I had been having contractions for a few weeks already, so I thought for sure she would be earlier than that. After 39 weeks, we decided that I should try using the labor stimulation kit that they offer, which includes castor oil and a bunch of herbal tinctures. It really got labor started for a good while, and then everything died off. Twice. The day we were anticipating was coming, and I was getting increasingly worried that we were going to have to go to the hospital. We decided to give it one last shot on Sunday, the day before we'd have to be transferred. Kelly and Mayanne, our two midwives, decided if the baby was low enough, they would break my water. That, of course, would put me on a time schedule and she would need to be born by the next morning, or to the hospital we would go. Rich and I decided it was worth the chance, since it might get us the birth we wanted.
When we got there, it turned out that she wasn't low enough. I was so disappointed. It really felt like there were so many obstacles in our way. Fern, our doula, and my mom had come with us in case things got going quickly. Well, it didn't look like that was going to happen. So we decided we would stay and give the stimulation kit one last chance along with chiropractic adjustment throughout the night. My mom went out and rented a funny movie for us to watch while we waited and we ordered some dinner. Luckily, I had a chance to eat a decent meal and get a good nights sleep before we started this process, unlike last time. It was a beautiful night out, so we took a brisk walk around the block and did lunges through contractions to try and encourage her to move down. When we got back in, I sat on the ball and rocked while we watched our movie. I was having pretty consistent contractions at this point, but none that were hard to get through. Around 9:30 or so, we decided that it would be a good idea to try and rest. Fern decided to go home for a little while so she could nurse her baby and would come back when we needed her or in the morning.
Needless to say, the best way to get things going is to have people leave and decide it's time to rest. Not long after Fern left, my contractions picked up very quickly. They went from completely bearable to really having to work to breathe through them almost instantly. Lauren, the student midwife, checked me again and I was a complete 4 cm. I was 2, stretchy to a 4 when we got there at around 5pm. I really thought we were going to be there a long time. I know second babies come faster, but I was 4 cm when I got to the birth center with Benjamin, and it was still another 10 hours after that before he came.
As I was standing up leaning on the bed breathing through contractions, I saw everyone starting to get all the supplies set up around the room for the baby to come. I was thinking it probably was a little early for that, but that's ok. Rich decided it was time to call Fern back and the photographer. It was a good thing we did. Kelly asked me if I wanted to get into the tub, which sounded great, but I was worried it would slow things down like I think it did with Benjamin. She told me she didn't think it would, so in I went. It felt great! It didn't take away a lot of the pain, but it really helped me to relax more. At this point, everyone was sitting around the tub with gloves on. Again, I thought it was a little early for that, but no harm done. Rich was holding my hand and Fern was sitting next to him with encouraging words. She kept telling me to relax into the contraction and let my body open up. It really helped hearing that every time. I was trying so hard this time to just let my body do what it needed to do. It was getting very hard, though, to relax through them. I started feeling like I wasn't going to be able to get through many more of them, and if we were going to be here for hours more, I just didn't know if I could do it.
After a little while in the tub, I felt the urge to push. I pushed once, and then on the second push I could feel her head coming out!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! Already! I was so happy that it wasn't taking long and was so determined to push her out! It only took about 5 minutes of pushing before my sweet baby girl was in my arms. I felt such a relief and remember looking down in the water to see her and pulling her up to my chest. Thank God!
I can't believe how fast she came into this world. From the time I started getting significant contractions to the time she was born was about 4 hours!! What a difference from the 17 I was in labor with Benjamin!! It was the perfect birth! I barely had any bleeding and I didn't tear at all, even with as quickly as she came out. After delivering the placenta, I moved over to the bed so I could nurse her. She had a little bit of fluid in her lungs, but it cleared out pretty quickly and she started nursing. Since it was so early in the morning, we decided to get some sleep and go home in the morning. I think we only slept for 2 hours. I was so awake and in awe of our little girl, it was hard to
sleep.
Even though she waited until the very last moment, I'm so thankful that things worked out the way we had planned. And I finally got the water birth that I wanted! Charlotte Elizabeth was born at 1:09am on May 19th, 2014. She weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 21 inches long. Even with everything that we had to go through in the months leading up to her birth, it was all worth it to finally be holding her in my arms!!
