Natural birth with doula support; Welcome Baby Mason Phillip born 3/5/23

Special thanks to first time mom Kelly for sharing her beautiful birth story! Congratulations to Kelly and Phil on the birth of their sweet baby Mason. And thank you to Mindful Birth Doula Tara for her unwavering support!

"At 40 weeks and 5 days, I had a looming induction scheduled that I was dreading. I’d had a super healthy pregnancy and was trying to do all the right things to spontaneously go into labor and have an all natural vaginal birth. 6 dates per day, red raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil, daily walks, prenatal chiropractor, and all the spinning babies and stretching. Just all the things!

My induction was scheduled for Tuesday and my water broke the Sunday before. Hallelujah! All my induction stress was immediately gone. (Maybe TMI), but started my day with some love making to get those natural prostaglandins and oxytocin going! Then went on a 20 minute walk. Once back at home from my walk, things felt off. I didn’t want to jinx anything, so didn’t say anything to my husband and mom who were with me. Was doing my yoga ball bounces and all my daily stretches, hip and pelvis openers, etc. Started to get some consistent mild, period-like cramping and dull lower back pain, body chills, and a little nauseous. We decided to hang out by the pool that day and just try to relax. I got up to use the restroom around 3PM and had a big gush of water. Yay, my water broke! I was beyond excited! But knew I still had a lot of work to do. We were all in tears knowing how badly I wanted to go into labor on my own. It was happening!

We quickly drove home and threw together the rest of what we needed in our hospital bags and loaded the car. I may have been having faint contractions all day leading up to my water breaking but didn’t realize it at the time. But once we were home, the contractions were more consistent - still relatively mild. I went back to bouncing on my yoga ball and we decided to start timing them. They were already anywhere from 20-45 seconds long and about 4-5 mins apart. I had already been in touch with our incredible doula, Tara, throughout the day. At this point, she suggested laying down and getting as much rest as possible and to get ready for a long night. We were able to eat a quick dinner at home and I tried to lay down for 2-3 contractions. I was not comfortable, laying down was not an option. Back to the yoga ball I go, started to do some hip squeezes and abdominal lift and tucks too. It was about 7pm at this point and things really started to pick up. And quick. I knew it was time to go to the hospital.

Lucky us, the hospital was only a quick 10-15 min drive. I had my eyes closed most of the drive as my contractions started to require my entire focus. It was about 7:30PM when we arrived and we got into a triage room within 5 mins. At that point I couldn’t be quiet anymore. I was most comfortable leaning over a chair while my husband continued hip squeezes. The doctor checked me in between contractions and I was 6-7cm dilated and fully effaced. I panicked, thinking I’d have another 3-4 hours of this. At least. There’s no way I could do this without an epidural. I asked for one and could tell my husband knew I didn’t want that but wasn’t sure what to do. He was in as much shock as me at how quickly things were moving. Within the next 10 mins we were in the delivery room and I was already 10cm and my body was starting to push on its own. (And thank goodness, my blood draw for the epidural never happened and things were moving so quickly, there was no reason in getting one at that point.) I knew I probably had about 45 mins-1 hour of pushing and we’d get to meet our sweet baby so soon.

I labored a few more contractions on my knees leaning over the back of the hospital bed and started to get that ‘I have to poop’ feeling. I even got up to use the restroom in between contractions and Tara quickly reminded me that that’s baby coming, not poop! The doctor and nurse wanted me on my back for more efficient pushing, so I switched over to my back. Things surprisingly weren’t as painful on my back as I had the pushing to focus on and distract me from the contraction pains. I started pushing as my body continued pushing on its own and with the help of Tara, my husband and my mom, 10-12 more contractions our sweet, healthy baby boy entered the world at 10:09PM.

What a wild ride that was! By far the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life but the absolute most rewarding. I wouldn’t change a thing and am so thankful for Mindful Birth Services and Tara’s help through not only birth, but my entire pregnancy and now postpartum journey too. She’s been such an incredible resource throughout the entire process and my husband and I are so grateful for her!"