Chloe Maia's Birth Story

Following my 39 week prenatal appointment on Tuesday morning, I started having contractions at 1am Wednesday morning. I'd been having increasing Braxton Hicks for a couple weeks already so I knew these were different, both because they woke me up with the discomfort and because they encompassed my whole belly, starting from the sides and working their way in. They stayed pretty regular through the night although I was able to doze off in between them. After three hours of this I knew the baby was coming soon so I called my mom on the east coast and told her to get on a plane and get out here quick!

The next day my contractions began to slow down but increase in strength. Tiit and I tried to keep our minds occupied and cleaned the whole apartment. I managed to sleep a little bit on Wednesday night but every time a contraction hit I woke up and had to breathe through it. My mom and sister arrived late Wednesday night, thrilled that they were in time to see my baby’s birth.

Thursday afternoon at around 4 I had a particularly strong contraction and I felt my bag of waters break. It wasn't a huge gush or anything, but I definitely felt the pop! A few hours later my contractions became very long and painful, some lasting over 2 minutes. We called Judi and she suggested that I get on my knees with my butt in the air, like Tabitha taught us in class, because she thought that the prolonged contractions were due to the baby's position and she wanted to encourage her to turn. We tried this but I began to feel increasing pressure, and with the contractions coming every 2-3 minutes we headed into Sage Femme.

This is the part that didn't thrill me. Even with my contractions coming so strong and so close together, Judi had me wait for an hour while she listened to me just go through them before she checked me. When she did check I was 95% effaced but only 3 centimeters dilated. I was sent home at 1:30 in the morning with instructions to rest. As I lay in bed I began to feel a need to push every time a contraction hit. I was pretty scared because I thought I was only 3 centimeters! We called Judi again and headed back to the birth center after only spending an hour and a half at home. When Judi checked me this time she found that I was between 5 and 6 centimeters and during a contraction she was able to stretch me to 7.

Judi told me that sometimes being in the water can dampen the urge to push and she asked if I wanted to try the tub. My answer was an unqualified “yes”! I got right into the birth tub and two contractions later she checked and found that I had only a little lip left to go. I was allowed to start pushing. We had not specifically planned on having a water birth, but once I was in the tub there was NO WAY I was getting out again. I found the tub incredibly comforting and peaceful and Chloe was delivered there at 5:20am Friday morning, only 52(!) hours after my contractions started. Tiit was able to catch Chloe and place her on my belly as her cord was too short to reach all the way up to my chest. She weighed 7lbs 12 oz and was 21 ¾ inches long.

All in all, it was an amazing experience. Tiit was an incredible partner and we really felt that we used the information we learned in the birth class. Jessica, Judi and everyone at Sage Femme were wonderful and I wouldn’t have changed this experience for anything. The three of us went home 5 hours after Chloe was born and we're all doing well.