We are going to back track. I shot my last wedding when I was 37 weeks pregnant. Yep. You read that correctly. I DO NOT recommend it.  I could have sworn that being on my feet would put me in labor but it didn’t. Week 38, our household got hit with a cold. Honestly, I was not mentally prepared to give birth. I was feeling terrible. I was pretty sure I had a sinus infection plus an ear infection and I did not want to take antibiotics for it.

Eliseo was born 38 +4 and Max was born exactly 40 weeks. I prayed daily that labor would wait until I was better. I cried to UIi. I was not ready to give birth. I honestly think if I had gone in labor during this time, I would have asked to be transferred to the hospital.

 

October 30th: That Saturday before I gave birth AND I was feeling SO MUCH BETTER, we had been invited to 3 parties. The first was a birthday party and Uli decided to take the boys while I went to go get a pedicure and just rested at home. After my pedicure, I ordered lunch and sat my butt on the couch and started binge watching Netflix. I started having mild contractions. I knew they were contractions because they were coming every 20 minutes. I knew they weren’t Braxton hicks because all i was doing was literally laying on the couch. They started to slow down when the boys got home. We go ready and headed to our next party. The contractions were all over the place. Nothing crazy. They didn’t hurt but they were definitely stronger than the Braxton hicks I had through out pregnancy.

These are the only images I had that day. When we got home. The contractions just kind of stopped. We went to bed and everything was fine.

October 31st: Halloween. we did absolutely nothing. Contractions started up again when I woke up. They were coming in every 20 minutes but again, they just stalled. We didn’t take the boys trick or treating because I didn’t want to start labor plus they went to a trunk and treat that Friday. Although it would have been cool, if baby was born on halloween, we didn’t want another October baby (Maxi’s birthday is October 15th). I took it very easy. The contractions stopped as soon as I went to sleep.

November 1st: This is when things started to get interesting. I woke up and contractions started up again. They were 15 minutes apart. Again, not painful but stronger than the Braxton hicks.  I took the boys to school and while I was driving, they were feeling a bit stronger. Uli told me to take it easy and rest. Around 1:oo pm, they started to feel stronger, more intense and just different. They were now 10 minutes apart. I text my midwife Annie and she asked some questions. She thought it was early labor and suggested I rest and doing the Miles Circuit.I asked Uli to pick up the boys while I stayed behind. I decided to nap a bit.

I text my sister and told her this might be the day. Around 3:00 pm, they were now 6 minutes apart and much stronger. I made dinner for the boys and we ate. My sister showed up. I don’t even remember what time it was to be honest. It was probably around 5:00ish. Around 6:00, I texted Annie to let her know that they were now 3-4 minutes apart. She decided it was time for her and Susy to head over. Uli was setting up the birth pool.

My boys go to bed early (between 6:00-7:00) so my sister took over bedtime routine. Thank God because at this point, I don’t think I could have helped and I needed Uli by my side. Annie showed up around 7:00/7:30.

We noticed that the contractions would pick up when I was standing. Every time I sat down, they slowed down so I stood while Uli used counter-pressure on my back.

They asked if I wanted to labor in the pool. I immediately said yes. The warm water felt nice but after a while, it started to get cold. I asked if they could put more hot water in the pool. As they were trying to do that, they realized we had ZERO hot water. The pilot went out and when Uli tried to fix it, it would’t turn back on. So we gave up on the birth pool.

After giving up on the birth pool, Annie thought by laboring on the toilet would help some and it did. I asked if I could use a tens machine to help with the pain. At this point I was sitting on the toilet and my sister was sitting next to me. She was telling me that they wanted to see how far along I was but wanted to get the okay from me. I asked what time it was and it was 10:30 pm!! I didn’t realize how fast time was passing. After 30 minutes on the toilet, I agreed to be checked. We were curious to see how far I was.

I’m going to be honest, I don’t remember how dilated I was. My sister and Uli said I was at a 6 but I don’t remember!  She suggested breaking my water because I was at a standstill.  What I loved was that she gave ME the option to decide. I could have said, let’s wait and she would have said okay. After talking to Uli about it, we decided to go ahead. She broke my water at 11:00 pm maybe a little before/after?

Ya’ll as soon as she did that, these contractions were so intense. I told Uli that I was done and could’t do it anymore. He kept telling me I was doing great and I was almost there. All of a sudden, I had the urge to push.

My body was telling me to squat and stand. It only made sense to me. The relief I was getting from pushing is so hard to describe.

Next thing you know, I feel the ring of fire and feel baby start coming out.

11:23 pm Luciana was born. 20ish minutes after they broke my water! I gave birth standing.  I was in shock that I did it. You can tell in my face below. I also had no idea if she was or boy at this point. I was just happy that I was able to hold my baby. I never got to hold the boys when I gave birth to them. They were whisked right away to the NICU when they were born. This was something that I wanted to do so badly.

I started hemorrhaging pretty bad so I was given two shots of Pitocin but I was feeling great.

I had plans on having the boys involved but they slept THROUGH THE ENTIRE THING. I’m sad but kinda happy at the same time. It allowed Uli and I to take it all in. They got to meet her at 5:30am.

She was 8lbs 8 oz and 20 3/4 inches long.

Recovery was awesome! Because I did hemorrhage, it did take me awhile to get up and pee. I kept wanting to pass out but after a saline drip, I was back to normal. This was by far the BEST experience I’ve ever had. I’m a bit sad that I didn’t know about home births with Eliseo and Maximiliano. This birth was so healing for me. Would I do this again? HECK YES.

Photographer: Nellie Jane Photography
Birth Team: Attuned Midwifery Services