Birth Story
I’d like to share my birth story. I’ve written about my first and second births in another online community for pregnant women, and it was really helpful to reread my own experiences before giving birth to my third baby. I also always appreciate reading other women’s stories.
On Sunday, April 5th, I gave birth to a baby girl at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. First of all, I’m incredibly thankful to all the medical staff there. They were respectful of my wishes, very attentive and kind. The midwives and nurses were amazing, so energetic, with such positive vibes. I’m not sure if it’s the whole birth experience and hormones that made me feel that way, or if they’re just truly wonderful people, probably both.
I started feeling painful contractions on Friday night and couldn’t sleep at all. I had to wake up for each contraction. At first, I tried to time them, but they were about 10 minutes apart. Throughout Saturday, the contractions continued. I had to breathe through them and really focus, but they never became regular enough to go to the hospital. So I stayed active, I walked on the beach, cleaned the house, vacuumed everything, and got ready for the baby’s arrival.
By Saturday night, the contractions became stronger, but still not quite intense enough to go in, until around 1 a.m. on Sunday. At that point, I couldn’t walk through the contractions anymore. They were about 40 seconds long and 5 minutes apart. My OB-GYN had said they weren’t long enough yet, but I decided to go anyway. When I arrived, I was already 6 cm dilated.
Initially, I didn’t want any cervical checks because I remembered from my first delivery how painful it was when they checked during a contraction. But this time, the nurse checked between contractions, and it was completely fine.
My husband went back home to stay with our kids, and I went to the delivery room. I spent most of the time in the bath, lying in the water and trying to relax. Being in the hot water was actually really helpful, it allowed my muscles to fully relax, and it felt very comfortable.
By 7 a.m., I had only progressed to 7 cm. That meant just 1 cm of progress after 6 hours of very painful contractions. At that point, I decided to get an epidural, even though that wasn’t my original plan. I hadn’t had one with my first two babies and wanted to avoid it this time as well.
They started IV fluids, which took about 30–40 minutes, and then we waited for the anesthesiologist. By 8 a.m., the epidural started working and I was at 8 cm dilation, and I was finally able to relax and sleep. I slept for a little over an hour.
Then the nurses woke me up and said it was time to push. My husband arrived just in time before pushing started. He stayed quietly in the corner, close, but not too close.
I pushed for about 15 minutes, and our baby girl arrived, no tearing, no swelling, and just like that, a new life began.
I was also worried about pushing with an epidural. The midwife pressed her fingers on the area where I was supposed to push, and the nurse kept her hand on the upper part of my uterus, helping guide the contractions. They really guided me through it. I remembered from my previous birth experiences how to push, and I think that helped a lot. Still, it felt like the trickiest part, because you don’t have that same intense urge to push that usually guides you, it’s more about following the pressure, their guidance, and the idea of pushing. It worked well in the end, but I think if it had been my first deliver with an epidural, it probably would have taken much longer than 15 minutes.
Another thing I noticed is how much faster recovery has been after my third baby. The healing process felt much quicker, by the second day, I had already switched from pads to liners. The postpartum contractions were quite painful, especially during breastfeeding, but it felt like my body was doing exactly what it needed to do. My milk came in on the second day as well.
Now, on day six, I almost feel like I was never pregnant, it’s surreal. Somehow, I just have a baby.
Overall, it was a very positive experience, and I hope sharing this might be helpful to someone else.