August Benjamin's Natural Birth Story

Blessed1018 · April 2011

On the day of Dec 28th I had an appt with my midwife. We talked for a while about life in general, she checked our little boy's heartbeat, and then I asked for an internal exam. I had not had one up to that point, but I was feeling "weird" and wanted to know if anything was happening.

She joked that maybe I would go into labor while she was on call (her and the other midwife in the practice switch days), since she was on call that night. She said she had never been lucky enough to send someone into labor through an internal though. She said I was about 2cm and 70% effaced.

After the appt we drove over to Ikea and then to the mall. I walked for about 5 hours between the two places. By the time we got home my back was really hurting, and I had almost not been able to get around the mall because it was hurting so bad. I took a shower, and then made dinner.

My husband fell asleep, but I was restless because I was having back spasms. These are not unusual for me since I have a lower back injury that has bothered me for years. I started to feel a little weird though, like maybe something else was going on. So I started to time them. I started to time the spasms and they were right at 10 minutes apart, about 30 minutes later I lost my mucus plug.

I was determined to go to sleep and ignore the spasms (I still would not call them contractions). You see, the next afternoon was my baby shower, and I was really looking forward to it. So I told little August to settle down and I went to sleep.

About 3 hours later I woke up. I started to time the spasms again and they were 5 minutes apart at this point. They didn't hurt, they were just annoying. I got up to go to the bathroom and maybe take a shower, since the midwife had told me that this was a good test to see if the contractions were for the big event or just a practice run.

I made it to the bathroom door, and my water broke...I was in a big puddle! I grabbed a towel and waddled back to the bedroom. I woke up my husband and told him it was time to go. He was confused, since I had not told him earlier that I even suspected contractions, I had just let him sleep in case he needed it for later.

My husband had already had everything to go in the car since a week before just in case, since the birthing center was an hour away from our house. We got in the car after I grabbed some old towels for the seat. We called the midwife and she couldn't believe that I was in labor, since she had just seen me that day. Then my husband said that my water had broken and she was excited and said to hurry.

Once we were in the car I popped in my Hypnobirthing CD and sort of just tuned out. The contractions were 3 minutes apart for the whole hour drive. (they were every 3-5 minutes apart for the rest of the labor). Every contraction brought out a wave of water...my jeans were totally soaked by the end of the drive.

We got to the birthing center and I pealed off my cloths and got right into the tub. It was the most amazing feeling. I floated in the tub off an on for most of the labor, and I was planning a water birth. I had to get out every once and while since my blood pressure would go up from the heat, it would go back down and I would get back in.

We were in the tub, on the birthing ball, the stool, the toilet, the bed...everywhere. I was complete at about 1pm, and from then on it was just moving him down. I have a pelvis that sort of tilts in a little, so I had to wiggle around a good bit to help him under that tilt and into the birth canal.

I tried to stay in the tub, but I couldn't understand where I was pushing "to" when I was in the tub. I was trying to get him to move down but couldn't center the feeling.

I was on the stool and moved him down really well, and I ended up laying on the bed propped on pillows to help him to crown. For some reason that was the best for me, since I could center my efforts (*I was not flat on my back, I was sitting up*).

I only had 24 minutes of active pushing, and once he crowned and felt his tiny head trying to come out, I went into a totally different place. I made my first noises of the entire birth (I was silent up to this point, with chatting between contractions). The noises were coming from somewhere else I was sure, they sounded so strange. I now know my "birthing call". His head slowly came out, with me supporting my top area and the midwife supporting my bottom. They undid the cord from around his neck (it was looped twice), and I pushed out his shoulders. He sort of slithered out from there. He was born at 2:57pm on Dec 29th, and I was 37 weeks and 4 days.

He went right on my bare chest with a warm towel, and stayed there for the next hour and a half. His cord was cut by his daddy after about 5 minutes, and I pushed the placenta out about 10 minutes after the birth. Honestly the placenta was the weirdest part. I felt so empty after that. We breastfeed for the first time and just sort of chilled as a family. All the staff just filtered out after making sure I had some juice. We were at home in our own bed by 7pm.

About 15 hours total, 12 "active", and 24 minutes of pushing.

It was the most wonderful, life-changing, and fulfilling experience of my life. My husband was right by my side the entire time, and was the only person who knew when I was having a contraction. No one could tell because I was so quiet. Many of the other staff filtered in throughout the day to say hello and watch me, since they were so impressed with my hypnobirthing calm. Honestly, I just felt like making noise would have been a waste of energy, so I didn't. I didn't feel the need too. I only made noise during the crowning, and that was just instinct.

I hope that this story can inspire some moms who are on the fence about going natural. Your body is made for this, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It changed my spirit so much, that I am becoming a doula. I want to help other women have the joy that I had.

:::edit::::

edited to add that when I watched the birth later on video, you could see him trying to kick himself out during the rest between contractions after he crowned. I though that was the coolest thing. Babies are ACTIVE participants in the birthing process.

Fletcha · April 2011

What a great birth story, congratualations on your new son and amazing delivery!!

IDFarmer'sWife · April 2011

Congrats!

11kacey · April 2011

Thank you for this story! I am taking a hypnobirthing class and keep falling asleep to the relaxation CD. I have about nine more weeks or so until my EDD so I plan on getting in tons of practice until then. You inspire me!

Ms Molly · April 2011

Thanks for sharing; congrats!

Blessed1018 · April 2011

11kacey:
Thank you for this story! I am taking a hypnobirthing class and keep falling asleep to the relaxation CD. I have about nine more weeks or so until my EDD so I plan on getting in tons of practice until then. You inspire me!

I always fell asleep listening to the CD...and you know what, it still worked! Falling asleep is an okay reaction...that means it really relaxes you.

I didn't actually fall asleep during active labor, but it almost felt like I did. I had no measure of time, and everything was just sort of dream-like. I can honestly say that even when things were intense in my body, I was relaxed.