Baby Winslow

On the night before my birthday, June 29th, I had contractions from 2am-7am. Then they died off. They were very mellow and about 10 minutes apart consistently. The next day and night were normal and then on the night of June 30th into the morning of July 1st I had the same thing happen. I figured just prodromal labor as I was just 38 weeks.

That night Seth and I went to go watch the USA World Cup game downtown and as we were leaving the house I had a big contraction that ended with my water trickling out. I texted Dawn to let her know and she said I’d probably go into labor that night! We still went out for dinner and ran into some friends, hung out for a bit and headed home. We got in bed around 10:30, and I started having contractions at 11pm. They picked up fairly quickly, and by 4am they were 3-4 minutes apart.

We texted the midwife to let her know and just kept chugging along. At 5:30am they seemed on top of each other so we called Dawn to come. She checked me at 7am, I was 3cm dilated and my cervix was really thin and she could feel my baby’s head was low. She was impressed and encouraged! We labored all day, changing from bed, to shower, to ball, to a spot in the living room that just seemed to work best. Seth provided counter pressure every single contraction, it was a game changer. I had some random gushes of my water breaking as her head changed position and moved lower. At one point I got propped up on all fours in bed and was so comfortable I could catch a couple minutes of sleep between contractions. That gave me the energy I needed for that final push.

Around 3pm we started dancing in the living room, doing big marching movements and deep squats with duck walks. That’s when things really turned on, contractions came 2-3 minutes apart and I entered transition with some very violent vomiting. The tub was filled and I got in which felt amazing! Transition was the hardest part. Contractions back to back that seemed to last forever, more violet vomiting, and just general level 10 discomfort. Dawn checked me in the tub and said I had just a tiny bit of my cervix that needed to finish dilating and if I could sit on the toilet. I did and that one massive contraction did the trick. I started really baring down and the urge to push was unreal.

I got back in the tub and started pushing, first on my knees then sat down with my back to the tub and held my knees while Seth and Dawn each held a foot. Each wave came and I was able to get 3 or 4 big pushes in. It was shocking to feel that much pressure and power that my body was taking over to get my baby out! It was a relief to push and I could feel the progress being made. As she crowned I felt my tissue stretch around her head and make way. I pushed for about 30 minutes total.

Once her head was out I looked at Dawn and she said “on the next contraction you’re going to push your baby out” I couldn’t believe it. I was about to meet my daughter. I had a couple minutes to rest and the next wave came on, I gave it everything I had and pushed my baby out and pulled her up onto my chest. She cried immediately! I felt immediate shock and awe and couldn’t believe what I’d just done. I stayed in the tub and birthed the placenta about 10 minutes later which came with a tiny contraction and a small push. The absolute dreamiest home birth! Winslow McCall - 7lbs 20 inches long. We are so in love!