I think there’s so much beauty in every birth story. I tread lightly with sharing mine because each one is so different & I don’t think there’s one right way to deliver a baby. As a newborn photographer, I’ve had clients who lost babies, delivered months early, and had heartbreaking stories, as well as ones filled with hope. I know so many mama warriors.
My hope for Wynnie’s birth was to go as natural as possible. At the same time, we chose a hospital setting as it gave me more peace. Halfway through pregnancy, I changed OB practices to one with a team of delivering midwives. We also hired a doula for labor & delivery classes, as well as being there for her birth.
Our birth plan included things like “prefer no epidural, but I’m ok with it if I need it.” I wanted to give myself as much grace for things NOT going as planned. Before the actual day, I focused on moving my body, prenatal yoga from Spinning Babies and mindset prep from Christian Hypnobirthing!
Her birth story –
My water unexpectedly broke on a Monday night. I was confused and thrown off – I thought your water didn’t break until after you had contractions. But I wasn’t feeling a thing. I got ready to head to bed so I could get some rest.
My friend encouraged me to call the hospital to check in. After explaining everything, the nurse advised me to come in. Apparently once your water breaks, there is an increased risk of infection.
I asked what happens once they check it? Could I go home? “Oh no,” she replied. “Once you’re here, we’re admitting you and you’re not leaving until you have a baby.” I agreeably replied “okay” – knowing I wasn’t going to the hospital just yet, where they would want to induce me. She asked what time they could expect me to arrive, and I replied “Oh I’m not coming in, I just said okay that I understood.” She was less than thrilled!
I hung up & went to sleep, but my mind was racing.
This wasn’t the order it was supposed to happen. I was supposed to have contractions, then have my water break and then head to the hospital. The risk of infection made everything more complicated.
I listened to Christian Hypnobirthing as I fell asleep that night, but I only got about 4 hours of sleep.
The next day we had one mission: get my contractions to start!
We tried everything. We went out walking. We tried acupressure points. I did prenatal yoga. I tried pumping. Nothing seemed to work.
My Doula recommended a midwives cocktail. You drink the mix, walk for 20 mins & then take a 4 hour nap. I was uncertain, but we were getting close to 24 hours since my water broke. I decided to only drink 1/4 of the recipe. 10 minutes into walking, my contractions started!
My biggest regret was that I never got my 4 hour nap!
I knew I wanted to labor from home where I was more comfortable, so we bunkered down for about 4 hours. Around 1am on Wed morning, the contractions were getting more intense and closer together. At this point, I really just wanted to feel settled in one place. And I didn’t want to have to go through too many contractions during the 30 minute car ride. So we grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital.
While checking in, I told the triage nurse that my water broke Monday night. “You mean Tuesday night,” she replied. “Nope, I meant Monday”
They gave me a whole talk about how they would likely need to induce me since it had been over 24 hours since my water broke & they wanted to move this thing along. I really didn’t want that, so I asked them to just do the cervical check & we would go from there. To her SHOCK I was already 6cm dilated, completely effaced and baby girl was in the zero position in my pelvis!
My body was doing EXACTLY what it was supposed to do & I didn’t need to be induced!
From there, they let me labor for a few hours. My doula arrived & was an amazing asset! She and Matt would apply counter pressure on my back during each contraction. I worked on mastering my breathing & being in positions that helped.
I stayed remarkably calm. I never wound up asking for an epidural & they never offered one. When it came down to it, I just didn’t consider needing it. I was able to have my natural birth – even in a hospital setting!!
I was completely exhausted (getting no sleep that night & only 4 hours of sleep the night before)! But I kept repeating “I trust my body & my baby to know what to do”
Around 8:30am my contractions had slowed down to about 7-8 minutes apart. They thought my body was stalling out and suggested I take a nap.
I decided to do a cervical check. The midwife was AMAZED when she went to check my cervix and instead the baby’s head was already there! I remember being so exhausted that the world was a blur – but I could hear the room going into a frenzy around me. “Get the baby team! Bring in the table! The baby is here!”
It was time to push.
Some women instinctively start pushing without any help. That was not the case for me. The nurses told me to push like I was having a poo but that did NOT compute in my brain. Finally I exclaimed, “I’m going to break my butt!!!” Everyone laughed, but I was seriously confused on what to do!
My midwife was a tough grandma who was ready to get down to business. After a bit, she came right up & looked me eye to eye. “Your contractions last about 1 minute and I need 4 good pushes. You’re pushing for about 8 seconds.” I was SO confused. I thought I was pushing the entire time!
My doula started encouraging me with Scripture. Completely unexpectedly, my midwife turned & did the same. It was a truly beautiful moment to have both ladies pointing me to Christ.
My contractions stayed 7-8 mins apart the rest of the time. I kept apologizing to the delivery team that it was taking so long, because I knew they had other places they needed to be! Eventually the midwife taught me where to direct my pushing & it worked!!
Wynnie was here!
As her head popped out, the midwife turned to me and said “Mama, grab your baby!!!” It was completely unexpected & absolutely beautiful. I reached down & caught my little girl & pulled her right up onto my chest. We were done. We made it.
After that, the room went into a bit of a panic.
Right after Wynnie was born, I remember hearing the midwife exclaiming “She’s losing a lot of blood! She isn’t clotting! There’s a lot of blood!” By then, I was beyond exhausted & I had done what I came to do. I had my baby. I wasn’t worried about the rest.
It turned out that I had three tears & needed stitches on one of them. The midwife asked if they could give me an IV to help me clot. My baby was already out, so I didn’t quite care what they did at that point. They called an OB and stitched me up.
Without an epidural, I could feel every stitch as they went. I laid there and halfheartedly reported back “ow” each time they made a stitch!
All in all, it was 34 hours of labor since my water had broken, but only 13 hours of feeling like I was actually in labor with contractions. I pushed for 2 whole hours – which with my contractions being 7-8 minutes apart, it was equivalent to about an hour of pushing, had they been the typical 3-4 minutes apart.
My mindset was focused on leaning into the contractions instead of minimizing the pain. I wasn’t expecting relief, so I wasn’t searching for it. Instead I focused on the beauty of it all. Women’s bodies were designed in an amazing way & I’m in awe of what we can do.
Matt loves to tell people how, after everything – hours of contractions, gripping his hand with all my strength, bleeding and stitches – after all that, I turned to him and said “well, that wasn’t so bad.”
It was truly a beautiful birth story. Yes, there was pain. Yes, there was tearing and bleeding and stitches. Yes, it took me two hours of pushing. AND I felt empowered to do it without any pain meds. I trusted the process and believed that God had built me to be able to bring this baby into this world.
I know this isn’t the case for everyone. Childbirth can be filled with so much risk and fear and pain. Things don’t always go as planned. And I’m so thankful and blessed for a story like ours.
This birth was redemptive in so many ways. And I’ll never get tired of telling people how beautiful it was to bring Wynnie Mae into this world!
