Birth Story: Mollie

 I'm Mollie! Mother of 2 girls, Logan 3.5 & Charleigh 18 months. My most recent birth story was June of 2019. The birth of my second daughter. I've always wanted to tell one of my birth stories but have never actually had the will to write it out so here goes nothing. With my first birth I had leaking waters and was planning a home birth, so I did everything I could to manipulate my body into labor asap to avoid intervention. We walked what felt like miles, did a hot water enema (fun! Lol), clove oil, and finally tried pumping a bit which was what finally brought on my contractions. I was 40 weeks and 3 days, so while I'm sure baby was about ready, I was always super bummed that I didn't get to spontaneously go into labor on my own. I had hoped for this to happen naturally and all on its own with my second.

I was 40 weeks and 6 days with my second daughter when I woke up around 2 am with some contractions.

I got up when I could no longer sleep through them and left my hubby and daughter sleeping in bed to bounce on my ball a bit. Over the next hour or so they sort of got more intense. They were around every 5 mins lasting just under a min. I called my midwife to let her know things were happening and she said she was going to shower and head over shortly as long as they continued on how they were. I decided to shower too then got back to kneeling and leaning on my ball breathing through the contractions. Just as the sun started to come up I woke my husband up to let him know what was happening and to blow up the pool. (Another thing with my first, I had gotten in the pool too early and it slowed down my labor drastically, it was on and off and lasted forever, so naturally, I was afraid of that happening again. I told myself I'd stay out of the water as long as I could handle it) so my midwife finally got there, she checked me and I was around 4 cm.

We started walking around, doing some stairs and lunges. I tried to lay down after feeling nauseous. My contractions spaced out a bit. I tried to shower again and by then they were about 8- 10 mins apart. So my midwife suggested some tricks we could try to get things going or said I could nap and rest and see what happens. I opted to rest as my waters were still intact and we had no real reasons to push things along. I really wanted my body to do this on its own. So while much further apart, my contractions were still there. My midwife left and my mom took my daughter out for a bit while my hubby and I stayed home. As the afternoon went on my contractions slowly came back. By 3 pm I was back on my ball with some super intense ones lasting over a minute every 3-4 mins so my husband called the midwife back and she decided to head out. (Same team, a different midwife. The same one who caught my first daughter 🥰)

Then I started getting some serious back labor. They think my little one flipped during labor because man it felt like knives were in my back all of a sudden. Nothing helped. I couldn't surrender. I was fighting the pain so hard it was all I could do. I cried, I threw up, I hyperventilated. I tried the pool finally and was still just having such a hard time coping with the pain. I asked my midwife to take me to the hospital for an epidural. I couldn't take it anymore. She knew I was close to the end and reassured me that I would have my baby before we even made it to the hospital. She was my saving grace for the next 40 mins. She suggested getting out of the pool so she could check me and see where we were at specifically. She also suggested to my mom that maybe taking my toddler out of the house again would help. I think the subconscious stress of worrying about her being there and what was going on may have been taking a toll on me too.

So out I got, contractions now one on top of the other, she checked me, fully dilated, completely effaced, and said if I felt ready to push we'd have this baby. I started pushing through the pain of each surge. Each contraction, reminding me that the only way out of this was through it. First, on all fours on my bed, my waters finally break. Then I switched to a squatting position on my bedroom floor, my husband sat on the bed while I was In between his legs. He held me and supported me physically and mentally throughout it all. Finally, we get to the same point where I needed some assistance last time with a cervical lip. My midwife tells me what she can do if it doesn't allow the baby's head through, and with the next push baby's head was out. "Look at that you did it all on your own," she told me. Her reassurance was gold. One more big push and my second daughter was born.

We were team green and did not find out the sex and I can still remember my husband whispering in my ear as I picked my baby up to my chest, completely forgetting to check out the anatomy..."it's a girl".. so soft and calm. We called my mom (and mother in law who was now with them) to come back and my daughter got to meet her new baby sister. Charleigh Joy was born a healthy 8 lbs 11 oz!