The Arrival of Ava
Just for a comparison here is the story I wrote after the birth of my first daughter Ava in 2006.
It was Saturday February 18th. My husband was at work, and we were due for a visit from our midwife, at 5:30pm. After he got home, our midwife followed shortly. Right after she got here, we were sitting on the couch and I felt a trickle. I thought maybe I was going pee (though without control), so I went to check. It was my water leaking.
The midwife wrote some stuff down, listened to the baby, and told me to rest and eat, then left. We were very excited, but went to bed anyway. I was having contractions, but they were mild, and very far apart.
The next morning, Sunday, they weren’t a whole lot closer together. We took our dogs for a walk, and came home and ate. The day went by really slowly. By the time we went to bed, the contractions were about 8-9min. apart, and stronger. I was in and out of sleep all night, trying to time them. They would get closer together, then move farther apart. By morning I was exhausted.
Our midwife called Monday morning and told me to have a hot shower and try to sleep for a bit. I did, and slept for about an hour and a half. By 10am my contractions had moved closer together, and were stronger, but still erratic. I called our other midwife, and she came out to see us. She listened to the baby, and checked my temp. because my water had been broken so long. She told us to call if anything changed. We can’t really remember what time it was, but the contractions moved much closer, and were much stronger. They felt different than the ones I had been having.
I think the assistant midwife showed up again about 3pm. By this time, I was having back pain during every contraction, and my husband had do counter-pressure with every one. She did an exam, and said she thought the baby was posterior. I decided to try taking pulsatilla, a homeopathic remedy, to try to encourage her to turn around. I had to lay with my butt in the air, and my face on the bed, for an hour. The contractions killed in this position!
Soon, my labor really progressed. Our midwife came sometime after 6pm. My husband and the apprentice midwife were filling up all the pots in the house to try and get the pool hot. Our darn water heater wasn’t working fast enough. Soon I was able to get in, and it was such a relief. My sweet husband was still staying by me to push against my back at every contraction.
I eventually began to push and did so for a while until the midwives suggested I get out of the water so they could check me. After all that work, they said my cervix was swollen. They asked if they could give me some herbs to bring the swelling down, and allow me to rest between contractions. I reluctantly agreed.
I swallowed the herbs, and almost immediately started having monster contractions. I now know, that this was my transition phase. My husband lay with me in the bed and I had a few contractions, and would drift off in between. Soon however they just came and wouldn’t stop. I was screaming, yelling help, being mad at the midwives for giving me the herbs, and “lying” about me being able to rest. I remember the midwife coming in, and me just glaring at her, speechless. She was like "Hey, say what ever you need to say"! After just a few contractions, I felt an incredible need to push. I did so, on the bed, and soaked the comforter. Andy said this time only lasted about 10 min. at the most, so I guess I was lucky and had a short transition!
The apprentice checked me again although I don’t know how, I was kicking and screaming. They all helped me back into the pool. Every time I would have a contraction, I would push, and my husband would push on my back. It doesn’t seem like I pushed longer than a half and hour, it may have even been shorter.
Getting her past my pelvic bone was the hardest, but after that, my back felt so much better. After she was born the midwives said I was an awesome pusher. I don’t know if they were just saying that, but I like to think I was! I relieved my husband of back duty, and he moved so he could see better. The midwife held up a mirror and once I saw that head, I worked extra hard and pushed her out. My husband had said he wanted to pull her up, but I think he was in shock. We all just looked around at each other, and finally I reached down and scooped her up. She started crying right away, and she was the most amazing, beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Even though I had been through a rough few days, it was not any harder than I had imagined, and maybe even easier. I was discouraged when I had to get out of the tub and take the herbs, but the midwives told me it would happen soon and it did. I remember thinking they were lying to me. I was like, hey-midwives do this to moms who are struggling. Oh my God, I’ve turned into one of those moms! Really, they were just encouraging me and telling me the truth.
Ava was born at 9:55pm on Monday February 20th (President's Day). She was a perfect 7lbs. 8oz., and 20in. long. We went to bed the night before as husband and wife, but that night, we went to bed as a family. I had an amazing birth experience, and would never want to do it any other way.
It was Saturday February 18th. My husband was at work, and we were due for a visit from our midwife, at 5:30pm. After he got home, our midwife followed shortly. Right after she got here, we were sitting on the couch and I felt a trickle. I thought maybe I was going pee (though without control), so I went to check. It was my water leaking.
The midwife wrote some stuff down, listened to the baby, and told me to rest and eat, then left. We were very excited, but went to bed anyway. I was having contractions, but they were mild, and very far apart.
The next morning, Sunday, they weren’t a whole lot closer together. We took our dogs for a walk, and came home and ate. The day went by really slowly. By the time we went to bed, the contractions were about 8-9min. apart, and stronger. I was in and out of sleep all night, trying to time them. They would get closer together, then move farther apart. By morning I was exhausted.
Our midwife called Monday morning and told me to have a hot shower and try to sleep for a bit. I did, and slept for about an hour and a half. By 10am my contractions had moved closer together, and were stronger, but still erratic. I called our other midwife, and she came out to see us. She listened to the baby, and checked my temp. because my water had been broken so long. She told us to call if anything changed. We can’t really remember what time it was, but the contractions moved much closer, and were much stronger. They felt different than the ones I had been having.
I think the assistant midwife showed up again about 3pm. By this time, I was having back pain during every contraction, and my husband had do counter-pressure with every one. She did an exam, and said she thought the baby was posterior. I decided to try taking pulsatilla, a homeopathic remedy, to try to encourage her to turn around. I had to lay with my butt in the air, and my face on the bed, for an hour. The contractions killed in this position!
Soon, my labor really progressed. Our midwife came sometime after 6pm. My husband and the apprentice midwife were filling up all the pots in the house to try and get the pool hot. Our darn water heater wasn’t working fast enough. Soon I was able to get in, and it was such a relief. My sweet husband was still staying by me to push against my back at every contraction.
I eventually began to push and did so for a while until the midwives suggested I get out of the water so they could check me. After all that work, they said my cervix was swollen. They asked if they could give me some herbs to bring the swelling down, and allow me to rest between contractions. I reluctantly agreed.
I swallowed the herbs, and almost immediately started having monster contractions. I now know, that this was my transition phase. My husband lay with me in the bed and I had a few contractions, and would drift off in between. Soon however they just came and wouldn’t stop. I was screaming, yelling help, being mad at the midwives for giving me the herbs, and “lying” about me being able to rest. I remember the midwife coming in, and me just glaring at her, speechless. She was like "Hey, say what ever you need to say"! After just a few contractions, I felt an incredible need to push. I did so, on the bed, and soaked the comforter. Andy said this time only lasted about 10 min. at the most, so I guess I was lucky and had a short transition!
The apprentice checked me again although I don’t know how, I was kicking and screaming. They all helped me back into the pool. Every time I would have a contraction, I would push, and my husband would push on my back. It doesn’t seem like I pushed longer than a half and hour, it may have even been shorter.
Getting her past my pelvic bone was the hardest, but after that, my back felt so much better. After she was born the midwives said I was an awesome pusher. I don’t know if they were just saying that, but I like to think I was! I relieved my husband of back duty, and he moved so he could see better. The midwife held up a mirror and once I saw that head, I worked extra hard and pushed her out. My husband had said he wanted to pull her up, but I think he was in shock. We all just looked around at each other, and finally I reached down and scooped her up. She started crying right away, and she was the most amazing, beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Even though I had been through a rough few days, it was not any harder than I had imagined, and maybe even easier. I was discouraged when I had to get out of the tub and take the herbs, but the midwives told me it would happen soon and it did. I remember thinking they were lying to me. I was like, hey-midwives do this to moms who are struggling. Oh my God, I’ve turned into one of those moms! Really, they were just encouraging me and telling me the truth.
Ava was born at 9:55pm on Monday February 20th (President's Day). She was a perfect 7lbs. 8oz., and 20in. long. We went to bed the night before as husband and wife, but that night, we went to bed as a family. I had an amazing birth experience, and would never want to do it any other way.
