Pregnancy and birth story.
My pregnancy was fairly uneventful except for awful nausea, vomiting, and food aversion that plague the first 32 weeks 😖. I chose midwives because as a registered vet, I have a lot of (animal) birth experience, and I wanted to treat my pregnancy and birth as the natural and beautiful events that they are and not have it be treated as a medical condition.
I had a team of 2 midwives that I began seeing around 25 weeks and they rotated through my appointments. I was always super comfortable with them. Their clinic offered a breastfeeding class that was very helpful and a labor and delivery class.
I started leaking colostrum for around 22 weeks. I didn't really start showing until I was 28 -30 weeks. Around 35 weeks I started getting pretty intense Braxton Hicks in the evening. My belly would tighten up and get really hard for up to a half-hour. At 38 weeks I complained to my family that I was grouchy and couldn't imagine being pregnant for another 2, let alone 4 weeks. (In case the baby came late) At my 38-week appointment, I talked with my midwife about my pelvic discomfort and intense BHs. She offered to do a cervical check but I declined since they are seriously uncomfortable and don't give much info until labor starts.
The next day I went to work for a couple hours to do paperwork, and when I stood up from my stool to greet some clients my water broke dramatically at 300p, filling my boots and splashing the floor. I drove home and had lunch, consulted midwife, and settled in for a long evening of waiting. Around 7:30PM my contractions were easily 4-5 minutes apart. We decided to meet the midwife at the clinic at 9:30PM to be assessed. My sister had to drive us because our vehicle wouldn't start. I was 5 cm, the midwife did a membrane sweep and we decided to move to the hospital to get ready for the birth. For the next couple of hours, I wandered around, rocked, and bounced quietly on an exercise ball. I was getting pretty uncomfortable around 2 am and was at 9 cm. I sat in the shower for an hour and a half on a birthing stool and made my hubby sit beside me quietly.
At 3:30AM I decided to sit on the toilet because I felt like I had to poop. Again I made my hubby sit with me quietly. I took a stealthy poop and still felt like I had to push. The midwife suggested I move back to the bed, or the birthing stool and I politely declined with a "nope". She told me she didn't think the baby would appreciate being born into the toilet, and I informed her the baby wouldn't care or remember and that I was not going to move.
Finally, my hubby persuaded me to move to the bed. I begged for drugs because suddenly the discomfort and pain were unbearable. I began sweating and shaking violently. I vomited repeatedly and hit my husband with the empty puke bucket a few times while I was thrashing. I kicked the midwife. I asked when the pain would end, and she told me "as soon as the baby is out" I immediately decided the baby was coming out right then. I pushed a few times and out she came, quickly! I couldn't stop saying OMG OMFG WTF I was so surprised a baby came out of me lol. We did skin to skin and attempted breastfeeding. I got a tour of my placenta.
Aggie was born at 4:45AM on January 6th at 38.2 days. She was 20 inches long and weighed 7lbs 4oz.
She was perfect and hardly cried. I was home snuggled in bed with her by 730AM the same morning.
The midwives did our first 3 baby wellness visits at my home, including doing her bloodwork and heart tests. (Our home which we had moved in 4 days earlier and still had no furniture other than our bed, bassinet and rocker) It was awesome, especially considering how damn cold it was outside. By the 3rd visit, at 6 days old, she was already well above her birth weight.
My postpartum healing went smoothly, I had what was barely a small tear and was over the heaviest of the bleeding by 10 days pp. People don't really talk much about the postpartum part, it's hard but not impossible. I felt so much better just having the baby out. Finally, able to urinate, turn over in my sleep, bend over. It was a rush.
We struggled with breastfeeding at first, as I have large breasts and an overactive letdown. We are still figuring things out with good latching and proper positioning. My milk came in the night of day 2.
Overall it was a great experience and I would highly recommend midwife care for those with low-risk pregnancies. My baby is perfect and beautiful and I can't believe how very much I love her.