A Very Long Birth Story for a Relatively Short, Ideal Natural Birth

Jessica Helen was born on 1/12/09 at 12:12 a.m. Central time, two days after her "due date." ?She weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. and was 19.5 inches long.

Around 2:30 p.m. Central time on Sunday 1/11, my water broke. ?Around 4:30 pm, I had my first noticeable contraction. ?By about 6:00 pm, I was having regular contractions that were uncomfortable enough that I was changing my position. My husband started casually keeping track of them, and by 7:00 or so, we were amazed that they had been regularly coming every 5 minutes or so.

I decided to call my midwife. While talking to her, I had one contraction, but it was milder than most of the ones I'd been having. She encouraged me to labor at home awhile longer. She told me that I should wait for the contractions to take my breath away.

I decided to lie down on our bed for awhile. My husband brought me juice, water, and dry toast. It wasn't long before I was moaning through some of the contractions. I decided to call my midwife back a little after 8:30. I was surprised that she seemed to be discouraging me from leaving for the birth center again. (Later, she told me that typically the moms get adamant that they are going to the hospital NOW, and so she doesn't tell them when the time is right. However, I was looking for direction...) I had 3 contractions 3 minutes apart while talking to her, and she then conceded that she thought we should get on our way to the hospital.

We left the house a little after 9:00 pm. I dreaded the drive to the
birthing center. The streets here in Guadalajara are SO bumpy and
rough. My husband drove carefully but quickly. It took about a half
hour to arrive. By the time we got settled in, it was about 10:00 pm.
My midwife showed us our room, a bedroom with its own bathroom, including shower. The birthing center was candlelit and very warm. She told me that my tub was almost ready. I was excited to hear that. I had
wanted to be in the tub for awhile at that point! She gave me a
birthing ball to lean over on the bed. I stayed there briefly and
then remembered that I had to pee. As I got up to go to the bathroom,
I felt nauseated. I threw up, used the bathroom, returned to the
birthing ball on the bed, and asked how the tub was. It was
ready, and I said I wanted to go there.

In the tub, things continued to move quickly. With every contraction,
I grabbed the soft towel "rope" hanging from the ceiling and leaned
back while lifting up my hips. My husband, midwife, and doctor made
sure I got drinks of water in between contractions. No one could
believe how much water I drank. My husband said I probably drank two
gallons! My midwife also offered little juice ice cubes, which tasted
really good to me. It wasn't long before I felt my body starting to
push. I was stunned that it was happening already. I asked my midwife if
it was okay, and she said it was.

The pushing stage tested my endurance, even though it really didn't
last all that long. It took me a few contractions to get used to the pushing sensations and really let them happen. Soon the pediatrician arrived. I was kneeling/squatting in the tub and hanging on the "rope" through contractions, then leaning back on my husband (who was sitting on the edge of the tub with his legs in it) in between. Then, I knew I was SO close, and I got a little impatient with waiting for the baby to come. The contractions had slowed down, giving me a nice break in between. When my midwife pointed that out, I appreciated that aspect of it.

Then, finally, the baby's head was so close to being born. My midwife warned me that if I felt burning, that I should breathe through the contraction in order to ensure that my tissues stretched slowly rather than tearing. I did feel some mild burning, so I did this. But, after a few contractions, the burning was still there. I told my midwife what was going on and she told me that I might have to just go ahead and push through it. I gladly did.

As the baby's head crowned, my midwife told us that she had light hair. It took a bit longer to push her ears out, but soon I felt her whole body sliding out. I was so excited, saying, "My baby, my baby..." One of our caregivers scooped her up and handed her to me. I checked her out and said, "It's a girl!" Then they put her on my chest, and she started crying loudly immediately. She soon settled down and opened her eyes. She scored a perfect 10 on her Apgars. She stayed on my chest for awhile and even started nursing while still in the tub.

After a bit, our caregivers had my husband check the cord to see if it was still pulsating. It had stopped, so they clamped it and let him cut the cord. Then they took my baby girl to dry her off and dress her for us.

I only had a superficial tear, and my doctor thought that maybe I didn't really need any stitches, but my midwife said it would be better to give me a couple to ensure that I healed without any problems. So, he gave me two.

I am now a natural childbirth fanatic, because this was the most
awesome experience of my life. I found birthing to be "painful" in
the sense that the hard work of strenuous exercise is painful rather
than painful in the sense of something being wrong with my body like
an injury. If I do this again, I would love to do it here in Mexico, where
I can be sure that I could have another water birth (and quite possibly
a home birth) without any hassle from an insurance company.

I did not get to use my hypnosis much, because everything happened so fast. I did, however, focus primarily on relaxing as much as I possibly could and on letting my body do its job, and I believe the hypnosis practice I did and the affirmations I practiced helped with that significantly.

I am still somewhat on a high from the whole experience. I am amazed at what my body did in birthing and how efficiently it did it. I am amazed by little Jessica Helen. And, I am amazed and thrilled at how awesome of a dad my husband is.?