Owen’s Birth Story

I was four days past my due date and feeling so impatient and done with pregnancy! On Tuesday the 11th, I went to the midwife appointment I didn’t think I’d need (due to having the baby already) and got a stretch & sweep around 1:45pm. Gaelyn said she thought things were pretty ready to go but didn’t tell me any numbers (later I found out I was 3cm and fully effaced at that point). I went home and felt completely fine— just chilling with dad on the patio.

Then around 3:50 I got a contraction, and then another one, and then a whole bunch more. I woke Adam up from his nap at 4pm as usual and dad started making dinner. Worked through a few contractions by making a game with Adam about picking up mountain ash berries and slamming them into the garbage bag. Then Tom got home from work and took a shower, but things were really picking up by then.

I texted Megan (Wagner, the doula) at 4:50 to come over and help me gauge the situation, but after calling Megan (Dusterhoft, the midwife) after that it seemed clear we should go in to the hospital pretty soon. I bolted down some of dad’s dinner and tearfully hugged Adam goodbye. When Megan W arrived we pretty much left right away.

We got to the hospital around 5:40 and checked in. I got to ride in a wheelchair to the maternity floor and Megan W pressed my head during some contractions in the hallway, it really helped. We got into an assessment room and my water broke during a contraction in the bathroom while I was changing into the gown. Heather, a midwife from another team arrived and Megan D shortly after.

I was on my hands and knees on the bed in the assessment room, hanging onto the frame and mashing my head into the pillow during contractions and Tom was pressing my hips together. Then some other weird bag of water came out, it felt like an intestine. After that, the pressure was on and I felt like I should push but was hesitating because it hurt so bad when he crowned. But I could hear voices saying to ease him down and when to push hard so I tried my best. I think it was 5 or 6 contractions of really hard pushing, and then he was out!

Owen Thompson Rhodes, 9lbs and 20.5 inches long!

It’s a bit of a blur, I don’t think he cried right away. They put him on me and dried him off and we stayed like that a while. My tummy felt so floppy and terrible. After a while we went into an actual labour & delivery room so Megan D could stitch me up. It was still a second degree tear but mostly internal and not so far down. I had to be able to pee before we could go home, but I couldn’t sit or stand without feeling so dizzy or nauseous. I tried and failed a lot of times; then after eating and drinking I made it to the wheelchair but then fainted. So we did a catheter instead and decided I should stay overnight.

Tom and I were in a shared room but it was okay because I didn’t really expect to sleep much. He stayed awake with Owen so I did manage a couple hours. The next day I scarfed down the hospital-issued breakfast because I knew that eating would make me feel better. Last time I didn’t touch any food for so long because I was scared to poop! Not this time; I ate everything in sight. We managed to get home around noon and Tom pretty much went straight to bed after being awake for thirty hours! Megan D came by to check up on us at 1:30.

Recovery was easy this time— such a relief after worrying about it for nine months. Owen’s birth was fast and intense yet because of the support, gentle and beautiful. Thanks to the midwife/doula combo, I walked through the fire and didn’t get burned. I’m so happy.