We are delighted to welcome our baby RJ born Monday June 10th at 8:09 am. 5 lbs 13 oz, 19.5 inches- here is our birth story…
My due date was June 8th with a plan to medically induce me on June 15 (Dr.’s orders). I was feeling great so on Saturday my husband and I walked about 3.5 miles at the Bosque along the river. That evening I was having Braxton hicks and the contractions were not very strong and pretty intermittent so we were certain it was false labor. The next day we relaxed, ran some errands and I was still feeling really good. That evening I thought again I was having Braxton hicks but they seemed a little more rhythmic this time so my husband began to time them.
Beginning around 8:00 pm they were 15 minutes apart at about a pain level of 2 – by 9:30 we started to wind down and head to bed and they were 10 minutes apart pain level about 3. I knew I needed to relax and try to rest and let my husband catch some sleep too. I listened to my birthing meditation and felt relaxed even through the contractions. I tried to sleep a while through the pains but by 1:30 I was not sleeping well so I got up and walked around the house and then drew a bath. I took a very uncomfortable bath, contractions now coming about every 7 minutes with pain increasing to about 5. By 3 am I was out of the bath and my husband was up to check on me. I saw a bit of mucus plug coming while I was in the bath so at this point I knew this was the real thing.
I would lay on the couch for a few minutes then a contraction would come and I’d get up and start swaying my hips and squatting which gave some relief along with the hand pressure point. This continued till about 4 and more mucus came, contractions getting slowly more intense so we knew we had to head to hospital soon. I messaged my doula and my doctor that we were heading in and we arrived at hospital around 4:45.
I was checked in to OB triage (where they tell you to go first) and they wanted to set me up on the heart monitor to check baby’s heart. They wanted 20 minutes of fetal monitoring which at this point was impossible for me to stay still for that long since getting up to move during contractions felt the most relief (along with pushing on the hand pressure point). I was beginning to vomit from the pains as my contractions were ramping up and were now every 4 minutes at a level 7.
Baby’s heart rate was all over the place and the on call doctor said something about inducing even though I was already in active labor! Cervix was at 1.7 dilation when she checked me. They were worried if baby’s heart rate wouldn’t stabilize he’d have to come out quickly and I thought, ok… Law of attraction! I started talking to baby and that we were going to work together to birth him quickly and safely.
They admitted me to hospital by 6 and the nurses again wanted me on the monitor. I was vomiting more from pain, contractions now 3 minutes apart. They finally gave me a portable monitor so I could walk around and squat and sway my hips. I also found it most comfortable to labor on the toilet for a bit. I decided to squat near the side of the tub and at 7:35 my waters broke.
My husband was on phone with my doula who was on her way. My doctor also wasn’t there yet! That’s when things went quickly, contractions now at a level 10 and I felt like I was in transition. I moved back to the bed and after 20 minutes I felt the urge to push but needed them to check my dilation. I somehow was already at 10 cm so I got the go ahead to start pushing and my doula had just arrived. I was half kneeling half squatting on the bed and after about 15 minutes of pushing, he came flooding out at 8:09.
My doctor arrived minutes later and helped deliver placenta and stitch up any tearing. It was such a beautiful experience! The doctors who were present for the birth were a bit shocked how quickly he came out, and so were we. My husband was an incredible daddy doula thanks to the training we did and he knew all the right points to press on to help me with natural pain relief. I have so much to be thankful for I’m that my labor was efficient, only about 12 hours from start to finish and without receiving any drugs or interventions. The birth of my son River has been an incredible journey, one that I feel confident I could do again. 
