We ended part 1 as we arrived to the hospital in active labor, and my utter misconception of what that would look like. If you missed it please be sure to listen to 193 before tuning into this episode. If you don't, I'll just make clear again that this is MY STORY and no one elses. Please refrain from making it any more or less than it is.

With that, let's continue!

UNMEDICATED LABOR (in hospital)

In triage we discovered baby was posterior and his head was tilted. This was one of my greatest fears, if not my greatest fear. I knew that posterior babies often lead to back labor and that was something that I didn’t think I could handle in an unmedicated setting.

For context, my baby had been in perfect LOA position for five weeks leading up to labor. I had been feeling contractions in my sacrum and having pressure in my rectum. But I wasn’t having low back pain like people talked about. So I was grateful to keep progressing as is.

Once we knew his position, the objective was to get baby in a better position, and to drop lower because he was having a hard time entering the pelvis. We did a check when I got into the room and I was at 5 1/2 cm but the baby was still at a -3 or two meaning had barely entered the pelvis. And I was 90% effaced. Aka solid dilation and cervix nearly completely thinned but baby had not dropped.

The staff was AMAZING. We did inversions, side lying hip release (my right side was SO TIGHT my leg almost didn’t drop at ALL when I let my right leg relax - pulling babes head in that direction), forward leaning hip circles, hip and belly releases/vibrations, prone and supine positions. One of the nurses said she’d never seen such an active labor in all her years of nursing. The level of activity was also noted in my chart summary - which I had to read through to get this timeline straight in preparation for this podcast. Because in labor, time is a BLUR.

During contractions I’d tuck my hips underneath me, lifting the belly. This felt HORRIBLY uncomfortable. Not painful but so uncomfortable.

Contractions began to feel much more anterior vs sacral/back. WINNING.

I and the medical staff thought for sure we were going to meet bebe boy on 11/22/22 - we even talked about how cool of a birthday it would be…but he had other plans.

I labored HARD from 5pm - 10:00pm to gain 1.5cm (5 or 6 to 7-8cm).

When I hit 7cm, there was a shift in my demeanor and mindset needs. I put in my Christian hypnobirthing sound tracks and let labor take over. I went with my body. And it was one of the most intense spiritual experiences I imagine exists…for the next three to four hours.

During this time, I was in nearly every labor position you can think of. Rocking on all fours, diagonal lunges, deep squats, birthing ball and peanut ball both used, leaning forward on the back of the toilet.

Again, it was the most primal thing I’ve ever done. The sounds, the swaying, the breathing, the relying on wisdom of other women who have gone before me.

* Another fear I found around labor in prepping for it was the fear of just how vulnerable I would be and feel if I went all in. And being okay with that. Being okay with whatever sounds, movements, thoughts, needs came up. That might sound silly but for someone as unemotional and analytical as I am, it was a big deal.