Where to start....? Well, I thought for sure Kayleigh might be a week early since I had been having contractions since 37 weeks. 2 nights before her due date I was having some good contractions that were growing closer together and I thought maybe it was time! But, after an hour or 2 they got kinda sporadic and went away all together... The same thing happened the day of her due date and the next few days follow. I was getting extremely anxious at this point and wondering when she was going to arrive! (fast forward to the 23rd) I tried to keep myself busy, but we had a small snow storm and I felt cooped up inside the house which made time CRAWL by very slowly. So, I took Ian outside and played in the snow and we went sledding down our street! Yup, 3 days past my due date and I was on a sled with my almost 3 year old :)
About midnight that night I was having the "usual" contractions and they were pretty close together, about 3 1/2 min apart. Now, mind you these contractions don't hurt a bit. They just feel like pressure and I can feel my stomach get harder and harder as the contraction grows, but no pain whatsoever. Victor is saying we should call the midwife at this point because with Ian we headed to the hospital at this point. I keep saying "no, they're probably just going to go away like they always do. Besides, they don't hurt at all. This isn't "it"." Victor finally convinced me we should give her a call. The midwife suggested I take a hot shower and if they stay that close together for another 30 minutes to call her back. They didn't budge, so we called her back and she said she was going to head over. I kept thinking, "Is this really it?? It can't be... It doesn't feel like the labor I had with Ian at all!"
Audrey (my midwife) shows up at 2 am with the birthing assistant. They check my vitals, check Kayleigh's heartbeat and check my cervix. My cervix are at 8cm!!!! What?!?! All those "contractions" sure were REALLY doing something!! (I was 3+ cm at my appointment 5 days prior!)The midwife tells me to rock in a few different positions and do the birthing ball to see if we can get her to drop just a smidge. So, I turn on my hypnobabies and get to work!
Fast forward to 8am.
Same old pressure like contractions sitting at 4 min apart, still 8 cm... We now need to get Ian up and have him head over to his Grandpa's. Victor drops him off and picks up his Mom and grabs everybody coffee. My Mom and Grandma couldn't make it down because of the icy roads...
Fast Forward to 10:30 am.
SAME contractions, I've walked the stairs countless times, done the birthing ball... So the midwife checks my cervix again and they're still at 8 cm. The midwife doesn't want to/couldn't leave me at this point because if my water broke at any point Kayleigh could come within minutes! She asked if I would be comfortable with her breaking my water to bring on some stronger contractions and I said "Yes, go for it!!". I was more than ready for things to move forward!! As soon as she broke my water she had me climb into the tub. Within 15 minutes I could tell the contractions were getting stronger! I was so excited! I was smiling and laughing with Victor as he sat by the tub with me. Within 45 minutes the contractions were VERY strong and I was rocking in the tub and laying flat or doing whatever made me feel best. As hard as the contractions were, I was extremely relaxed in between them. I literally felt like I almost dozed off a few times! (thank you hypnobabies!) Which is funny because the contractions were so intense my hands would shake and my face would get tingly during one. I just took every break as my opportunity to relax as much as possible. I was quite vocal during my contractions :) and I totally didn't care. When in the moment, nothing mattered but getting through that contraction and getting closer to holding my baby.
I was not thinking about how quickly the time was passing, but I was concerned about feeling that "urge to push" that everyone talks about when going with no epidural. I was getting impatient actually and decided I needed to lay on my back in the tub... With the very next contraction I got the slightest pushy feeling. I ignored it because it wasn't very strong or the feeling of pushing that I was expecting. On the next contraction I decided to try a small push and all the sudden my body beared down and contracted with my push! I grunted really loud and thought, "Yes!! This is it!". I tried pushing with the next couple contractions, but kept getting a really sharp pain above my pelvic bone. I told the midwife this and she decided to check me. Apparently my cervix were slid forward and blocking Kayleigh's escape route! She attempted to push them out of the way with my next contraction. That hurt. So she told me to try and not push with the next few contractions to see if they would slide out of the way. I waited out 2 contractions and then the urge to push was too much. I started to push with my next contraction and WOAH I felt her slide down!! Now this was definitely it! With all of the following pushes I could feel her moving down! Talk about a crazy and wonderful feeling! Next thing I know she is crowning and after sitting through 1 contraction I slowly push her head out!
My first thoughts:
Her head is so tiny! Much smaller than Ian's! Peach fuzz hair! I'm done!! That was totally worth it!!
I was totally relaxed and relieved at this point... "ahhh, I'm done!". The midwife tells me to push with the next contraction, which my body was already telling me that. So I push, push, pushing... contraction is over and midwife asks me to push again. No urge, but I did it anyway. She tells me again, "I really need you to push Brittany". I push again. "Brittany, I'm going to have to ask you to climb on the bed and get on all fours and push." I immediately knew she was stuck in some way or another. We had talked about this very thing at one of our first appointments. Oddly enough, I was not panicked in any way and immediately stood up and climbed straight from the tub to the bed. (Yes, with her head between my legs!!) I push as soon as I get on the bed. The midwife is telling me "big push, Brittany. Give me a big push." I push and grunt and push with everything I can muster since I have no contraction at the moment. Then, my baby girl was laid on the bed right next to my legs! She is here!!! Relief.
Now, I'm done. :)It's 1:38 pm.
I talk to my baby girl and the midwife says I can pick her up and put her skin to skin. My precious girl is finally in my arms and she is perfectly healthy! She nursed and laid on me for the first hour at least, it was so great! After that, we got her stats! 8 lbs 11 oz, 21.75 inches, 13 1/2 head circumference. She had super chubby cheeks (courtesy of Mom), LONG legs, LONG toes (also courtesy of me), LONG fingers (me again!) and some thunder thighs!! She was so perfect. We could tell right that day she had a very mellow temperament (unlike her brother). Victor and I fell in love all over again. We are the proud parents of two beautiful children!!
So much for my water birth! But, I always said I never cared about "where" she was born as long as I was doing what helped me or her the most. Obviously I had to switch positions to get her shoulder loose from my pelvic bone. Ian also got "stuck" on my pelvic bone when he was born, but it took much longer to even get his head out!
I loved my home birth and if I had the choice of hospital birth or home birth again, it would be a home birth hands down! The differences between the two, you ask?
-I had no stitches this time, which was WONDERFUL when it came to the healing process! I felt tip top in no time and took no pain meds! I only had 2 stitches with Ian, which was great and I healed pretty quick with him, but having no stitches was even better!
-Feeling when to push vs being told when to push... I pushed for 3 hours with Ian and 11 minutes with Kayleigh. That is self explanatory lol
-Recovering in my own home with no interruptions from 10 different staff members, priceless!! Victor and I both felt way more rested after Kayleigh's birth than with Ian's. I went into labor about the same time too and we actually had less sleep with Kayleigh than we did with Ian.
-The gentle care Kayleigh got from the midwife after she was born vs the crazy rub down and pricks and pokes Ian got from the hospital staff.
Okay, this was way more than I planned on typing up... oh well. This is the story of my baby girl's birth! Hope you enjoyed it!
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