As I sit and type this I am looking at my new daughter in amazement that my body did that. No matter how many times I give birth or witness a birth, it never ceases to amaze me how well the female body is designed and works to give life! And as I process through Willow’s birth, I couldn’t be happier with how she was brought into this world. I struggled to get what I wanted in my birth with Mason and ended up having to make a lot of compromises. This time around, we had the complete opposite experience. I credit that to having more experience, hiring a doula and answers to prayer!
After having contractions all night Sunday, I thought for sure that Monday was the day this baby would be born. But as I went about my morning, the contractions stopped and I was back to the beginning. So when contractions started Tuesday morning as I woke up, I didn’t really think much of it. My parents came by to get Mason and take him to music class. While they were gone, I had time to myself as Dave was at work. My contractions got stronger and started coming closer together. It was a good time for me to prepare myself mentally and physically for the fact that today was going to be the day I would meet my new baby! I called Dave and our doula, who advised that Dave come home from work since I seemed to be progressing quickly. After a few hours at home, we decided to head to the hospital. When they checked me in around 12:30pm, I was dilated to about 5 cm and completely effaced. The baby was at about 0 station.
With the exception of our first nurse, the staff were pretty accommodating of our birth requests. I think the first nurse thought we were crazy and quickly handed us off to a new nurse, which was fine with me! Our birth requests were basically to be checked on periodically but mostly left alone to labor without IV’s, medication, constant monitoring and being asked that stupid pain scale question. (Hello, I’m having a baby, of course it hurts!) We were able to do just that. We labored with the help of our doula, who gave me some great tools to manage the pain naturally. I got to transition (8-10 cm) pretty quickly and at that point had my water broken so that the baby’s head could come down to where it needed to be to progress. Once that happened, it was only about an hour before I began pushing. I was empowered to push in whatever position felt good and I had no one telling me to push or counting, just encouraging me. It felt so good to push through the contractions! What a relief! After about 20 minutes, my midwife caught Willow’s head and said “Amanda, reach down and grab your baby”. So at 6:59 pm, I did. I actually got to pull Willow out myself. It was so amazing! She lay on my chest and I just looked at this beautiful baby, still not knowing if it was a boy or girl. Finally I lifted her up and told Dave to look and see what she was. He said, “We have a girl!” We had about an hour of cuddle time together where she nursed and stared at me and me at her before the nurses took her to weigh her and do all the official stuff. It was some great bonding time!
I have to say that the birth of my daughter was an amazing, empowering, joyful and profoundly spiritual event. I have never felt closer to God than I have at the birth of my children. The strength and love that I feel during labor and delivery are a confirmation to me that God has given me and each woman the ability to birth naturally. I know that we made the right choice in choosing to have a medication and intervention free birth. I am so thankful for the experience and hope that other women have the chance (or create the opportunity) to feel this way about their births.
