Emily's Birth Story: An All Natural Birth

Friday (the 11th) of May, 10 days before Mary's due date, Isaac and I played a fun round of Phase Ten and went to bed.  At 11:30 that night, I woke up because of a contraction.  The contraction felt different to me than any other I had ever felt.  It HURT. Badly.  I woke Isaac up, and waited for two more of those contractions in bed before getting up to put a robe on.  I wanted to walk around and drink water to see if they would go away.  They didn't!  We called the midwife.  I talked to her until I would have a contraction, at which point Isaac would take over and talk.  She said to wait an hour or half an hour to see if they stayed and if they remained consistent.  I decided to blow dry my hair (it was still damp from my shower, earlier), and put my makeup on.  I had a distinct feeling that these were truly labor contractions.  (What I didn't know was that I was in active labor, dilated to a 7 and 100% effaced.)  I was feeling a TON of pressure, but because I had never been in labor before - I thought that the first stages of labor were supposed to feel this way...and I wondered what was in store for the night!

Half an hour came, and my contractions were a minute apart, so painful, and lasting over a minute each.  I need to say here that the pain of labor cannot be described…… only because it is not like getting a cut or a broken arm.  It is something entirely different.  It is all-encompassing, it feels like a lot of pressure, and it is WONDERFUL.  It is wonderful because the pain and the pressure give you strength and love, because you know that your sweet, perfect baby is coming to bring you all of the joy in the world!!

I called my mother, who jumped in the car to drive to Utah.  We began driving to the hospital.  I didn’t like the contractions I had in that seemingly long car ride.  I didn’t know how far along I was in the labor process, but being cramped up in the seat of a car, unable to stretch out was uncomfortable, to put it mildly. Isaac was so wonderful as he drove the car.  I was at peace, even at the ridiculous red lights (although, we only had about two).  We arrived at the emergency room entrance, and had to stop while another contraction came.   The nice old man at the emergency room immediately got a wheelchair for me and quickly wheeled me to the maternity wing.  He told me that we ought to name our baby girl after him (Bruce).  He was nice. 

I requested the birthing room that had the laboring pool.  It was open!  It seemed as if no one was there that night – it was so peaceful at the hospital.  The nurse gave me a gown and Isaac and I tried to put it on, but my contractions were so strong, I couldn’t think clearly, let alone move very much – so we paged the nurse and she helped me into the gown.  Another contraction came, and I leaned against the wooden cabinet and asked Isaac softly, “What if I want an epidural?”  It hurt!  I can’t remember what he said, but he comforted me.  I do remember him saying that it is my choice, whatever I want to do.  Without thinking, as more contractions came, I got into the bed. 

The nurse started taking my vitals and monitoring Mary’s heartbeats.  It made me so happy to hear them.  Suddenly, I felt the need to push.   I did.  The nurse checked me to see how dilated I was.  I was at a 7.  Other nurses came in and introduced themselves to me.  They were all so sweet and nice.  There were four nurses in all, and they stayed with me the whole time.  One of the nurses suggested something for me – for which I will be forever grateful.  She and Isaac would push hard on my bent knees, so as to put pressure on my pelvic bone against the bed.  It seemed to relieve some of the pain.  A nurse called my midwife, who was there in about half an hour, at which point she took over the knee-pushing for the other nurse.  Isaac continued doing it too.  I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had gotten a bruise on his chest from pushing so hard!  At that point, the urges to push were coming with each contraction.  I welcomed them.  They gave me something to focus on, other than the contraction, and it felt better to just bear down and push, rather than go through a contraction, not being able to do anything about it.  Between the contractions, I would just lay silently, gathering the energy I knew I would need for the next contraction.  When I would feel a contraction come, each time I would say quietly, “Okay”, and they would push on my knees and I would bear down until the contraction was over, and then I would lay, silently recovering and saving my energy and focus for the next one.  There was a good spirit in the room.  I had come prepared with my birth plan, and the nurses (and midwife) supported that.  The lights were dimmed, the temperature was comfortable, and the nurses were silent, supportive spectators. 

I didn’t want an IV, so I decided that I would self-hydrate.  Between each contraction, I would take a couple of sips of water, and that seemed to help me quite a bit.  I loved the feeling of the cold ice-water going down my throat, as if it was energy filling me up.  It felt so wonderful.   Each time I pushed, progress was made.

At some point I remember asking if my water had broken yet.  The midwife told me to reach down and feel. As I did, I could feel the amniotic sac coming out of me – still intact and not broken.  What a strange feeling that was!  The next few times of pushing, I felt extreme pressure.  I could feel Mary coming!  She was crowning.  The next few pushes were the most intense, amazing things I have ever felt in my life.  I have never felt so much pressure, nor have I ever focused on one thing so perfectly in my entire life.

Her head was out, and I pushed again, and her shoulders were out.  I could hear her crying – the most beautiful sound to my ears.  I vaguely remember the midwife saying, “Emily, grab your baby!”  I reached down, and pulled little Mary out of me, and held her close.  I can’t describe my feelings.  I felt so happy and my mind was so clear and relieved.  I was holding a perfect baby girl in my arms – our baby girl.  I felt so empowered! I had done this all on my own.  I had always thought I had a low threshold for pain, and I feared giving birth immensely, but I did it!  I would do it again that way too.  I always want to be able to feel childbirth.  Even though it may be painful, the other feelings that come from doing it all on your own and listening to and trusting in your body, powerfully overwhelm and supersede the pain.  I look back and marvel at the fact that (besides that moment of doubt in myself before getting onto the bed) I never once thought to ask for pain medication.  Interventions of any kind never once passed through my head.  This was just something I had to do, and do it I did!

After Isaac cut the cord, we watched our little baby and marveled at her beauty and perfection.  The midwife stitched me up (in two places), and the other nurses in the room congratulated me and told me how well I did and how calm I was.  After feeding her for the first time, which was a very sweet experience in itself, I handed her over to one of the nurses and she measured, weighed, cleaned off, and examined Mary – who was announced to be in perfect condition.  Her head wasn’t even cone shaped nor was she discolored or anything – probably because she wasn’t in the birth canal for very long.  In total, my labor was two hours long – 90 minutes (from start to finish).  From the time I got the hospital and Mary was born, it was an hour and ten minutes.  I think I beat my mom’s record (for her first child’s labor). 

My mom got there about an hour later, and was a happy new grandmother!  After about two hours of (unnecessary, in my opinion) monitoring of the both of us, we were able to go to the room where we would spend the next following day and night.  I don’t think I slept at all the remainder of that night.  All I could do was stare at my little girl.  It’s amazing how quickly the hours went by. 

Morning came, and Isaac went to his EMT class (I made him go.  Hospitals are so boring!), and my mother went to my great aunt’s home to shower and eat and do some grocery shopping for me.  I could barely walk.  I could barely shift in the bed.  I was a little swollen.  I still didn’t sleep. How could I?  There was a tiny angel in the room – and she was ours.  Later, my aunt, great aunt, and grandmother came for a visit.  My aunt brought us a beautiful potted plant and a teddy bear.  It was so fun to sit around and visit with them as they cooed over Mary.  They sang Happy Birthday to her and cried.  It was very sweet.  My mom showed up as well and we took a four generation photo.  Then, Isaac showed up, and ate lunch. 

Holding his little girl

The remainder of the day is a bit of a blur to me now.  I know that Isaac rested a little bit, and I tried to nurse Mary.  For some reason, every time I brought her to me to nurse, she would almost immediately fall asleep.  It was like that all day.  The nurses were very concerned – to the point that it made me nervous as well.  My mother said that it was fine and very normal.  Babies usually sleep a LOT in their first few days, because of all of the chaos and newness of their new life, but having the nurses hovering around concerned, didn’t help me much. 

Later that evening, they took her to the nursery and put a tube down her throat into her stomach to remove the contents of her stomach, in case she accidentally swallowed amniotic fluid while coming through the birth canal.  It was so hard to watch that – I cried.  She was so brave and strong.  (Later, I discovered that it was totally unnecessary.)  After that, we wheeled her back to our room, and she took a long nap, after which, she nursed! For seven minutes!  After that, she did pretty well.  Our last night in the hospital, I didn’t sleep either.  Maybe a wink here and there, but that beautiful baby girl had my complete attention.  I couldn’t stop looking at her, and I looked forward to the moment she would wake up and I could feed her again.

I loved holding her and examining her perfect little features!  On the most perfect Sunday, we were able to take our daughter home.  I became a mother on Mother’s day, and have never looked back.  I cherish the moments I have with my little girl and I am only beginning to recognize my calling as a wife and mother.  This is the greatest adventure of all!

If you have any questions for Emily about her experience, please comment below!