The story of my second child’s birth is within this birth story blog. It’s not long, but it’s wonderful.
Warning: TMI regarding pre labor signs.
Our complete family of four in March 2022. Image taken by K. Michelle Photography in Florida.
When I wrote this, it was a month or two after my son was born because I knew I wanted to create this birth story blog:
I think I’m still on cloud 9 from my son’s birth. It was so quick and exactly what I wanted. Immediately after he was born, I felt as good as new, although I knew I need plenty of internal healing. But I knew at least there was no trauma to deal with and heal from this time.
I will fast forward to the last few weeks prior to Carson’s birth…
Let me start my birth story the week of June 27th, 2021. I had a few different things set up to encourage my body to go into labor.
First, I got my toes done with my mom to relax. I was going to the chiropractor every week or so. I was also walking during the day, and I took a walk with my family every single night after dinner. My daughter and I went to playgrounds almost every day, so we got lots of walking, fun and fresh air. I was making sure I got an adequate amount of sleep at night. I also continued to work & book sessions up to 1 week prior to my due date. I just felt he would come late just like my daughter did (and I was right).
June 27th
On June 27th I brought my daughter to the playground in the morning, then around 11:00AM we headed home for lunch. On the way home my daughter asked me why I stopped at a stop sign. I explained to her that stop signs are there to tell you to stop, look both ways and wait to cross into your lane if there’s a car coming so accidents don’t happen. I told her how I would be very sad if someone hit my car and how we wouldn’t be able to go fun places like the park without a car.
At 12:00 the same day, I left to go get a relaxing prenatal massage (to relax and hopefully encourage labor) but I never made it there… I got into my lane to merge onto the highway and as I looked in my rear view mirror, I saw a driver speeding in and out of lanes around people, but the second time I looked back, the car was gone. I thought “oh good, she must have gone the other way!” but as my lane turned and arrived at the merging area, I looked back and saw the erratic car had illegally cut over the gore area (it’s a real thing, look it up!) and onto the highway before me and the 4 cars behind me/in front of her. This rushing/speeding/driving like a moron caused this erratic female driver to hit a car on her left then bounced off it hit my car… yeah, I was NOT HAPPY. I called 911 immediately. I was not hurt. The police, a fire truck and ambulance came, checked everyone and did what they needed to do with reports and such while I waited for my husband and daughter to come pick me up. My poor daughter was in tears because she was upset that I didn’t have a car (due to our conversation that morning, unbeknownst to me that I would have an accident that same day!). I calmed her down then called my midwife on the way home.
I was a few days past 40 weeks. My midwife said go to the hospital just to be sure, so we did. I met one of the other midwives there and a nurse and they said my amniotic fluid was low and that there is “no reason to wait much longer.” I talked over this information with my husband. Then, I reluctantly called to set up an induction date, which I did not want. I was emotional, sad and cried every day at least once the whole week before Carson was born because of this.
June 29th
I went for my 40+6-week appointment on Tuesday, June 29 and had a sweep done and talked about my scheduled induction on Friday July 2 at 9:00PM. I was 3cm, 60% effaced and station -2. I had been losing small pieces of mucus plug for the few days before and started losing bigger pieces after the sweep for a few days. I thought I was going to have him the day of the sweep, my husband even texted his parents to warn them! But by nightfall everything has subsided.
I tried everything.
Since nothing had happened with walking around my block, curb walking, bouncing on the yoga ball, some spinning babies moves or anything else I had tried, I decided I would dedicate most of my day to trying to start labor on my own with tons of walking. I made a plan, told my husband and when I woke up, I was off to get this labor going!
July 1st
On Thursday July 1 I left the house early, got myself breakfast with a decaf coffee and then walked down literally every single isle of Walmart. When I got home, I was out the door again shortly after to the Alpaca Farm with my daughter and parents for more walking! We walked the entire farm! I got home and later we walked to the playground & back after dinner. I still felt no signs of labor.
Just the friend I needed.
I mourned the loss of my dream birth for the entire 5 days leading up to this night. I thought he wouldn’t come, just like my daughter didn’t want to come (born at 42 weeks exactly, induced by castor oil, 27 hours of labor at birth center then another 7 at hospital with epi & Pitocin – I’ll explain in another blog sometime, so save your judgements). I knew we would be okay, but it wasn’t what I wanted so I was very upset. We knew this would be our last baby. So, this would be my last chance to have the birth I wanted with no medical interventions. I texted my husband around 9:30PM on Thursday before trying to go to sleep and asked “Do you still believe I can do this without an epidural? I feel like I’ve given up every single thing out of my birth plan besides a C-section, might as well give it all up. I’m in a negative space.” and he responded “Of course you can. You have not given anything up. You can’t control what your body does.” I cried. What he said to me in that moment meant a lot and it still does. And maybe those exact words were what I needed to hear to let go and allow my body to do what it needed to. I’m sure all the walking I did helped too, but I like to attribute both things as the reason to what happened next.
I get by with a little help from my friends.
To know the one who will be by your side during labor believes you can do it is unmatched by anything else. Soon after that text, I started feeling pain in my lower abdomen but didn’t think anything of it. I was also texting my friend and Doula, Angel Coleman, who owns Fruit of The Womb Birth. I let her know what I was feeling. I told her they were a little painful and low, lasting about 1 minute each and 8-10 minutes apart but I could breathe and sleep through them. She told me it sounded like the beginning of labor so I asked her if I should stay up and she said absolutely not! She told me to try and get as much rest as I can in case it is the beginning of labor. We stopped talked around 10:45PM so I could try to sleep.
Stronger.
By about 11:00PM they were stronger and harder to sleep through, so I started breathing through them while still in bed. I didn’t want to immediately wake my husband if it was a false alarm and not actually labor. Since I had never gone into labor naturally on my own previously, I was unsure if it was real. Eventually, when I was having trouble breathing through them and felt that I couldn’t talk through them any longer, I decided to tell my husband they’re contractions and I’m not sure if they’ll lead to labor. I sat on the floor and laid my head on my bed and continued tracking contractions. I went to the bathroom multiple times during this, thinking I just needed to go, but nothing happened there. Of course, looking back, I know this is a sign of labor! The final sign for me was sitting there, wiping and it being wet, but I knew I didn’t pee. I figured that was my water breaking, so I let my husband know to get ready, then I went downstairs, worked through another contraction and called the midwife line before another one could come. They said if I think I’m in labor to come in and they’ll check, so I told them I’m coming in. I called my parents to come so they can watch our daughter, then we went to the hospital once they arrived. We left the house around 2:00AM. I worked though contractions the entire ride. I couldn’t fully sit down because I felt like he was THAT low, I had to sit sideways and hold myself up a little. Below is the only random screen shot I took of my contraction app! As you can see, I took it at 11:30, around the time I wasn’t able to sleep through them fully!
Contractions were 2-4 minutes apart… oops!
My husband said he tracked them while driving and they were 2-4 minutes apart (he didn’t tell me this until later the next day)! We finally got to the hospital around 2:30AM and as soon as the car stopped, I jumped out of the car to work through another contraction. We were in the doors, and I was in a wheelchair while my husband parked the car, and another contraction came so I jumped out of the wheelchair to work through it. The check in lady looked worried as I held onto the counter and worked through it. They were STRONG. He came back, wheeled me to the correct level, they got me into “room 7” (the natural birth room they have) and it went fast from then.
As soon as I got in there and out of the wheelchair I was pushing.
I squatted next to the bed and worked through another contraction. They needed me on the bed so I crawled on and was on my hands and knees, I couldn’t move into another position. My midwife let me know I was 8cm. I remember feeling excited but slightly disheartened as I was expecting her to say 9cm. Every contraction I was pushing. It felt like another 30 minutes but apparently it was only 10 minutes until I pushed my son out into the world with my husband’s hand on mine, all natural with no IV, no Pitocin, no medication, no medical intervention and exactly how I had wanted. My last baby, Carson, was born at 3:07AM on Friday, July 2 at 9lbs and 21 3/4 inches long! No stitches, no tears. He also arrived “En Caul,” which means still in his water sack! I assume my water ruptured but never fully broke while in labor. We were home the next day during the afternoon.
Ready for more Cleveland Motherhood content? Then don’t skip over the blog links below!
Birth: Things No One Else Will Tell You – PART 1
Toy Stores in Cleveland That Have The Best Gifts For All Ages!
Ohio Birthing Centers to Help Make Your Birth Experience Great!
Top 3 Ohio Pediatric Dentists That Make You Feel Like Family!
Are you a mother looking for local breastfeeding support in a local, uplifting community with mothers just like you AND breastfeeding professionals? Join my NE Ohio Breastfeeding Mothers Group on Facebook! Can’t wait to meet you!
