I gave birth to my baby girl at a birthing center and of course I documented it. Don't worry it's all in black and white so it's not gross, it's art.
My baby girl was born on a particularly beautiful spring day in May. I'd been having contractions steadily all night and that morning we drove across the Red River to the birthing center to see our midwife, Megan. She was totally casual in a beautiful floral dress with her long curly hair loose down her shoulders. I'm painting a picture and you'll see why as you read on. She checked me out and because I don't speak medical I'll just roughly summarize that she said "You're not having a baby just yet, you might as well go home and just rest until something happens." We did a little shopping then drove back home to have lunch. Christopher made us something to eat and was thinking about heading into work when we realized my contractions were getting closer together. We called Megan and she told us to head back that way. So for the second time that morning we drove across the river into Texas. When we pulled up the birthing center this time Megan looked completely different. She met us at the car wearing scrubs and had her massive amount of hair pulled back into a low bun. You're seeing the picture now. Christopher made a joke, "Well I guess you're having a baby. The midwife is wearing scrubs." I got changed and we got settled into one of the two rooms at the center. I had music from our church's worship album "Love Holds Strong" to be playing in the background. To this day I love that my baby girl entered this world with praises to God being sung by my friends. Because Megan was a student Midwife at the time, Hillary, the Certified Nurse Midwife had to be present. I also got to have a Doula, Nicole, who pretty much pampered, encouraged, and helped in any way I needed. When I would go through a contraction she would be right there to relieve pressure on my back, fan me, give me drinks of water, and when things got more intense she was there speaking words of soft encouragement to me. She even put lavender on my temples and if I was struggling would gently run her index finger down my forehead and between my eyebrows. I was seriously so well taken care. Like queen level pampered. I really want a facial now after describing that... Anyway, I was being treated like Cleopatra would've been, listening to my friends sing worship music, all while preparing my body to deliver my daughter. No big deal. A little storm popped up our of nowhere while all this was going on. It went from sunshine and birds singing to a dark, thundering little rainstorm. I love thunderstorms. And then it just as quickly as it came, it was gone and the sun was back out. Isn't that kind of like birth a bit? You have the thunder of pain suddenly some as your body transitions and then it's quickly gone and your flooded with the warmth and beauty of your newborn child. That's the poet in me coming out perhaps. Not long after the sun came out Rebekah decided it was time she come out as well. I think of all my kids I felt that moment of transition more fully. I had the moment of doubt thinking "I can't do this, it's too much." And then my midwife and doula telling me to just breath and not push. So that's how my baby girl was born not from pushing, forcing or straining. I just breathed. It was amazing and beautiful. Writing all this makes me want to be pregnant and have those women with me again. We did all the normal checks and measurements that you do and once that was finished Chris brought us gluten free veggie pizza from Palio's Pizza Cafe. I now have an emotional attachment to that pizza place. There we were in the living room of the birthing center, me with Bekah in my lap, Chris, the midwives, and my doula eating pizza and talking about Rebekah and her birth. We laughed because my water never broke until Bekah was delivered. We had a few more checks to complete before the released us to go home. They helped us get loaded up into the car around 10 and we took our baby home that night to sleep in our own bed. The next afternoon Megan and Hillary drove up to see us at home and check on us. I feel so blessed to have found those women at The House of Birth in Sherman, TX. God bless them. Here are some photos from that day. All the ones that I'm not in were taken by me and the ones of me were shot by Christopher. Also check out my handsome husband leaning on the birthing ball. I'm sure he was making some kind of joke. He's so stinking gorgeous. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this birth story and if you're expecting it encourages you that birth isn't as scary as it's made out to be. It can be one of the most lovely moments of your life.
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