Our baby was due April 28th, however, I had this feeling during my whole pregnancy that she would come early at 38 weeks. I never really had Braxton Hicks, just the normal aches and pains that come with being 9 months pregnant and feeling as big as a whale. I woke up at 4:45am on Sunday, April 19 (38 weeks, 4 days along) to go to the bathroom and knew something was different. I knew my water had broken but it didn’t come gushing out like I had heard. It was a slow trickle that I couldn’t control (sorry-tmi). Nothing really happened after that so I went back to bed and tried to go back to sleep. I was too excited to sleep, though, and waited until around 7:30 to wake Ryan and ask him if he wanted to meet our baby girl that day. We were both so excited, but didn’t really know what to do so we went into major cleaning mode! After eating breakfast, we cleaned the whole apartment and made sure everything was ready to bring home our little girl. Still, nothing was really progressing except some light contractions here and there.

I called the birth center and told the midwife on call what was going on and she said that all we could do is wait for my body to go into labor. She also said that because my water had broken (or started to break) at 4:45 that morning, we had 24 hours from then to have the baby out, according to Indiana state law. She suggested going on a walk around the neighborhood to try to kickstart the process. So Ryan and I started walking and we walked and walked pretty much all late morning and into the early afternoon. I’d get a contraction and need to stop for a few seconds to let it pass and then we’d start walking again. It would seem like they were getting closer together and be every 4 or 5 minutes and then they’d spread out again to 10-15 minutes between contractions. I was in high spirits, though, and was determined to get the process going and allow my body to do what God intended it to do.

I called my midwife again around 3:00 and told her there was little progress so we agreed it’d be best to go to the birth center and see what we could do there. I wanted to get adjusted by my Chiropractor (who was also my boss and friend) so we stopped at their house first. I’d been getting adjusted my entire pregnancy and knew first hand how beneficial and relieving it was. Chiropractic was a huge lifesaver for me. As soon as I was adjusted, I had a big contraction and the contractions became more regular after that for awhile. But then they separated out again and I began to get frustrated.

We arrived at the birth center around 5:00pm and my midwife checked me and confirmed that my water was broken, but was slowly draining and I was only at about 2cm dilated. She gave me a few natural options to try to get my labor moving. I chose homeopathy pills because I did not want to drink Castor Oil (ew!) and I’d heard a lot of positive things about homeopathy. I took 5 tiny pills under my tongue every 15 minutes and within about an hour and a half I was definitely progressing in labor. I spent most of the time walking up and down the stairs in the birth center and would stop and breathe through whenever I had a contraction. Ryan and I also got some time together in the living room, just him and I, to dance and talk and just take in the moments before our daughter was born. That’s one of the sweetest memories I have of the whole birth.

I brought a bag full of my hippie potions, essential oils, and candles and started to set some of those things set up when labor really started to get intense. I labored while standing up and holding onto Ryan for awhile. My midwife had a heart monitor that she used to check the baby’s heart beat while I contracted. She said that the baby’s heart rate decreased every time I had a contraction and it was something she needed to watch. I changed into a dress so I’d be more comfortable and was checked again and still only 4cm dilated. That was around 9:00pm.  Our midwife suggested I lay down in the bed and try to rest since my body was now doing what it needed to and I’d been walking and climbing stairs all day. Looking back, maybe I should’ve saved my energy for labor!

I labored in the bed for awhile as the contractions progressed and began to become painful. My midwife continued to monitor the baby’s heartbeat. With every contraction the heartbeat decreased and eventually my midwife looked at Ryan and I and told us the last thing we wanted to hear. We needed to transfer to the hospital. My heart sank. I was so disappointed and, honestly, scared. Hospitals in general give me the creeps and it’s the last place I wanted to be bringing a baby into the world. But I trusted our midwife and knew that she had waited as long as she could before making the decision to transfer. She called the hospital and asked for an ambulance to come because I was too far along to be transferred comfortably and safely by car. When the paramedics arrived I was definitely feeling the pain and intensity of labor. My contractions were now only 2-3 minutes apart and painful. They laid me on the gurney and rolled me into the ambulance. Ryan and the midwife had to take their own cars to the hospital so I was transferred by myself with a couple of EMT guys.  I don’t really remember the ride to the hospital. By this time it was almost midnight and I was in full on labor. I couldn’t talk because the pain was so intense. The hospital was only about 6 or 7 minutes away from the birth center, but the ride felt like an hour. I just couldn’t believe this was happening. All my dreams of a water birth in a private, homey environment were left behind me as we drove to the hospital, the last place I wanted to be. To this day, seeing an ambulance gives me flashbacks and anxiety. I don’t remember arriving at the hospital really, but I do remember the lights on the ceiling of the hospital as they pushed me through the hallway to my room. Ryan arrived shortly after and I remember someone saying that he got there quickly. I was glad he was there and with me again. This was around midnight.

The nurses hooked me up to machines as I continued to labor through contractions. They placed a wire on my belly to monitor the baby’s heartbeat which continued to drop with every contraction. I was in full blown labor by now and in my own world. Ryan says I began to make these low moaning sounds. I couldn’t talk, but my body’s response to the pain was this low groan. That’s the best way I can explain it. During this time of active labor, I had to get up and go to the bathroom. My midwife and Ryan walked me to the bathroom and helped me. On the way back from the bathroom I was in so much pain I looked at my midwife, Rachel, and said, “I can’t do this.”  With assurance and without skipping a beat, she looked me right in the eye and said, “Yes, you can.” She said it with such confidence that I believed her and willed myself to keep going. I made my body submit the will of my mind and kept pushing through the excruciating pain. There’s really no way to describe the pain of labor. The closest thing I can think of is that it feels like your body is slowly getting pulled apart at the hips.

I got back in bed where they had to monitor the baby’s heartbeat and I labored for the next couple of hours. I tried getting on my hands and knees for awhile which seemed to help a bit. At one point I think I passed out briefly because I remember a nurse telling me to wake up. Ryan stayed with me holding my hand the entire time. I began to feel the urge to push after awhile. So I did. I pushed, but with every contraction, the baby’s heart rate dropped. After pushing for probably 30 minutes, my midwife told us that she was going to be using a vacuum to get the baby out. The baby’s heart rate was getting dangerously low. Then my midwife looked at me with a serious and stern look and said that we needed the baby out right now. She told me to push with everything I had. About 10-12 nurses rushed into the room along with another doctor. They attached the vacuum and I pushed with every ounce of strength and energy I had left. I popped the blood vessels in my face and eyes from pushing. Then she was out!

Adalene Joy (pronounced “Adaleeen”) was born on April 20th at 2:24am weighing 6lbs. 12oz.  They put her on my bare chest as she cried and squinted from the lights. I remember telling her that it was okay. I couldn’t really see her face because she was so close to my chin but I knew she was perfect. I don’t remember much of what happened after that. I do remember having to birth the placenta and being mad because I thought the pain was over! I also had a second degree episiotomy that my midwife had to sow up. I was just so happy to have our little girl with us. And I was in awe of my body and what it had just gone through. I never knew how strong I was, honestly. I felt so empowered (still do!) to think that I could endure the pain and trauma of childbirth.  It’s amazing how God made our bodies!

I found out later that the influx of nurses into my room wasn’t necessarily because we were in trouble and I needed them. It was because the vacuum method was being used on me and it’s a method that hadn’t been seen in that hospital for over a year. The nurses wanted to see how it was done! So my dream of giving birth privately with literally just my husband and midwife turned into almost 20 people present for mostly educational purposes. Ugh.