My Natural Birth Story (Baby #2)

Baby girl is here! I cannot believe it’s been a month since I had our baby girl. This pregnancy flew by, I assume that’s because I spent it caring for my toddler. Time flies by when you’re having fun right?!

This time around chose to birth at a Birthing Center. I decided on the Birth Center mainly because I wanted to have my toddler present during labor and birth (this didn’t go as planned). Another reason I went with the Birth Center was to minimize some unnecessary things, for example, I only had one ultrasound which was my anatomy scan. 

Anyway, let’s get to the reason why you’re here! My Birth Story.

My Birth Story for Baby #2

Ok, so let’s start from the beginning. About a week prior to delivery I started to have prodromal labor. I thought they were just Braxton Hicks, but they were pretty intense. I thought maybe nursing was bringing them on, but that wasn’t the case. They came on and off throughout the day even when I wasn’t nursing my toddler. I had an appointment that next day so I just spoke with the Midwife about the contractions and she didn’t seem concerned.

About 5 days before the delivery day my toddler got sick. I was pretty upset. This is the reason she wasn’t able to be present during delivery. I had intended for her to labor in the tub with me, and see her sister being born. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 since she had a cough she couldn’t attend. Because she was sick she nursed ALL DAY LONG! I’m almost certain she’s the one who got the ball rolling! 

Alright, let’s fast forward to delivery day. The day started out like any other day. My toddler woke up at around 7:30a she nursed for about 15 minutes. We got up ate breakfast and got ready for the day. 

Throughout the day I had the crampy feeling all day. Pretty irregular but it didn’t go away with walking. I wasn’t sure if I was actually in labor or not. We continued to carry on about our day. I sent my husband and my mom a text message about the crampy feeling I was having. 

At around 12:30p my toddler and I laid down to take a nap. She nursed to sleep and the crampy feeling got a little more intense while she nursed. We both fell asleep and woke up at around 2:30p. I had to go pick up an order from the grocery store at 3:30p so we headed out at 3:15p. Still, having the sporadic crampy feeling but just thinking maybe it was prodromal labor again. 

My husband got home at 5:00p and I didn’t have it in me to cook. I was feeling pretty lazy so we ordered pizza. We sat in the living room and watched Turtle Tale with my toddler while we ate. At this point, my contractions started to come a little more frequently. For some reason, I still didn’t think this was the real thing. The contractions weren’t exactly painful just really uncomfortable. I never had a bloody show or lost my mucus plug. 

After we ate we sat there for a while talking and something changed. They started becoming more consistent. I started tracking them on my phone and realized they were about 5 minutes apart. 

I decided to get up and take a shower thinking I’d get ready for bed. In the shower, they were still coming. My mom called at 8:00p and asked what was happening. I told her I didn’t think it was anything. She insisted on coming, so at around 8:30p my husband left to go pick up her. 

I figured I should start packing my bag. As I was packing my bag they started to get more intense. At this point, I was having to sit and sway with each one. My toddler was in and out of the room. We cuddled and she kissed my belly.

At 9:20p I decided to call the midwife. We spoke for about 7 minutes and she said I seemed to be calm and talking through them so she had me to call her back in an hour. Within that hour things progressed quickly. I went from swaying to needed to lay down durning each contraction. I called her back at 10:24p and she told me to go ahead and head there. 

I grabbed a few items, kissed my toddler, and then we headed out the door. The car ride to the Birth Center was about 45 minutes. Those were some intense 45 minutes! In the car, I could tell when things shifted. I naturally switched to deep moans. They closer we got the louder the moans seemed to get. Sitting in the car was rather uncomfortable, I had to find a focal point for the discomfort. My focal point ended up being the seat belt.  I seemed to twiddle it between my fingers. I began to feel an urge to push in the car. 

We arrived at the Birth Center at 11:20p.  The midwife started getting things ready and I asked them to fill up the tub.  She checked me and I was at 10cm when we got there!  I knew I wanted to lay in the tub mainly for a little bit of relief. As soon as I got in things calmed down a little and I was able to relax. It was a sweet relief. Due to COVID-19, they had to check temperatures. My husband had to wear a face mask. 

After relaxing a little I felt the need to push. I went with my body. There was no coaching from my Midwife. She sat back and let me go with the flow. After only a few pushes baby girl was out at 11:40p weighing 5lbs 14oz and 19 inches long! I was lucky this time around that I didn’t tear. Just had a ”skid mark” as the Midwife called it. I hadn’t intended on having a water birth, but it was a wonderful experience! 

Although my toddler, my mom, and my MIL weren’t able to be present during delivery I am extremely happy with how everything played out. We Facetimed my daughter at around 3:30a because she had woken up. She was upset but I was able to read her a story. 

Since we delivered at the Birth Center our stay was cut down tremendously. We had our baby girl at 11:40p and I was home with my toddler and baby girl at 8:00a. It was really nice to come home to recover. We had our first tandem feed a little bit after I got home.

I hope you enjoyed my birth story. It was definitely different from my first.