11 Years Ago Today: My first natural birth

Today is one of my favorite guy's birthdays.  I can't believe my tiny baby boy is 11!

(Will got a fancy bike for his birthday. He put it together himself.)

And since were all focused on babies over here (waiting for a client's baby) I thought I would write up my birth story with Will. After 2 pretty miserable standard hospital births, I was ready to try a natural birth with no intervention. In our part of the world, it was still pretty uncommon. I went with a CNM at my OB clinic thinking this would help.

The story starts July 23, 3 days after my due date. This is directly from my journal:

Miserable! Still no baby, severe back ache all the time and contractions all day, but not regular or consistent. Very painful though. I've been a miserable, grouchy, uncomfortable person all day.
I've been depressed too cause I think it's just false labor and I hate to think what real contractions are going to feel like. I still managed to download 10 new songs and I got my room cleaned tonight and went for a a short walk and took a nap. And sort of cleaned my bathroom. My mom has a cold or allergies and I feel bad that she feels bad. Both girls were super tired: grouchy, rude, bratty after such a late night last night (we were at a boisterous work party downtown, complete with fireworks and bouncy houses). Elle went to bed early. I really hope it's tomorrow. I can't do another day like today.

July 24:
Well, little did I know. After writing in my journal I took a long hot shower to help with my back ache. It felt so good. As soon as I got out I had contractions 5 min apart. This was about 1am. I couldn't sleep. I did my nails and tried gathering things up. I woke up Tyler and told him. About 3am I called Anna cause they were getting closer, but not longer, about 30 sec. Anna was great. My back hurt so bad. Major back labor and the Hypnobreathing(? I think I meant hypnobirthing) didn't help with that. About 5:30am I felt really intense pressure and thought we should got to the hospital cause I had no idea how far along I was. I was admitted, but only 4-5cm. I was seriously bummed. They felt so bad I didn't know if I could make it. I got in the jacuzzi tub for 30-45 min and the ctrx got longer. When I got out Andrea (midwife) was there and I was a 7-8! It was so hard my back killed and every time I moved around it was excruciating. She checked again in a few min. 9cm. Next ctrx: 10. I felt this bearing down. I don't even want to think about the pushing part--it's still to painful and fresh. I was screaming and didn't want to do it and my hips kept cramping and I was writhing. But he did finally come out a 7:49am. He is so cute. He's really a boy. Lots of dark hair. The after part was really painful too. I wasn't prepared for that. But I did it--no drugs. It was way more my ideal birth even with the pain. Tyler was really impressed. He's a big fan of natural childbirth now. He latched right on and slept all day. His face is really bruised from turning right as he came out. But he's still so cute. I am pretty tired from no sleep and I did sleep a little. M&E were really excited. So cute to see them. I'm so glad to not be pregnant! He was 8lbs 13 oz, 10.5" long, head 14.5"
William Miguel

I do remember the pushing part even though I didn't write about it then. I had gotten overheated in the jacuzzi tub (no one at the hospital had used it, no one advised me to keep the water not hot--and hot felt so good) I remember them putting an oxygen mask on that I hated and irritated my face, I remember feeling really out of control and the midwife seeming irritated at me and just saying I should get an epidural, I remember my eyes rolling closed and checking out. And then months later, I remember feeling embarrassed about the whole experience. I felt that the hospital staff thought I was going through a lot of unneeded pain (which seriously, a posterior birth really is a pain). But still, the power and emotion I felt afterward was amazing. I remember thinking I wanted a sign on the door that said, "I DID IT!! I HAD A BABY WITH NO MEDICATION!! MY BODY IS AMAZING!!" I wanted everyone to know. I learned so much too. How important your support team is, doulas as well as your doc. How important position of baby is (I did everything possible in my last 2 births to avoid a sunnyside up baby) I learned I could do ANYTHING if I could do that. I learned how to heal my emotions related to the birth (with the help of Birthing from Within). And on top of all that, I got a precious, amazing baby boy. He was and is a light and joy to our family. He was a wonderful baby and kid always kind and thankful. I've always loved that about him. At 11 now, he's entered the pre-deacon phase, but he's still a really really good kid. I love him. And I love watching him grow. I am so grateful he was sent to our eternal family.