Oliver's Birth Story

 Oliver's due date was September 5th. He was born September 2 at 1:10 am, 6 pounds 15 ounces and 21 inches long. He is absolutely perfect. 

My past two pregnancies, the baby came a couple days before my due date (and Ashtyn, my first, was born two days after hers), so we were thinking we'd probably be close to that with this pregnancy as well. I was hoping for a September birthday since we already have an August birthday in our family, but I also was hoping he wouldn't come too much past his due date because of family visiting from out of town. 

At my 36 week appointment, we found Oliver breech. It was really stressful, especially because I was doing everything I could to flip him (exercises, spinning babies stuff, supplements, diet) and he wasn't budging. I really wanted to do a homebirth again, and we really wanted to avoid a c-section. I knew if I couldn't flip him, that's what we would be looking at. 

I got him to turn, but I couldn't tell what was going on for sure and thought he was moving between breech and inverse. I had an appointment with my midwife a couple days after 37 weeks and knew she'd be able to tell better what was going on, and potentially flip him manually if he was still breech. She had an emergency come up and had to cancel, so Ben and I decided to schedule an ultrasound to see what was going on (we were worried about him being tied to the top with the cord and we were also worried that he was breech because of a low placenta). 

I was sure when we walked into the ultrasound that he was still breech, but he wasn't! He was head down, in the perfect position and everything else looked perfect! 

We were confident he would stay that way the rest of the pregnancy, but I gave him every reason to and no reason not to with my exercises, continuing my supplements and diet, and even just being conscious of the way I was sitting/lying down. 

At my 39 week appointment (on August 31), I was feeling close (within a week or so). I was having a lot of braxton hicks and signs that my body was preparing for labor. We also thought Oliver had dropped. 

I was worried that my cervix could be slipped, because of some cramps I'd had, so Donna did an internal exam at our appointment. We were surprised to find that I was only dilated to a 1 and 10% effaced (I didn't even start contractions with Parker's labor until I was dilated to a 6). His head was also not engaged yet, so he had some more to drop. 

Because of this, we were fairly confident that I had a awhile before I was going to start labor. Donna was guessing about a week. I had to take a deep breath and remind myself to be patient, and then I was okay with it. 

The next morning, I lost my mucus plug, a signal to both Donna and I that I was probably closer than we had thought. I was a little nervous, because I didn't want to start labor until my body had had more time to prepare and dilate/efface more. I went about my normal day and got home around 5:00 from running errands. 

I'd been having some Braxton Hicks and when I got home, they started getting an edge to them. I pulled up the contraction tracker app on my phone and found that they were really consistent as well--they were about 2 minutes apart and 20 seconds long, though really, really mild. They felt like slightly stronger Braxton Hicks. 

I wasn't sure what was going on, so I called Donna. This wasn't what we wanted (at two minutes apart, the contractions should be at least a minute and a lot more intense), so she had me take some calcium and get in the tub. 

As soon as I got in the tub, they slowed way down. I was in the tub for over an hour and I felt maybe three (even less intense as well) the whole time. That's a sign of false labor, if you can stop or slow the contractions like that by resting. As I got out and got dressed, they picked up again, but as soon as I lay down, they slowed drastically again. 

Ben started getting the girls ready for bed at this point, while I lay in bed and read. We decided to take the girls to his parent's house, in case real labor woke us up in the night. That ended up being a good call. 

Ben helped settle the girls and got home a little after 9:00. The false labor was still happening some, and I felt like my body was trying to go into labor but wasn't quite ready. I was worried that it was because his head wasn't engaged, so during the contractions, I would get up do things that might help him drop down (a deep squat or rocking on my hands and knees). The contractions were starting to feel slightly stronger, so I wasn't thinking I was going to be going to sleep, but they were still short, sporadic, and went away when I was resting. 

At 9:35, I got a fairly strong contraction and it lasted longer than 45 seconds. After this, all my contractions were over 40 seconds long and got stronger the longer they went on. This was the official start of labor for me. 

When I was sure that real labor was progressing, around ten, I called Donna and had her come. I could tell from the way the contractions felt that I wasn't to transition yet, but Donna was about 45 minutes away and I knew that things could pick up quickly. I told Ben I was guessing I was dilated to a 4 and 50% effaced. Donna and the assistants came over and she checked me. Oliver's head was engaged, which was a relief to me, and I was exactly what I guessed (which made me happy). 

Ben and I laid down on the bed and I turned on hypnobabies. The contractions were getting stronger, but very manageable. It was also late, so I was sleepy and it was nice to just lay on the bed between contractions (3-5 minutes apart). 

When the contractions started getting strong enough that they were harder to breath through, I had Ben get the tub ready and lay in the warm water. That really helped me relax more again. When my contractions started moving more into my back, I thought I wanted Donna to check. I was thinking that meant I was about an 8, but I was nervous that I wouldn't be that far along and it would be discouraging. I decided to check and Donna found me at an 8, 75% effaced. I was really happy with that. 

After that, the contractions got very strong, but for whatever reason, I was able to handle them better this labor than any in the past. I had plenty of time to relax between each one (about 3 minutes still) and the mental way I was handling each one to relax just worked for me. 

When they were getting a lot stronger, I thought I was probably getting close, so I asked if Donna thought we should break my water. She agreed and I got out of the tub. I knelt in front of the bed and had the assistants/Ben use counter pressure on my back since the contractions were harder out of the water and that really helped. After a couple contractions, I laid down and Donna checked me while one of the assistants broke my water. I was 95% effaced and had just a ring of cervix left. 

After they broke my water, the contractions got a lot more intense and hard to handle. I could tell I was getting really close to pushing, but wasn't quite there. I had thought I would try the birthing stool this time (I'd pushed on my back with my last two), but when I sat down, I couldn't handle it. I knelt and had them do counter pressure again until it was time to push and then got on my back. 

Pushing was really hard and really intense labor. There was a lot of pressure, including on my rectum. One of the assistants applied counter pressure there, which really helped, but all the pressure made it hard to rest between contractions. I pushed his head halfway in one contraction, then the rest of his head in another, but I wasn't done. When Ben told me I got his head out, I was really confused. 

His body was bunched up, so I had to push his body out still. It was actually harder to push that part of him out than his head, with slightly more burning and a lot more effort. I got it in the next contraction and I was so relieved, I think I said something like "I can't believe I'm done." My push time was 8 minutes, a total of three contractions. 

When he came out, we could all see why it had been so hard to push him out, and why there had been so much pressure. His cord was wrapped up around the back of his neck (so not cutting off his oxygen), then down around under his knees (so his knees were pulled up to his chest) then back up under his arm and connected to the placenta at the top. His body was actually a bigger area to push out than his head because of it. It also is probably the reason he had gone breech so late in the pregnancy, and it was miraculous we were able to turn him and do the vaginal birth. 

He was perfect and I was really happy with how the birth went. He's been such a sweetie to snuggle and I've been recovering so well, I have to keep reminding myself to continue resting so I don't overdo it. I had many prayers and blessings when he went breech, and I know that the birth went the way it did because of God's help. I'm so grateful to Him and will forever be grateful for my baby Oliver.