Full Circle Midwifery

Contractions started about 5pm on Thursday, December 21st. They started out a very regular 10 minutes apart, but they were certainly not strong. I didn’t even bother to call Patrice because I knew she’d say go to bed and try to rest. I continued to feel them all night long, but I did manage to sleep off and on.

I woke up Friday thinking labor would really kick into gear. Mike even fixed up the bed with the plastic and extra sheets. However, as soon as I started moving around, labor all but stopped! I called Patrice because I knew she had scheduled to be out of town most of the day and I wanted to let her know nothing much was happening.

I probably only had 2-4 contractions every hour most of the day. The kids went to visit family, while Mike and I spent the day with his parents just twiddling our thumbs waiting! Finally, at around 5, I was going crazy and wanted to get out of the house and be distracted for a little while. I called Patrice so she’d know we were going out. The four of us went to my parent’s house where my entire family was gathering. We ate pizza and played cards; it worked great to keep me from obsessing about the impending delivery. By about 9pm I had to stop the card game every 10 minutes to breathe through my contractions. We kissed the kids goodbye and told them tomorrow they’d get to meet their new baby brother or sister! (I was totally convinced we were having another girl, but even as we walked out the door, Levi was telling us it was going to be his long-awaited brother!)

It was about 9:45 when we got home and contractions took a short break. I was walking around the kitchen trying to inspire things to get moving again. One strong contraction and my water broke at 10:45pm. Mike called Patrice again and asked her to come since she had about an hour’s drive.

As soon as my water broke, contractions intensified greatly. I sat on the toilet for a bit, but it wasn’t comfortable for long. Mike started the bath for me and I stayed there for about an hour. I’m not especially comfortable in the tub, but it makes me progress so fast. I had lots of strong, long contractions, the kind you know are moving things along! While I was in there, my mom and dad arrived, as did Patrice. I was SO relieved she was here! She heard me moaning during a contraction and said, “Oh, that sounds good, Becky,” in her sweet, soothing way. She puttered around the bedroom getting all the supplies ready, letting me do my thing while Mike held my hand.

I got out of the tub at 12:10am and got on my hands and knees on the bed. This wasn’t comfortable for long so I turned over to semi-sitting. Once I did that, my contractions seemed to ease up a bit. I was bleeding a little while on the bed. Mike and my mom held my hands the entire time, Grandma Roberson watching at the bedside and grandpas in the living room. Laurie arrived at about 12:30am, right about the time I started feeling pushy. The baby’s heart rate dropped during one contraction and push and worried me a bit, but it came right back up. I really only pushed about 4 times and then his head was born – oh, did it hurt! I never stopped pushing once his head was born because I wanted him out and now!

Seth Michael was born at 12:51am with quite a bit of blood loss and the cord wrapped around his neck. Patrice was concerned about all the blood because this was my third VBAC and the bleeding could have been a sign of major complication. We didn’t know it until I delivered the placenta, but it  had probably torn a little when my water broke. I thanked God that my labor was so fast, only two really intense hours, and that Seth was ok. He was a healthy 8 pounds, 4 ounces, 20 ½ inches and not at all the baby girl expected!