Austin's Birth Story (long)

This is the longer, more detailed version of Austin's birth. It is important to me to share this because so much thought and preparation and wishing went into his birth, and I want to write it out for myself and anyone else that is interested. So if you are not interested in the details of his birth, feel free to stop reading and look at Austin's Birth Story (short) instead.

39 weeks and huge!

The Monday before Austin was born I had my usual OB appointment. At that appointment we determined that not much was happening yet, which was no more than I expected based on how I felt at the time. I discussed with my doctor how far overdue he would allow me to go (1 week) if baby and I were both still healthy. For all I knew I could be pregnant for another 2 weeks, but I also knew that I could go into labor at any point. Just more of the waiting game.

On Tuesday I went to my monitoring appointment in the morning and everything was great there. I saw Austin on the ultrasound doing his usual things (hands in his face, kicking, practice breathing). Nate and I went to lunch with my mom at her work as well. Nothing unusual except I was having a few contractions that were starting to be more painful, but nothing noteworthy yet. Around the time Eddie got home from work I was having a few more of the painful contractions, but nothing too regular.

From there they continued and at some point my mom suggested that we start timing them. I don't know exactly what time all this was happening. Maybe 6:30ish. I decided at some point in all of this that I should finish packing the last minute hospital things just in case, but I wasn't totally convinced I was in labor even though I was starting to have to breathe through some contractions. I timed my contractions while I read Nate some stories on the couch before bedtime. At that point they were about 10-15 minutes apart. Maybe real labor, but I'd have to see if it continued. All the while I was packing and decided I had to clean our bathroom that night just in case. Once Nate was in bed my contractions started getting much closer together and I was stopping every few minutes to breathe through them. It didn't seem possible they could be coming that close together already so maybe if I took a shower or sat down they'd slow down.

Once I was all packed I took a shower. I couldn't stand the thought of going to the hospital without showering first. At that point it was all I could do to get my hair clean and finish showering between the contractions, which had suddenly gotten stronger. Eddie knew when he could hear me moaning through contractions in the shower that he needed to be ready to leave as soon as I got out. My mom was hurrying to get ready as well. Luckily my dad got home from St. George just in time to stay with Nate who was already asleep. We headed to the hospital around 9 pm and luckily it's only about 15 minutes away. We got up to the maternity floor in between stopping for contractions on the way up. Of course once we were there we had to fill out some paperwork and then they took me back to triage to determine if I was far enough along to be admitted. Only Eddie could come back with me so my mom had to wait in the waiting room unfortunately.

Once we were in triage ( around 10 pm) the nurse determined I was 3cm dilated and far enough along to be admitted. She hooked me up to the monitor for 20 minutes to monitor baby's heartbeat. I was miserable laying in the bed with contractions so as soon as I could I was standing up next to the bed, which helped a bit. Little did I know at this point that things were moving very fast. I thought it was weird that my legs were shaking (a sign of transition the stage right before pushing) already because there was no way I was that far along. Very quickly my contractions got really intense and I was thinking in my head how hard it was going to be to do this for hours without any pain meds of any kind. I already knew and was informed by my doctor that I would not be able to have an epidural at all because of when I had taken my last blood thinner injection. Luckily I was planning on laboring without it anyway. I came very prepared and had requested the tub to labor in.

At this point I was telling Eddie I needed to go to my room now so I could use my ball and the tub, but they were still cleaning the room and getting the tub ready (busy night apparently). Then I had one very intense contraction that I thought it felt like my body was pushing, but I wasn't totally sure. 2 contractions later my body was pushing and I could feel Austin. I say my body was pushing because there was nothing I could do to stop it. My body knew what to do and took over. I told Eddie and he ran for a nurse. My OB just happened to be sitting right there as well. They quickly determined that he was coming and we quickly headed off to my room. The room was ready, but there was only about a foot or two of water or so in the tub as they were partway through filling it. I was able to breathe through another contraction or two on the bed, long enough to get in the water. About 2 minutes later, at 11:20 pm Austin was born in the water. My OB was by the side of the tub, but did not do anything until Austin was completely out. Then he lifted him onto my chest. The two of us stayed in the water for a little bit, covered in towels, but the water was the perfect temperature so we weren't cold. Eddie cut his cord while we were in the tub. Austin was perfect. No issues whatsoever and a loud healthy cry announcing his arrival (and the longest nails!).

My wonderful doula, Camila

I am so glad that I was able to be in the tub for the last few minutes. I feel like it made all the difference in the world being in water. The water made it easier on me for sure. I did not need a single stitch afterward, and I feel like I recovered quickly from the birth. My labor from start to finish was 3.5-4 hours long. Luckily I listened to my body and did not second guess anything or Austin could have been born somewhere other than the hospital. Feeling everything was intense, but also the most amazing experience. It is just what I wanted. I wouldn't change anything at all about Austin's birth. Everything on my wishlist happened: I went into labor on my own at home, I got to labor at home for a bit, I did not need any interventions during the labor and delivery, and I got to deliver in the tub. I would have loved to use the tub for labor too, but there just wasn't time and it was fine that way.

With how fast everything happened, Eddie was by my side the whole time. He was amazing. He did everything he could to help me and listened to what I needed. He rubbed my back between contractions and reminded me to breathe at the end when I was having those last few, really intense contractions. My mom luckily was shown to my room just in time to see Austin being born in the water. My doula, who I hired to help me during labor and delivery, was about 4 minutes too late. She was an amazing support before and after though. Based on the length of my labor with Nate I did not anticipate my labor being so short. Wow. Maybe it was going to the chiropractor and all my dancing and yoga that made for a speedy labor. Who knows. :)

Right after Nate met Austin for the first time. He's a happy big brother.