My Positive Birth Story: 5 Things I’ll Do Again

It’s been nearly three months since Karter was born – how is that even possible?! It feels just like yesterday we found out we were pregnant. In honor of Karter coming up on three months, I thought I’d share my positive birth story along with 5 things I’ll do again for my next delivery, to inspire other mothers-to-be.

When it comes to both pregnancy and labor, every woman will experience different journeys. However, I do believe the severity of symptoms can be minimized by focusing on several key concepts. This includes proper nutrition, daily movement, adequate hydration, stress reduction, sufficient sleep, and educating yourself about both pregnancy and labor.

The first priority in having a positive birth story, is to have a positive pregnancy. From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I began prioritize self-care as a non-negotiable. This included daily walks & stretching, consuming nutrient dense meals to prevent nausea and food aversions, breath work & praying to keep my mental health focused on the positives of pregnancy, consuming adequate fluids, setting boundaries with work, and learning about the changes my body was going through.

My Positive Birth Story – To Empower Other Mothers-To-Be

I’m the youngest of three girls – my mom and two older sisters all had their babies earlier than their expected due date. So, I assumed Karter would be coming earlier than April 3rd. And to be honest, by the time March came around, I was so uncomfortable, I knew my body wouldn’t be able to handle him staying in for much longer. As the days passed by, I was aware of symptoms that would indicate the start of labor – nesting, baby dropping, diarrhea (or more daily bowel movements), fatigue, etc. This helped put my mind at ease, knowing I wouldn’t be completely caught off guard when I went into labor.

Leading Up to Labor

My appointments were becoming more frequent in the third trimester for obvious reasons, but I also had two high blood pressure readings in my last few weeks of pregnancy. Because of this, they encouraged me to come in for weekly ultrasound and contraction stress tests, to ensure Karter was safe. The doctor diagnosed me with gestational hypertension on March 13, which to be honest, completely stressed me out. Whenever the nurse was about to take my blood pressure, my anxiety went through the roof – I was convinced they wouldn’t let me leave the appointment without a baby in my hands if my blood pressure remained high.

With these two high blood pressures (only two the entire duration of pregnancy, which never developed into preeclampsia), they encouraged me to schedule an induction as, believe it or not, I was considered high risk. For me personally, I was completely dumbfounded. I truly had an easy pregnancy – which I’m extremely thankful for – where I only experienced nausea 2-3 times, and fatigue in the first and third trimester. Knowing this, I refused an induction, as I knew both myself and Karter weren’t yet ready. I pushed off my induction date until week 39, day 5 (the last possible date they would encourage me to go), as I knew in my gut Karter would be making his appearance before this date, on his own terms.

Friday, March 21 – Afternoon

March 21 arrived and I was getting ready to go to my doctor’s appointment. I was stressed, lol. I went in to do the weekly routine; ultrasound, contraction stress test, and blood pressure. However, this time I had a new midwife, one I haven’t met before. She was blunt and to the point – my type of person. When I asked her what her thoughts were on my gestational hypertension diagnosis, knowing I have a history of high blood pressure when visiting the doctor’s office (hello white coat syndrome), she stated she didn’t believe I had a correct diagnosis, and showed me research studies behind her statement. A wave of relief swept over me – I cried happy tears the rest of that appointment as I knew in my gut, but also in my professional opinion, I shouldn’t have been labeled as high risk.

During this nearly two hour long appointment (the longest appointment thus far), the midwife encouraged me to have a membrane sweep, to get things moving. I agreed, as again she explained thoroughly what occurs during a membrane sweep, along with the benefits. I completed the membrane sweep that Friday at 2 pm, leaving the appointment dilated to 3 cm, noticing period-like cramps almost immediately.

Friday, March 21 – Evening

That night, I was just finishing up dinner and getting ready for our nightly walk. I went to the restroom and noticed I lost my mucus plug. Let’s be real, this completely freaked me out. I called my mom and sisters who reassured me everything was okay. Once I caught my breath, I called the Labor Line as it was after hours. She reassured me that losing my mucus plug didn’t necessarily mean I was going into labor that night – it could range from hours to weeks. This calmed both Kraig and I down, as we weren’t quite yet mentally ready. I spent the rest of the weekend at home, getting organized and mentally preparing for what was to come.

Monday, March 24

For the entirety of the weekend, I didn’t feel too well. I slept nearly 15 hours Saturday to Sunday and had noticeable period-like cramps that just wouldn’t ease up. As a first-time mom I had no idea these were signs of early labor. As I headed into my doctor’s appointment that I scheduled the Friday before, I had another membrane sweep conducted. This sweep got me up to 4 cm dilated. I again, left this appointment noticing period-like cramps. However, after a few hours passed, I started noticing contractions occurring every five minutes. Kraig and I were bumming around town to spend those last few hours together, when I told him we needed to get home and start preparing to leave for the hospital.

Once we got home, almost immediately after walking through our door, my contractions completely stopped. It was wild, haha. But after hitting the 5-1-1 for nearly an hour and a half before getting home, I knew we would be heading to the hospital that night. So, we ate dinner, packed the car with what we needed to bring to the hospital, and got cozy while we waited for the contractions to return.

Around 9 pm that night, the contractions began again. This time, they came on quick, hitting the 4-1-1 within the hour. I knew I had time, so I wasn’t in a rush – I showered and got comfy, before telling Kraig we needed to leave.

Arriving at the Hospital

We got to the hospital around 10:15 pm. Let me just say, it was pure chaos, lol. We had to park in the emergency room parking lot, as the main doors were locked. However, as we were outside unpacking the car to walk in, a helicopter was arriving. The landing pad was, no joke, about 15 feet from our car (very small hospital, haha). We tried to grab everything as fast as we could, but the wind picked up too quickly. My rolling suitcase went flying across the parking lot, along with my computer bag and computer (I brought my computer so we could watch Netflix). It was almost comical, because – what just happened?! Kraig ran after my belongings, picking up my computer off the ground, covered in dirt. Thankfully nothing was broken! But with all this chaos, it definitely got my mind off the contractions.

Checking Into the Labor Unit

It was now around 10:30 pm and we finally made it to the Labor Unit. We checked in, with contractions still occurring around the 4-1-1 mark. It took about 20 minutes to complete all the paperwork and get settled. Our labor and delivery nurse was amazing – we absolutely loved her! However, she did make the comment that we would have the option to leave and labor more at home, if my water didn’t break within the next hour. This threw me for a loop, as I was contracting now every three minutes. I told Kraig we weren’t leaving even if they gave us the option, as I knew it would be a few short hours before Karter arrived.

My Water Finally Broke

Around 11:30 pm my water broke – talk about an experience. I was in bed watching a movie with Kraig sitting in the chair nearby. All of a sudden, I felt a rush of water that didn’t stop. I waddled to the bathroom (lol) and waited until it stopped a few minutes later. I then changed into my labor nightgown, as I knew the hard part was about to happen, as the pain was slowly creeping in.

About ten minutes later, I threw up dinner. This is when the real pain began to sink in – I knew this was the transition from early labor to active labor. I focused on breath work as best I could & used aromatherapy, but my biggest support was Kraig swaying with me through each contraction. As the pain became even more unbearable, I asked to get into the tub. It was absolutely mind-blowing how sitting in hot water truly helped to drastically reduce the pain. However, I sat like you normally would in a tub. Bad idea. This quickly turned into back labor. My contractions were occurring every 15-25 seconds and lasting for nearly a minute and a half at this point.

After 3.5 hours of laboring through intense pain and getting to 8 cm dilated, I was offered the epidural in a moment of weakness. I caved, and ended up getting the epidural around 3:30 am. When the anesthesiologist arrived, he mentioned it took him longer to get in as two moose were standing in the entrance. Talk about mountain living, haha.

Tuesday, March 25

After receiving the epidural, the pain immediately went way. Kraig went to pass out on the couch, and I laid in bed, now extremely nauseous. Around 6 am, our nurse came back to check-in. She mentioned Karter was already crowning, and that I needed to begin pushing immediately. Before I knew it, I was up in bed with my doctor changing into a gown to prep for delivery. So, I began pushing, five times for a total of 45 minutes. Karter was born at 7:20 am and I was finally able to hold him in my arms – it was so surreal. I can’t even put into words how crazy this morning was, it was truly such an amazing experience. It really is true, you forget all about the pain once you’re holding your precious baby.

Five Things I’ll Do Again to Prep for Labor

1. Learn about the stages of labor and what to expect during each stage. This helped me not only mentally as I knew what to expect. But it also helped me to be my own biggest advocate. You know your body best, be sure to listen to it.
2. Begin prepping for labor the day you find out you’re pregnant. Keep up with pelvic floor stretches, focus on breath work, relaxation techniques, and a positive mindset. Read empowering birth stories and disregard the negative. And most importantly, pray.
3. Listen to your providers, instead of individuals on social media. If I only listened to the noise from social media, I never would have agreed to a membrane sweep. However, getting a membrane sweep is, in my opinion, what allowed me to have a seamless labor, as I was already 4 cm dilated when I entered the hospital. I will personally be getting membrane sweeps for each pregnancy.
4. Inform your significant other what you’ll need from them in the labor and delivery room. I know for certain I would not have made it to 8 cm dilated without the support of Kraig. He swayed with me through each contraction, and held my hand when I got into the tub. This helped me mentally get through the pain. One word of advice though, encourage your significant other to keep you moving to prevent back labor.
5. Explore different pain relief options such as aromatherapy, breathing techniques, massage, water immersion, hypnobirthing etc. And keep focused on the bundle of joy that will be emerging into the world with each contraction. It truly is a miracle what your body is performing.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my positive birth story. I’m so beyond thankful for how everything turned out – God is so good. But please know, everyone’s birth story is their own. Sending so many thoughts and prayers to all the mothers-to-be; you got this!! 🤍