A year ago today at 41 weeks pregnant, I woke up just before sunrise to discover my water had broken. I wasn’t experiencing any contractions so I gave my birth team a heads up and went about my business. My husband made us a nice breakfast and we head out for a neighborhood walk with our three year old son. When we returned home I was feeling a little anxious and asked a prenatal acupuncturist to come over to help me relax. I dozed off in bed and was awakened by my first contraction… it went from zero to sixty pretty quickly after that! I knew there wasn’t enough time for my doula to come over so I told her to meet us at the birth center.
At 3 pm we got into the car and drove through the winding canyon. My contractions were two minutes apart lasting for a little more than a minute. I had been tracking them on my app and the rhythm of hitting the button on my phone each time I felt one helped me to focus and cope with how quickly things were progressing. In a wonderful effort to support my birth preferences, my OB was granted privileges at the birth center to catch the baby with the midwife acting as back up. My husband called him from the car and he insisted on checking me at his office before going to the birth center. I wasn’t dilated or effaced the day before and the baby was still high so he wanted to assess the situation. Things were getting intense and I knew I was further along than he thought so I told him the only way that was happening was if he met us in the underground parking garage for a very quick check.
When we pulled into the garage it was 3:30 pm and he was standing there in his scrubs waiting for us. I leaned over the side of the car and said “hurry up and check me!” My husband was trying to cover me with a towel as people were valeting their cars but I couldn’t care less! The doctor told us I was 6 cm and to meet him at the birth center.
We arrived there at 3:45 pm. I had two options: walk up the big flight of stairs or walk to the front of the building to wait for the elevator that moves at a glacial pace. I opted for the stairs. I let a contraction pass, walked up the stairs, and had another contraction. I must have been moaning loudly because the midwife assistant and nurses met me in the hallway. All I could say was “bathtub.” As I walked in, my doula helped me get undressed and into the warm bathtub. Ahhhh. I enjoyed about minute of sweet relief when I was completely thrown by this crazy intense massive forceful powerful contraction. Things went to a whole nother level. My doctor gave me some space as I held onto the side of the tub and worked through a few more of those. A few minutes later I could feel my baby’s head crowning under the water as I layed on my side. After it emerged, I leaned over the side of the tub and in a couple of pushes, the rest of my beautiful baby boy was born at 4:32 pm.
This picture was taken shortly after when we moved over to the bed. He weighed 9 lbs, 5 oz and measured 20.25 inches. It was an incredibly transformative, healing, empowering, humbling experience for which I am most grateful.