Before I recap my water birth experience with my son, I would like to share my reason for wanting to have a water birth. In 2014, I became pregnant with my daughter. This was a perfect pregnancy. However, my labor and delivery was a very rough experience. My labor with my daughter was over 18 hours long and I pushed for at least 2 hours. Of course, it was worth all the pain to give birth to my beautiful daughter. However, I knew if I ever had another child, I would do things a little differently.
When I became pregnant again, I started doing research and found a birth center in my city that offered water births. I loved the thought of having a water birth. Thinking about a water birth brought me so much peace. So I began the process of preparing for a water birth. I started by reading Ina Mays Guide to Childbirth book. I highly recommend all mothers read this book. Also, check out my 6 Tips for an Unmedicated Natural Birth In that blog post I share some of the other things I did to prepare for my unmedicated birthing experience. So here is my detailed water birth experience.
My Unmedicated Water Birth Experience
June 23rd 2018, around 8:00am I began having mild contractions. My husband and daughter were still sleeping so I quietly got out of bed and walked downstairs. First, I began doing my breathing strategies to relax my body. Then, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood while texting my birth doula. I told my birth doula the contractions were getting more intense and closer together. In my head I knew today would be the day I had my son. I remained calm and relaxed. When I got back to my house from walking around my neighborhood, I called my husband downstairs and told him we needed to take our daughter to my in-laws house and I wanted to go to the birthing center.
My daughter came downstairs and we waited for my husband to pack our bags. That’s right, we did not have our bags packed for our big day. While we were waiting, my daughter was giving me a “Doc McStuffins checkup.” It was such a sweet moment because I was in so much pain, having contractions and my daughter was trying to make sure I was okay by giving me a play “check up.” In that moment I remember thinking this would be the last day we were a family of 3 and the last day my daughter would be an only child. This was such a bittersweet moment for me.
So we jumped in the car and the car ride to my in-laws house was the worst! I was in so much pain. I remember Madison saying, “Mommy, are you okay?” At this point I was not using any of my breathing strategies for calming techniques. I was in complete panic mode! When we arrived at my in-laws house, my husband quickly took Madison inside and jumped back in the car. Off to the birthing center we go. I specifically remember feeling a sense of calm come over me as we drove to the birthing center. Luckily, the birthing center was only about 10 minutes away from my in-laws house, so I didn’t have to stay in the car long.
It was around 10:45am when we arrived at the birthing center, I met my midwife at the door. She calmly walked over to me and took me to the birthing room. When I walked in the room I felt like I was at home. The lights were dim, the room was cozy, the jetted tub was running, and the bed looked so comfortable. Everything was perfect. My birth doula arrived shortly after and began helping me with my breathing strategies and calming techniques. My midwife told me I was about 7cm dilated and asked me if I wanted to get in the jetted tub. I told her I was ready!
I labored in the tub with my husband behind me for about 2 hours. When I was fully dilated my birth doula asked me if I was ready to push. I told her I was ready and I began pushing. My doula supported me by giving me water in between me pushing, my husband braced my back in the water and my amazing midwife kept saying “you got this Ashley! You’re a warrior, mama!” Those words gave me all the motivation to keep pushing. However, at one point, I honestly felt like I couldn’t do it. I was so tired! But I continued to push while saying my birth affirmation in my head “My body was made for this!”
My midwife could see that I was getting really tired while pushing in the tub so she asked me if I wanted to get out of the tub and push on the bed. Initially, I was a little nervous to get out of the tub because I felt like the water helped relieve some of the pain, but I felt like it was worth a try to get out of the tub and start pushing on the bed. I told my midwife yes I would push on the bed. My midwife, birth doula and husband helped me out of the tub and onto the bed.
Immediately, when I laid on the bed and started pushing again, I felt my son coming out! My birth doula and midwife continued to encourage me! “Keep pushing mama! He’s almost here Ashley!” Within 2 minutes of me getting out of the tub and onto the bed, I pushed my baby boy out! He laid on my breast, skin to skin. My baby boy looked into my eyes and I looked at his precious little self. He was absolutely beautiful. I was amazed that I had an unmedicated water birth! On June 23rd around 2:45 pm, I gave birth to my son. Raymond Washington III.
In conclusion, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I will forever remember the day I had an unmedicated water birth.
XO,
Ashley
