That Fateful Night

We arrived at the birth clinic at 3 am. Funny how it seems a lot of births happen at night… I guess that’s when mamas feel like nothing else is going on, and they can focus on the task at hand. The birth clinic was actually full this night, so we had lots of company :) We had to stay in the birthing suite the next day also because the hotel (recovery rooms) were full of new mamas and babies!

I was feeling a little deadline-pressure because the midwives told us if we didn’t get labor underway within 24 hours of my water breaking that they would have to send me to the hospital ward to be induced. Poopy time! So I did a lot of walking. We had candles left over from C’s and Ruby’s blessingways (which were used at their births) and a new candle from my mom; the candles were set up in two spots in the birthing room. I would walk back and forth between the two spots and wait for a contraction.

The contractions were coming pretty strongly/often at this point. I think this was right before we filled up the tub.

This labor was definitely less relaxed and more rushed than the others, with the final stage lasting about 20 minutes according to my chart (which is not long at all). When I finally grabbed Apl up out of the water I remember thinking that I’ve never been so glad to meet anyone in my whole life. I was ready for this pregnancy/birth to be over. With the other two, the birth was a really awesome spiritual experience. This time it was just kind of hard. It’s a little sad to say, but it’s true.

Such a beautiful moment!

And my second birth was much like that. Anya was posterior and it was all about getting this kid OUT of my body so I could stop with the massive discomfort.

The second I touched her though, my world split open and has never been the same since. It was… transformative.