My Positive Birth Story

My Positive Experience

I carried my baby for 41 weeks + 1 day before he was born, I decided not to find out the gender so I was so excited for my birth. 

After my due date passed I was being pressured to be induced by my physicians and had a scheduled induction booked at 41 weeks. I tried all the typical induction methods but the baby was too comfy. I really wanted my labor to begin spontaneously without any medical intervention, when my scheduled induction date arrived I decided to call the hospital to cancel because it felt too rushed. 

At my clinic appointment, I had a scan and NST which told us the baby was doing okay and I still had lots of fluid. I went to see a local midwife who could give me a clearer idea of where my body was at. She worked my cervix and stretched me from 1cm to 2cm. Immediately after I started to feel light cramps and mild bleeding, these cramps continued for 2 days so I continued to stay active and hydrated. 

My labor started around 6 p.m. while I was out food shopping, I started to experience much stronger cramping sensations that I hadn’t experienced before. I went home, had a shower, drank lots of water, and got my hospital bags ready. 

At around 7 pm my husband started timing my contractions and I messaged my doula to tell her the baby was coming. I tried to get as hydrated with coconut water as I could and had a light snack. I was so excited that this was all happening naturally. 

My plan was to labor at home with my husband for as long as possible. We turned off the lights, lit candles, put the scent defuser on, and played nice music to make the environment as calm as possible. 

In early labor, I preferred walking through my contractions and holding my husband’s shoulders while swaying. Oxytocin is the ‘love’ hormone and also the hormone used to progress labor so staying close to him was important for me. He placed hot towels on my belly for comfort and used counterpressure techniques on my lower back as well as encouraging position affirmations. 

Throughout my entire labor movement was extremely important to get me through contractions, I’m really grateful that I continued to stay active during pregnancy so that I had the endurance to stay moving. Standing swaying, walking, all 4’s rocking, rocking lunges, and supported swaying were movement positions I kept changing into. 

During contractions, I closed my eyes and imagined powerful energy moving through my body and my baby. Energy not pain. I found it helpful to concentrate on relaxing the muscles in my face, especially my jaw to release tension and keep my vocalizations as low, deep moans. Repeating the word ‘surrender’ in my mind was really helpful to me. Surrender to the sensations, relax into movement, and allow my baby to progress through my pelvis. 

At 9 pm my doula arrived, she did a cervical exam and I was 4cm. We listened to the baby’s heart and he was doing fine. My water bag hadn’t broken yet so we labored at home for around 3 hours before deciding to drive to the hospital which is 25 minutes away. 

When I arrived at the hospital I was already at 7cm, just 3cm to go! This progress gave me a lot of confidence and motivation as I planned to do this birth unmedicated. 

They put an IV into my arm just in case I needed it but I refused to have fluids because I didn’t want to be attached to anything that might limit my ability to move around the room. This is why staying hydrated at home was important to me. 

I also refused to have my water bag broken by the doctor, even though I knew this would progress my labor because I wanted to deliver my baby as naturally as possible. 

I tried sitting on the birth ball and the toilet to break the bag but the sensation of sitting was too intense for me so I continued with my upright walking, swaying, and rocking movements. 

At around 12am I attached a TENS unit to my back and this was great for me, I would highly recommend trying this during your labor. 

My contractions lasted around 2 minutes with almost no rest and things were progressing quickly. I felt very in control for almost all my contractions but I started to get these strong urges to push, like my baby was about to fall out of my butt! 

Without any intention, my body started pushing which caused my water bag to break. My midwife called the doctor and checked my cervix which was now at 10cm. Time to meet my baby. 

The doctor came into the room and the lights went on. My instinctive pushing position on on all fours and my husband held my hands. On my next contraction, I tried to practise pushes to get an idea of what I needed to do, and then on the following contraction I held my breath and pushed, I honestly didn’t know what to do but the doctors were telling me to keep going. It took 3 long pushes for my baby to come out and the sensation was amazing, like so much pressure finally being released. Your adrenaline really takes over and you don’t feel much. 

My husband announced the gender and I turned over onto my back for him to be brought onto my chest. I was pretty overwhelmed with everything at this point, I felt exhausted but I was so proud and he was perfect. 

The doctor said she was going to do ‘repairs’ so I tried to ignore that and concentrate on the baby which took about 10 minutes. I requested 1 hour of skin-to-skin before they took the baby away to be cleaned and checked so that I could begin feeding him. My doula helped with the first latch and it was really enjoyable.

One thing I wasn’t expecting was how much you shake from the adrenaline after birth, I think this lasted about 2 hours for me. Overall my birth was really positive and empowering, I felt prepared leading up to it but ultimately my body knew what to do so I just listened and surrendered.