Sunday, September 4, 2011

Happy Labor Day! Birth Story Update.

My dear friend, Lindsey, over at Mother Rising, a super fabulous, pregnancy and birth blog, is hosting a link up carnival of birth story posts in honor of Labor Day.  She also asked a couple of questions to supplement any original birth story link ups.  Me being the over achiever that I am, I thought I would answer all four of her questions.  And I didn't really have anything planned to post today, so there's that too.


What was my most brilliant moment?
  Hmmm, this one was kind of tough.  I honestly, think I was mightily bad ass the whole time.  I had no doula (stupid, stupid, stupid). My midwife, midwife assistant and husband were all pretty much asleep the whole time, as I labored alone.  Which is exactly how I wanted it, I am just saying, I didn't have someone telling me how awesome I was the whole time or really witnessing my awesomeness.  But I think my most brillant moment, is when I was in the water, totally relaxed, coping perfectly with each contraction, even getting a little rest.  I had this epiphany, that if I stayed here, I would labor like this for hours and hours making progress, but very slowly.  I made the decision, to get up out of the water. I hurled myself out of the water and made my way to the toilet.   It hurt a whole hell of a lot more, but I knew that I could either sit there and play it safe or get out and get this show on the road. I met my fear of more pain, head on, and decided to walk straight through it.
What is one thing my partner did that really made a difference?
 I really liked when he played my crystal bowl for me.  It was pretty amazing, whenever he played it, the pain was much more bearable.
What is my favorite moment?
45 minutes after my first contraction, in the bath tub, when I realized, this. is. happening.
What was one moment of holy terror I had and how did I get through it?
 When my water broke and I saw some green aminotic fluid.  I panicked for a moment, but I was able to very quickly tap back into my authentic self and check in with my inuition and I knew everything was fine.

You can read the rest of my birth story here.  
Here is a post about the couple days before labor started.  Here are some pictures of labor and birth.  And some pictures of Penelope's first day.
I would LOVE to hear more about your labor awesomeness, so answer one of Lindsey's questions in the comment section for me!



2 comments:

  1. Stephanie, our stories are so similar! I birthed alone in the tub for most of it. It was so peaceful, I would fall asleep between contractions. I, too, felt like I could stay there forever. The difference, I didn't so much choose to get out of the tub. I got out so they could check the progress and IMMEDIATELY, it was go time. Started pushing and suddenly the room was full of faces...I felt like it was a theater of people staring at my bare bum. I wish we had the water birth, but, I'll settle for peaceful, gentle, and all natural. <3

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  2. One my thing my partner did that really made a difference is much the same as yours - he left me alone! As my girls were my first, I didn't know what I'd want...birth ball, tub, squatting, etc. etc...and it ended up that all I wanted was to rock and sway by myself with my head on the bed. He was there when I asked, which was a few times, but otherwise, he gave me some space. It helped so much.

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