A Birth Story: Welcome To The World, Mary Joy

On June 22nd at 2:30 am, I woke up to use the bathroom,

 a nightly ritual during the last months of pregnancy. 

While I was in the bathroom, I was hit with such a forceful contraction that I nearly fell off the toilet. 

At the same instant, my water broke.

For the past two months I had nearly constant prodromal labor, and because of this I was already partially dilated and completely thinned and effaced. 

 So I expected that when real labor started, it would advance quickly.

And I was right.

 After that first contraction, they came every three or four minutes for the next several hours.

  I was too uncomfortable to sleep,and Scott was too excited, so we decided to get up and keep ourselves busy until I progressed further.

I wanted to labor at home for a while, so we puttered around the house.  I made tacos, Scott worked on a few small projects; I did my hair (I know it's a little ridiculous, but hey, I had time!) and packed a few last-minute items in our hospital bag.

At about 5:00 am, I called my doula, Lisa, a close family friend, and told her I was in labor so that she could get a shower and some breakfast before we headed to the hospital.

Around 6:00 am, my doula arrived at our home. By that time, the contractions were uncomfortable enough that I didn't want to talk or walk anymore, so I laid on the couch with a hot water bottle on my lower back.

At 6:45, my contractions were still 2-4 minutes apart, and getting more intense all the time, so we decided to head to the hospital so we could get through triage before I was truly miserable. 

Once we were admitted to triage and I was laying in bed being monitored, my contractions slowed WAY down. But I was clearly in active labor and still progressing, so they admitted me after just a few minutes.

As soon as I got out of that triage bed, my contractions sped back up again. It was obvious to me that labor would move much faster if I kept moving; so for the next hour we walked up and down the hallway, but it wasn't long before standing through contractions became difficult, so we headed back to our room, and I spent the rest of my labor mostly on the birthing ball; only getting into bed to be monitored for fifteen minutes once every hour.

Lisa and Scott were both wonderful throughout the whole day. I highly recommend having a doula, especially if you are planning on having an unmedicated birth.

Lisa was so helpful with pain management and helping me to relax into the contraction rather than tense up against them.  There is something so encouraging about having another woman in the room who is there for only you, and who has herself experienced what you are experiencing.

After only twelve hours of labor and thirty minutes of pushing with no medication,
 Mary Joy was came into the world at 2:08 pm, weighing 8lbs 2oz, and 19 inches long.

What an amazing day.

The labor and delivery went very well for me, and was everything I wanted; thanks to Scott, my doula, and my midwife; and recovery has been fairly easy.

We are so thrilled with our baby girl, who turned seven weeks old yesterday.
It is hard to believe it has been that long already!

I can hear her waking up from her nap in the other room now, so I will say goodbye for now.

Thank you for reading, if you have any questions about any details I have left out, feel free to ask. :)

Blessings,