( PART 3 OF 4 )
Third time is a charm....?
Being now an experienced mom of 2, and a doula for 2 years when we were expecting our third I was ready to try even more tools I had learned in the hopes to have a home birth!
There is a thing we birth workers say about the third child.. we call them the " wild card" and for good reason.. With the third baby you can almost always bet that their birth will not be like the ones before them. I knew this already and figured, I already had a Caesarian birth and an assisted delivery, his birth will be the home birth! WRONG. We welcomed our second son, Shiloh July 2016. That little bugger came two weeks before my due date.
I remember on Sunday July the 10th, 2016 doing face painting for our neighbour's son's birthday party. I was wearing an overnight pad because the day before I had gone into the midwife office positive my water had broken in the middle of the night. She swabbed me and told me I must of peed myself because there was no amniotic fluid in the test she ran. When I woke up at midnight on the 10th to go to the bathroom I was leaking more fluid. Assuming it was urine, I put a pad on and went back to bed. No contractions came during the night or in the morning so I put an over night pad on and figured I'd just be one of those lucky women who become incontinent while pregnant. I went to the birthday party feeling little gushes here and there but knew my underwear were protected with the pad so ignored it.
When I brought the kids back home around 7pm that night I went to give them a bath. After their bath I went to the bathroom and this was the first time I changed my pad, it was soaked. I called my midwife and told her because I felt like that was really strange and wanted to know what my options were if I was actually incontinent. She told me she wanted me to meet her at the clinic at 9 pm so she could asses.
Sure enough this was a slow leak in my water sacs. I was thrilled to know that I wasn't actually peeing! However because this was over 24 hours of not going into labour, back home I went to get my husband and hospital bag because we were going to the hospital to be induced. I called my mom on the way home who went to stay with the kids, and called my best friend who was certifying to be a doula herself so she could come to my birth.
Once I got to the hospital my water was broken and this time I asked if I could NOT be put on the drip right away. I wanted to let my body go into labour on its own. I was exhausted from being outside all day and didn't want harsh contractions to come before I was able to get a little bit of rest first.
This was the first time I truly advocated for myself and trusted my instincts.
I continued to rest in and out and had my laptop playing modern family in the background. I can't remember what time it was but once again at some point I was checked and was at 7 cm dilated. I asked for the epidural at that point so I could rest ( also because I STILL hadn't dealt with the trauma I had during River's birth)
I had the epidural and within 1 hour I was feeling the contractions again on one side. After telling my midwife she helped me move over to the other side so the epidural could distribute evenly on both sides but that didn't make a difference. The sensation was getting strong and I was feeling the urge to push. I was checked and at 10 cm! The OB on call did not transfer care back to my midwife so she was coming in to deliver the baby.
I remember a nurse coming in and telling me she needed me to go onto my back before the doctor came in. I told her I wanted to push on my side because of Lincoln's delivery I wanted to optimize my birth in as many ways as I could and have gravity help Shiloh without needing assistance.
She looked at me in shock and said " well no, the Dr needs you on your back its easier for her to see."
I replied with I will ask her when she comes in.
I have worked with this OB many times before and when I told her I wanted to birth on my side she told me that was fine.
This was the second time I advocated for myself.
I was able to deliver Shiloh without assistance. I still tore but it was nothing like Lincoln's delivery!
Our little Peanut was only 6 lbs 5 oz. Our other two were 8 lbs 5oz and 8lbs 4oz. I learned how important it was to advocate for yourself during Shiloh's birth. As well as the importance of following your instincts and not ignoring them.
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