This birthing team did all the things to set the stage for a quiet, gentle birth experience this time. We knew it would be intense, and probably compressed, but we thought we could manage the pace, be ahead of it all. We couldn’t account for her birth power, that deep untamed wild within her.
We thought we had learned the lessons of that first birth.
We thought we were ready….
It started with her waters rupturing. She had had one contraction.
30 minutes later, she was still feeling ‘off’, experiencing some back pain, but had only had one more contraction.
Still, she called her brother to come be with their first born, because we had learned the lessons of the first birth. We had.
An hour later she had had 7 contractions. That’s an average of 8.5 minutes apart. Seemed like a normal early labour rhythm. They were more intense feeling, but she assessed them as only lasting 30 seconds long. As is often the case, the part she was noticing was the peak, so they were likely lasting a bit longer than that. She could still talk through them, but was using her breath to work her way through them, to stay composed.
And then it all changed. All at once. That wild birth power took over.
In the next 45 minutes she had 11 contractions, that’s an average of 4 minutes apart. A big shift in the rhythm!
Now they were lasting a little bit longer, but feeling a lot more intense.
5 minutes later she reported that she was needing to breathe deeply and was starting to feel the shakes.
2 minutes later the contractions felt much closer together.
“Do you want to go in?”
YES!
And so, because we intended to avoid the rush of a precipitous birth, we headed to the hospital.
It had been 2 hours and 8 minutes from the first contraction, and they were in admitting. She was breathing through contraction upon contraction.
This baby was coming.
Several minutes later in triage, the Nurse told them she was fully dilated!
She didn’t need to be told that, she knew, she could feel it as she started to bring her baby down.
And so that calm we had been looking for was not an option. Everyone was hustling and bustling to get her to a delivery room, calling the Doctor, getting the people and gear in place for whatever this baby and her might need.
Lots of people swirling around, and there she was trying to focus and breathe and let her body do its thing.
Her body’s thing is intense and powerful.
This was the part we forgot to factor in. The power of her body in birth, could not be contained.
And this baby? What was this baby up to? Somehow she had gotten herself turned around as she headed out and was in Stargazer position!
The usual slow pace associated with a face up presentation was not evident here. There was no slow.
This baby was working hard to get to her people on the outside. And her Mama was working harder to help her make her way. He was locked next to her side, holding her and being held by her. We locked eyes and breathed together as she brought her baby down and out. Her Doctor somehow made it in time, from his home, and brought some calm with him. But still the room was humming.
Her focus, her determination and sheer power in the midst of all the noise and activity was breathtaking.
And then she was here!
Only 41 minutes after parking their car, they were holding their baby girl.
2 hours and 35 minutes after her waters broke, it was over, and it was beginning anew, again.
And as they soaked her up, falling into that fierce forever love all over again, the intensity started to shift and refocus. The smiles got broader, a softness crept in and she started to weave her way into their fabric.
Letting her sink in.
Oh that baby high!
First touch, fully embraced.
Daughter
Father
Beginnings
Beautiful story of the birth of our granddaughter thank you for telling her birth story so eloquently.
I love this so much