Teddy's Birth Story

Teddy's Birth Story

Wednesday morning at 41+3

I had my weekly appointment with Olivia, where we did our regular checks on how little buddy & I were doing. We were discussing a game plan were we to not go into labor by the weekend, & after a phone call to my husband, Alex, at work, decided to move forward with a membrane sweep during that appointment. We were at peace knowing it could help get things going or it could not, & then we’d address our plan that weekend if nothing happened. I hadn’t had a cervical check since a preterm episode in November, & when Olivia did the membrane sweep, we were both shocked to see that I was already dilated 6 cm & 80% effaced. Normally, 6 cm means you’re already in active labor. I had not been having any significant or timeable contractions at that point! We did the sweep around 11:30 am, & I called Alex to have him come home from work at 2:17 pm because I was having contractions. Around 4:45 pm, after a phone call with our doula & our midwife, they headed to our house. At this point, my contractions were regular, but I still didn’t think they were painful enough to be what I had always imagined labor to be like. Alex started to set up the birth pool, Olivia & her student midwife arrived, & our doula Vanessa arrived. It was a pretty peaceful evening with regular contractions, music, & dim lighting. After a few hours, I was really confused & told Olivia I could do what we were doing for days & that it didn’t feel how I thought it would. We continued on, but my contractions abruptly stopped in the late evening. Our team had me take a nap with Alex & then we tried to get the contractions going again when I woke up sometime after midnight. My contractions never picked up, Olivia checked on baby, & we decided it would be best for us to go back to sleep & address it in the actual morning. I went back to sleep at 9 centimeters with no contractions.
 

Thursday at 41+4

We woke up to a message from Olivia- her chiropractor friend Katrina was going to come to our house at 11 am. Olivia wondered about how I described my contractions & ways she’d observed me moving during labor. Katrina did an evaluation, & the right side of my pelvis was really far back, creating a tighter space on my left, where baby was stuck. We did an adjustment, & Katrina stayed at our house for a couple of hours while we did different positions in the Miles Circuit, now that she had addressed my pelvis, to see if we could help baby get unstuck. We ended her visit with another adjustment & a confident word from Katrina that she was sure it would help when we re-entered labor. Olivia arrived at our house during my adjustment, & we talked with her about what to do. I felt incredibly exhausted & very emotionally defeated. She thought it was best for me to rest for a day or two before we tried to get labor going again. We agreed on taking Thursday to rest— & rest I did. I slept the entire day, waking up only to eat every so often.
 

Friday at 41+5

At 1:25 pm, while we were watching Zootopia, I felt a huge punch to my cervix (& let out a few curse words). We went to the restroom & realized my water had broken with a force. We called Olivia, Vanessa, & our moms— I couldn’t get through any of the calls because the contractions picked up immediately with an intensity I never experienced on Wednesday. They were much more what I imagined labor to feel like! Olivia & Vanessa both headed to our house immediately- along with Olivia’s assistant midwife Angie.

By the time they all arrived, my poor sweet Alex had been trying to refill the birth pool with hot water while having to stop every minute to apply counter pressure to my sacrum. I was very naked & very hot, & I think probably very mean to all four of them. They took it like champs.
Though I don’t remember this part, I jumped in the birthing pool once they all had it ready. It was all completely different from Wednesday- complete silence & a room full of sunlight. I was on all fours during each contraction- our doula sat in front of me, wiping my brow & helping me realize when I was letting my face get tense.
 

Angie (Olivia’s assistant) was to my left, often refreshing the hot water. Alex & Olivia were behind me— Alex applied counter pressure for each contraction, & Olivia monitored baby & me, coached Alex, & taught him what was happening while things were happening. I often heard her whisper explanations & observations to him.
 

I felt a lot of pressure & knew it was time to push during my contractions. The contractions were very painful at this point, & I was very grateful for our birth education course with Akasha Hines (one of Olivia’s recommended resources) & Christian Hypnobirthing. I tried to count my breathing in my head through each contraction & did my best to keep my face relaxed instead of tense— helping baby get oxygen, helping “receive” the contraction & let it do its job instead of rejecting it & pushing against it. I made very loud & low mooing noises during each contraction & especially being on all fours, I felt like a bellowing cow! I definitely had to pray & ask Jesus to give me peace & help me finish.
 

Once I could feel his head with my hand, I knew that we were in the final stretch & being able to actually touch his body outside of my body gave me the motivation I needed to continue. Our doula got me some apple juice, which helped give me the last stretch of energy I needed. The pain of his head passing through reached a maximum, & I definitely felt like I was splitting open. Olivia let me know that we were almost there, & then she & my husband saw that his hand was on his face, coming out with his head. Olivia had to maneuver him to get his hand out of the way, which was not a great feeling. She explained what she was doing, & I pressed on. Only a moment later, he was out completely— Olivia helped my husband to catch him as he came out at 4:17 pm, less than 3 hours after my water had broken & labor had abruptly resumed with a bang.

My husband then carried him through the water below my body so that I could receive him & put him on my chest. At that point, I leaned back, he came around us, & our family of three was complete- so much relief & love spread over me.
Olivia’s team helped all of us to bed after I birthed the placenta, & after we got an hour or so of cuddles with him.

Olivia & Alex started doing all his measurements & newborn exams while Olivia’s assistant cleaned & our doula fed me soup.
Because his hand came out with his head, I had a pretty superficial second-degree tear, & Olivia stitched me up, explaining what she was doing the whole time. I had a postpartum hemorrhage, & I was so grateful to have a Certified Nurse Midwife. She had to drain my bladder with a straight catheter, administer pitocin, & give me some extra love to make sure I was safe & healthy!
Everyone got us all back to bed with more food & liquids— everything had already been cleaned: blood gone, pool disappeared, laundry going, & our house spotless.
Olivia reminded us of all our discharge instructions & made a plan to come back to see us within the next 24-48 hours. Everyone said their sweet goodbyes, & Alex & I started an evening full of wonderful cuddles with our sweet baby boy.   

We didn’t share with many people that we were opting to do a home birth instead of a more “normal” birth, but through a lot of research & discussion of our values & priorities, we were very confident of that decision & in our Certified Nurse Midwife Olivia, who had years of nursing experience before starting her midwifery practice. Throughout pregnancy, we felt incredibly empowered & informed to make evidence-based, safe decisions that had favorable outcomes for both Baby & Mom. Now looking back, we are especially grateful for our decision. Had we not gone this route, we probably would have had our baby Wednesday night (if we had even been allowed to go past 40 weeks). In a traditional hospital setting, they are not typically going to send you home to go sleep & see a chiropractor (& of course, we only did this because we could monitor that baby was still safe & sound with no distress). I would have received a lot of pitocin in order to get contractions started again, & because he was stuck, I would have had an emergency C section. Of course, those are so often necessary & save so many lives! For us though, that would not have been necessary, & I am so glad we got to have the experience we did— especially for Alex, who got to be so incredibly involved in the process of bringing our son into the world. Bringing Baby Teddy into the world with him, Olivia, Angie, & Vanessa could not have been a better experience.