Carla's Birth Story

After the surprisingly fast 4 hour labor with my firstborn son, I felt like it was a fluke. I knew when I was pregnant with my second that I would probably have another short labor, but never did I think that I would be that Mom who almost accidently gave birth on the side of the road. But sure enough, that was me. Almost.

As the third trimester whizzed by, my husband, Mike, and I were growing excited to meet our new little boy. This pregnancy had been a breeze and baby & I were both healthy as could be. We had planned a natural hospital birth and I wanted everything to unfold as naturally as possible. We ended up going with an OBGYN group that was highly recommended. I would have loved a midwife, but couldn’t find a single one affiliated with our hospital that was available for my expected delivery date. (That’s a different story for a different day). At the beginning of my pregnancy I was feeling some resistance from the OBGYN group in regards to my intervention free philosophy – they even started referring to me as “that natural mom”, as if I was some sort of anomaly. But many office visits and conversations later, I felt as though we were all on the same page and I was confident that I would have their support.

Starting around 38 weeks I began having strong Braxton Hicks that were coming every 3-5 minutes apart. If I felt my belly from the outside it was hard as a rock, but they were completely painless. Eeek! Everyone started getting excited thinking baby would be here soon! At my appointment that week I mentioned the contractions to my OB, as they hadn’t let up; they were still coming every 3-5 minutes, so she did a cervical exam and discovered I was 5cm! HOORAY! Since I wasn’t feeling any discomfort or pain I planned to wait until the contractions were uncomfortable to head to the hospital. As the 40 week mark came and went, my OB started getting antsy. My contractions had still been coming as they were, and I was hanging out at 6cm with not much going on. I was stuck in what felt like a never ending prodromal labor. My OB really wanted to break my water and get labor moving, but I knew my sweet baby would come when he was ready. By now I really was starting to feel like an anomaly. Who walks around 6 cm dilated for weeks like it’s no big deal? Apparently, I do.

It was the evening of 42 + 2. Mike was at work and I was home with our 3 year old son. Mike had been calling me practically every hour for the last month to check on me and ask, “do your contractions hurt yet?” He made his usual phone call and I told him that I was maybe starting to be able to feel light pressure from the contractions, but that it definitely wasn’t time yet. He was having a slow night at work and he decided to come home early. I think rolling into week 43 was taking a toll and making it hard for him to focus. When he got home about fifteen minutes later, I was feeling a mild cramping feeling during the peak of each contraction and having been through childbirth before I knew this was not even close to the real deal. I wanted to labor at home as long as possible and wasn’t in any hurry to go to the hospital, but Mike wouldn’t chill out and insisted we go. Knowing that I was at least 6 cm dilated I gave in.

I called my parents at 8:05 while we were in the car to tell them we were probably checking in to the hospital that night. I told them we’d call them to let them know if we were going to stay the night or go home. We parked the car, and as we were walking through the parking lot the first big contraction came out of nowhere and I stopped dead in my tracks. Ouch. That. Hurt. Yep, I was in labor! By the time we got up to Labor and Delivery they were coming pretty strong. They decided to have me skip the paperwork and took me straight back to the evaluation room. The midwife came in and said, “You’re 9 cm! We better get you to your delivery room!” The bumpy stretcher ride that ensued was the hardest part of the whole labor. They were wheeling me super fast; I closed my eyes and breathed through the contractions while I fought the motion sickness. The stretcher stopped and the nurses wanted me to move onto the delivery bed just as a contraction was starting. I closed my eyes and put my hand up as to say, “hang on a minute” and I could hear the nurses whispering to each other “Is she having a contraction?” I had to push.

Mike was standing next to me the whole time and holding my hand. He felt so warm and cozy and I focused on the warmth as I got myself up to a sitting position on the bed. With the next contraction I gave my first and only push; I felt my water break and at 8:29 our little boy was out! He was placed on my belly and several minutes later, after the cord stopped pulsating, Daddy cut it. Jace Lochlan was 8lbs 1 oz, 21” long and absolutely perfect! We spent the next hour snuggled up together and the nurses did his scores with him on my chest while we began nursing. His proud big brother got to come and meet him before the night was over, and that was a moment I’ll never forget.

I was checked into the hospital for only 9 short minutes before Jace was born. Only 45 minutes had passed since Mike even came home from work. What if he had stayed at work to finish his shift? I had no idea I was that close to delivering. He would have completely missed the birth and I would have been home alone with our 3 year old. There was no time for the labor tub or birthing balls, but I did get to relax afterwards with a nice, hot mug of RRL tea.

A big thanks to Carla for sharing her beautiful (and frankly, quite exciting) birth story! While this is not how your average labor and delivery experience unfolds, it is best to be prepared for anything. Check out the post on rapid birth to learn more about what rapid birth (or precipitous labor) looks like and what to do, should you experience such an event.

#birthstory #rapidbirth