It begins!
On Tuesday morning, January 21st, I awoke at 7am, and from that point on, I started having regular contractions 6 minutes apart the entire day. I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions (just tightening) regularly for the latter part of my pregnancy, but at totally random times. I could tell these were different because they were regular and more than just pressure, but I could still go through my day and basically try to ignore them.
By evening, I texted my midwife, Kathleen, and my doula, Autumn, to give them the heads-up. I wasn’t sure if it was real "pre-labor" or what. They had been totally regular the entire day but I knew the rule was to “ignore them until you no longer can.” Both Autumn and Kathleen told me to drink a glass of wine, take a Benadryl and a bath to help me sleep, and try to get some rest. I did the first three, but I didn’t sleep much that night – they weren’t really very painful, but it’s pretty difficult to sleep through a contraction. At midnight, I went to the bathroom and saw that I had lost my mucous plug. Oh my goodness, things were starting to happen! At 2:45am I texted Autumn and said, “The contractions are much stronger now and closer together – definitely can’t walk or talk through them. I’m laying down and sleeping as much as I can between them.”
Active labor
On Wednesday morning, January 22nd, which was also my Dad's birthday, I went to Autumn to get adjusted. At this point I was really tired from not sleeping much, and the contractions were more powerful. I had to stop and breathe through some of them, even when I was on the adjusting table. After the chiro visit, Steven and I went to Whole Foods to stock up on food so we would have some for the imminent birth. I waddled around Whole Foods, stopping during contractions and holding onto a shelf in the body care aisle while the customers looked at me strangely. I called my midwife while at Whole Foods, and she wanted me to go up to the birth center in McKinney to be checked. When we got up there, she watched me have a contraction and agreed they were getting more real, and when she checked me I was at 2cm and totally softened and effaced. She shoved about 5 or 6 evening primrose oil (EPO) capsules internally and said, “My goal is for you to be holding your baby by 10pm tonight.” It was so surreal hearing those words! I think this exact moment was when it hit me that I was going to do a natural birth. This was actually happening, and soon.
From there, things progressed pretty quickly. The EPO kicked things into gear. When I got home, all I wanted was to take a long, hot shower. I got on my hands and knees in the shower while Steven sat on the toilet seat quietly timing contractions when I told him to start and stop. Yup, they were getting closer. The hot water beating down on me felt like absolute heaven. I tried to get into a place of total peace and trust, preparing for what the rest of the day (and maybe night) would hold.
I think it was around 2pm when I said to Steven, “OK, I need you to call Autumn {the doula} now.” I had been laying in bed in the fetal position trying to manage the contractions, which was the worst position ever. I was starting to need help. That’s what my doula was for!
Luci Belle was about to wake up from her nap, so he also told my mom that when she woke up, they needed to grab their bags and head out right away. They were going to stay a few blocks away at my friend Ellie’s who had a furnished backhouse. I felt a little sad that I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Luci Belle, but I think it was for the best so we didn't make a big deal about her leaving for the night. It would be the first night she would ever spend away from our house.
Autumn came shortly after, and when she entered the house, I was having a contraction in my bedroom while holding onto the side of my dresser. She came straight back to the bedroom, rolled up her sleeves, and took her position behind me, supporting my hips through the next contraction. She quickly demonstrated how I could breathe most effectively through the contractions – deep breath in, then long powerful breath out, like blowing out a candle across the room. “Blow the contraction away...” she said. Her presence from there on out was absolutely angelic. And this is the exact reason why people have a doula: they know exactly how to help you keep moving and trying different positions to help you keep dilating and progressing. The midwife usually doesn’t come until you’re deep into active labor, but for all the time before that, the doula is there for you, coaching you and encouraging you and helping you be as comfortable as possible. Whenever I passed the mirror in my bedroom, I saw the words "THIS IS MY HEALING BIRTH" that I'd written on it in dry erase marker - this was my favorite phrase from my Hypnobabies VBAC CD that I'd listened to during my pregnancy. I drank those words in and received them as if they were the truth.
I could feel myself going into active labor, because I was beginning to turn off the rest of the world and retreat deep within myself. Meanwhile, Steven went into turbo busy mode around the house, getting snacks ready, tidying up, lighting candles, putting on my “peaceful labor” playlist and transforming our home into a den of peace and calmness. I felt so thankful I was at home with just Autumn and my husband there. Autumn had me in all different positions: on the birth ball with her holding a heating pad on my back, standing up in a doorway, on all fours on the bed, sitting on the toilet, walking up and down the hall, you name it...I labored all over our house. Just when I got “comfortable” in that position, it was time to change. In between it all, she applied doTerra Clary Sage essential oil to my ankles to help progress the dilation, and it was also a very calming scent. Every 10 minutes or so, she also squirted some “Start Up” into my mouth. And let me tell you, the combo of those things really kept me moving along and kept the contractions coming strong. One of the other beautiful things about being out of the hospital is that I was able to eat and drink to keep up my energy. I got to have power snacks that my husband lovingly prepared whenever I needed it, like crackers with peanut butter and banana. I sipped Crazy Water and coconut water.
The whole time, Autumn was keeping Kathleen posted on my progress. In between the contractions, I could mostly continue carrying on conversations as usual – Autumn and I even had a few laughs. During contractions though, I was totally in the zone - super serious and emotional. Every time the song “Nothing to Say” by Andrew Peterson came on my labor playlist, I started crying. One time I was pacing around our huge dining room table and made my way over to Steven and buried my head in his chest and wept. I didn’t feel sad, just emotional...such a long pregnancy it had been with a lot of suffering but also so much joy, and now it was all coming to the pinnacle. We would meet our baby soon. And so far, my labor was just as I’d wanted it to be. Steven was there for me whenever I needed him, but most of the time it was me and Autumn, and he was in the wings quietly observing and preparing.
By 7pm, Kathleen arrived and started taking my vitals and charting. When Kathleen checked me at this point, I was at 7cm! I was so relieved…because I was now past the point I had gotten stuck in my last labor – at 5cm. My body was doing it! Kathleen was so proud and told me and Autumn that we had done great work together. Autumn had coached me from 2cm to 7cm that afternoon. Now we were approaching the last stage of active labor...
Transition
Around this time, Autumn’s husband Tom (also a chiropractor) arrived, and we joked that he was the “doulo” coming to coach the husband. Tom and Steven got busy filling the birth tub that was set up in our livingroom - they had drained our entire hot water heater and the tub was only filled halfway, so they got busy in the kitchen heating up huge pots of water. I finally got in the birth tub and it was pretty hot. It felt great on my contractions and to be able to float, but after about 15 minutes, I felt overheated. Autumn gently pulled my hair back and placed icy cold washcloths on my forehead and neck. I said I needed to get out for a little while to cool off. In the meantime, Steven and Tom looked for ice to cool off the water a bit and couldn’t find anything except frozen chicken, so they wrapped it in a bunch of bags and threw it in the tub!
Even though I’d said I wanted to give birth in the tub if possible, Autumn later told me that she knew once I got out that I wasn’t going to be getting back in. So the poor birth tub filled with bags of frozen chicken stood abandoned in our living room.
