September Reflections

With September, comes my reminiscing of my 2nd's birth.

​I woke up on my “guess date” with my second on September 2nd 2013 with no sign of labor. I had been having Braxton Hicks (BH) on and off that week, but nothing continued. I called a dear friend of mine to meet me at the local track to go walking. After all this is what helped kick start labor on my due date with my second. So why not give it a go again? My, at the time, 4 year old son ran ahead and was squashing lantern flies (yes, remember that year?) and we walked and talked about life. After a little while, cramping started and maintained so I decided to go home and rest. After getting into the bathroom, I lost a TON of my mucus plug (there was no denying or questioning). I rested a bit, cleaned, prepared, and hoped that labor would come. My husband came home from work and contractions were steady. Enough to feel, but nothing intense. I called my midwives to fill them in and decided to go in since it was an hour drive. Contractions continued very steadily, but again, nothing too intense. My midwife met me at the door and we went in where I chose to be checked. I was about 3cm at 3PM and after nothing was changing or moving into active labor by 5:30/6, we decided to go home. Contractions intensified and continued being consistent in spacing. I rested between contractions in bed in hopes to conserve energy as I had no idea how long our night would be. I practiced breathing techniques and counting, which worked very well for me throughout contractions. I hopped in the shower to test if this was real or passing and things intensified. I hopped out and walked our hall a little while also squatting using our banister to steady myself. I called my midwife and told her that we were coming back and woke my hubby up. The ride back to the birth center was a combination of me being calm and breathing while also spurts of cursing and wondering what on earth I was doing. We got to the birth center a little past 12AM on September 3rd, 2013. We were greeted graciously by my wonderful midwife Heather and requested to be checked for dilation after we settled in. I was about 6cm, I was thrilled that I was making progress and already felt that this labor was going to be so very different than my first. My husband was incredibly supportive, my midwife and nurse were amazing in making positional suggestions and checking in if I needed anything. Things continued to vamp up and I found comfort in side-lying with a pillow between my legs- I breathed and counted. The ebb and flow of the contractions came on and drifted. Around 1:40AM I told my midwife that I did not need to push, but felt a decent amount of pressure and that I might have a bowel movement. She asked if she could do a cervical check based and I said yes. Surprise! (No, no baby yet) I had part of my amniotic sac birth (about the size of a grapefruit), which we were told was pretty rare. My birthnerd self has a picture of it and I’m in awe of how crazy it progressed and felt to this day. I was about 9cm and decided to go into the tub to relax a little before I was ready to push. As soon as my bum hit the bottom I jumped up and yelled “He’s coming! I have no control and I am pushing!” Heather reached down to check and sure enough, there was his head. My hubby and Heather assisted me to the bed where I roared my baby out on all fours. My sweet husband in front of me and my midwife and nurse behind me. They encouraged me to take my roar inward and down and after an adjustment in positions and pushing for 2 minutes (yes, 2), my baby was earthside. He decided to birth with a nuchal hand (hand on face during birth), just to make it a little more fun on mommy. I got immediate skin-to-skin and had amazing care from my midwife during immediate postpartum. All my needs and wants were met. I got a walk through of my placenta (again, birthnerd here has an amazing picture of this too) while holding my bub on my chest. It was beautiful, undisturbed, and peaceful. Within 20 minutes he was nursing like a champ and we all rested soon after. This was my healing birth and I am forever grateful to my husband and support staff who prepared me for this day and supported me along the way.  Asher Caden Nesspor was born at 2:07AM at 9LB 10OZ. Did I mention this sweet bub was our 1st reversal (AKA reversal after a vasectomy) baby? 

Here I am 4 years later and it still gets me emotional and excited. Birth is powerful like that. I encourage everyone to write down their birth story soon after baby is born so they can remember things they may otherwise forget. It can help you remember the sweetness and powerfulness of a positive birth or even help you process and grieve a negative or even traumatic birth. It's helped me after each of my children in different ways.