Henry's Birth Story, Part 2

See Part 1 of Henry's Birth Story Here...

Jon and I finished packing our bags and left for the birth center around 7:00am. Sadly, it was the peak of rush hour traffic and the birth center was about a 30 minute drive. My contractions were coming 2-3 minutes apart and lasting around 1 minute, so the drive was very uncomfortable! It's hard to have a contraction sitting up with a seatbelt on.

We arrived at the birth center around 7:30am. Our midwife, Chris, wanted to check me before we got settled into our room. She told me I looked great and didn't think I would be very far along since I had no trouble walking into the birth center. When she checked me, I was already 8 cm dilated and completely effaced - and at that point, I'd only been in labor for 3 and a half hours!

Chris told us to get settled, and a midwife-in-training was sent to hang out with us. I got on the bed and into the relaxation position we had learned in birth class. I stayed on the bed and labored for about an hour before the contractions became too intense to keep still. I started pacing the birth suite, moving as much as possible during each contraction. I kept waiting for the transition phase to hit - but suddenly I realized I was clenching my buns during each contraction, and I knew I was supposed to be pushing.

I asked Chris to check to make sure I really was ready to push. At about 10:00am, she gave the ok and I began pushing.

During the next three hours I moved from the tub to the bed and back several times. I had decided during our childbirth classes that I wanted to go through stage 2 labor in a squatting position - which was much easier to do in the tub. Jon sat behind me to help me get into a squat during each contraction, and I just focused on relaxing and making each contraction count. Throughout the pushing phase, I never felt frustrated or defeated. I just got in the zone and focused on getting through labor! I was so exhausted as we neared the end that I was falling asleep between contractions. Thankfully, Jon was there holding me up so I didn't fall down in the tub :)

The last 30 minutes of pushing were the most intense. The top of Henry's head would pop out, and then slowly slip back in after I stopped pushing. It was so frustrating knowing how close I was, but I just couldn't get his head all the way out. Finally, the midwife told me that she wanted me to get out of the tub and on to the bed so they could try a different position that would help him get his whole head out.  I told them I was more than happy to move, as long as they moved me. I felt too weak to walk to the bed! As soon as they got me out of the tub, I felt another contraction coming on and I squatted down on the floor of the bathroom to get through the contraction. At 1:37pm., Henry Lando Hunt was born.

That's right, I gave birth to my baby on the bathroom floor.

 Here is our little family just minutes after Henry was born. Jon is sitting behind me in a folding chair and I'm still sitting on the floor (the birthing tub is behind us).  My baby boy weighed in at 9lbs, 5oz and was 21 inches long. 

I will spare you the details of the afterbirth process. To sum things up, there was a lot (!) of blood, stitches, and shaking. If you want the gory details, I'm happy to share... just not here.

And after just 12 hours from when we arrived at the birth center, we headed home with our sweet baby boy.

I had such a wonderful birth experience and I am so thankful for the women at Eastside Birth Center. Without a doubt, I would pursue a natural birth again. The hardest and most painful part of my entire labor were the last few pushes as Henry was born - I think it was the only time I made any "labor" noises during the whole process.  While I can't say that childbirth was painless, the discomfort was extremely manageable and there were very few moments during my labor where I would describe my experience as being in pain.