9:30 AM Mom calls with contx 5 minutes apart. This is her second birth with us, and she has a family history of having very quick labors. Her last birth was normal in length, not really fast, but not long either. She lives about 1 ½ hours away, so I didn’t want to wait too long. I had appointments this day, so I called and canceled them and headed out to a birth.
When I arrived I saw mom outside doing yard work, I thought, okay, this doesn’t look like a mom that is moving through labor very quickly, and I was right. The good thing is we were out in the country, so it was a nice leisurely day as we waited for labor to progress. We went to a ride into town to the little produce market and got a few groceries for dinner, (it was noon, but we know we’d be there for dinner).
7:30 PM labor finally picked up and contx were much stronger now. Mom had to work through them with a bit more effort. Still only wanting her husbands support we stayed in the front room to offer support when she needed it.
11:30 PM Mom wanted to get into the birth tub to help manage the intensity of contx. We warmed the water to about 98 degrees, and mom was very happy to finally emerge herself in water.
12:00 AM Mom continues to work through contx, still really only wanting her husbands support, but we can tell that it is getting close. The tub was in the dining room and she had a curtain set up as a privacy curtain in between the dining area and the front room. As we listen to mom’s breath, we could hear a little catch in it as she breathes through contx. This lets us know that the baby is coming down and mom will soon feel an urge to push her baby out.
1:00 AM Mom is actively pushing now. There is a little anterior cervical lip just at the top of baby’s head, as she has another contx and pushes we hold the lip back so the head can come down in front of it. Within a few minutes of pushing we see the head crowning, and mom VERY slowly and with VERY controlled pushes, gently pushes her baby’s head out. The head doesn’t rotate, so we ask her to turn over on her hands and knees, this opens the pelvic a bit more to make more room for baby to come through. This rotation opened up the way for baby to be born. Because of mom’s gentle, slow and controlled pushing she doesn’t tear, and Mom and dad welcomed their son at 1:17 AM
