Planned Birth Center Birth {Becomes} Unassisted Birth in a Van

On Tuesday, June 12, 2012 I woke up with contractions and I was not able to sleep through them any more. It is 6:45 am. I kept thinking it’s just my body faking me out as usual. So I ignored the contractions for awhile. Robert gets up and makes breakfast. I was too nervous to eat more than a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. Thank goodness the kids were with my in laws for the day.

By 2 pm, the contractions have moved to 4 minutes apart on average and 1 minute long. Time to call the midwife? Maybe? So I did. She told me to come in just to see if I have progressed. The day before at my appointment I was 3 cm dilated with a paper thin cervix at 40 weeks pregnant.

The car ride over was evil. Contractions every 4 minutes and a bumpy 45 minute drive = Ow. Robert, once again, is a saint as I complain through the ride over. The contracts are more intense. I get to the birth center and Kathleen meets us there shortly. She checked me and I am still just 3 stinkin’ centimeters dilated. I was about to cry. The contracts are hurting to the point where I couldn’t walk or talk through them, but STILL just 3 cm? Kathleen, sensing my frustration, suggested that I take a nice warm bath at the birth center first and then see what happens. A nice warm bath relaxed me. I loved it. Robert sat with me in the room talking to me and holding my hand through the contractions  But after an hour there was still no change. Kathleen suggested we go have some supper or go walking. At this point it was 4:30 pm. The contractions were not going to let me sit through a dinner or anything. Is she nuts? LOL (She’s not). So we left the birth center and I turned to Robert and said “I can’t drive home to Greenville or walk around. What if I don’t get back in time?” So we made the decision to stay in McKinney over night in a hotel just across the highway from the birth center.

We checked in at around 5 pm and my contractions were intensifying  I figured that since I was at 3 cm earlier that I am not really progressing. Ha! Little did I know! For the next 6 hours I endured super, super intense contractions. Robert was my absolute rock. He kept me focused. He let me squeeze his hand to death, dig my nails into this shoulders as we walked in our hotel room through contractions. And he praying with me and for me. The Lore has truly blessed me with my husband. finally at about 10 pm I decided to take a shower. Contractions are now a minute and a half apart and lasting almost 2 minutes. Painful. But the shower helped. As soon as I was coming out of the shower I had on HUGE contraction where I felt the baby turn and drop into my pelvis. I got nauseous. I started sweating. My ears began to ring. I felt dizzy. I knew this was it. I was in transition and she was coming. NOW!

I told Robert “I need to push NOW.” He said “Oh no, you are NOT birthing in the hotel!” We were moving quickly to get me to the van and drive to the birth center.

We got in the van and I was kneeling in the back yelling for the pressure of my body pushing. The hotel was exactly 2 minutes from the birth center. Robert had called Kathleen earlier when I said I was nauseated, so she was meeting us there. Robert started the van. I had a mega contraction and my water broke just as he pulled up to the stop light. There was no stopping the baby at this point. I HAD to push. I am thinking “Lord God, I need You. Help me!” It was coming whether I wanted to to or not. I told Robert “I am having the baby!!! Her head is out NOW!” He’s like “No, no, no! Wait! We’re almost there!”

I am trying to hold her head in with my hand. It’s not happening. Out comes her head into my hand. My body just pushed the rest of her out and I let it. I catch my own baby, in our van, just as Robert was pulling into the Birth Center parking lot. I had just birthed my own baby unassisted in the van. 🙂 Woo! What a feeling!

I started apologizing to Robert for having the baby in the van. He looks at me after he parks and said, “Woman, ain’t no need for that. Loot at what you just accomplished.” He’s right. Wow. What and accomplishment! The Lord is so good! Look at how amazing He designed my body and every woman’s body! I was able to birth a baby and do it on instinct. 🙂

So that is basically it. Kathleen pulled in minutes later and saw I had the baby in the van. She was proud of me too. We headed into the birth center where I received wonderful after care and an herbal bath. We left 3 hours later to come home after Sarah and I were given a clean bill of health. What an amazing birth that I will never forget

SARAH ELIZABETH ONEY- 8 lbs 4 oz, 20 1/2 inches long. Born into her Momma’s arms in our van at 11 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Praise the Lord 🙂