house of schells: August's Birth Story

On January 2, 2015 August Michael Schell arrived! Here is his birth story...

At 9:00am on New Year's Eve, 38 weeks pregnant, I went in for an ultrasound to track The Bean's growth. Everything checked out, our baby scored 8/8 on the bio-profile and was finally above the 10th percentile and into the "normal" range for growth. Mike and I left to head back to work on cloud nine knowing our baby was doing great. Then to my complete surprise my water broke that afternoon. It wasn't a full break, but more like a trickle here or there. After calling Mike to tell him the good news, I called our doula, Joyce, for advice- sit down, relax and wait to see if contractions start. Since I was already 4cm dilated 80% effaced, I figured it wouldn't be long.

After a couple hours my contractions were extremely mild still. So mild that if it hadn't been for my water breaking I would have never known I was in labor. I kept in touch with my doula and midwife and since we were planning a natural birth, I stayed home for the night hoping that my contractions would pick up. Eventually, sleep set in and I was sure I'd wake up to feel my labor progressing.

As 7:00am arrived in January 1, 2015, my contractions still had not picked up and we knew it was time to head to the hospital to get checked out. We figured one of two things would happen- either my water didn't actually break OR I was going to have to be induced which was one of my biggest fears. When we got to the hospital I was relieved that my midwife, Shellie, was the midwife on call for the day. She checked me out and as it turned out, I wasn't crazy and my water had broken. Unfortunately, we were approaching the 24 hour mark which meant that I would have to be induced. Ugh! I would be a liar if I said I didn't have a breakdown at this point. I was terribly afraid that my birth plan would be thrown out the window and that due to the Pitocin I wouldn't be able to give birth to my baby naturally. Mike, Shellie and Joyce all helped to calm me down and ensured me that we would take it slowly and that I could still delivery my baby the way I had intended.

At 12:00pm they started the Pitocin and shortly there after I began to feel slightly stronger contractions. For the next 6.5 hours my contractions progressively grew stronger and Joyce and Mike helped me work through them. Due to the IV and fetal monitor I couldn't get in the tub or shower. However, Joyce had an arsenal of positions to try. I really enjoyed using the birthing ball and the rocking chair. The movement of both was very soothing during each contraction. Around 7:00, Shellie checked me and I had only progressed another centimeter! Discouraged, hungry and tired I had no idea how much would change over the next couple hours.

By 10:00 pm I could feel that I was getting really close to transition. My contractions were very strong and a lot closer together. In fact, the growing strength of each contraction had me doubt my own strength to work through them naturally. Fortunately, Joyce and Mike were my strength in those weak moments and reminded me that I was already doing it and that I could make it. The two of them were an incredible team!

By 11:40pm I shouted out to Shellie and Joyce "I need to push...NOW" and just like that I made it to the final stage of our baby's birth. After about 40 minutes of pushing, I heard a beautiful cry and Mike yell out "it's a boy"! He cut the cord and then placed our perfect son on my chest. It was the best moment of my life! I nourished a baby for 10 months, pushed him out of my body into the world just as I planned and here he was on my chest and filling my heart with a love I'd never known!