Calm and focused on her breathing through the contractions, Scarlett gave birth to her fourth baby in the birth pool as she wished for. She knew how to listen and trust her body and let it do what it needed to do to get her baby into the world.
"September 1st (my due date), I woke up with some pretty intense contractions along with some bloody show when I went to the bathroom. My contractions weren’t super close together, but I have a history of fast labors, so I didn’t want to take the chance since the birth center was an hour away from my house. I immediately woke my mom up, who was staying with us and told my husband that I was definitely in labor. We packed up and headed to the birth center and on the way there, my contractions basically almost stopped. I had never experienced this before, so I was not sure what to even think at this point.
When we got to the birth center, my midwife did a vaginal exam and told me I was only 1 cm dilated. We decided to just go for a walk around Atlanta, and grab some lunch. I continued having contractions, and I was just hoping that I was dilating more. After we did that for a while I figured we’d just go home and rest. I literally bounced on my birth ball for a while, ate dinner (my husband made Tacos), and sat around talking with my family. That evening, the contractions started again…they got SUPER intense. I could still talk through them, and they still weren’t really close together but they were intense enough to know that I was getting closer to meet my baby.
We rushed back to the birth center and when we got there the midwife was with another patient. I sat on the bed with my hypnobirthing playlist, trying to stay calm, focusing and breathing. She finally finished up with the other woman and let me come into the triage room to perform a second vaginal exam. She checked me and I was 8 cm dilated! I had planned on a water birth, so she had to fill the birth pool pretty quickly. I attempted to get in the shower while the birth pool was filling up but by this point, my contractions were very strong, so I declined the shower while I was waiting for the pool to be done.
The pool was finally filled up, we turned on my worship music and I got in the water. After being in for about 30 mins, I could tell it was the time to push. The urge to push was so strong. I got too hot, so my midwife and my husband put cold washcloths on me. For a minute, I was struggling to find the right position to push in because of the buoyancy of the water. I felt like I was floating. I finally leaned up against the side of the birth pool and I pushed only twice when my water broke in the water, and the next push, he was out! I remember them handing my baby to me and saying “he has black hair!” He’s my only black hair baby. We waited until the cord stopped pulsing, my husband cut the cord, and then they handed my son to him to do skin to skin. In the meantime, I got out of the birth pool, so I could birth the placenta. My midwife also gave me a “tour” of my placenta, which was so cool. I did have a small tear, so she repaired it and gave me a shot of Pitocin to help the uterus contract because I was bleeding a bit more than normal.
" My midwife also gave me a "tour" of my placenta."
Scarlett in the birth pool with her sweet newborn.
When I first arrived at the birth center, She could choose the room I wanted to settle in, and I chose "FIRE". One of the signs on the wall said “Some women fear the fire, some women simply become it.”
" Some women fear the fire, some women simply become it."
This was my 3rd unmedicated birth. The birth high that you feel after a natural birth is so wild, but this one in particular was truly amazing. Having him in the water and our whole experience after, was more than I could have hoped for. I listened to my body and let it do exactly what it needed to do to get our sweet baby here. We got to the birth center at 8:45 PM, and he was born at 11:01 PM, on his due date! Only 3% of babies are born on their actual due date. Just like my other babies, he was born quickly! He was perfect and healthy, and I was so happy that I got to have a water birth. We got home at 4:30 AM that morning. We only had to stay at the birth center for 5.5 hours after he was born. I’ve had 4 babies and all 4 births were so different and unique. I’ve learned to trust my body, and to embrace birth instead of fearing it. I’m proud of what my body has done, and I’m proud of my experiences."
- Scarlett