Graham Randall

January 5 ∙ 7 lbs 2 oz ∙ 20.5” ∙ 1:26 am

My daughter was born in a hospital via induction so I was nervous going into labor naturally.

Even though I had been through labor I didn’t feel confident I knew what to look out for. I was preeclamptic with my daughter and my previous OB was not very proactive with managing that. My experience with WM Midwifery was much more personal and proactive – exactly what I was looking for.

On Friday night I put my daughter to bed and was feeling some discomfort in my lower abdomen, but nothing major. I got up and decided to watch TV for a bit. I wanted to enjoy some quiet time to myself while everyone else was sleeping. I began timing what I thought to be contractions (but wasn’t sure) from 10-11 pm. At that time they lasted about 45 seconds and about 8-10min apart. I was able to sleep and was only woken up a couple times from slight discomfort.

Saturday morning, I texted Jennifer and said we would be coming to the birth class, but not sure how long we would stay because of the symptoms I was experiencing. I figured it would be a good time to see the midwives since I suspected early labor. I was still experiencing contractions through the class so I asked Jen if she would do my check during the second break so we could leave. We were still closely monitoring my BP (which had creeped up a bit) and the protein in my urine.

The strip came back darker than the last time, and I was upset!

Jen reassured me it was still within normal levels. During this time, my daughter was at my sister’s (with overnight items just in case), but we ended up bringing her home anyway because I STILL wasn’t convinced I was in labor. Due to the nature of my job, I had to meet a client at my house and ship my work off to an assistant yet that evening. I tied all that up around 5:30 pm.

The whole time I was working diligently to get things done the contractions were every few minutes.

When I finally rested (to fold laundry) the contractions did slow down a bit. I still wasn’t convinced this was it. Thankfully, Jen put up with my constant questions via text. Thinking this could possibly be false labor I said, “if this is false labor then real labor is going to really suck!”

Again, I put my daughter to sleep Saturday night and all I wanted to do was sleep.

At this point I was so uncomfortable I couldn’t sleep (but, of course, my husband could). I mottled through a bath and that seemed to help (again making us question if this was real or not). I had also taken a bath prior to Quinn’s bedtime and it helped slow contractions. Per the advice of Jen, I got in the bath again (I knew standing in the shower would be too uncomfortable) and this time contractions were very close.

I finally woke my husband up around midnight to tell him to start the pool!

So unprepared, right!?! We had just gotten the lower level cleared of my work stuff hours before! Plus, our house is mid-updating, so stuff was everywhere. He was running around trying to organize things. At one point I said, “Do something!” in regard to helping me, not trying to do other things. And yes, I did say that I was never doing this again. STILL not convinced, I labored on the pull out couch for a while. My water didn’t break and I only had contractions in my lower abdominal area (not in my back).

Finally at 12:55 I told Jen my contractions were really bad and she said they would be over but the student midwife would be there first. Thank goodness she lives close because I had already started pushing before she got there. I figured my husband would be able to tell I was pushing without me saying something (words at this point were very hard) but he didn’t. The first thing I said when she got there was “he’s coming,” and I think I said that to my husband a couple times before that.

And yes, I felt like I had to take a huge poo!

Well, they asked if I wanted to get into the pool but I didn’t think I could make it. So in between contractions he helped me and I was able to get into the pool. I immediately had a contraction, pushed and out came his head! Second contraction and the rest of him was out! I think I pushed a total of maybe 10 times. Born at 1:26…31 min after “calling the midwives!”

I think I can attest part of the quick delivery to my amazing chiropractor who made sure my pelvis was aligned prior to delivery!

Finally, Jenn and Jen arrived! All was well.

PS: It probably took longer to deliver my placenta than the time I spent pushing.