So. I went in to see my midwife on my due date, February 14th, where she stripped my membranes and helped get me dilated to a 2. If stripping my membranes would be successful, I would go into labor within 24 hours. Around 3pm, I started having contractions consistently enough to start timing them. By 6pm, I called my mom and told her she should probably start the drive to Rexburg just in case! I kept having contractions that were mostly consistent, just waiting for them to get a little more intense to head to the hospital... but they never did. It was like my body was trying so hard to go into labor, but I could tell it just wasn't ready yet. When my mom pulled in at 1am, my contractions literally stopped the second she walked in the door. I was exhausted mentally and physically from having contractions all day, and feeling disappointed was an understatement.
I was set to be induced Wednesday, February 19th. My midwife, Marie, was positive I wouldn't make it to my induction day, so we set it "just in case"... well, my babies are always overdue so I shouldn't have been surprised I lasted until then haha. Joel and I got to the hospital at 6:30am and by the time we filled out all the paperwork, I was started on Pitocin around 8:30 and Marie's intern, Becca, broke my water. I had small contractions and was able to sleep some when Marie and Becca came back to check on me at noon I was still dilated to a 2 and my water was actually not broken! So, Marie broke my water for real and the party really started.
After a couple hours, I was only 3.5 cm dilated. I was super disappointed and mentally struggling because the contractions were more painful than I expected them to be since I was still only dilated to 3.5. In my mind, I had been in labor since 8 that morning. Luckily my awesome nurse told me that since my water broke at noon, I technically wasn't considered in active labor until then.
Once contractions started to get more intense I asked to try the laughing gas. While lying in bed, my contractions were so intense with the laughing gas and I couldn't stay controlled so I wanted the epidural. I was scared to move because the contractions were so strong. Luckily, my awesome nurse encouraged me to move and try to hop in the hot tub. She told me if I wanted to go natural that lying on my back would be the worst possible position. And, that when Marie came to check me she would make me move anyway. Honestly, if my nurse hadn't have encouraged me to move I would have gotten the epidural. I had the epidural with Emma, and I wanted to see if I could have faster labor this time by being able to be up moving around.
I got in the tub around 4:30 pm, and I went from a 4.5 to a 7 and hit transition which was one of the hardest parts of labor for me. In between every contraction I told Joel over and over and over, "I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this." He kept reminding me how to breathe, and told me over and over, "With every contraction, we are getting closer to meeting our baby!" When I heard I was at a 7, it hit me that I was definitely doing this natural and that I was close to being done. It was then Becca encouraged me to change positions, so I moved from the tub to the shower. She told me to keep the heat on my back (where my contractions were) would help the best. Also, we needed to use gravity to our advantage to help get the baby out!
Never would I have imagined myself laboring in the shower. There was a fold-down seat I sat on and Joel, my nurse, and Becca all took turns keeping the showerhead pointed at my back. I felt like I was in the shower for hours.... time is so skewed while in labor. While sitting in the shower, I was able to keep my breathing controlled and Joel kept reminding me to stay focused on one contraction at a time.
All pictures were taken by the lovely Sarah Jones Photography
I could tell I was nearing the end of my labor when my breathing started to change, and I wasn't able to relax in between contractions to catch a break. For me, this was the hardest part of labor. Not having that break in between contractions wiped me out, and I was exhausted. Becca encouraged me to stand up at this point, to use gravity in our favor. I thought she was crazy because I was SO exhausted. I was standing up for a little while when I could tell my body wanted to push. I felt like I needed to poop so I said, "Is that my baby or do I need to poop??" Becca laughed and said that was definitely our baby coming!
I was so tired I couldn't stand up anymore so Marie, Becca, and my nurse helped me get down on all fours in the shower. I pushed a few times when all of a sudden I heard Becca, who was right behind me ready to catch the baby, said, "Show me how bad you want this baby out!" And Phillip literally FLEW out of me, just like you see in the movies when a lady sneezes and the baby flies out. Phillip came out so fast, Becca barely caught him! She immediately handed him to me, and my first thought was I DID IT. Pure relief washed over me, and I couldn't believe I did it. Phillip Fredrik Herrey was born on February 19th, 2020 at 6:10 p.m. and was 8 lbs and 20" long, the exact same measurements as William when he was born.
Phillip's birth went so smooth, looking back on it I don't think I would change anything. Being on Pitocin was rough, and luckily I didn't know that contractions are worse while on Pitocin or I might not have tried to go natural. The best part of being on Pitocin was my labor was sped up a bit and honestly, being induced was nice because I was able to sleep the night before and labor all day. One of my biggest fears was going into labor at night, and having to labor all through the night like I did with Emma.
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| Sweet Becca, who delivered Phillip |
