This is my natural birth at a hospital with a midwife birth story for my second baby! After my first birth, which was a very long in the hospital with an ob, epidural and suction delivery birth.
The last few weeks of my pregnancy were stressful, to say the least. At my 37 week apt my measurements were off, my weight gain dropped and baby's heart beat was a little funky. So they sent me for an ultrasound and did a stress test on the baby. We got the results the next day, but they had miscalculated my due date off of my last period (I had irregular periods before getting pregnant) so initially my results were a little weird but then my midwife caught it and corrected it and all was well. A stressful few days, but fine!
The next week Ryan woke up with some crazy chest pain. We rushed to the hospital and sure enough there were some irregularities on the ekg they did . We spent the morning back and forth from the hospital to the cardiologist, only to find out it was a random thing that he will probably never get again and to rest for a few days. (Pericarditis is what the actual diagnosis was and it's just an inflammation of the outer lining of the heart possibly caused by a virus). I had an apt that day and my blood pressure was high but they attributed it to our stressful day.
Then my next appointment, 38 weeks 6 days. My blood pressure was super high again. The midwives were really nervous. I had blood work and urine tested and something came back weird so I had to do a 24 hour urine analysis. Which came back normal, thank goodness. My blood pressure was still high so they started talking about inducing me. But because I didn't have preeclampsia issues and just some end of pregnancy hypertension they wanted to hold off until the next week when I was due and keep monitoring me, thank goodness, but stressful nonetheless.
Saturday we trick or treated and walked quite a bit. I definitely felt lots of pressure. I had a feeling that birth was coming. Sunday I joked to Ryan that he shouldn't go to his shooting competition because I felt funny, but all was well. I was just a little crampy and uncomfortable.
I woke up Monday morning around 1:30 am with a few contractions. They stayed pretty steady all day, but weren't very consistent ranging anywhere from 3-11 minutes apart. I labored in the bath for a bit and tried to rest a few times and every time I would rest my contractions would slow down, sometimes to even 10/11 minutes apart, but would be greater and stronger when they came. So I thought this was going to be another long labor and another long day. I ate breakfast 3 times (hey when you are up at 1am what else do you do?) I took a bath in the late morning and then ate lunch. I did some pacing and then decided to go back in the tub. I was there maybe an hour and was getting frustrated because I felt like nothing was happening and I wasn't progressing and instead I was stalling.
We had called my midwife a few times and I felt like because my contractions weren't very close together she didn't take me seriously and even suggested I come in for a blood pressure check (wasn't happening!) I thought maybe I'd get out of the tub and go for a walk with Ryan and Colin. When I got out of the tub it was like contractions hit me wave after wave. I got really nauseous and Ryan knew that he needed to get me to the hospital and fast. The hospital was about 5 mins away and I had two contractions on the way there. We parked and I walked in (one contraction getting out of the car). I was soo terrified that I would get to the hospital and my labor would just stall with the change of scenery. They quickly wheeled me up to the 5th floor and I remember smiling and laughing between contractions. I got to the room and they had me change into a gown, which I was grumpy about because I had brought my own gown.. But it was in the car with all of the rest of my birth stuff (and camera) that we wouldn't get!
The nurses kept telling me to lay down and I was like, nope, sorry that isn't happening. Two contractions in my room and my water broke everywhere. Finally one nurse said just lay down so I can check you. I layed down JUST long enough to be checked and I was fully dilated. They quickly called my midwife. I labored standing up for a bit until I had the urge to push. Again was told to lay down and again refused because it seemed like it would be the most uncomfortable position and I wanted gravity to help me. I labored the last bit and pushed on my hands and knees! Pushing was hard for me, but also so amazing because as soon as she was out, it was over and there was immediate relief!!! Ryan helped catch her and as soon as she was out I flipped my leg over and brought her right to my chest where she stayed forever. It was so magical to get that bonding time immediately. Everyone left and it was just us and our new little life that we brought into the world. So precious and beautiful.
My labor was so awesome and I feel so empowered and strong. 14 hours total. Showed up to the hospital fully dilated and spent an hour and a half there before we delivered. Wouldn't trade a second!! It was so different than my first birth. I'm not sure what the difference was in me, but I read a lot, did a lot of research and surrounded myself with stories of positive and beautiful births. During labor I kept reminding myself how strong I was. I knew my contractions wouldn't last forever. In fact I knew they would only last a little over a minute with the hardest part being the first 30 seconds. So I would really focus on breathing through that first part and focused on low moaning and trying to relax my body. If I can do it, seriously anyone can!! You just have to trust yourself and the process! And now, Brynn Elise Waggoner!!