utero so between her size and possible positioning I am guessing that is why her labor was as intense as it was.

The midwives left between 6 and 6:30, with a check in scheduled for the next day. Our older kids all started waking up around 7 am and were very excited to meet their new baby sister! The oldest 2 headed to school, the younger 3 headed to Grandma and Grandpa's, and me, my husband, and our new baby all tucked in for some much needed sleep after our tiring and wonderful night :)

She has been a dream of a baby so far! As with all of my babies, she was more awake nights 2-4 as her body adjusted to a new rhythm of day/night so we didn't get much sleep right away, but we have now settled into a loose routine of sorts. Cosleeping and side lying nursing are my sanity saver at night. She is 2 weeks already as I type this and it feels so normal to have her here :) Plans for the next handful of weeks before I head back to the office include snuggling, resting, walking, and enjoying time outside in the sunshine and smelling the fresh flowers.

Hope all is well with you, and I'll see you in a while!