I wanted to share my positive, unmedicated hospital birth for the moms who are anxious about birthing in the hospital. We knew we wanted to birth at the hospital just in case an emergency were to arise. This was especially important to us after testing GBS positive, but knowing we wanted to decline the antibiotics. I had a wonderful, unmedicated, no intervention experience, and all my wishes were respected.
Here’s my story: I used the Christian Hypnobirthing app every night leading up to birth. Beginning around 39 weeks, I started having prodromal labor every evening for several hours that would stop around bedtime. At 40 weeks, contractions picked up in strength and consistency, but still eventually stopped later in the night. Our hospital was 37 minutes away, so in order to better understand how much we’d need to rush to the hospital, I had a cervical check at my 40 week appointment. I was 4cm and 80% effaced with my cervix facing far forward and my water bag bulging. My midwife said to leave for the hospital as soon as I had four to five strong contractions in a row. She also said the baby was going to come flying out as soon as my water broke... At 40 weeks and two days on 6/10, I went to bed at 10 p.m. after timing non-painful contractions seven to ten minutes apart since 6 p.m. Some contractions woke me throughout the night, but I was easily able to return to sleep. They felt slightly stronger than what I had been experiencing throughout the week.
The morning of 6/11 at 40 weeks and three days pregnant, I woke to intense contractions at 2 a.m. I immediately began timing them, and they were two minutes apart. I quickly woke up my husband Steven and told him it was time to go. We called our doula, Lily, to let her know we were headed to the hospital. We headed to the hospital at 2:20 a.m. and arrived at 3:07 a.m.
The drive was one I will not soon forget. We saw five deer, a raccoon, and a fox at such a late hour, and my contractions were so intense and close together, it was all I could do to breathe and hang on. Steven had my worship playlist on, and I tried to focus on the songs and relaxing my body as much as possible through the twisty roads.
I distinctly remember one contraction occurring just as Steven reached a roundabout. I’ll never look at roundabouts the same way again! Our doula had perfect timing and met us at the door of the hospital as we were getting out of the car. Our midwife greeted us, checked my cervix, and left. In the rush to get to the hospital and the focus that my contractions required, she said we forgot to call her. Whoops! I was admitted at 6cm dilated, 100% effaced, with strong contractions coming every two minutes. The nurses wanted to insert an IV lock, which I declined. I was also GBS positive, but declined the antibiotics. We eventually made it into our birthing room. It was all I could do to hang on to Steven and Lily as I breathed through strong contractions (in for 4 out for 7).
As soon as the nurses finished their blood draw and 20 minutes of monitoring contractions, I got into the nice, hot birth tub Lily had filled up. It felt amazing!! All but one nurse left the room. I was having a hard time relaxing with the intensity and frequency of contractions. At Lily’s suggestion, I got onto all fours with my arms and head resting against Steven/a pillow on the edge of the tub. I remember having to let out a few soft moans and thinking it was early to be needing to moan already. Lily was spraying water down my back. I was trying to concentrate on the worship song that was playing (Available by Elevation Worship).
I felt a pop and involuntary tensing sensation that, at the time, I thought was a bowel movement, but was actually my water breaking and my body beginning to push. I thought to myself that I was not going to tell them I had pooped if they weren’t going to say anything! I was then hit with another extremely intense contraction, and I looked at Steven and Lily and said I needed an epidural, there was no way I could keep doing this. Little did I know that this was the very last contraction I’d have before baby was born!
They assured me I could do it and to try and breathe/relax. It was then I started feeling my body pushing (again I thought it was just clearing me out and was another bowel movement). All of a sudden I jerked back with the intensity of my body bearing down, completely out of my control. I felt a little wild! It can only be described as animalistic power running through me. It was not painful at all, but an extremely intense whole-body feeling of pushing everything that was inside of me OUT of me. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the Fetal Ejection Reflex. To my extreme surprise, I felt Baby’s head crown and completely come out with a quick gentle, popping sensation, but couldn’t speak through the intense sensation of my body bearing down. It wasn’t painful at all, which is why I had no realization of what was happening until it was already done because things were moving so quickly.
I started to stand and someone shouted, “That’s a baby! I see a head!”
I was immediately rushed by nurses and our midwife (who called them? How’d they have time??), with everyone trying to get me out of the tub (hospital births are not allowed in the tub once baby is coming out). I had one leg out of the tub and one leg in the tub as the rest of baby was born into the waiting hands of our midwife. She did not even have time to put gloves on! There was barely any pause between feeling Baby’s head come out and the rest of his body being born. I had no control over anything—my body was doing all the work! It happened so quickly. Baby was born at 4:03 a.m. It was less than an hour after arriving at the hospital!
I was slowly coming out of my shock to hear the sweetest little newborn cries and Steven saying, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! You did it!” Everyone was SHOCKED! No one had any idea (including me) that I had progressed from 6cm to fully dilated in under an hour and that Baby was on his way out. I was only in the tub for 15-20 min. The midwife and nurses helped me over to the bed and passed Baby between my legs. I laid him on my chest and looked down. He was absolutely perfect. The cord stopped pulsing, and the nurses helped Steven cut it. The midwife assessed me and informed me I had a first-degree tear. She numbed the area and stitched me up while waiting for the placenta to come out. She asked to give me Pitocin to deliver the placenta, which I declined. I gently pushed it out about 20 minutes after Baby was born, with no complications.
During that time, I sat soaking in the baby on my chest and the birth we had just completed together! I was in wonder that my body really did do everything it needed to all by itself, just as God designed. Everyone says we are meant to do this, and boy were they right! Baby soon began nursing all on his own. He was 7lbs 9oz and 19 inches long. God answered all my prayers for a quick, low-intervention, unmedicated birth. It was truly an unforgettable labor, and I feel like I could do it all over again tomorrow. We did it!
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