The Day We Met Her:
My Birth Story
My birth with my first baby was overall pretty smooth. The morning I turned 39 weeks, I had an OB appointment, and afterwards my husband and I grabbed a coffee and curb walked for a while. When I got home, I started a roast to have for supper later, and then did the rest of the miles circuit. Once I got done with the miles circuit, I took a nap. I woke up around 4 pm to my water breaking and my roast burnt to a crisp.
The disbelief that I felt in that moment...
After all of the excitement and anticipation that I had felt for months, after all of the preparation, I was in complete disbelief that the moment had actually arrived. Whether or not I was ready, I knew I'd be meeting my baby in the very near future. As soon as I realized my water had broken, I sent my husband to get us supper, we dropped off my car for an oil change, I mopped the floors, and we finished “Walk the Line”, which we had started the night before. Contractions started 2 hours later, around 6 pm. Once my contractions started, they ramped up pretty quickly. I labored at home for about 4 hours before I finally made the call to head to the hospital. We headed to a birthing center about an hour and a half away, and got there a little after 11 pm. They checked me, and I was only 4 cm dilated. We got into the birthing suite, and they had me lying in all different types of positions. For a while, I was able to almost fall asleep in between contractions. Things started to ramp up again, and I was begging them to let me get in the tub, which is where I was planning to give birth. They checked me again, and I was a 6, so they let me get in the tub. My husband was able to keep hot water running on my back, which gave me a lot of relief from all the back labor I was experiencing.Type your paragraph here
Transition, and a little scare
Looking back, I think this was when I started to go through transition. I was starting to freak out a little bit, and I couldn't really get words out anymore. I remember looking at the clock and realizing that aside from my nap, I had been up for almost 24 hours. I was so utterly exhausted. Things are a little blurry after that, but the midwives started getting a little concerned because the baby's heart rate wasn’t jumping back up after contractions. Around this same time, I had started to kind of bear down. They finally made the call to transfer me out of the birthing center so that they could continuously monitor the baby's heart rate. I was absolutely crushed when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to have the birth I planned on, but of course was willing to do whatever I had to to keep my baby safe. Thankfully, I was 10 cm dilated and was able to start pushing. They were still concerned about the baby and the heart rate, and had started to talk about the possibility of a C-section, vacuum, or forceps. That was all the motivation I needed to get my baby out.
Meeting My Baby Girl
I pushed for about 45 minutes and finally gave birth to my baby girl, who popped out sunny side up, with her hand up by her face. Still to this day, she loves having her hands all over her face. She was born completely healthy and happy, and I walked away with the tiniest little tear that they didn’t even chart because it was so small. Another interesting little tidbit is that I threw up from the time we left for the hospital until I started pushing. I couldn't keep any water down whatsoever. In all of the birth prep that I did, I never came across anything that prepared me for that.
Birth Prep
Every baby is different, every birth is different, and every mom is different, but here’s everything I did to prepare for my birth.
I am not a medical professional. I'm simply sharing what worked for me. Please always speak to your doctor before making any lifestyle changes.
1.) Nora tea with pineapple juice
Nora tea is a combination of red raspberry leaf, nettles, alfalfa, and oat straw. It's brewed overnight and strained. I would add honey and lemon juice to mine, and towards the end of my pregnancy, I'd add pineapple juice. It's incredibly nourishing and beneficial for women's overall health.
2.) 5 Dates Daily
I would open the dates up and remove the pit, and then drizzle peanut butter and chocolate on top of them. I topped them with sea salt and stored them in the freezer.
3.) Prioritized Protein and Iron
Towards the end of my pregnancy, I really tried to get 20-30 g of protein per meal, which was what my doula recommended. I would also try to eat salmon or spinach with at least one meal every day.
4.) Electrolytes
I was drinking 2 servings of electrolytes, one of which I would add a choryphyll supplement, in addition to my nora tea and 1-2 of my 40 oz water bottles.
5.) "My Essential Birth" Birth Course
I came across this absolutely wonderful course through a podcast I listened to for the majority of my pregnancy. Their podcast really drew me in because they touched on so many different pregnancy, birth, and baby-related topics, and remained completely unbiased. Instead, they provided facts and let the listeners come to their own conclusions.