That Time I Had A Baby...And Nothing Went As Planned

I have been set on having a natural birth my whole life...like, as young as I can remember. My mother had 4 children, 2 of them were in hospitals, one at home, and I was born in a birthing center with midwives. My mother had some horror stories about her hospital experiences, and so I just grew up expecting to have a natural birth with a midwife, at home if possible. As I've become an adult and have had friends birth naturally or do water births at home, I've loved the beautiful photoshoots that come out of it...soft and tender, surrounded by comforting surroundings and people you love. Living in an apartment, I couldn't do an at home birth...(I think my landlord would have been upset with the mess and neighbors may have been disturbed by the screaming)...but I was determined to have my baby with midwives at a birthing center.

I love midwives. I loved my experience with the midwives at the birthing center. Everything was so calm, they explained everything to me, especially the things that I didn't have to do if I didn't want to, and it was really great for my anxious, freaked out prego self. I will probably continue to seek out midwives for my future babies.

Alas, I was not meant to have my baby in a birthing center. Or with midwives.

12am Monday night (or Tuesday morning) my water broke. Curtis and I had just laid down to bed after some...fun. I spent the next half hour or so walking to the bathroom, laying back down, then having to walk back to the bathroom. Finally I woke Curtis up and told him "Hey, my water broke."

Then the contractions started. We called the midwives and, of course, they advised me to try to sleep and to call again when my contractions were really close together.

YA RIGHT, like I was going to sleep through my first birth. I fully expected to hold my baby in just a few hours, my mother had extremely fast labors. Inbetween contractions, I instructed my mother and Curtis on what to pack in my "hospital" bag...no, I hadn't packed it yet. I had 3 days until my due date...PLENTY of time.

My doula, Autumn, arrived shortly after. The woman is and was a rockstar, works as a doula for free because she believes every woman should have an advocate at their birth. I do not know how I would have survived my experience without that angelic woman by my side through the whole thing.

Around 6am we packed up and headed to the birthing center. Contractions 2 minutes apart, let's do this thing! We arrived to a flurry of midwives and assistants setting up the birthing room, getting the bath started, and changing sheets. After a vaginal check, I was sent home. Womp womp. Only 1 cm dilated. So lame.

I could give you the exact details of the next 12 hours but we'll shorten it. Basically, we tried everything to get that baby out. I was power walking, doing squats and lunges (which is extremely tricky when you are both pregnant and in labor), we tried nipple stimulation (still makes me giggle), and sitting on the toilet (my least favorite). I slept in 10 minute intervals occasionally but was mostly on my feet and moving, because the contractions were too strong and painful to lay down or sit.

I finally hit a wall. Never had I clung to Jesus more tightly. I thought there was no way I could make it through another contraction. I thought I was going to die. I really did, and I wept and clung to Curtis and whispered through tears "I can't do this anymore"

So we packed it all up again and went back to the birthing center. I told Curtis on the way "if the midwives try to send us home, we're going to the hospital. I am not going back home, we are having this baby." This time, there was no flurry of activity. Just one midwife who happens to be extremely empathetic and was exactly what my heart needed at the end of the hardest ordeal of my life. Kat, the midwife, did a vaginal check to see how far dilated I was. She discovered meconium (baby poop) which meant I had to be transferred to the hospital. (the baby is in danger of inhaling the meconium and not being able to breath).

Packed everything up AGAIN and headed to the hospital. I was so relieved. The hospital has drugs! The hospital has answers! Like, why have I been in SO MUCH PAIN for so long without ever dilating past a couple centimeters? I'd love an answer, and a solution, for that question please.

Despite all my anxieties and trepidations about hospital births, I had the best experience at Evergreen. Dr. Vasaveda was very understanding and clear about what was happening (baby was breech...maybe THATS why he wasn't coming out). April, my nurse, was upbeat and funny and renewed my spirit in preparation for my C section. Bill, the anesthesiologist, was like a family doctor I had grown up with...the man oozed safety and security and caring. The C section was quick, soon after it started Bill held my head up so I could see them pull my son out of my belly (he gave a loud POP sound which was funny), April weighed him near my head so I could see him and then brought him to lay on my chest for skin to skin time while the doctors sewed me back up. Curtis held Elwin right by my head the rest of the surgery and then walked with Elwin behind my bed when I was wheeled to my room.

My entire labor lasted 23 and a half hours. I ended up having a hospital birth AND a C section, two things I didn't even remotely think were possible.

Did your birth go as planned? What was the biggest surprise from your experience?