Embracing the Unexpected with Strength: A Mom's Journey to a Desired Waterbirth in Cape Coral with Doula Care

"When I think of my birth story, I believe it began long before I went into labor. It was years of quiet worries, whispered hopes, and thoughtful decisions woven together that led to one moment that will forever be etched in my memory.

For years I had been terrified of birth- the unexpected, being out of control;

only worst case scenarios would run through my mind whenever I thought

about labor and delivery. Before pregnancy, I dove into research, hoping to

address those fears and map out the best care as a way to reduce my

anxiety. I knew every year that passed was another year letting fears dictate our future.

There were many days I had turned to my faith in God to guide me out of my fears and embrace what I was longing for. I distinctly remember just before my 30th birthday, I prayed to God asking for a sign that I was making the right choice despite my worries. Ten days later, I joyfully found out I was pregnant.

PREGNANCY

I’ve got to say, I think I was extremely blessed. We got pregnant easily without complications. I had read so many stories and was prepared for all the ‘negatives’ to come with first trimester and beyond. But everything about my pregnancy felt like living through rose-colored glasses. In my mind, it was picture-perfect— something I owe to God and a wildly positive mindset filled with gratitude.

After many sleepless nights spent researching and preparing, the time finally came to choose the support people I could trust to carry me through this experience. My hope was to set myself up for labor as best I could, knowing I ultimately wasn’t in full control. We hired our doula, Tara, confident she would be a great support in navigating labor and advocating for our goals, since we

had chosen to birth in the hospital. In addition to a doula, I started chiropractic care and pelvic floor therapy.

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I really grappled with the decision of whether or not to do a home birth, which I had always admired. Part of my anxiety surrounding birth was getting swept up in medical interventions.

Ideally a water birth outside of the hospital was, in my mind, a perfect way to avoid the over-medicalized route. This decision continued to weigh heavily on my mind, even as we hit 30 weeks and beyond. For some reason it was something I couldn’t let go of but my fears and the desire to be at a hospital “just in case” outweighed the water birth that my heart longed for.

EARLY LABOR

Fast forward to just before Week 40. I’d been hopeful, texting Tara a few days leading up to our due date thinking surely baby would come right on time. (I am a planner by nature and trade, very Type A personality- of course my baby would follow suit, right?). I’d fill Tara in about my Braxton hicks, how I was feeling overall and then I’d go back to patiently waiting for baby to show me more signs of arrival...well each of those days came and went. And so did the next two after our due date.

On Wednesday morning, 40+2, between midnight and 7:15 a.m. I was experiencing mild contractions (20 min apart, mild enough to where I could go back to sleep after the spark of excitement died down). Right on the dot at 7:30 a.m. they stopped and so did that hope of thinking baby was making her entrance into the world. I texted Tara to keep her in the loop and we were both thankful my contractions stopped as she was actually at another birth. Making a mental note that it must have been divine timing because Tara wasn’t ready

for me anyways. We had my 40 week appointment with the midwives at PWC later that day for a non stress test. I figured it was all good timing as I’d get checked to see how much progress we’d made throughout the night. I also decided to get a chiropractic adjustment just beforehand to help relax my

body. In my head I had written off another day without baby, which meant that the impending question of induction was soon

to be asked- which was definitely not part of “my plan”.

On our way to our OB appointment I noticed baby was extremely active, way more than usual. I noted that it was a little odd behavior but didn’t think too much about it. Her high activity showed on the non stress test, along with a high heart rate, but thankfully she settled a bit and we did pass! I for sure thought with all the prior Braxton hicks and then that morning’s contractions

that I would be somewhat dilated. So I was a little disappointed to be told that I was only 1-1.5cm but with a very soft cervix. We left thinking to ourselves that baby was nestled in for probably another few days.

Well, by 4:30 p.m. I texted my mom to ask how I’d know if I was in early labor-haha! I didn’t quite know what I was feeling but I knew I didn’t feel great. I spent the evening in the pool decompressing, stretching and soaking up the last bits of sunlight before we got ready for bed. I was having contractions but they were quite variable: 15 minutes, sometimes 20. Surely this was not the

real deal but I thought maybe it was still a good idea to track the contractions. I wasn’t in bed for long before my contractions shot me onto the floor and over my birth ball! I had texted Tara at 10 p.m. to tell her that I really thought something must be happening as I was having contractions about every 10-12 minutes. I started panicking a little as she was still on her other birth but again

thought no big deal, this wasn’t really happening. Just like the night before, they would stop, I was sure of it. Looking back, I was totally in denial that I was in true labor!

By 2am I was really having major discomfort and was conflicted on what to do. I had been laboring on the bathroom floor since 10 p.m. My contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes apart, I had vomited a few times, ran through multiple laboring positions but was finding no relief. So my husband and I called our backup doula, Jennifer. She walked us through a few contractions and guided us on whether or not we should go to the hospital. I chose to stay home and continue laboring even though the pain in my hips and lower back was increasingly becoming unbearable. By 4:15 a.m., with contractions every 3-4 minutes apart, I decided it was time.

ACTIVE LABOR

We arrived at the hospital at 4:30 a.m. The wait from triage to get our room seemed to take an eternity. I was not coping well and was desperate for some relief. As we waited to see if we’d be admitted, I was checked at 4cm dilated and my water had not yet broken.

By 6:30 that Thursday morning we were finally able to get our room, Suite 15. Once we got settled in I had another check and was 6cm dilated. I wasn’t having much luck with the nitrous oxide that I so craved. I needed my husband to do the double hip squeeze for every contraction to feel any bit of relief.

We met Jennifer for the first time around 8 a.m. and I was so happy to have some professional hands handling these hips! For meeting our backup doula for the first time as I was beginning active labor, I felt a connection with her right away. There is something so bonding and primal about locking eyes with another woman who’s been right where you are at— in the throes of labor. I could feel in my soul that she knew exactly what I was feeling. It was powerful and comforting, as if I were being guided through this rite of passage by the women who had gone before me; I can’t quite describe it. She helped me navigate intense surges. Her voice guiding me, “relax your shoulders, breathe low, you’re doing great”. We really tried it all— the peanut ball, birth ball and cubby chair; yet I could not settle into any position for longer than a few minutes as the pain radiated through my lower back and hips. There was only one place I found my comfort: the bathroom.

We first made our way to the tub, but sadly I was only able to be in there for a short time before the nurses came in and asked me to kindly change positions as baby wasn’t favoring it. I reluctantly got out and found myself on the toilet. From that moment on, I swear that toilet and I became best friends! The rest of my labor continued there with my husband on my right side seated on the

tub and my doula on my left, against the sink counter. Both working diligently to fan me, feed me little bits of fruit, and rub my lower back. I was very thankful for the staff I had that morning as we were left alone with the occasional check in to see how I was doing. My plan was to have a natural birth avoiding intervention as much as possible and so far we were right on track.

It was around 10 a.m. when I had my last check— 8cm. Every time the nurses would check in on us, they’d ask me if I was feeling any pressure when I wasn’t contracting and I would repeat the same reply “no pressure”. At first that was the truth. As a first timer I really didn’t know what to expect to feel but I knew I didn’t want to change what I was doing. I wasn’t ready to give up my reins on the situation. My body had been bearing down with each contraction, yet I was comfortable remaining just as I was. I knew my body was made for this, I had to trust it. This was my way of preserving my peace and following my gut for what was best for myself and my baby. I also had trust that if my doula wasn’t panicking then I shouldn’t be either.

TRANSITION AND BIRTH

Back to the toilet we go to labor for another few hours, as it was or so it seemed. Truly the toilet was my comfort and safe space. As noon approached with each of us in our same positions, a SPLAT suddenly echoed throughout the bathroom. My water broke in the toilet! The three of us looked at each other with our jaws wide open and giggled as we made the realization of what happened. It made for a bit of comic relief as it sounded like a water balloon smacked the inside of the toilet.

In the thick of my now even more intense contractions, staring past the open bathroom door and out the windows of our birth suite at the leaves blowing on the trees, I asked Jennifer (and God, multiple times) how long this could

possibly go on for. I was at the end of my rope. All of my methodologies were, in my mind, failing me. I just wanted so badly to be done.

This was now pretty much two days with little to no sleep and not a full meal since 8 p.m. Wednesday evening. I was running on fumes. I remember asking Jennifer, “Should I just get checked again?” — the words reluctantly coming out of my mouth several times. I will never forget her telling me that I could, or I could continue to do exactly what I was doing. A little later, I asked, “How do I know when to push? Should I start pushing?” Her reply: “Why not?” In that moment, I felt like I was given permission to fully own and embrace my birth. This whole time, even before my pregnancy, I had thought I wouldn’t be able to guide myself along this process but I was wrong. I had more control than I thought. So after a few more rounds of intense surges and dreaded changed

positions, I had my husband start the tub again. As I sat on the toilet through back to back waves of my body bearing down, I reached down to see if I could feel baby’s head myself. To my surprise I could feel the ever so slight inkling of something, but I knew I still had quite a ways to go. I was torn between excitement and lingering doubt that we would be nearing the end soon.

Over the next half hour or so I checked myself several more times until I started to feel more of what I was sure was her head. At this point I started working with my body to gently push, or relax my pelvic floor, when I wasn’t contracting as my body was still doing a good job of bearing down on its own. Before I knew it things took a turn and the realization hit that the end would be

approaching.

My nurse came back in as I was settled in the tub and asked me again if I wanted to be checked. It sounded somewhat enticing but I knew if I got out of the tub I probably wouldn’t be allowed back in. I told her no but that I really wanted her to feel if this was baby’s head. I knew what I was feeling but I was ready to have confirmation, ultimately ready to invite others into our sacred realm. Through some hesitation she finally agreed “just to feel”. I watched as she got her gloves on from across the room, I started feeling the beginnings of the ring of the fire and knew I couldn’t let this moment linger for too long. I was NOT getting out of that tub.

I started guiding my body to really get my baby’s head to make its way through. As she leaned over the edge of the tub, together we felt baby’s head start to emerge. She got up with urgency to say she was going to get some friends- aka it was Go Time! As she ran out of the room I felt such a moment of peace wash over me. It was finally time to meet my baby and I was doing what I had so desired to do from the very beginning.

I birthed my daughter’s head unassisted just before our sacred bathroom filled with a half dozen staff. My room, becoming the center of attention, had another half dozen nurses waiting just outside the bathroom. My nurse kneeled against the tub and as she told me to lean back for baby, my husband jumped in the tub with me to assist in this final release.

At 2:46 p.m. my daughter entered this world as peacefully as I had dreamed all those years before. I got my water birth after all. The air was buzzing with excitement and love, this was a special moment for everyone involved."

Please join us in welcoming baby Teresa into the world!

Thank you to first time mom Christina for sharing her beautiful birth story

with us.

Curious about doula care? Schedule your initial intake call with our office here.