My Natural Labour and Delivery Story

My Natural Labour and Delivery Story: Here is the birth story of my first born daughter, arriving two days past her due date.

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Hi Beauties!

I never thought the day would come, that I would get to share the birth of my daughter here on the blog.

I wanted to write this post, for all of you curious how my labour and delivery went and for those looking to have a natural birth.

My labour and delivery went almost exactly how I wanted it to go, minus a scary twist at the very end that required me to have two blood transfusions (I will explain at the end what happened). Otherwise, I was able to bring my beautiful daughter into this world naturally, with the thanks of my midwife, husband and my mom.

I will write this story as a timeline so you can relive the day with me! I wanted to post my story because I loved reading other mama's birth story as the end of my pregnancy neared. I am hoping you enjoy reading my story.

My Natural Labour and Delivery Story: October 29th, 2019

Water Broke: 3am

I was sleeping in bed when my water broke. Broke is an understatement, I gushed a lot of fluid. Some people say their water breaks as a trickle, but mine broke just like the movies. I woke up my husband, Dylan, and he got me a towel.

Our midwife told us that if my water breaks, and it is clear fluid, then we need to go take a nap or go back to bed. So Dylan went back to bed, but I could not. I got the shakes because my adrenaline and excitement were an all time high... 'was this really it? was I going to meet my daughter today?'.

At this point I couldn't stay in bed, I got up and had a shower, washed my hair, tried to take my mind off it. I didn't want to call my midwife this early, so I decide to wait until I started having contractions. I also didn't want to wake my mom up yet, even though I was dying to tell her that it was show time!

I parked my self on the couch in our living room and started watching Friends to distract myself. I was super concerned because I hadn't felt her move right away. Finally she made her first movement in my belly at 4:15am and I felt so much calmer after.

I should also mention that we had an appointment this day at noon to have my membranes swept because I was two days over due. Our baby girl had a plan of her own that's for sure!

First Contraction: 5:50am

My first contraction hit at 5:50am... at least what I thought a contraction would feel like. It was very very mild.. and all in my lower back. Nothing in my stomach.

I wasn't entirely sure if this was a contraction or not because I had never felt one before... but I also knew that if I was having lower back aches in regular increments, then it was most likely the start of back labour.

This made me happy and scared all at the same time. I was happy that I was having contractions because that meant I wouldn't have to be induced later on (if your water breaks, it increases your risk of infection and if labour doesn't start within 24 hours, then you will most likely have to be medically induced). I really didn't want to be induced. I wanted to let my body bring my baby into the world naturally. I was scared because I knew back labour was more painful then regular labour.

Back labour happens when the baby is in the “sunny-side up” position.. meaning my baby girl was facing my stomach instead of my back. Her little head was pushing on my tailbone instead.

At this point I was having very mild contractions, every 8 to 10 minutes apart.

Call The Midwife: 7:30am

It was time to call the midwife.

She wanted us to come into the clinic to get assessed. So we met her at 9:00am. She assessed me and said I was 1 cm dilated. We also did a stress test on the baby to make sure she was tolerating the contractions.

They hooked me up to the monitor, which watched my contractions and baby girl's heart rate. Dylan loved watching this because he could see when I was about to have a contraction before I even had one... he liked having this power. It was still all fun and laughter at this point.

The monitor showed I was having inconsistent contractions every 6 minutes. Some were more intense than others. But baby girl passed the stress test with flying colours!

After this, we went to the store and got gatorade and coconut water (as per the midwife). She said it was important to stay hydrated with electrolyte filled beverages at this point.

We went back home.

Contraction Intensity Increases: 11am

When we got home I went to back to bed to rest. I tried to sleep in between contractions but it was getting more difficult.

I played my hypnobirthing meditation playlist, turned on my salt lamp and infused the room with lavender scents. I used an app on my phone to time the contractions while I rested.

By 11am they were definitely getting stronger. They were 6 to 7 minutes apart lasting a full minute now.

No More Resting: 2pm

By this time my contractions were so bad that I couldn't stay in bed any longer, I needed to be up moving around. My mom had come to our house at this point as well. She got me moving, bouncing on my labour ball and walking up and down my stairs.

At this point I was getting very uncomfortable but continued to try and breathe through the contractions and remind myself that this pain was only temporary... this pain was bringing my baby into the world.

Call The Midwife Again: 5pm

All of a sudden my contractions were extremely uncomfortable, no position was easing the pain. They were 2 to 3 minutes apart and lasting a full minute.

I knew it was time to get to the hospital.

The drive into the hospital was painful. Car contractions (especially in the back) were very uncomfortable. It felt like the longest drive of my life... By the time I got to the hospital, I couldn't walk anymore. My mom had to push me in a wheelchair while Dylan parked the car.

We checked into the labour and delivery triage and I was hooked up to the monitors again. My midwife arrived and checked my cervix. I was only 3cm. I was so upset. I knew that I wouldn't be checked into the unit officially until I was 4cm dilated which meant they were going to send me back home to continue to labour.

I was heartbroken and knew I couldn't handle that drive two more times. My midwife wanted to check my hydration levels because my contractions were so frequent. She said dehydration can make contractions more painful. She dipped my urine to find that I was extremely dehydrated. Due to this, she wanted to give me some fluid through an IV which I agreed to.

Check Me Again!: 5:30pm

The bag of fluid finished 30 minutes later and by this time, my contractions had become even more intense. Nothing was easing the pain, and breathing through them was becoming way more difficult. I wasn't able to talk to anyone at this point either.

My midwife came back in to unhook me from my IV and send us on our way, but I begged her to check me one more time. She said she would but didn't want me to get discouraged... to her surprise I was 5cm dilated!!

Checked into our delivery room: 5:40pm

Walking into this room made me realize that this was really happening now... this was the room my baby was going to be born into.

I had a hard time concentrating on anything other than my contractions at this point. I wasn't able to talk to anyone, I just needed to focus on my deep breathing. My midwife said that if I wanted an epidural to let her know, but I knew I could continue to push through these contractions. I really didn't want an epidural, the thought of an epidural had always scared me so I knew I didn't want one... at all. I wanted a natural labour and delivery.

I continued to power through the contractions. One thing that REALLY helped me with my back labour was having someone push hard against my lower back with each contraction. This was actually saved me!

Extreme Urge To Push: 7:45pm

Contractions were the most intense at this point. They were happening every 1 to 2 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute. My midwife tried to offer me laughing gas but I couldn't keep the mask on my face. I needed to breathe through my contractions.. I had a rhythm going and it was what I needed to continue at this point.

All of a sudden my body had an animalistic urge to push with each contraction. I panicked because I knew I still had a lot of dilation to go and I didn't want to push yet. I told my midwife that I was trying everything to not push. She said that pushing now would cause my cervix to swell and could set me backwards in my labour.. or worse could result in a c-section.

I could not believe how hard it was not to push. It brought tears to my eyes as I fought my body. Once my midwife saw how distraught I was, she offered to check me again. She said it would be extremely rare for a first time mom to be ready to deliver this quickly but checked me anyways..

She was shocked to find that, two hours later, I went from 5cm to 8cm! She told me to not fight my body anymore and do light pushes when my body was telling me to. She called her back up midwife for delivery, and got her delivery gear ready to go.

Time to Push: 8pm

The second midwife had arrived, and it was show time.

I was officially fully dilated and ready to get my baby out. My husband and mom held my legs as I pushed with each contraction. I loved being able to feel when I needed to push. I listened to my body and told my midwife when it was time to push. The cord was around her neck but my midwife was able to flip it back over her head easily.

I stayed focused and pushed with everything I had. It felt right and painful all at the same time.

She Was Born: 8:22pm

I pulled my baby out of me at 8:22pm after 3 hours of labouring in the hospital and 22 minutes of pushing. It was the most magical and beautiful moment in my life.

Dylan cut her umbilical cord, and the midwife and team took her to be weighed and cleaned up.

Dylan holding our baby daughter after my natural labour and delivery

My first born daughter just minutes after her birth!

Scary Ending Resulting in Blood Transfusions: 8:30pm

After they took baby girl away to be weighed, it was time to deliver my placenta. After the delivery of my placenta I had extreme bleeding. The OB team was called in because I was losing so much blood. They had to do a manual sweep of my uterus and found a piece of my placenta still attached to my uterus wall causing it not to contract and bleed out.

Long story short, I ended up having a postpartum hemorrhage resulting in 2L blood loss. I needed lots of IV fluid and two blood transfusions.

Happy Ending

Regardless of the ending... I am happy I was able to have a labour and delivery free of an epidural. It was a quick in hospital labour which was amazing. My midwife, husband and parents were so incredible and I couldn't have done it without them.

In the end, all the pain was worth it. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I got my baby girl at the end, and my heart has never been so full.

Elliot Anita Kusters. 8 Pounds 13 Oz.