Charlie’s Birth Story

On June 2, I hit 40 weeks. I was lazy and didn’t take a belly picture that evening. Oops! Baby Charlie was born less than 24 hours later. Today, the little dude is a day shy of two weeks old. To celebrate the milestone, I’m sharing his birth story.

If you’re not interested in this sort of thing, sorry! I’m sharing a shelving project later this week. Come back then?

First, I’ll briefly explain my prenatal care. Instead of the traditional ob/gyn hospital-based practice, we opted for a more crunchy approach with care from a birth center. The Women’s Birth and Wellness Center, based in Chapel Hill, was our nearest option. The Birth Center only does natural births attended by midwives. We absolutely loved it.

I had my 40 week checkup on Monday. The midwife said I was dilated 3 cm and 75% effaced. Quite a shock! I hadn’t experienced any real contractions, only mild cramping over the weekend.

At work that afternoon, I had a serious nesting urge. I need to take home my plants. I need to dust my office. I have to turn in my May timesheets. I should bring my computer home just in case I don’t feel well tomorrow.

That night, Ryan and I had planned to go to Que, a new barbecue place in Durham. I felt bloated and tired, so we stayed in. Little did I know we would miss our last pre-baby date night!

I woke up around 2 a.m. to pee (typical). I laid in bed for a few minutes and felt cramps. Nothing serious, but nothing I wanted to go to work with, so I emailed my boss that I wouldn’t be in.

I listened to a relaxing track from our Hypnobabies class, and when I didn’t fall asleep through it, I realized the pressure wasn’t fading. I downloaded a contraction timer on my phone. One minute long, every nine minutes. At 5 a.m., it was every seven minutes. I woke Ryan (he’d exiled himself to the guest room since my tossing and turning kept him awake): Hey, just wanted to let you know, I’m in labor. “MMmm,” he sleepily replied.

The Birth Center has a policy that surprises people: The midwives want most of the laboring done at home. The idea is that a woman is most relaxed on her own turf, and they don’t want her to come in and fizzle out. They ask patients to wait for contractions to be one minute long and four minutes apart for an hour before calling. So, serious business.

By 7 a.m., contractions were coming every 4-5 minutes. Ryan wanted to call the Birth Center, but I waved him off. My water hasn’t even broken yet! I gave in and we called half an hour later.

Worst. Car Ride. Ever. It was rush hour, but luckily, traffic was smooth. But my goodness. It’s hard to describe. I didn’t blackout, but I think a whiteout would be accurate. I was in my own la la land.

At the Birth Center a bit after 8 a.m., the midwife on call checked me. I was dilated 8 cm. No wonder I could barely focus on what was happening around me – that was FAST.

The contractions were tough. Intense.

Settling in at the Birth Center, the nurse ran a bath for me and I labored in the tub. The midwife and the nurse were calm and reassuring. They left us to do our thing, checking in every 30-45 minutes (I think? Time means nothing when you’re in labor) to monitor Charlie’s heartbeat.

My poor husband. He was such a champ. He was by my side the whole time, letting me squeeze his hand when I needed to. But otherwise, there was just nothing he could do. Later, I asked him if he felt helpless, but he didn’t. I could tell you were in the zone and had it under control. And it’s true. Animal instincts completely took over my body.

At 11 a.m., my water broke. I felt a pop inside me and vernix started floating in the tub. I felt natural urges to push, and went with it. Pushing is SO MUCH BETTER than contractions. It hurt like hell, but I was in control. I could catch my breath and work at my pace.

However, I suppose my pace wasn’t as swift as the midwife and nurse wanted, because they suggested I get out of the tub and move around. Hells to the no. There was no way they were getting me out of that tub. I buckled down and really started to push. I hadn’t expected to have a water birth, but it felt right, so that’s where I stayed.

At 12:17 p.m., Charlie was born. Ryan, with some guidance from the midwife, helped deliver his head. Two pushes later, he was totally out. And just like pushing was easier than contractions, delivering the body was a piece of cake compared to head. Our little man was 21 inches long and weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces.

Charlie went straight to my chest while the umbilical cord stopped pulsing and I delivered the placenta (again, it all gets easier after contractions). After they cleaned me up, I headed to the bed (a queen mattress so we could rest as a family!) and got a few stitches (nothing serious, but a tiny tear wouldn’t stop bleeding). We started breastfeeding right away with some good coaching from the nurse.

Just a couple of hours after he was born, all plump and soft.

At 5 p.m., we were ready to go! We were held up another hour because blood labs were running behind at UNC Health Care, but managed to get home by 7 p.m. In and out in fewer than 12 hours. Can’t complain about that!

Now – photo overload time!

He’s breastfeeding like a champ. He eats a lot, but I don’t mind. As long as he’s eating and gaining weight, I’m happy!

As for sleeping, 80% of the time, it’s easy. We’re cosleeping, which terrified us the first couple of nights, but we’re totally used to it now. I sleep on my side with him nuzzled against me. Waking up to him fidgeting around is so much more pleasant than waking to crying. He sleeps in three to four hour stretches, which is awesome for us!

It’s probably (definitely) the happy hormones talking, but I can’t wait for baby #2!

PS: if anyone wants to talk about a birth center experience, having a natural, unmedicated birth, water birth, cosleeping or exclusively breastfeeding, feel free to reach out! I’m happy to give more details on what it was and is like for us.