In the weeks leading up to Alister’s birth, I was getting anxious to meet him. I was doing everything possible to induce labor. I’m talking, 1-2 mile walks daily, spicy foods, sitting on a birthing ball and even drinking castor oil. If I’m being honest, I totally thought he was coming early. All the early labor signs were there and I just couldn’t see myself going all the way to my due date. Well, as it turns out, he had other plans.
May 26th [day before due date]
I was exhausted. My belly was huge, my feet hurt, and I was more than ready to meet my baby. I had already tried castor oil in orange juice a few days prior and only had contractions for a couple of hours until they eventually tapered off. So, I figured since it at least triggered some contractions the first time, that I’d give it another go. Around 8 or 9pm, I made a castor oil milkshake. As gross as that sounds, it’s actually less noticeable in the milkshake than in the OJ! Anthony and I watched a show or two and then went to sleep.
May 27th [due date!]
At this point, I’m not sure if it was the castor oil or if my kids are just punctual (Addi was born only 2 hours after her actual due date), but I was up every 30-40 minutes from about 12am-5am with light contractions. The contractions were so light and irregular that I continued to try and sleep through it, though I was so uncomfortable that I tossed and turned all night. Finally at about 5am, I woke up to a pretty intense contraction- so intense that I woke Anthony up to tell him. It hit me hard at that moment that it was happening. I was entering the active labor phase and our baby would be here soon. I was so excited and nervous all at the same time.
Anthony got right up, we kind of waited a few minutes and then I had another contraction. We started to talk about when I would call the midwife when at about 5:20, my water broke. I was lying in bed and I remember just saying “oh my God, I think my water just broke!” as I started running to the bathroom to assess the situation. Sure enough, it had.
We called the midwife right away where she started asking a few questions like how far apart my contractions were, and if I felt like I wanted to continue laboring at home for a while before coming in. We’re about 30 minutes from the birthing center and with my water being broken and contractions getting severely stronger, I knew it was time to go in. We packed up the car and we’re on our way to the birthing center by about 5:45am.
Arriving At The Birth Center
My water didn’t break on it’s own during my labor with Addison, so this was new for me. I wasn’t constantly leaking, but every contraction I got during the car ride was stronger and accompanied by a gush. By the time we arrived at the birthing center (at about 6:10am) I was soaked. The midwives immediately brought me to a birthing room where they checked me and baby, we were both fine and healthy. I was GBS positive, so they gave me an IV and then wrapped it, so I could get into the birthing tub.
The Birth
At about 7am, I got into the birthing tub. At this point my contractions were strong and only getting stronger. Mind you, I had an epidural with Addison, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect. There came a point where the contractions were so intense that I couldn’t stay quiet. I had to moan loudly just to get through the pain. The midwives encouraged me to moan deeply to bring the baby down, and I did. As the baby started to make his way down the birth canal, I was in constant pain, like no breaks in between contractions and it felt like more than I could bare.
Finally after multiple positions and what felt like 100 contractions, my body told me I needed to push. So with Anthony holding my hand, and the support of my midwife, I did. I pushed like hell and I remember thinking that there was no way I could get through another contraction or the pain of pushing even one more time. The pain was fierce. Unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I held onto something a friend told me just days before. “When you feel like you can’t manage through one more contraction, or you can’t push one more time, tune everyone out, close your eyes, and imagine his face.” It really kept me strong enough to push through and finally get to meet my baby boy. At 8:24am, he was born.
I got to hold him right away which I didn’t get to do with Addi, and Anthony got to cut the umbilical cord, also a first. Since I delivered in the birthing tub, Anthony was able to do skin to skin with the baby while my midwife helped me over the the bed where I could hold him again. We stayed at the birthing center admiring our baby boy for 8 hours before we got to come home and introduce him to Addi [watch that video here] and enjoy being a family of four!
Watch The Birth Video Here
All in all, Alister’s birth was the biggest challenge I’ve ever had to overcome, but it was worth-it and so beautiful. Please, if you have a birth story you’d like to share, comment below! I’d love to hear!
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