My favorite part, though, was the time I got with my child immediately after his birth; it was amazing!! And the postpartum care is unmatched!

Baby Caleb

Well, my birth story wasn’t quite as easy as I’d hoped it would be since my little man decided to stay head down but turned posterior the final couple of days. But all in all it was a great experience!!

I had some signs labor was coming when getting ready for bed, but made the mistake of being too excited to sleep. At 5 AM when contractions were three minutes apart I text Marianne to head my way and she got here at 6:15 AM. She checked me and said I was 5cm dilated so I probably had a good four to five hours left before I hit 10cm. Then my water broke from the contractions intensifying. She gave me some exercises to try in my pool in order to get my little boy to turn back from being posterior. When Rachel got here a few minutes later they left to get breakfast. I made it about an hour and a half and told my boyfriend, “you’d better text them because something is not right.”

They came right back to check on me and sure enough I was already 10cm. They were surprised it was so fast and said it was time to push if I wanted to. I got in the tub at that point but was having no luck since pushing is actually harder than it seems, especially for people who workout like me. I’m used to keeping my core and glutes tight and I tend to do it out of habit, but with pushing you have to keep all those muscles loose and then just push through your butt like you’re trying to poop. 

So I went a couple of rounds from the pool, to the squat stand, to the couch, to my bed and after a couple of hours they asked about going to the hospital. I said that I did not want to go. So another hour or so goes by and my baby has still only moved down a tiny bit. They asked about the hospital again and I said ‘no way,’ even though at this point my contractions were dying down from being so exhausted. 

Rachel and Marianne had been trying every trick in the book to get him to progress. Rachel saved the day with a breast pump, which intensified and lengthened contractions, allowing me to push more. We still weren’t making much progress, however. After only a smidgen of movement from my baby my midwives asked about going to the hospital again and I said “no way, because I know at this point I’d either have him in the car or the hospital will insist on a c-section and I’m not doing either.” 

Rachel and Marianne thought maybe my full bladder could be the last thing holding him back so after being straight cathed I pushed and screamed like hell through the next three contractions. Finally my son made his appearance to the world!

Even with it being more difficult than I expected, I’d still do it all over again in a heartbeat. The bond I created with Marianne over the course of the year was great. Being in control of exactly who I had at my birth, knowing everyone, and being in control of what I wanted was amazing. Having someone in charge who took all of my feelings and desires into account was perfect. 

My favorite part, though, was the time I got with my child immediately after his birth; it was amazing!! And the postpartum care is unmatched! Marianne not only came back on day 1, day 3, week 1, week 3, and week 6, but also was available to answer my many questions via text all throughout the pregnancy and postpartum until 12 to 16 weeks and still keeps in touch now nine months later!

— Shannon