My First Birth

I had a surprise pregnancy with my partner (now husband) when I was in my early twenties. I knew I wanted to have an unmedicated birth, and I began googling everything related to birth and breastfeeding immediately. I stayed very active during my first pregnancy. I was serving and bartending full time at a local restaurant throughout the whole pregnancy, and I worked up until 2 days before the birth. I was on my feet for long hours, and I attended 3-5 yoga classes a week in my second and third trimesters (once my nausea had passed). My husband and I also joined an indoor pool that winter, and I was able to swim for much of the pregnancy as well.

I attended a hypnosis for birthing class and learned a breathing technique to aid in my relaxation. I was planning to have an unmedicated vaginal birth in the hospital, attended by midwives. I knew I did not want an epidural; I was terrified of the idea of having one, and I was not someone who was fond of taking medications.

I hired a local doula and was feeling pretty positive about the birth. On a cold day in March, I was 40 weeks pregnant (finally!). I went for a long walk in the woods with my husband and our two dogs in the morning, and I went for an acupuncture treatment that afternoon. We decided to go swimming at the local indoor pool after acupuncture, and then we went out for a spicy Thai dinner. Halfway through dinner, I began having surges. They continued to come, and the surges quickly became stronger and closer together. We drove home, I took a hot shower and rested in bed for a couple of hours, continuing to breathe through my surges as they gradually intensified. When I could no longer lie down through my surges, I began walking around the house, bouncing on my ball, and I called my doula and the midwives at the hospital. The midwife on the phone told me I probably wasn’t in labor because I seemed so calm. I knew that this was the real deal, and we had a 45-minute drive to the hospital, so we decided to leave the house around 11 PM. In the car, I continued to breathe and I (tried) to sway and move my hips through the surges, and I listened to relaxation tracks and music.

At the hospital, I consented to a cervical check and was told that I was 4 cm dilated. I rocked on the birthing ball and requested that the birthing tub be filled for me. I climbed into the tub when it was finally full, and labored in the tub comfortably for a while, breathing, rocking, and swaying my hips through the surges. When things had really intensified, I was helped out of the tub and climbed onto the hospital bed. I got on my hands and knees and gave birth to my daughter around 6 AM, 6 hours after arriving at the hospital. I really focused on relaxing & breathing calmly through the sensations of pushing/bearing down, and the feeling of my daughter coming out was the biggest release I had ever experienced. My daughter was lying on my stomach and chest while my midwife checked me for tearing, I was relieved to learn that my perineum was intact & I had no tearing. The hospital stay seemed to go on forever, and I couldn’t wait to get back home into the comfort of my own bed.

I went on to breastfeed my daughter exclusively and I became pregnant at 14 weeks postpartum with my second daughter.