Aria: The Birth Story
I have been meaning to write this out, but every time I sat down to do it, my mind wasn't ready. While I didn't have a traumatic birth experience, this was still something that was very difficult and painful. Reliving this was going to be difficult. Here goes nothing.
I had the pleasure of welcoming Aria Colette Nedeau into the world on May 26 at 9:28 AM. She came in (or out) at 20 inches and weighing 8 lbs. and 2 oz.
I began laboring at 1:30 in the morning. We obviously didn't expect it since we were binge watching The Office till midnight. Since I'm a FTM (first time mom), I was in the mindset that my labor would be long and that I would probably be overdue. In hindsight, I was experiencing early labor throughout most of the day on Friday. My contractions started at about 10 minutes apart. Once again, being a FTM, I thought they would be 10 minutes apart for at least a couple hours. Instead, they were rapidly getting closer together, stronger, and longer. We were in constant contact with my doula, who was encouraging me to lay down. However, with having back labor, laying down was the enemy. While, laboring at home, I spent most of the time on all fours and leaning against anything and everything. The entire time, my husband was following me with my phone in hand tracking each and every contraction.
By 5:30, it was time. My contraction were 3 minutes apart lasting a minute long consistently for almost an hour. We paged the midwife, and she had us head to the birthing center. We made it there within 30 minutes. They were the longest 30 minutes of my life, and I felt like the car could not go fast enough. When we got there, they did a vaginal check, and I was 6 cm dilated. I was able to labor in the tub for some time. However, my water wasn't breaking, and I was still 6 cm dilated. The midwife gave me the option of having them break my water. This was going to get things going a lot faster, but it was also going to bring the contraction on a lot harder. Since I was already in excruciating pain and opted for nitrous oxide. After 30 more minutes, I decided it was time to break my water. I was having awful back labor and wasn't sure how much longer I was going to last. I was ready to get things moving.
The big catch with breaking my water was that I had to be in bed on my side for 30 minutes after they broke it. Laying down was something that just didn't feel good. I knew that this was going to hurt, but I also knew that this would bring me closer to meeting my baby. The pain I felt was something that I can't even describe. The contractions got so strong that I ended up vomiting.
They let me get back in the tub after the allotted 30 minutes, and things got real. Contractions were crazy intense and I was about 9 cm dilated. I was yelling, and saying that I couldn't do it, but my birth team convinced me that I could. From my amazing midwives to the fantastic doula and my awesome husband on top of that, I had the best team to support me. I began freaking out saying that I needed to push and they checked me one last time. They said I was ready. My husband said that a change happened to me and I went into "beast mode." I pushed with each contraction and tried to rest and find peace in-between. I was so determined to get her out that I couldn't even touch the crowning of her head otherwise I know i would lose focus. I don't remember much from the pushing time, but I do have one very clear memory. It was in between contraction and pushing. I had closed my eyes, and everything was silent. I found a moment of peace. I rested in that moment knowing that I would soon meet my baby girl. After 30 minutes (the magic number) of pushing, her head came out and one more push brought the rest of her body out. I was in awe. Our doula took some great photos of the scene (boobs out and all- so I excluded those cause obviously).
I wrote out this birth plan in which my husband would be in the tub and catch Aria, but since everything progressed so fast, it didn't happen that way. Instead, he held my hand the whole time and kissed me when our daughter was brought up to my chest.
I thought I was prepared. I thought I understood the pain levels and my tolerance. But actually going through it, I realized that you can never be that prepared. You can never truly know until you know. My birthing experience didn't turn out 100% how I envisioned it, and I'm okay with that. Ultimately, I still had my natural birth in the water with my husband supporting me. We are still in awe, and can't believe that God trusted us to take care of this amazing girl.
Before I sign off, my husband and I each want to leave you with a peace of advice.
To any women pregnant or looking to get pregnant, it's that you are capable. Your body has everything it needs to birth your baby.
I had the pleasure of welcoming Aria Colette Nedeau into the world on May 26 at 9:28 AM. She came in (or out) at 20 inches and weighing 8 lbs. and 2 oz.
I began laboring at 1:30 in the morning. We obviously didn't expect it since we were binge watching The Office till midnight. Since I'm a FTM (first time mom), I was in the mindset that my labor would be long and that I would probably be overdue. In hindsight, I was experiencing early labor throughout most of the day on Friday. My contractions started at about 10 minutes apart. Once again, being a FTM, I thought they would be 10 minutes apart for at least a couple hours. Instead, they were rapidly getting closer together, stronger, and longer. We were in constant contact with my doula, who was encouraging me to lay down. However, with having back labor, laying down was the enemy. While, laboring at home, I spent most of the time on all fours and leaning against anything and everything. The entire time, my husband was following me with my phone in hand tracking each and every contraction.
By 5:30, it was time. My contraction were 3 minutes apart lasting a minute long consistently for almost an hour. We paged the midwife, and she had us head to the birthing center. We made it there within 30 minutes. They were the longest 30 minutes of my life, and I felt like the car could not go fast enough. When we got there, they did a vaginal check, and I was 6 cm dilated. I was able to labor in the tub for some time. However, my water wasn't breaking, and I was still 6 cm dilated. The midwife gave me the option of having them break my water. This was going to get things going a lot faster, but it was also going to bring the contraction on a lot harder. Since I was already in excruciating pain and opted for nitrous oxide. After 30 more minutes, I decided it was time to break my water. I was having awful back labor and wasn't sure how much longer I was going to last. I was ready to get things moving.
The big catch with breaking my water was that I had to be in bed on my side for 30 minutes after they broke it. Laying down was something that just didn't feel good. I knew that this was going to hurt, but I also knew that this would bring me closer to meeting my baby. The pain I felt was something that I can't even describe. The contractions got so strong that I ended up vomiting.
They let me get back in the tub after the allotted 30 minutes, and things got real. Contractions were crazy intense and I was about 9 cm dilated. I was yelling, and saying that I couldn't do it, but my birth team convinced me that I could. From my amazing midwives to the fantastic doula and my awesome husband on top of that, I had the best team to support me. I began freaking out saying that I needed to push and they checked me one last time. They said I was ready. My husband said that a change happened to me and I went into "beast mode." I pushed with each contraction and tried to rest and find peace in-between. I was so determined to get her out that I couldn't even touch the crowning of her head otherwise I know i would lose focus. I don't remember much from the pushing time, but I do have one very clear memory. It was in between contraction and pushing. I had closed my eyes, and everything was silent. I found a moment of peace. I rested in that moment knowing that I would soon meet my baby girl. After 30 minutes (the magic number) of pushing, her head came out and one more push brought the rest of her body out. I was in awe. Our doula took some great photos of the scene (boobs out and all- so I excluded those cause obviously).
I wrote out this birth plan in which my husband would be in the tub and catch Aria, but since everything progressed so fast, it didn't happen that way. Instead, he held my hand the whole time and kissed me when our daughter was brought up to my chest.
I thought I was prepared. I thought I understood the pain levels and my tolerance. But actually going through it, I realized that you can never be that prepared. You can never truly know until you know. My birthing experience didn't turn out 100% how I envisioned it, and I'm okay with that. Ultimately, I still had my natural birth in the water with my husband supporting me. We are still in awe, and can't believe that God trusted us to take care of this amazing girl.
Before I sign off, my husband and I each want to leave you with a peace of advice.
To any women pregnant or looking to get pregnant, it's that you are capable. Your body has everything it needs to birth your baby.
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