My Third Birth Experience

My third pregnancy was one for the books! I was due on Nov. 30th, but that day came and went with no contractions, much like my second baby. No surprise there! I was actually hoping my baby would be late in case it was a girl because my husband would only agree to our favorite girl name IF she was born in December.

As the days started going by, I started doing various things to try and get labor going. I even had the chiropractor do the acupressure points on the inside of my thighs...talk about OUCH! But that still didn't get things moving. I was having almost no contractions at all.

My midwife had a list of things that would help labor start that she swore worked every time when followed in the order given but I really didn't want to have to go through the list as one of the items was taking castor oil and I wanted to avoid that if at all possible! So one morning, I went for a walk with one of my friends and then her mom gave me a foot massage with Clary Sage essential oil and massaged the acupressure points around my ankles. Then I went home and walked around some more and did some lunges to open up the hip area to see if that would get things started. 

I started to have a few contractions but I wasn't sure if they were Braxton hicks or the real thing so I laid down to see if I could take a nap and rest for a bit. After I laid down, I had two contractions right next to each other and there was no way I was sleeping through those...So I got up to tell my husband that this baby was coming. But first I texted my midwife and my mom so they could work on getting their things together and be on their way. My husband had fallen asleep for a nap as well so when I woke him up, he was a bit groggy and had no idea why I wanted him to start timing my contractions. He was really out of it...poor tired hubby! Haha! 

We had a plan that my husband would take the girls to a friend's house about 15 minutes away when I went into labor. When I woke him up, I tried to tell him that I thought he should wait to take the girls over until my midwife or mom arrived so that I wouldn't be alone. However, he was too tired to understand what I was saying and got the kids all packed up to go. At this point, I figured he might as well go and take the kids because he would be more awake when he got back and I didn't see why I couldn't just labor on my own for a bit with him going only a short distance away.

So he left with the kids and I shut the curtains in my bedroom and placed plastic protectors near my bed so I could just stand there and labor in the peace and quiet. I put on my Surrender oil and my Valor oil and then I just let focused on breathing through the contractions. Everything was going fine and seemed very similar to my second labor which was 2.5 hours of active labor...then all of the sudden, my contractions got very intense. 

They were coming so fast that I was lucky if I got a chance to even breathe before the next contraction came. At this point, I was very glad I only had sheep for neighbors (we lived near a sheep ranch) because I was making all sorts of moans and groans that would have made any neighbors think I was dying! The reason I was making so much noise is that making noise and having your mouth open during labor actually helps you deal with the pain and helps labor go easier. I wasn't screaming like in the movies though! 

At this point, I called Phillip and I told him he needed to get home NOW...I also texted my mom and told her she needed to be here already! I called my midwife and stayed on the phone with her...I could feel the baby start to move down but I was SOOO not ready for her to be born yet. I really did not want to birth her by myself! My midwife coached me to lay down on my side so that in case I had to deliver her myself, it would be an easier position to do that.

A few minutes later, my mom arrived and started prepping for the baby to arrive and then Phillip came soon after and laid beside me and coached me to try and calm down and breathe. A few minutes later my midwife arrived and I started to push...less than five minutes later, the baby was out! I barely had to push at all. It all happened so fast. I did have a third-degree tear AGAIN and my midwife said after that she thought the baby's hand went up next to her face right as her body came out... 

Right after she was born, my midwife laid her on my chest...she was a beautiful baby girl. She didn't even make a peep or cry at all! At first the midwife was worried that she wasn't crying but it turns out that she just came out and immediately was just taking everything in! It was really quite amazing that she didn't cry when she was born! Apparently it wasn't too traumatic for her...but it was for me. 

Right after she came out, all the hormones from labor and the stress of being freaked out because I was alone all came at me at once and I started hyperventilating...I could not calm down even though I knew everything was going to be fine. I was able to tell my mom to get my Lavender and Peace & Calming oil and when she applied them to me, I could feel my heart beat slow down and my breathing relax. I needed her to keep putting them on...but when you are in the middle of hyperventilating, it's hard to communicate exactly what you need. But they did help me to calm down. After about 30 minutes, I had calmed down enough to stop hyperventilating.

Then my midwife helped me move onto the bed to be more comfortable and gave me some local anesthesia and stitched me up while I held my baby. We named her Natasha...which means Christmas. She was born on December 7th. I was shocked by how tiny she was! Both of my other girls were over 8 lbs! She was my smallest baby at 6 lbs and 15 oz! After I had gotten stitched up, my midwife got an herbal sitz bath ready for me and Natasha...having an herbal bath after having a baby is one of the best things ever!

After that experience of 45 minutes of active labor, I can't even imagine what would have happened if I had been trying to get to a hospital! I would have probably given birth in the parking lot! I was very glad I had been laboring at home even though I was alone for most of it! I was also very glad I had not taken caster oil which is known to speed up labor...can you even imagine?! 

I don't know if my taking NingXia Red, using Surrender oil or Valor oil, or having Clary Sage rubbed on my ankles helped my labor to go so quickly but it was quite an experience! 

xo Rachelle <3