I want to start off by saying Nick and I prayed very specific prayers for Miles’ birth and God answered them all in His perfect way. I genuinely could not ask for a more positive birth story and want to give all the glory to Jesus! It was so cool to see Him care about all the little details. And now for the details.
Early Labor
I was awoken at 5:45 am on 11/27/23 to my water breaking (water breaking feels like an understatement because it was more like a movie-esc giant gushing waterfall coming out of me). I jumped out of bed and said, “Nick, I think my water broke!” To which he (also awake) replied, “I know, I heard it.” Nick excitedly called our midwife only to be told to go back to sleep and ignore contractions as long as possible. Lol. So we got back in bed and tried to sleep until around 7, but got bored of bed.
My contractions didn’t start until 8:30 am but were very ignorable and pretty far apart. Nick was VERY attentive and wanted to give me all his attention. I, however, was in the “pretend nothing happened and do normal life” mode and felt smothered. So Nick did some work and I cleaned out the fridge, swept the entire house, cleaned the bathroom, you know, all the “I’m in labor” things. I decided to bake cookies at 10:30ish to distract myself. I didn’t make it very far into the process because my contractions were feeling intense and much closer together. We called my doula (aka mom) to come over for support and also to bring me diapers (lol) because I was leaking water every contraction and pads were not cutting it.
Contractions
My mom was over by 11 am and we decided we should start timing contractions. We timed them for an hour and called the midwife again to let her know my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart lasting 50-60 seconds. I told her I felt like I could still talk during them though, so she said just stay home and “keep doing what you’re doing”. Meh.
I tried to turn on Pitch Perfect (my guilty pleasure fav movie) because I was saving it to watch during labor. It really wasn’t the vibe at all (shocking I know). So we played some worship music instead. Nick gave me counter pressure (he’s the best ever) while I leaned on my birth ball. I actually (surprisingly) didn’t love it and preferred no touching. I tried lunging on the stairs during contractions (I’d heard good things about stair labor) but didn’t love the lunges. So I ended up just laboring on my hands and knees on the stairs.
I had to pee so I made my way upstairs to the bathroom and sat on the toilet for a couple contractions. Then I moved to my hands and knees in the hall and crawled to my room (I guess I just liked the change of scenery haha). THEN I made a deep grunty noise. My mom exchanged glances with Nick (yes I was aware) and asked “was that a push?” To which I replied, “I think so.” Nick quickly called the midwife again and she said “it’s time!” So me with my shorts and sports bra put on my boots with the fur and winter coat and headed to the hospital.
Go Time
I sat backwards on my knees in the passenger seat and gripped the headrest through contractions. I was doing my best not to add “delivery nurse” to Nick’s list of experience on LinkedIn. When we made it to the hospital we parked right in front of the door (not allowed) and walked (I waddled) inside to Triage. Before checking in I had a contraction (just to prove to them I was in labor) and they said “no triage for you!” They wheeled me to the delivery room and checked me (just in case) – I was a 10. It was very reassuring to know my pain hadn’t been in vain, and so exciting to push.
They monitored me with a little portable monitor (not comfy) and were concerned with Miles’ low heart rate – 70 bpm. They wanted it to at least be above 90 bpm, and quickly talked of an episiotomy or forceps, both things we didn’t want. Nick and my mom started praying and literally the second they did his heart rate increased – 80, 85, 90 100, 110. It never dipped lower than 90 bpm for the rest of labor. They still wanted him out pretty quick just as a precaution, so I was pushing with literally all my might. Nick told me later, “I had no idea you had so many veins in your body” lol. This was probably the most negative part of my positive birth story, but Jesus turned it around very quick.
I pushed laying on my back holding my knees back (the last position I planned on liking). But after about 25 minutes of pushing HE WAS HERE! They put him on my chest and he cried right away (which we love). Nick started singing “It is well” and when he did Miles stopped crying and just looked at him. It was precious. Now, whenever Miles cries that’s the song he’s soothed by.
Details
Back to my positive birth story. I was worried about birthing the placenta because I’d heard crazy stories about it being hard to birth, but it came out in half a push. Praise. I did tear pushing Miles out (in 5 spots to be exact). So, they spent AN HOUR stitching me up while I did skin to skin with Miles. Not ideal, but worth it. We were almost to baby bliss when I decided I was ready for a shower. My body rejected getting out of bed, so I passed out. Twice. And then once more later getting up to go to the bathroom. I finally submitted and stayed in bed until the next day. And then we went home around dinner time and there you have it. The positive birth story of Miles Dean Bontrager – my all time favorite story.
I would LOVE to hear YOUR birth story! Tell me all about it in the comments, or at least your fav part! Click here to see some of the prep I did to prepare both mentally and physically for birth.
