Water Birth and My Birth Plan - Birth Story Snippet
"Water birth" wasn't written into my birth plan with my son. I knew I wanted to labor in the tub, like I did with my daughter, but I planned to push and deliver my babe in the hospital bed. I had that plan simply because it worked the first time around. I labored in the tub with my daughter, got out to have her heartbeat checked, and then the idea of getting back into the water seemed unbearable. Actually, it was the act of walking across the hospital room and crawling back into the tub that seemed pretty insurmountable. So my daughter was born in a hospital bed.
Things went a little more quickly with my son and I found myself 9cm dilated when we returned to the hospital after laboring at home. I immediately got into the tub and my incredible midwife calmly, so calmly, asked if I wanted to deliver my baby in the tub. It panicked me a little bit and I said, "I don't know. I don't know. I didn't plan to." Still super calm, my midwife touched my arm and told me I didn't need to decide just then.
A short time later, I couldn't tell you exactly how long, I felt the urge to push. My midwife checked to see if I was at 10cm and she instead found my baby's head was right there.
The "birth story snippet" version is, with a few pushes my son was born in the birthing tub. An unplanned water birth. Sharing that snippet has me right back in my mind to that moment, of having my babe on my chest after I pulled him up from the water. It was so so incredible. Peaceful and calm, yet intense.
(Now of course, I have all of the details and so much more written in The Birth Journal. Here on the blog I share snippets of my birth stories and those of other #birthjournalmamas in the hopes the stories inspire. Birth stories were one of my main sources of inspiration and confidence that I could in fact birth a baby. If you'd like to share a snippet of your birth story, I'd love to hear from you!)