JACE’S BIRTH STORY
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2021 - DUE DATE
No signs of labor at all. I even went out with some girlfriends to dinner.
saturday, DECEMBER 11, 2021
I had contractions most of the day. They were occurring every minute for a minute or longer, but they weren’t painful. They also didn’t feel consistent. We called the midwife around 2 pm, and she said to keep tracking them. Around 6 pm, I laid down for a nap to see if they’d go away or continue. I got up an hour later, and they were completely gone.
sunday, DECEMBER 12, 2021
I really wanted his birthday to be on 12-12-21. We picked up my mother-in-law at the airport in the mid-morning. I felt completely normal - with no signs of labor. Around 3 pm, we decided to go shopping so I could walk around enough to help induce labor. We went to Kohls, and I started having contractions, but nothing much. Then we went to Walmart for groceries, and they started to get more consistent and more painful - nothing a brisk walk couldn’t help ease though. Around 6 pm, they started getting really consistent. I went to the bathroom and lost my mucus plug. We decided to call the midwife, and she again told us to keep her posted when they regulated. We were about 30 minutes away from home with a car full of people, and about an hour away from the birthing center. Ben made the decision that we needed to leave immediately and at least drop everyone off at home. Contractions remained consistent and uncomfortable. Around 8:30 pm, I decided to take a shower and try to get more comfortable. I noticed that the water wasn’t getting warm, but I jumped in hoping it would warm up. After 5 minutes of no hot water, I jumped out in tears. I dried off and told Ben that I thought the water heater went out, through tears. He immediately said we needed to go to the center because I was way more emotional than normal. I said no and wanted to give him some time to fix the water heater (yes, he can do anything). After 10 minutes of diagnosis, I was ready to leave. The contractions were still consistent, but more than anything I wanted a warm shower. I figured the birthing center would at least let me shower there if I wasn’t ready to go into labor.
We arrived at the birthing center at 9:27 pm. I was in shorts and slippers waiting in the cold for the midwife to open the door. After 10 minutes, I went back to the truck fuming that she didn’t come down quickly. It did not start out well… but it turns out that she was helping another new mom, so I gave her some grace. She checked me, and I was 5cm and 90% effaced. Still, my contractions were very consistent but not painful as I was expecting. She concluded that the baby was likely posterior (back of baby’s head against my spine). She concluded that’s likely why I didn’t have the baby the night before. I knew a posterior birth was going to be more painful, so she gave me some instructions on how to naturally turn the baby. With every contraction, I would pick up my belly and pull it towards my back. She wanted me to get checked into the room, relax, and keep doing the exercises. I was determined to flip this baby, so I got on YouTube and watched a video on many ways to naturally turn the baby. Check it out below!
monday, december 13, 2021
After doing the exercises for almost 2 hours, I was confident I wouldn’t have a baby on 12-12-21, so I decided around 11:45 pm to get some sleep and prepare mentally for labor the next day. I was able to sleep for almost two hours through contractions. Then, at 1:57 am, my water broke. The midwife had let me rest, so I text her, “My water just broke. We could use a bit of advice.” I laugh at how relaxed I was in hindsight. I got up, walked to the shower to clean up. After my water broke with Orion, my firstborn, the pain got really intense, so I was prepared for the worse. I stripped down, walked into the shower and Ben turned on my playlist. I listened to the first 6 songs over and over again, as I swayed, closed my eyes, and praised God for this incredible gift of motherhood.
I had no belief that I would have a baby anytime soon because I wasn’t in much pain. I was so peaceful and overjoyed with the songs and praise. I had two contractions where I told the midwife I’d answer her after the contraction was over. I held onto the handlebar around the shower and swayed to the music. She expressed that I should get into the tub. I said that I’d like to wait because I didn’t want to get in too early and slow down my labor. Her next words were, “If you don’t want to have a baby in the shower, you’ll get into the tub.” I relented, figuring I could always get out when I wanted. Jace Micheal was born about 15 minutes later. Turns out, she knew what she was talking about.
Now if you want the details of pushing with a water birth, continue reading.
I unintentionally got into the tub on my knees because I stupidly never researched birthing positions in a tub… Through each contraction, I breathed and found Ben’s two ears to anchor myself to. He never wavered but told me afterward that I was pulling both of his ears off the whole time. I wanted cold water poured on my back and on my face to combat the immense pressure I was feeling. Unlike birthing in a bed, I was told to wait to push until I had a contraction. This is probably why I didn’t tear. I waited for my body to push the baby out, and then I would help by pushing. Once I figured this out, I could breathe better between the contractions. With one final push, Jace came out into the water, I breathed a sigh of relief and realized no one handed me a baby. I spun around and scooped the baby out of the water apologizing for letting him go swimming so early. I held this little life in my curled arms, and said, “what is it?!” We all laughed, realizing we didn’t know its gender. The midwife came around to the front of the tub and said, “that’s a BIG baby!” Our 9lb. 6oz. baby boy made his appearance at 3:09 am on December 13, 2021. We did the standard baby check, nursed, and I got a shower, and we left the birthing center at 7:11 am as a family of 4.
