The Mommy Tales: Hannah's Natural Birth Story: Her First

We were expecting our first baby and I was so excited! I was ready for him to be born.

At my 36 week appointment they asked if I wanted them to check if I was dilated because they were already doing the strep B test. They said that usually first time moms are not dilated so it was just my choice. Well my midwife was very surprised when I was dilated to 1.5 and 70% effaced. She told me to try and wait to go into labor for another week so that I was full term, but she wasn’t sure if my baby would wait that long. I went home and called my dad to tell him the exciting news. His response was “Don’t get too excited. Your mom was like this with all of her babies and only once did a baby come early and that was because you were a twin. Just be patient.” That was not what I wanted to hear, but he was right. By my 39 week appointment I was dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced. Every appointment my midwife was surprised that I hadn’t already had my baby.

At 39 ½ weeks I was outside blowing bubbles with my niece and nephew at around 1 pm when I felt a little gush of water. I wasn’t sure if I had peed my pants or if my water broke. Soon after my sister-in-law left with her kids, my husband and I went up to our apartment. I told him my water might have broken, but I didn’t want to go to the hospital unless I was sure. So we sat down and watched a movie. When I stood up after watching the movie there was more of a gush of water, so I knew it was my water that had broken. We got ready and went to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital they checked to make sure my water actually had broken and then checked us in. And we waited…. The contractions never came. At about 5:45 they decided to start me on pitocin. We called my aunt who was going to be our birthing coach. She got there as the contractions were getting hard, which were really soon after they started the pitocin. I really wanted to go naturally. At 6:00 a nurse named Zandy came on shift and she had had a baby naturally less than a year before. She made me commit to her that I did want to go naturally. I will just write what I wrote in my baby’s journal:

“So Zandy came on shift about 6 and that is when real labor started and it hurt! First we just did back pressure during contractions while I was sitting on a birthing ball. Then as they got worse we added hip pressure. So Josh was on one side of me and Zandy was on the other side and they were pushing my hips while Aunt Jenise was pushing on my back. Then they just kept telling me to breath in my nose and out my mouth. I was in control for the first while and then it kept hurting more. Soon I was dilated to a 7 and the nurse called the midwife to hurry down because she was sure the baby was coming soon. Aunt Jenise said she went from this point to pushing in 20 minutes so I was excited to be almost done. I kept asking how long do I have left and they kept saying that you (my baby) would be here soon. Well 20 minutes turned into and an hour and then 2 and you were just not coming. Finally I was dilated to a 9 ¾ but there was just a lip left. That lip kept not leaving. I said that I felt like I needed to push. After a little bit of my midwife telling me not to push, she finally told me it was okay and she would work your head around the lip. During the last half hour before I could push I was in so much pain. I was kneeling on my bed with my arms over the back. I would sleep for the 30 seconds between contractions because I was so tired. I begged for medicine but they said it was too late. At this point I felt help from my mom (she had died 7 years previously). I don’t know how it worked but God let mom come help me and give me physical strength.

Finally I started pushing. It hurt really bad, but at least I felt like I was finally doing something. Then Josh was telling me he could see your head. SO I kept pushing. I wanted to meet you! All of a sudden my midwife told me to stop pushing. I told her I couldn’t stop pushing. Her voice was not panicky, but with more force she said, “Hannah, stop pushing.” I really tried. I told my body to stop pushing, but it didn’t respond. I saw that Josh had a kind of panicked look in his eye and then my midwife said, “Hannah’s not stopping. I guess I will figure this out.” They then told me that your umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around your neck. With the next couple pushes you came out and my midwife maneuvered you through some gymnastic tricks to get the cord off your neck. Why you finally came out I felt the biggest feeling of relief that I have ever felt. It was amazing! I love you so much! I just wanted to hold you. Josh got to cut your umbilical cord and then they took you over and got you breathing and weighed. But you had also swallowed amniotic fluid so you weren’t breathing as you should. So they let me hold you for a second and then they whisked you off to the nursery. During that time my midwife sewed me up. After they determined that you were okay, I finally got to hold you skin to skin.”

Daniel was born at 11:11 pm and was 8 lbs 5 oz and 21.5 inches long.

For months after having Daniel I would shudder every time I thought about the pain of the last hour or two of labor. But I would not have traded it for anything. Giving birth was the most amazing experience I have ever felt. I couldn’t sleep for hours after giving birth because I just stared at this amazing baby that we had created. Being a mother is the most worthwhile thing I could ever do!