I want to document Calder’s birth, mostly for my own records.
Throughout my pregnancy with Calder, I planned on having an unmedicated labor and delivery. I wasn’t totally opposed to getting an epidural, but I wanted to see if I could do it without one. So, I listened to my HypnoBirthing CD faithfully and practiced deep relaxation. Friday night (September 26th), I had regular contractions about every 10 minutes. They weren’t very intense, but I used them to practice my breathing techniques. Turns out, that was basically like warm-up labor because the contractions stopped Saturday morning. This was actually a good thing because it allowed me to pick up my mom from the airport and have a day with her before Calder came. Saturday night, around 5 p.m., real labor kicked in. I knew this was the real deal because the contractions were more intense and getting harder for me to just breathe through. So, we called Joanne, my wonderful doula, and she came to our house around 8:30 p.m. With Joanne’s help and guidance, we labored at home for another 3.5 hours. We even walked around outside for a while, stopping for each contraction. Here are some pictures from that period:
In between contractions. I sat on one of those big stability balls and during each contraction, I would rest my head in my hands and try to relax and breathe deeply.
This turned out to be one of my favorite positions for laboring. Bryce was such a terrific support (physically and emotionally) during the whole process.
Around midnight, we headed to the hospital. When we got there, they hooked me up to the monitors and checked my progress. I was 4.5 centimeters dilated. Since I wanted to labor without medication, the midwife wanted to make sure that I was progressing, so she had me walk the halls for an hour to see if I would dilate any more. So, off we went. During the hour, the contractions became much more intense and close together. When they checked me again, I was 7.5 centimeters dilated! Yay! Needless to say, they admitted me at that point.
I knew I wanted to try laboring in the bath tub and as soon as it was full, I got in. Joanne coached me through each contraction and poured warm water over my stomach in between. Bryce continued to be there for me the whole time. Later on, he said it was amazing to watch me work with Joanne during the contractions. She would put her hand in front of my face and slowly close it and open it to help me focus and breathe deeply. After a while, it was decided that I should get out of the tub because I didn’t seem to be progressing past 8 centimeters. So, a little sad, I got out of the water. The contractions were definitely more intense when I was out of the tub.
During a contraction. Joanne is massaging my hand.
Happy once the contraction is over.
Those last two centimeters proved to be the most stubborn. I don’t know what I would have done without Joanne and Bryce. I stood up during most of these contractions since we were trying to help things along with gravity. When a contraction hit, I leaned into Bryce and we swayed together. He even moaned along with me! At one point, I think all three of us were hugging and swaying and moaning. I am so grateful I had such wonderful support. After waiting a while, my midwife and I decided to try to break my bag of waters to see if that would help. Although everyone assured me this would be painless and I wouldn’t even notice it had happened, it turned out to be more difficult to do than anticipated. I didn’t have much fluid and this made it really hard for the midwife to be able to break my waters because Calder’s head was right there. It took several tries for her to perform the “simple” procedure. So then, not only was I in intense pain during the contractions, but I also felt like I was wetting my pants 😉
Finally, it was time to push. Those were the most intense 10 minutes of my life. And, yes, I screamed. Not so much because I was in pain, but just because it was so intense and I felt like I had to give everything I had to birth Calder. Thank goodness it was only 10 minutes! My voice was hoarse enough as it was afterward. Finally, Calder Allan Haymond arrived at 6:05 a.m. on Sunday, September 28th. He was 20 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces Much smaller than Amelie’s 9 pounds 2 ounces, but perfect all the same.
Although this labor and delivery were the most intense hours of my life, I am grateful to have experienced them without medication. Bryce said afterward that it was the most amazing experience he’s every participated in and I feel that it definitely highlighted how much we love each other and how dedicated we are to one another.
