Lukes Water Birth Story!

Hi Friends! It's been a while since I last wrote a blog. Life has been busy here, juggling two babies and two businesses. Following the recent poll, you all wanted to hear about Luke's natural Birth Story, which I thought would be a great topic for this post since we just celebrated his 2nd birthday!

For this birth, I knew I wanted a different approach to care. Opting for the Birth Center and Midwife experience over a hospital setting, as hospitals sometimes come with more restrictions and interventions. With Ava, my water broke, but contractions and labor didn't progress. She was also born during COVID, which meant more visitor restrictions, including my mom not being able to attend. I ended up needing pitocin and an epidural, which wasn't the birth experience I wanted this time. Having a healthy pregnancy with no complications, we felt confident in our decision for a Birth Center.

A few days before my 36-week appointment, I experienced some unusual contractions. While I had Braxton Hicks throughout both pregnancies, these felt different and somewhat consistent. Normally, I wouldn't have wanted to be checked, but with the weather forecasts of snow and ice and my mom eager to be there for the birth (she was in Dallas), it was important to know. At my 36-week appointment, I was surprised to learn I was already 4-5 cm dilated. My midwife was also taken back but allowed me to go home since I didn’t have any active signs of labor. Although, I was beyond stressed. I needed to be at least 37 weeks to deliver at the birth center. My mom was also freaking out but I reassured her that it wouldn't happen and I would keep her updated! Then another week went by, and I didn’t feel those contractions and I decided not to get checked. So I took it easy, continuing to work at the shop! Many of you saw me during those days! 

Then at my 38 week appointment, I was 5-6cm dilated. So we had an idea it would be a fast one! We decided to get my mom up here cause another snow storm was headed this way. So Wednesday 2/16 the night the snow and ice storm was coming! 5pm starting having contractions at the shop, I remember restocking our bibs pacifiers and having contractions. I didn’t really think anything of it because I’ve had fake labor a couple of times already. So I left the shop and headed home. That rest of the night I timed them and they were every 15-20 min but almost to the point where I forgot to time them because they were not bad at all. They were not crazy consistent but enough to notice. 5pm-9pm they were like every 15 -20 min . Very very manageable. I went to sleep at 9pm. Woke up around 12am and they were a little stronger maybe like 10 min apart. Every time I laid down on my side they were more intense but then I would walk around and it wasn’t that big of a deal. They would go away. Then around 2am I woke Jared and my mom up and thought maybe we should go. It was sleeting outside. Still hadn’t called the birth center. Then I was like “nah jk” I’ll go lay back down. Still in denial. So I tried to lay down again, and really couldn’t get comfortable. I was also freaking out because of the sleeting and snow. Then around 3:30/4 am I was like “okay, I think it’s time” so I called the midwife, she was like “Aren’t you the girl that was dilated to 5 or 6 the other day?” I was like,, “Yess.. that's me”. She insisted I hurry!!! 

So we decided to head to the birth center. It is about a 45 min drive there and we still needed to drop Ava off at my in-laws which was on the way. I was laboring in the back of the car. Contractions were pretty manageable at this point. I could moan and breathe through them. Then we dropped off Ava at my in laws and that's when it started to get real intense. I needed my mom's help at this point. She gave me counter pressure on my back and that is exactly what I needed at the time. She would push my hips together essentially. From my in laws, it was still about a 25 min drive or so. Now it started to snow and get really slippery outside. I was pretty much out of it at this point really trying to focus. I hear my mom saying “You are going to have to pass this sand truck, her contractions are too close together, we won’t make it”. My husband graciously was like, okay! Granted this is in the middle of the night so not a lot of people are on the road but they are taking their sweet time cause it was slippery but we didn’t have time! We finally arrived at the Birth Center around 5:30 am, by then they had so much snow. I had to figure out how to walk into the birth center in the middle of a break of a contraction which wasn’t long! I made it to the room and about half way had a contraction, she checked me and I was 9 cm and a bulging bag.. So at this point I already knew I made it through transition and the hardest part! I felt pretty excited at this point! Midwife asked if I wanted to get into the tub, and I did. I had been handling decent. My mom started to get really tired giving me counter pressure so I yelled for Jared. My husband gave me the best counter pressure EVER making the contractions so manageable. Within a few minutes, I felt a pop, and then an enormous amount of pressure. My water broke, and my midwife gave the ok to start pushing. I had done lots of research and wanted to make sure I felt the urge to push and let my body take control. My body sure did take control and honestly started pushing itself. This was literally the hardest part of it all and felt like an eternity. I pushed for around 5 min or so and he came out! The ring of FIRE is REAL and the craziest experience I have ever felt. He came out into the water, and I picked him up. I could tell right away things were not right, he (which we still didn't know the gender at this point) was purple and had the cord around the neck. He did not cry. It was pure silence. They tried everything, scratching at his foot ( which he has an intense scar from) to get him to cry. Seconds that felt like an eternity, he finally cried. She gave him to Jared, which he then said “it's a boy”. I had to deliver the placenta. After that, she went back to Luke and wasn’t pleased with the oxygen levels she was getting. He was still really purple at this point. So they made the call to 911 to get a transport. By then, the snow was so tall! The hospital was only a couple miles away. I didn’t love this idea, but knew it was the best thing for him. Luke and Jared got in the ambulance while I stayed back. My bleeding wasn’t really under control so they didn’t want me to leave. This was hard, to just birth your baby and have him taken away. Long story short, he was fine! He just needed some extra help with oxygen and a day in the hospital, he was ready to go! This experience was everything I had dreamed for and more. I really wanted the natural experience with Luke because I didn’t get that with Ava. After a few days, I wanted to do it again haha! The recovery was much easier with him than Ava! Our bodies are incredible and it was amazing to get to experience what we were built for! 

I am a geek when it comes to birth stories! I really love them! Thanks for reading mine, if you are into that! If you want, would love to hear yours in the comments below!

Here’s a code “BIRTH” for 10% off your order online only (select local pickup if you're local). It will expire next monday.

Till next time, 

Derion