This is Felicity’s birth story. I was worried that I was in for another very long birth (HERE is the recap of my son Wilder’s 76-hour marathon birth story.) Around my due date, I had days of contractions, but nothing really consistent or painful enough for me to say “OK this is labor.” It felt imminent, but labor just never came. My due date sailed past and I just kept walking with Wilder and going about our days. Every night for at least two weeks I wondered if I would wake up in labor. It was draining to stay positive and to be honest—the thought of going through labor again scared me. What if I couldn’t handle the pain? What if it lasted for days like before? I wanted to get to the other side and hold a newborn to my chest and be done with labor.
I had an appointment on Tuesday at 40 weeks 6 days. I saw the OB with the UNT Nurse Midwives practice, and she stripped my membranes. It was painful because my cervix was still posterior. but I was dilated between 1-2 cm. Afterwards, I had some contractions, but nothing to write home about—just enough to keep me on my toes. Wednesday I was 41 weeks, and I had to have an ultrasound to make sure everything was OK with baby. The doctor noticed two contractions during the monitoring and suggested I get checked at maternal observation just to see how I was progressing. That was exciting, so we went. The midwife there checked me and was like “nope, not in labor”. I was dilated to a 2, but my cervix was still posterior. She made an appointment for me to get induced the following Wednesday. but said “you’ll probably have your baby before then.” I went home and prayed. I didn’t want to get induced and I held out hope that I’d go into labor.
I had contractions all day and night on Thursday, but I still felt like it wasn’t the real deal. I’d had several false alarms so I was determined not to call it too soon. As the evening came on, they definitely became more painful, but when you know how bad labor contractions are… I just kept thinking it wasn’t the real thing yet.
After midnight early morning Friday, October 16, I had to get out of bed and sit in a chair to deal with contractions. I’d been timing them, but they were erratic so I didn’t think a lot of it. They were getting close together… like 5-7 min apart. And more painful. As I started doing my yoga breathing and movements, I tried to keep quiet because I didn’t want to wake Zach until I knew this was it. I was hoping to wait till around 6 am to go to the hospital, but 3 am rolled around and I started thinking maybe we should go sooner. Zach started making preparations while I took a bath and got ready. The contractions were coming closer together and I had to wait them out before doing anything, so it took a bit to get going. We got out the door and made it to the hospital by 5 am and our doula Leslie Geick met us at the hospital, bless her heart. So early!
As we signed in, they asked if I wanted a room with the big water birth tub and I said no because I didn’t expect that I would get to have a water birth. I did ask to switch to a room with a plain old tub and they ended up giving us the same room we had with Wilder! Good? Bad? I didn’t know. I was ready to find out how much progress I’d made. I told Zach if I was only dilated to 3 cm I was going to cry. The nurse checked me and said my cervix 90% effaced and I was 3 centimeters. Around 6:15, the midwife, Kathleen, came in. She asked me if I wanted to go home for a while, since I was only 3 centimeters. I knew I couldn’t deal with another car ride, and I was really tired from not sleeping, so I asked if I could just rest for a bit and see how things went. She agreed, checked me (I was 4 cm) and stripped my membranes. They dimmed the lights and I went into the restroom.
In the restroom I had a serious talk with God. I cried. I felt I couldn’t deal with contractions for days, if I was dilating this slowly AGAIN. I’d done it with Wilder but I wasn’t sure I could go through that again. I was afraid I would need an epidural and I was so hoping not to get one this time. I prayed and just thought I would rest a while and see what happened.
So I laid down and we left my labor playlist going. Zach and Leslie took snoozes in chairs and it was just deja vu with Wilder’s labor. But around 7:10 my water broke. I had not had it break on its own before, so it took me by surprise. I was finally resting, so I just wanted to stay put and let the contractions keep coming. But soon they totally changed to a pushing type contraction. Leslie suggested having me checked again to see how I was progressing. I felt nauseous and the contractions just kept coming but it was a totally different feeling than anything I’d experienced before. Transition!
Kathleen checked me and I was 7 centimeters, 100 percent effaced and +1 station! I was shocked! Leslie asked if I wanted to get in the tub since I was past 5 cm and I almost jumped in. So I got in at 7:55, and immediately started feeling relief. It was my happy place. But I also felt like pushing, which was too early if I was only 7 cm. At 8:05, Wendi, the student midwife, checked me and I was 8-9 cm. I was on hands and knees and tried to resist for a little bit but it became clear the time had come for Felicity to arrive. The strong contractions were taking over and it was not in my control. A flurry of people came in the bathroom but I kept my eyes closed and at 8:11 I pushed on all fours for just a few contractions. She was nearly out and they asked me to turn over so I could hold her skin to skin when she came out. The difference in a natural vs epidural labor became clear–I just flipped over, held tight to Zach’s hand and kept pushing. It all just happened. 1-2 more contractions and baby Felicity was in my arms at 8:17 am. I couldn’t believe it. It was surreal how quickly everything went. I would not say it was painless by any means, but it was far less painful than what I was mentally prepared for. Really it was just SHORTER than what I had prepared for in my head. I cried with relief and joy that our baby girl was finally here!
I had minor tearing and bruising and I was tired and hungry, but not overwhelmed. I can honestly say the experience was amazing. I think having my prior labor be so long and exhausting gave me a real appreciation for this one. I really feel that God prepared me through my overdue days and early labor to lean on Him. It’s just incredible, to be on the other side and realize that I was able to have a safe, healthy, unmedicated birth–in the water!! In a short amount of time. All things I’d hoped for, and even ones I didn’t think would happen (like the water) but didn’t know if they would happen. I’m thankful for the amazing team at UNT Nurse Midwives, Leslie, Zach and our loved ones that prayed and walked through this pregnancy and delivery with us and made this birth story possible – It really does take a village.