My Birth Story: Part One (three weeks later)

Little Lo is 3 weeks old today and it’s insane how much January 18 was a day of birth for both of us. During my pregnancy, I took moments of mourning to honor the end of my maiden era. Becoming a mother has transformed me physically, mentally and most of all- spiritually.
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There is no love like the one that springs from true love. I am so grateful and so blessed to have Jeff as my husband, my best friend for life and the father of our baby girl.
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I fell in love with her a little more each day she grew inside my womb and now that she is earth side, my love grows exponentially.
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Throughout pregnancy, we planned to have a holistic, natural water birth. My pregnancy went 42 weeks and 1 day (15 days past her due date) and just as I was about to enter “high risk” territory of pregnancy, my water broke. We went to the birth center where I endured natural labor for 27 hours straight. This time redefined my pain tolerance and honestly changed me as a person. After 27 hours, I had only dilated 3.5 cm…it was time to call it and head to the hospital. The second I arrived I asked for an epidural and pain meds- things I was desperately trying to avoid but I met my threshold for pain. 19 more hours of labor and once I was 10cm dilated, after 46 hours of labor and positioning to get her in the perfect spot to be birthed, we pushed and pushed and pushed until the midwives told me: “we are trying to fit a square through a circle here, at this point we suggest c-section but it’s up to you.” I told them I wanted to try pushing 1 more time, then I agreed that surgery might be the only way to get her out. The pain I endured, the pressure I physically felt and the exhaustion of pushing as hard as I could…it was time to go under the knife. I was terrified but trying to be brave, crying a little bit and making jokes with the surgeons to ease my nerves…10 minutes into the operation she was out, 30 minutes later I was being rolled out and given my brand new baby girl.
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After 46 hours of laboring in water, doing positions to get her in the right spot, transferring to the hospital, doing more labor positions and pushing harder than I knew I had strength for….

There she was. 8.8 lbs, 21 inches and completely perfect && suddenly it didn’t matter how she came into the world. My whole universe changed and was redefined by this sweet little angel I had been bestowed. As much as I pride myself for being all natural, holistic and in tune with my body…I made the right calls to bring my baby safely in to the world and I accept the power of knowing I AM the only one who can make those calls as a mother. I gained so much power in accepting my birth plan going right out the window and embracing each challenge with my family in mind and zen in my soul. I’ll be sharing more tidbits from my birth journey over on @sertoma.wellness : check it out for holistic health, yoga, reiki and of course all things pregnancy, birth and postpartum 💛