With my pregnancy for Isaac I went to a Birth Center and had a midwife. Since I had a natural hospital birth with Graham I figured I could do it again with Isaac. The birth center is only 10 min. from our house, it was more cost-effective than the hospital, and I liked their philosophy of helping me have a natural birth since I had an easy low risk pregnancy with Graham.
It all began at 5:30 am on March 12th when I lost my mucus plug. I called my midwife because I wasn’t sure if it was my mucus plug, and she said labor could begin today or in a few days. Light contractions began soon after that. but were not very strong yet. Jake thankfully had the day off, so I called my mom to give her a heads up that contractions were consistent, but told her not to rush because I didn’t think Isaac was coming any time soon especially with my slow progression that I had with Graham. My mom got ready and then came over to help with Graham.
We spent the rest of the morning getting things packed, hanging with Graham, and taking walks to hopefully get things moving. I was having flash-backs to labor with Graham…contractions in my back, and slow progression. My goal was to labor at home as long as possible to help break our time up between home and the birth center. I had to take breaks from timing contractions because it would only discourage me that things weren’t getting any closer together.
By 2pm things began to get more intense, and I had a hard time talking through contractions. By this time, contractions were lasting about 50 seconds and about 3 to 4 min apart. I decided to call my midwife, and she said we could come in whenever we wanted. We packed up the car and said goodbye to Graham, which brought tears to my eyes with the realization that the next time we see him he won’t be an only child.
Right before we left for the birth center
We arrived at the birth center at about 3:30pm. They brought us to our room (“the Nest” my first choice for a room). They checked my vitals, and the baby’s heartbeat (I was able to stand up the entire time rather than laying in bed).
Our room. The stars on the ceiling were a nice touch.
For about an hour I labored in the room and we took a walk around the birth center. About 4:30 I decided I wanted to get in the tub, so they checked my vitals again and then I got in the tub. The water brought much relief. I tried to just close my eyes through the contractions and relax. Jacob sat near the side of the tub and I liked having my head near him so during a contraction I could hold his hand. If I wasn’t holding his hand during a contraction it felt kind of lonely in the water like I was in this all alone. Contractions began to get worse, I felt like I was having a hard time relaxing through them, so I called in the midwife for some support. She said if I wanted to I could start pushing since I was feeling a lot of pressure.
The nice thing is that I could just push when I wanted. I didn’t have to wait for a contraction then hold my breath and push three times like I did in the hospital with Graham. The whole process of pushing was so much more relaxed. At one point I felt like I wasn’t pushing very effectively and my midwife said to just rest. She said at some point my body would naturally just push the baby out. This was such a relief and took off the pressure of having to push a lot.
My back labor was so bad it was distracting me from pushing effectively. It felt like I could feel the baby pushing on my spine as he was moving down. I can’t imagine how bad the pain would be if I wasn’t in the water. They said they could give me a sterile water injection in my back. The injection was super painful (like the worst bee sting ever), but it did help with the pain.
Isaac came soon after they gave me the injection. Since they didn’t make me hold my breath during pushing I was much louder this time pushing him out. Jake said it was a good thing they were closed because I screamed so loud. I don’t really know how long I pushed for, but I’m guessing I pushed for a little over an hour. At 6:59pm, Isaac Lee Aase was born weighing 9 lbs. 1 oz. and 21 3/4 inches long. My water sack never broke, so Isaac was born in his sack of water. I guess it’s a very rare thing to be born like this and our midwife (jokingly) said that babies who are born this way legend says that they will become a great leader, or chief. So Isaac’s nickname is “chief.” 🙂 He also came out with his hand by his face just like his brother did.
getting weighed 9 lbs. 1 oz.
Isaac Lee Aase, our blondie
They brought him immediately to my chest. This was so precious, it was so neat to hold and see my son right away. With Graham, they took him away and cleaned him up and did measurements etc. immediately after birth.
I delivered the placenta and then they got us cleaned up and to our bed. Unlike with Graham I felt so much better after birth: my face and eyes weren’t swollen from straining and just my energy in general was better. By the time things settled down it was almost 9pm so Jacob ran to Jimmy John’s (one of the few places still open) for dinner for us. At the birth center you must bring your own food. We didn’t sleep a ton that night between nursing and just the adrenaline of just giving birth.
Graham got to meet his brother the next morning. As predicted, he was more interested in the room. He did say that the baby’s hair was soft.
First Family Picture
We spent two nights at the birth center to make sure we got a good start to breastfeeding. I’m so thankful I could give birth there. Everyone was so helpful and it was such a wonderful experience.
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