Natural Water Birth Story- My First Child

  My First Son's Birth Story 💙
(this was written soon after his birth, detailed and long hehe with live photos, enjoy!)

  Jesse and I welcomed a son! (We prayed for a son!! And remember we had a surprise gender birth!) on Friday May 30th at 2:51pm at WS's free standing Birthing Center, all natural water birth! like we planned :-) we just missed daddy's birthday by a day! (May 31st)....I also, based on LMP was 43 wks 1 day! Many were worried the baby was "overdone" hehe, but I had faith in God and my body that he/she would come when ready ;-) also we did a BPP Ultrasound the Tuesday before just to check to make sure baby was indeed doing good and we scored an 8/8 :-)! Had another scheduled for that Friday but went into labor that morning! Had the "bloody show" Friday morning at 7 when Jesse was getting up for work. I told him "Well, no BPP Ultrasound today!" "Looks like I'm gonna start labor anytime and we're finally gonna have our baby!".....so Jesse went to work and I told him I'll be in touch if/when he needs to come home. I then messaged the midwife on call # and just gave them a heads up (midwife said I'll prob have a baby within 24 hrs!) and then I messaged the doulas who were all great in communicating with me and the one on call, Marty, was fantastic. Well I'll just say, I started with just some very mild menstrual like cramps, nothing major, so decided to try and rest some, then after a while I just couldn't because things progressed quickly and I had my first contraction (hadn't had any contractions or signs before this day, only Braxton hicks but that's normal and weren't bad) then I just had a feeling I was gonna go fast (my ma said I'd probably take after her which all three of us were fast but I said na I'll prob have a long labor haha-let's just say mama was right!) anywho, so I decided I gotta get up and start getting ready/dressed, get labor stuff by the door etc then figure when to call Jesse, well the contractions just kept coming and getting stronger and I never had even 10 min in between! Idk, Prob 6-7 minutes maybe? and for a very short time till they got real close like 4-5 min?<---I was lost with timing, ha, was totally in "labor Lala land" (But seriously felt like had no break in between!) Also at every one, I would lean over on a heating pad on low over the bed but they were pretty intense/painful that I had to really focus breathing through them and was already moaning which was out of my control. Well so I had texted Jesse to come home and was in communication with Marty over text which was hard to even write a text let alone talk over phone, she then called and Jesse was home then (he rushed home!) and she wanted to know if I just wanted her to go to the Birth Center rather than our house and Jesse had to talk to her and we said Yes! Jesse was trying to help me so we could get out of the house because my contractions were one after another, I never really had breaks between them (which I planned on ha) and anyways Jesses trying to get everything in the car (forgot my main bag of stuff lol!) and he even had to dress me (oh if you saw my outfit lol! he grabbed first thing he saw basically which was one of his t-shirts which was huge on me even prego ha, yoga pants, and he put my flip flops on me which one was partially broke teehee! hey will make for a funny memory!) cause all I could get done was brush my teeth and splash water on my face hehe. That's how fast my labor progressed! I totally had the urge to push at home and we still had a 25 min drive! So anyway, Jesse said okay after this contraction we're gonna go to the car, just a 30 sec walk, well I had another right away it seemed but then after that I started to walk with him then made it to the kitchen and had another-had to lean over counter, then after I actually made it to the car whoohoo lol. But then the car ride! Oh that wasn't fun lol. I was using the handle on the top of the door to hold tight with each contraction and my eyes were closed like the whole time and totally focusing on breathing, btw Jesse has been awesome, positive, encouraging and calm this whole time! He's texting (I know I know but I was about having a baby for cryin out loud hehe) Marty on the way, so they know how close we are (of course F drive had some golf thing and traffic was super slow! Otherwise on bypass, Jesse was flyin! Haha. So when we arrived at the birth center, Marty met me outside and walked in with me real fast while Jesse drove around back to park. I made it inside and then a contraction came as I laid down on the bed, once gone, our midwife checked me and I was complete! (Better had been haha!) btw the whole car ride, I actually didn't just feel like pushing, I was pushing some-trying hard not to! Thought was gonna have baby in car!! So anywho, they're checking heart tones and after a few more contractions I was able to get in the birth tub. Jesse and Marty were encouraging me this whole time, I then started pushing right away where my body just took over! Was trying not to rush it but yet my body was mainly doing it all without my control, after only about 40 min or lil less, our baby was born! :-) Jesse pulled him up out of the water ;-) and looked and said with tears, "We got a little Uriah!" A son!! We both had tears and huge smiles! Uriah then let out a huge cry to get those lungs goin ;-) Also when the baby's head came out, we both reached down and felt it, wow! (Got some underwater pics too that Marty took, although were dark, still neat and memorable!) We then held him in the warm water for probably 10-15 min, then Jesse put the clamps on and cut the cord after it stopped pulsating. Then Jesse held Uriah while I delivered the placenta which came easy and right away. After that I moved into the other room and got cozy/skin to skin on the bed with Jesse and Uriah :-) I breastfed soon after and he latched good! After a while we did the newborn exam-weight etc. He weighed a beautiful 7 lbs 11 oz and measured at 20 inches estimate but wasn't fully stretched out- at home got a real accurate reading and actually was closer to 21, was 20 3/4 inches ;-) his apgar test was a perfect 10 and just everything about him, we couldn't have felt more joyful and blessed! I didn't tear too bad especially considering was a fast birth (total with labor and pushing was under 5 hrs! Which felt more like 2 max!) but did have a spot our midwife thought would be best to put a couple stitches in, which ended up doing about 5 to hold extra-so that wasn't fun but could have been worse, so was thankful! Marty went and got us great food at Gateway Market and we stayed at the birth center for a few hours till we hit the road to go home with our new little bundle of joy 💙 What a beautiful birth. Fast. Intense. Amazingly miraculously beautiful. Then midwives, nurses, Angela (lactation gal/doula) came to our home for checkups certain days, so we didn't even have to go anywhere- the way it should be for postpartum mamas 😊 oh also Jacquelyn stopped at the birth center to get my placenta (she did my placenta encapsulation!) and so we got to see and visit with her a bit :-) Sorry soooo long but I really wanted to share more in detail hehe 😉 hope y'all enjoyed! 

P.S. Now that I know I labor FAST, for sure next time definitely doing a home birth!! ;-) which planned on anyway. Even while I was in labor, and Jesse was tryin to get me out of the house, I said "I wish the midwife could just come here, how can I leave like this?!" Hehe. 

Mama, Daddy and Baby 💙

Since his birth in May 2014, I have had a second natural water birth, this time at home (June 2017), and will share that story sometime too! 💦💚👦

   Finally was able to wear his 'Every Baby Deserves A Midwife' onesie!! We💛 Midwives  
                  



Blessings and Blueberries! 🌱