Rome was born into the water, at home at 1:08am on Monday, June 27th weighing 8lbs 9oz. Here’s how it went…
Saturday, June 25th:
Before going to bed, I hand expressed a few ml of colostrum to freeze, along with eating 4 dates. Had some difficulty sleeping and woke frequently throughout the night as I couldn’t turn my brain off and my body felt a bit out of sorts.
Sunday, June 26th:
I woke up around 8am feeling ‘off’. I texted my lovely doula for some reassurance as I wasn’t sure if I was experiencing Braxton hicks or authentic contractions.
12pm My contractions were becoming slightly more noticeable but nothing too intense yet. I got Ace to sleep around 1:30pm and managed to nap with him for an hour (was super thankful for this later on!)
3pm I texted my doula questioning if I was starting to lose my mucus plug (in the heat of the moment it’s funny how much you forget, despite having been through all of this 2.5 years ago) and she confirmed it looked like that’s what was starting to happen.
3:30 I stopped by my midwife’s office for a check to help give me some peace of mind on whether labour was starting or not. She determined I was about 2cm dilated but still 1cm thick, so it could either be hours or days still until baby’s arrival- everyone’s dilation can progress at different rates! She did a few different tests to see if my water had broken yet, but she said it just looked to be some of my mucous plug coming out.
4:30pm left midwife’s office and joined Nick & Ace at the water park for a few hours (on the hottest day of the year so far) contractions were still happening periodically but not regular enough to start timing yet.
7pm we ordered some sushi for dinner although the contractions were getting a bit spicier so it was a bit hard to focus on eating. 7:30ish I started timing the contractions, but they were still inconsistent.
8pm I got into the bath with some herbal Epsom salts to try and help distract myself from the contractions. I was more so timing them to be able to know when to alert my doula & midwife, but was trying not to let myself focus on them too much.
8:30pm I had a strong intuition we should get the birth pool set up, as by this point I was starting to need to breathe through the contractions. Ace joined me in the bath & was a welcome distraction.
9pm I texted my midwife a photo of the timing of some of the contractions, they were still somewhat irregular but averaging 3-4min apart so she called to tell me she was coming right over (luckily she only lived 6min away)
9:20pm the midwife arrived and I got out of the bath so she could do a check; I had dilated to 4cm. The doula arrived around 10:20pm while I was getting Ace to sleep for the night and she helped Nick finish setting up/filling the birth pool.
10:40pm ish I came out of the bedroom and the midwife started my antibiotics (I was GBS +) I got right into the pool around 11pm and started getting into the zone, remembering to keep my face relaxed as I breathed and surrendered into the contractions, focusing on the fact I was about to meet my baby and using that as motivation. I was now actively having to concentrate to breathe through contractions, trying to remind myself to stay relaxed, calm, and allow my body to do what it needed to do. We turned down the lights, lit candles all around the room, had relaxing music playing, and my diffuser diffusing calming lavender essential oils. The space was incredibly calming and relaxing and was exactly what I needed in the moment.
12pm I got out of the pool and allowed the midwife to do a check (I was 9cm!) & break my water to speed things along a bit. A second midwife arrived to assist (protocol in my area for baby & mum to each have their own midwife during birth) I got back into the pool but was getting warm so Nick & my doula laid some cool cloths on my back & shoulders and took turns massaging my lower back through the intensity of the contractions as they were now surging through me every few minutes. I mostly laboured with my upper body hanging over the side of the pool, utilizing the handles to help myself through the contractions. I allowed my body to do its thing & could feel my baby moving through my body as a breathed him down. After a while, my midwife encouraged me to try turning so she could help hold my legs as it was getting to be time to focus more on pushing. I was floating in the water starfish style, with my arms below me supporting my weight as I floated.
I pushed for about 20 minutes and Rome was born into the water, at home, at 1:08am. He was placed directly on my chest for skin to skin and I spent 30 minutes in the pool soaking up the newborn snuggles while we waited for him to absorb all of his umbilical cord blood. The midwife then cut the cord & weighed Rome (8lbs 9oz!) while I got out of the pool, and went to lay on the couch to birth the placenta. Ace slept through the whole thing (yes I am a quiet birther) so Nick woke him up right after to meet his baby brother.
The midwife left to head to another birth, and my doula helped me into the shower to get cleaned up, leaving just after 3am after feeding me a snack and ensuring we were content. Nick, Ace, Rome & I went to bed shortly after, and woke up the next morning starting our first day as a family of 4.
Story by: Nicolle Fry
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