To say that the birth of our son, Indy was highly anticipated would be understatement. I had a fairly uneventful pregnancy until my 32 week exam when I explained to Nicole that the contractions I had been experiencing had become more frequent. Upon exam she confirmed I was already 2cm dilated. Needless to say we erred on the side of caution and I was put on bed rest. I wasn’t too terribly surprised since bed rest was also ordered with my daughter, Jordan at 27 weeks.
As the weeks went by we became more and more anxious for the birth. Dorinda and I went over all the holistic options for naturally inducing labor safely after 37 weeks… And trust me we tried them all! See, even though I was on bed rest with both children – they both took their sweet time once it was safe for delivery. My daughter was 10 days overdue (hospital birth) and I had a difficult delivery with her topping the scales at nearly 9 lbs. the midwives and I were concerned if he was too big, this delivery could also become difficult… So at 37 days on the nose I started down the list… Days came and went… Still no baby.
The week before Indy was born the weather took a turn… 98 degrees every day… Miserable wasn’t the word! I had shrek feet (minus the green) and felt like every part of my body was 10x its normal size. The night before Indy was born I went to bed early… And grumpily requested that my husband not bother me.. Lol
At 3:45 am on April 28th 2009 (one day after my due date) I returned to bed after what was probably my 7th trip to the bathroom that night. I crawled into bed next to my husband and felt and heard a pop. I leapt out of bed (think gazelle like) realizing my water broke and it was FINALLY time! I spoke to Sarah and my first contraction came. We decided to meet at the birth center at 7am.
We arrived at the birth center at around 7:30 ( stuck in morning rush hour traffic) and we made our way to the water birth room. After a few moments antibiotics were started (strep b) and the water was being prepared.
I climbed into the tub at around 9:30am. What a wonderful and relaxing feeling!! Peggy arrived and put on a relaxation CD.. Sounds of the beach- my favorite sounds ever! As my labor progressed I began to doze off between contractions. Never in my life would I imagine sleeping during a natural labor!
At around 11:45am Sarah noticed a different pitch to my moans and suggested I try pushing. I rose up onto my knees and breathed thru the first contraction.. Then with the next contraction my body took over. One push and his head was out. Sarah guided me back and with one more push our son was born!
I was assisted out of the tub by Sarah and Katie Mansur (I was in “my zone” and didn’t even realize Katie came in!) As we laid on the bed with our son I was in complete awe of the entire event. The support we received from our birth center family was incredible. Never once did I feel his birth was something I couldn’t handle… And I thank the entire staff at the birth center for that!