Katrina and Asher are friends of mine and Sam's. Asher is only a little younger than Sam and Katrina was in the Hypnobabies class I just took. She did the home study course the first time around and wanted to take the actual class this time to really get into it. She also happens to be a very talented photographer and just started an exciting project photographing nursing moms!
Labor with my son Asher began at 38 weeks. Well that's when the REAL
labor began. I had two bouts of preterm labor earlier in the third
trimester which dilated me 3-4 cm and then two weeks of prodromal labor
that always petered out after several hours. I knew it was real this
time because the contractions woke me up from my sleep at 2 in the
morning. I spent a couple of hours in bed listening to my Hypnobabies
tracts on my ipod and letting my husband sleep. As things got more
intense, I decided to wake Jared. I then spent a couple of hours in the
bathtub--my favorite place during pregnancy and during all my prodromal
labor.
At the hospital, the midwife checked
me and I was a 6! Everyone seemed to think my labor would go pretty
quickly, but it ended up being a rather long day on only 2 hours of
sleep. My labor was definitely labor! It was hard mental work to stay
focused and relaxed. And I certainly had that moment during transition
where I said I couldn't do it anymore. My birth plan insisted on no
drugs and that wish was respected. I was never offered any drugs and
didn't have an IV or even a heplock. Other than intermittent monitoring
of the baby's heart beat, I was left alone for the most part to do my
thing. I was definitely in my own zone. I was mostly very quiet and
didn't even want my husband to touch me. It was very internal work. I
was so connected to my body that it almost felt like an out of body
experience, if that makes any sense.
It was about 2 pm when I
started feeling pushy and had the midwife confirm that I was fully
dilated. I pushed for awhile sitting on the birth stool and then moved
up on the bed. They set up the squat bar but I was much too tired at
this point to actually squat. They tied a sheet to the top of the bar
which I pulled with my arms as I pushed with my feet against the sides of the bar. It took 3 hours to push my baby out.
Pushing was not at all painful for me, but it was exhausting! His head
was basically crowning for much of that three hours. Thankfully, the
midwife was wonderful and spent those hours massaging me with oil and
helping me stretch. (I only had a very small tear with one stitch!)
When
Asher finally made his appearance he started screaming as soon as hit
head was out. I remember reaching down and holding him under his armpits
but I was too tired and he was too slippery for me to lift him. Jared
lifted him to my chest where I cradled him and breathed a huge sigh of
relief. I had done it! I was tired and exhausted but so thrilled that I
had persevered and had the birth I wanted. I had my baby in my arms. He
was healthy and beautiful despite being rather smooshed after being in
the birth canal so long. I held him for long time before they took him
and weighed him. He was 8 pounds even--bigger than I was expecting my
early baby to be.
I don't think there is anything more
empowering than birthing a baby. It is a transformative experience like
no other. It is so good to know that our bodies can create these perfect
little humans and get them out! I am now expecting my second baby and
planning a home birth. I am really looking forward to staying in my
comfortable home where I can stay better focused. I have confidence in
my body to birth. I am preparing once again with Hypnobabies and am
excited to experience the miracle of natural birth again.
