Raelynn Joy was born on Friday, June 25th at 7:47am. I wanted to record her birth story so that I could share this special story with Rae someday, as well as help inform and inspire other mamas in their own labor/delivery. Birth stories are a vital part of how I prepare for labor and delivery.

I started experiencing Braxton Hick contractions around week 34. These aren’t true contractions, but rather a painless tightening of the uterus that causes the abdomen to become very hard. They are irregular and infrequent and will usually go away if you change positions. I had these with Eli’s pregnancy as well. A major difference between my first and second pregnancy was the prodromal labor I experienced this time around though. On Sunday, June 20th, I started noticing contractions that were more than just tightening. I had some discomfort and the slightest bit of pain. At one point I counted 5 contractions in 1 hour so I thought something may be happening. But that night I was able to sleep just fine and nothing ever progressed. The following days, I realized I was experiencing prodromal labor. The contractions were more close together and had some pain associated with them. These contractions are more preparatory than Braxton Hicks contractions and may help get the baby into a suitable position for delivery. I went to bed each night not knowing if that would be the night. Needless to say I didn’t sleep the best that week. Another difference this pregnancy was that I started losing my mucus plug about a week before I went into true labor. With Eli it all came out during active labor, right before the “bloody show”.

Thursday I was pretty miserable with even more “practice” contractions and was just tired and not myself. I forced myself to take a shower and go to bed early since I was so tired. Right before going to bed I downloaded a contraction app and recorded one of the contractions. It was 9:19pm and lasted 1:19 min. I think I woke up 1 or 2 more times but didn’t track anything because it was usually in the middle of a contraction that I’d wake. Then around 1:15am I started tracking as I had an intuition something more was happening for me to wake this often. Basically from 1:15am-4:00am I was getting contractions every 10-15 minutes that lasted 1-2 minutes. Somehow I was able to sleep a little during this time, not much though. Lots of trips to the bathroom and then back to bed. I did a few cat/cow stretches as well as puppy dog, while breathing through some of the contractions. They weren’t really painful at this point at all though. Then around 4:30am I remember telling Alex to pack up his things and that we’d likely be leaving within 2 hours. I was losing a bit more of my mucus plug, which was a sign to me that I was dilating. I was getting a bit anxious to call my mom as I knew she likely had to pack since it was before my due date. I called her shortly after 4:30am and told her to take her time, but that she should come when she could. At this point, my contractions were definitely stronger and I had to close my eyes and really breathe through each one. The best position for me was standing and leaning against a counter or pushing on the wall. Around 5am I called the hospital to check in with the midwives and get their opinion on whether I should come in. Since my contractions had been every 4 minutes or so for 1 minute in length for over an hour, I thought it would be a good idea. This is the 4-1-1 rule that many people use to know when to go to the hospital. I kept second guessing myself since I hadn't experienced the “bloody show” yet (this was the clear indicator last time to head to the hospital), but the midwife said I sounded pretty relaxed still and that I could definitely come in to get checked or wait a bit, it was up to me. I didn’t think things were as painful as when I had gone in with Eli, so I decided in my mind to try to wait until 6am to leave. The next hour I was in and out of the bathroom, and walking around breathing through the contractions. Elijah woke up around 5:20am, he likely heard us or could feel something was up. I really wanted to see him before we left so I told Alex to just get him up for the day. It was nice to see him and give him a hug. My mom arrived a little while after and Alex started packing the car. Things were definitely intensifying and I was having a hard time remembering to breathe through the contractions. I said we needed to go and remember looking at the clock and it was just a few minutes before 6am. I walked into our garage and had 2 more contractions there, leaning over one of our exercise boxes. I waited until a contraction had just finished and got into the back of our Ford Escape; there was no way I could sit. I was on all fours, half over Eli’s car seat. As everyone says, the car ride is the worst but we only had 15 minutes to go so I kept telling myself we’d be there soon! My eyes were closed most of the ride and I just tried to concentrate on my breath and not tensing up.

I got out of the car as soon as possible and had 2 contractions in the parking lot while slowly walking in. Alex got me checked in, and I just leaned over things and breathed through contractions. They got me in triage pretty quickly and the nurse started strapping the monitor on me to find baby’s heartbeat. She asked me intake questions and the midwife came in the check my dilation and I was at a 6! This is where I was at with Eli when I got to the hospital as well which reassured me. Luckily, one of the two rooms with a birthing tub was available so we made our way to the elevator. The rest of the birth is kind of a blur to me as I was definitely very much in my own headspace and really needed to concentrate on my breath and posture with each contraction. They were coming more frequently and were definitely intense! In the moment I remember thinking dang, this is more intense than last time but now looking back it seemed like a breeze in comparison to my first birth just because of how short the labor was. I guess this is why mamas are able to have multiple births, you do definitely forget a lot of the pain. For 30 minutes or so it seemed like the nurse was setting up the room, asking me questions, putting an IV in (I knew of this ahead of time since I bled a lot with Eli post-birth), and filling up the tub. I was in between holding onto Alex and leaning over the raised hospital bed with each contraction. Alex was good about making me sip water in between contractions. I really just wanted to get in the tub to relieve some of the pressure! When the water was high enough I got in and it felt better, or at least I was able to relax more. By this point my body was naturally helping push baby down with each contraction. My births are not the quiet, calm ones you see on IG and YouTube. I am loud and very vocal. So with each contraction I try to breathe deeply with an open mouth, but when my body starts bearing down I definitely sound like an animal as I breathe out. No shame! The nurse asked if I felt like I needed to push and I said yes, I think so. I had this natural bearing down for 2 hours with Eli though so I was confused if I should also actively be pushing at this point. The hospital was super busy with deliveries and my original midwife had only come in once and had gotten pulled out to deliver a babe. They got another nurse (I’m assuming more certified) to check me again to make sure I could push. Sure enough I was a 10. So in a matter of 1 hour I went from a 6 to a 10! There were two midwives at the hospital because they were so busy.

Carol rushed in and put on gloves as fast as she could, two contractions and pushes later baby girl was here! I was a bit scared that she was coming so fast, it was really a whirlwind. The upside is that I only had the ring of fire pain for one contraction versus 5 with my first. Her head came out at the top of a contraction/push and then with a little more of a deep push and using my legs to brace myself in the tub and get more strength her body came out very soon after in the same contraction. Carol had told me to reach down and grab her, which freaked me out for some reason. There was just so much adrenaline running through me I was maybe afraid I’d do something wrong. But I reached down and pulled her up and was so relieved she was here. The first thing I noticed was how much vernix she had! We got to bond in the water a bit and then eventually they helped me get to the bed, while my placenta was still in and Raelynn was still attached as well. Delayed cord clamping is very important to me. After a few more minutes, Alex cut the cord and then I pushed out the placenta with the guidance of Carol. She accessed me and said I had no tearing at all! I also got the shot of pitocin in my leg at this time (also something I consented to with my history of bleeding). At this point I was shaking uncontrollably, it was weird and I didn’t like it but I guess it’s pretty typical for fast labors as the body regulates back down. I was losing more blood than they liked, so they wanted to start an IV pitocin drip. I agreed, even though this was the worst part of my delivery/postpartum experience the first time, as I knew it would help me from hemorrhaging hopefully and needing a transfusion. Luckily the drip was at a slower pace this time so the contractions weren’t quick as intense.