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If you're looking for a positive (and hilarious) birth story to put your mind at ease, I hope this can be it for you! I had a great labor and delivery with hypnobirthing!
Related Blog: What is hypnobirthing?
Anyway, let's get to it:
Saturday night (May 2nd)
I started having contractions… but I only knew I was having them when I would touch my belly and it felt tight, they didn't really hurt. When I called Seth at work he was completely panicked that I was going into labor and thought he needed to come home immediately. I told him no, I'd KNOW when I was going into labor… I'm not kidding when I tell you he wasn't so sure haha! He thinks my pain tolerance is high and I might not know, or taking it seriously HAHA
I had some contractions that I felt, but nothing too intense and rode that out for the night. When Seth got home (3am) from work I didn't tell him I was having contractions. I wanted him to get sleep if I did go into labor.
Sunday May 3rd
And in the morning, the contractions were gone. I was a little frustrated. I wanted to get things moving so I went on a 2 mile walk, ate all the spicy food, and anything else Google told me to do. That afternoon they came back suuuuper irregularly, 5 min apart 1 hr apart.
(What you look for is consistent contractions about 5-10 min apart).
330p
Seth reluctantly left for work.
630p
The contractions slowly got to about 5-10 min apart AND I lost my plug so I called Seth to tell him and and he immediately came home.
These contractions we're fun. I was having back labor and I needed to be on knees during a contraction.
So we tried a few hippie things like inversions (thank you spinning babies). I put my knees on the couch and my elbows on the floor during contractions. The idea being she floats up and out the pelvis a bit and reposition herself so the back labor would stop… no such luck but this did start to make my contractions more regular.
9pm
Seth left to go get some snacks because my cousin had just given birth and she said because of Covid they weren't able to leave the room and they didn't have enough snacks. I was on the phone with my sister when Seth went to get snacks and the contractions were now coming CONSISTENTLY every 5 min and she told me to call my midwife.
945pm
Just as Seth came back into the house the nurse on the phone told me to come in and if anything progressed to call 911… haha which of course freaked Seth out a bit. We started grabbing the hospital bag, I grabbed the couple of things on my list that I still needed. Seth was moving very slowly, I don't think he fully understood that we needed to go NOW. His cooler was “sticky” and he decided to wipe it out before he put the snacks in… like, no.
10 pm ish
We headed to the hospital and that's when I plugged in my hypnobirthing tracks and started listening to the guided hypnosis or meditation.
I tried to surprise Seth with a “Dad hospital gift”
(an idea I had seen on a pregnant facebook group. Someone asked “what are you guys getting dad for the hospital” some of the answers were “A BABY” others were cute care packages. I decided I wanted to be cute).
Unfortunately, Seth found the iced coffee because it had to stay refrigerated. I had to spill the beans but told him not to drink it.
SO on the way to the hospital we were driving past a gas station and he looked at me in horror and said “I FORGOT THE ICED COFFEE”… I looked back and him and said “AND?” he immediately changed his tune and said “oh right, yeah, nevermind” now he tells me, we were driving right past a gas station and I knew I could get it quickly! hahah omg…
11pm
We arrived at the hospital at 11pm and when the nurses checked my progress I was 6 cm dilated! They told me I'd be staying!
Then they told me my midwife had a flat tire and wasn't going to make it but I couldn't think of anything except these contractions.
Midnight
I asked if I could get into the tub, I've heard it's second to an epidural for pain.
Because I was having back labor I was on my knees the entire time. Seth pushed on my back for counter pressure for EVERY CONTRACTION to help me get through them! But they only last 1 min so you just have to get through that minute.
I started shaking during transition and Seth is asking me if I was cold. I was trying to explain to him “This is called transition, it means we're getting close!”. This may have been the only thing I said to him the whole time. With the hypnobirthing tracks in my ears I was IN THE ZONE! I swear, my eyes were closed 90% of the time.
Monday May 4th
Sometime between midnight at 2am… time became a blur
I felt my water break in the tub (it felt like I was peeing in a pool… not that i've ever done that… babhah) and I asked Seth to get the nurse, she confirmed it had. After that the contracts became more intense. I just kept one hand on Seth's leg, who was sitting next to the tub. When a contraction came, I squeezed his leg and he'd get up and push on my back. Then when it was over I would squeeze it again and he'd stop. He was incredible.
The nurse told me to let her know when I felt like pushing. She said she couldn't explain it but that at some moment I would feel the urge to push. Idk why she couldn't explain it. It's like when you wait until the last moment to poop and then you get to the toilet and your body PUSHES… it felt like THAT. You're welcome.
I was ready to push
So I eventually I got that urge and calmly told Seth “I think I'm ready to push” Seth told me later I was so chill about it that he didn't really expect it to be true lol
She checked me again and said I was fully dilated and could push, but I had to get out of the tub… Um excuse me?
You know when you're so drunk… actually let's say we have a friend who is so drunk. The one that's SO drunk in a car and you need to get them to the house and they tell you they cant, like its too far, too difficult, they CANNOT get there. THAT was how I felt when she told me we needed to get out of the tub and go into the bed that was 3 feet away. The nurse and Seth helped me and believe it or not I made it.
I'm pretty sure in this hospital you can labor in the tub but not birth.
So I got to the bed and was on my knees and was shaking (transition remember) and I managed to say …. “I can't even twerk like this when I try”.
Just before 2am
I was laying on my side for a bit and my body was pushing a bit, and my water broke again all over my leg. As a few other nurses were coming in (all of them wearing a mask and a face shield because Covid) they had me lay on my back because baby girl's heart rate dropped for a moment while I was on my side.
2 am
The doctor told me to do a “test push” which apparently I did well so they started setting up shop! Turned on a bright light (because I had been in the dark previous to this), put a trash bag looking thing at the end of the bed and told me to start PUSHING.
“Push through the pain” is what they told me and that's what I did. Seth was still supporting my low back even as I was laying on my back in my ear encouraging me every second! You have to wait for a contraction to push so that is what we were doing.
My Midwife wasn't a part of my birth story
Because she wasn't my midwife and didn't know my “birth plan” (which was ultimately healthy mom, healthy baby) in between pushes I'm yelling “DELAYED CORD CLAMPING”, “NO EPISIOTOMY”, “ONLY VITAMIN K”, “ONLY PITOCIN IF I NEED IT” and they were fantastic and did everything I wanted!!
When baby crowned they asked me if I wanted to feel. Normally I probably would have said yes but I felt like my arms were supporting me in the perfect way and I didnt have the energy to release one of my arms that was supporting me up to feel.
I said “I CAN'T” and they said “Oh no, that's okay!!” haha
I also screamed bloody murder at one point and YELLED “F**K!!!!” at another moment. They told me “what happens here stays here” thanks team.
224am
SHE WAS BORN!! After 24 minutes of pushing, she was here, and she came out with her hand by her head so… ouch.
You guys, I was legit somewhere else from 11pm – 224am. SOMEWHERE ELSE. I had these great plans about doing the “baby mama dance” in the hospital. Doing some vlogging, keeping family updated, putting oils in my diffuser. NOPE. NOTHING. I didn't even know where my phone was… I didn't once wonder were it was, I was so present and just making my way through the contractions. A few times I think I fell asleep between contractions… but as soon as she was born I looked around the room and was like “there are THREE nurses in here!”, there was a new baby in my arms I didn't recognize, Seth was giggling he was so excited and I was in shock. As soon as the cord was cut we attempted breastfeeding and she latched immediately!
I thought I'd be one of those people that started crying I was so excited but nope. Total shock over here (see above photo).
Seth told me he cut the cord and said it was like cutting a rubber. I don't remember him cutting the cord or when they put the hospital gown on me after the bath… but I was wearing one.
I had to wear a mask during labor and I don't remember that either. It didn't bother me, because like I said I was somewhere else, but the nurse ended up pulling it down at the end lol.
Wow people.
If you're interested in Hypnobirthing have a pos about it here! But you start practicing during pregnancy and it was truly amazing.
My midwife told me to start with reading a hypnobirthing book and if it was something I was still interested in to buy the course after.
If you are interested in a natural birth I'd HIGHLY recommend Ina May's Guide to Natural Childbirth. The first half is stories, the second is the meat and potatoes. I may have skipped some of the stories to get to the goods.
xo Shay