Vanessa's Natural Birth Story

I woke up at 6am (as I did every day since 35weeks) with some minor minor contractions coming maybe every 10-15 mins apart.  Around 8am they became a bit stronger and closer together.  At 9:50am I decided to time them and yup every 2-5 min apart and a little stronger.

At 10:30am my water broke, and I called my midwife. I told her that I wanted to labor at home for as long as possible. She was a bit concerned since the contractions were every 2-5min in a pattern so she asked me to call her once my husband got home from work. My husband arrived at 11:10am. I then called my midwife and she wanted me to head to the hospital in one hour. I then took a shower got dressed and we headed out.

The drive to the hospital was long and I was in pain but I blocked it out. We arrived at the hospital around 1:30-2:00 pm.  The  on-staff midwife checked me and I was 4cm dilated and contracting every 2-5min and the contractions were strong at this point but manageable.

Once my Midwife arrived she looked at the monitors and decided to keep me on for a few more contractions (we were in triage for maybe 30-45min). She then asked me if I would like to walk around (my baby was posterior) to see if my baby can turn and to dilate a bit faster. So we went to the park (which was right behind the hospital).  I was contracting and the pain was strong yet in between contractions I was laughing, telling jokes, watching the kids play etc... I really couldn't believe was handling labor the way I was.

My doula was there taking pictures and helping me cope by talking to me during the contractions or applying pressure on my back. An ice cream struck passed by so I told my husband to buy me one; when he left, I got a really STRONG contraction.  I was now standing over the bench while my doula held on to me and squeezed my hips together.   All of a sudden I felt the baby move and drop.  From that point on the contractions were coming every minute and were VERY painful then in less than 2 minutes it hit me, the feeling to push!

I didn't even get two bites from my ice cream (I still dream of it today, lol) We then started walking out of the park back to the hospital but the pain was so strong I dropped to the floor and began to push. I got up and walked a little more then I was back on the floor.   I then crossed the street to try to get to the ER and well I was back on the floor.  

Above me was a bridge connecting the hospital buildings where people were watching what was happening to me. This time I was not getting up, I was on the floor on all fours pushing.  Then all of the sudden I heard people screaming and I was surrounded by hospital staff and someone yelling from the hospital that a wheel chair was coming.

Two EMTs, the VP and a Director of the hospital all surrounded me while an RN came running with a wheel chair. The two EMTs picked me up like a chair and placed me on the wheel chair (because the VP was there she gave us access to a door on the side of the building where we were) and we went straight up to labor and delivery where everyone there knew what happened and were waiting for me (very TV ER-like) swinging the doors open yelling and rushing me into the room.

In the room I was telling my midwife I wanted to push.  She told me to try to fight the urge so she can check me. They got me on the bed (I dropped my pants off but I was still in my shirt) and said I was only 6cm.... I wanted to cry.

She assured me that I could go from 6cm to fully dilated in 5 min. I then told her that I had to use the bathroom. She told me she could not allow me to push in the bathroom because I could deliver my baby in the toilet. So she got a birthing stool.  I sat on it and began to push.

Well she was right; I dilated from 6-10 cm in 5 min, so now I was back on the bed and I delivered my baby.   All in all once in the room I had my beautiful baby girl in 20min with no time to get into a hospital gown, no iv and still in my own clothes. It was a crazy experience I will never forget. While pushing I did ask for drugs but that phase of labor is so fast the pain is tolerable.

Natural Labor is possible as long as you have the right health care provider, support and encouragement that your body can do this.

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Page Last Modified by Catherine Beier, MS, CBE