Fall Baby: A 1 in 80,000 Birth Story

Fall Baby

At forty-one weeks and 3 days (41+3), I had already been having irregular contractions for the 14 days prior. However, the cramping I woke to at 6 AM on that morning just felt like it was leading somewhere.

Unsure if the cramping would progress to regular contractions (or at what speed), I didn’t want to find out while driving our daughter to school.

I knew my mother-in-law would be getting ready for work and texted her to see if she would drive our oldest to school on her way to work.

With that sorted, we went about our morning as usual.

Morning At Home

• Breakfast
• Dishes
• Nourish Move Love Labor Inducing Workout
• Play-Doh
• Water the landscaping
• Walk to a neighborhood construction site
• Watch the excavator in our yard dig up and repair access to our water line

While sitting with our son at the neighborhood’s current new-build-site (awaiting the dump truck’s return with another load of fill-dirt) I texted my husband:

10:00 AM

It was just before 10 AM and my message said:

“A and I are sitting down the street waiting for the dump truck to come back.

I think you should plan on picking up E this afternoon.

So far, this is the most frequent contractions I’ve been having, so maybe today or tomorrow for this girl.”

Afternoon

My husband picked up our daughter from school while I prepared lunch for our son.

We had our usual flurry of gathering toys and preparing for our two-hour daily quiet time. I hoped to lay down and try to get some rest during quiet time as well.

After trying to rest in various positions, I realized resting was significantly less comfortable than just continuing to move.

2:00 PM

At 2:00 PM, I got up and saw a text from my mother-in-law. She was checking in to see how I was doing. In reply, I told her I was “definitely in early stages of labor.”

I shared that my contractions were 15 minutes apart or so and getting a little longer and stronger.

Quick Progression

It had taken from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM to get to regular contractions that were 15 minutes apart. With that in mind, I thought we had some time. My in-laws would not need to come hang with our kids just yet.

By 2:20 PM, my contractions suddenly changed. They went from 10-15 minutes apart to 3-5 minutes apart at regular intervals. They also started lasting longer.

Time To Go

I went to tell my husband we needed to get ready to leave for the hospital.

He messaged his boss.

He called his mom.

Meanwhile, I updated our doula.

We planned to head towards the hospital and go for a walk. We wanted to be close to the hospital while enjoying the beautiful weather.

2:50 PM

It was 2:50 PM when my mother-in-law arrived at our house.

We planned to meet our doula at the hospital around 3:45 PM to walk and see how things progressed.

3:30 PM

By 3:30 PM my husband and I were at the hospital, and we started walking laps around the parking lot.

Our doula joined us soon after and we settled into conversation.

5:00 PM

By 5 PM I suggested we take a break from walking. My contractions were longer and more intense. Still, my contractions did not seem to be much closer together or wildly difficult to walk and talk through.

I mentioned to our doula how grateful we were that she was with us. Even if we’ve just walked together and chatted for over an hour, her presence was reassuring.

Our doula affirmed that this was all good. She said she wouldn’t be surprised if when labor picked up it would move fast.

In the meantime, our doula suggested we eat dinner to ensure our energy for the evening ahead. After a quick search on the map, I said I was up for Jimmy Johns. It was less than a mile away and had outdoor seating, allowing me to continue moving around as needed.

5:15 PM

My husband, our doula, and I arrived to eat at Jimmy John’s around 5:15 pm. While eating, my contractions shifted to become more intense and more frequent. It became my sole focus to breathe through each contraction.

A Quick Transition (pun intended)

As we wrapped up our meal, my body started shaking and my chin began to quiver.

5:50 PM

We got back in the car at 5:50 PM to head back to the hospital. Contractions on the way back to the hospital were every 1-2 minutes, lasting longer, and were intense.

We returned to the hospital parking lot and – at my request – started walking again. We walked a short distance. As we walked, I shared how I remembered the uncontrollable shaking and shivering immediately after delivery but couldn’t remember having it prior to delivery with our older kids.

After walking a very short distance, we paused so I could lean on my husband through two hard contractions.

Making it through those contractions, I suggested we turn around and head up to labor and delivery.

As we stood in front of the hospital entrance, I hung on my husband through another hard contraction. During that contraction, I felt myself actively trying very hard not to push.

That couldn’t be right.

Surely it was just the pressure of my water getting ready to break.

Inside the Hospital

My husband went to the car to get our bags, and I went into the hospital lobby to use the bathroom.

In the bathroom, I experienced two more contractions – again, feeling myself trying not to push – before being capable of walking out to wash hands.

Upon walking out of the stall to wash my hands, a woman waiting for my stall asked when I was expecting. I responded with some casual humor, saying, “hopefully any minute.”

When I came out of the bathroom, my husband was back with our bags, and our doula had gone to get her bag of tricks.

I decided I wanted to wait for her before we rode the elevator up to labor and delivery. I squatted through a contraction while waiting for our doula. Then, I shared with my husband how I would be very mad if we got to labor and delivery and I wasn’t already in transition.

After all, I was experiencing what felt like the pelvic pressure I experienced right before my water broke when I was in labor with our son.

There were two more long contractions endured in a deep squat – one on the elevator (with our crew as well as a stranger) and one in the labor and delivery hallway – before I made it to the check-in desk.

Signing into Labor and Delivery

Signing into labor and delivery, I had to sign my name and timestamp the paperwork.

6:15 PM

It was 6:15 PM when the nurse signed the paperwork before handing it to me.

Bellowing through two more long back-to-back contractions, I signed the documents.

One more contraction of actively not pushing, and we followed the nurse into triage.

Good.

I just wanted to be in the triage room when my water broke.

6:25 PM

We finally entered the labor and delivery triage room around 6:25 PM. The labor and delivery nurse asked me to try to leave a urine sample and change into a hospital robe.

Sitting on the toilet, three feet away from the robe and a couple intense back-to-back contractions later, I knew two things with absolute certainty:

1. I didn’t have any urine for a sample.
2. I needed help if I was going to stand up to reach the robe, much less get the robe on.

I stood up – ready to call out for support – when I felt intense pelvic pressure and like my water would break at any moment.

Calmly (but with some shakiness), I said through the door,

“Um, guys, I don’t know what’s going on. Can I get some help?”

A labor and delivery nurse came into the bathroom. She quickly declared to her coworkers that she needed hands because,

“we have a head!”

Excuse me. What!?

Swiftly, two nurses were under me, our doula was at the door, and my husband was at my side. My husband was hugging me and crying the way he has only two other times: at the exact moments he saw our two other babies for the first time.

One of the nurses requested gloves while the other scrambled for anything soft to place under me on the floor.

There wasn’t time. Our baby girl was born from standing and en caul just seconds later.

No pushing, no pain.

Fully encased in her amniotic sac, beautifully curled up, purple and calm…then pop!

Pop!

The labor and delivery nurse smoothly broke the amniotic sac. Swiftly, our girl was turning red and vocalizing with her first healthy breaths.

From the triage bathroom, we walked as a team – my husband, our doula, and the two nurses – to the triage bed to wait for the midwife to get to the room, for the cord to stop pulsating, and for me to deliver the placenta.

As our doula texted before we all left to meet at the hospital,

“it is a great day for a baby!”

The weather was beautiful for a long walk, calm conversations, a short time in the hospital, and a healthy baby! What a wild ride with the most joyful outcome!