Rylan's Birth Story
In honor of Rylan’s 4-month mark, I thought I’d share his birth story!
I started labor on Tuesday the 4th of January and much like Remy I experienced a lot of prodromal labor. Prodromal labor is part of labor that occurs before active labor but does not progress delivery. For me, it’s a lot of small cramps that feel like period cramps -mildly annoying when you have them for days or weeks (I had 5 days of this with Remy!). I called the midwife team to alert them that I thought things were starting to move. Remy was born within a few hours of the team arriving last time, so we wanted to be prepared for a faster delivery just in case. I went about my business prepping things at home and cooking food for the next few days with these contractions coming and going.
Early on the morning of the 6th I called the midwifery team to let them know that things felt like they were really speeding up and I thought it might be time to come over. They came and set up and got everything ready in our bedroom where we had the birth tub set up. By the time they were finished getting everything set up my contractions had died down a bit and I was only a few cm dilated. They decided to leave and get some down time before the action started. I showered, took a nap, and ate some food trying to relax and get to my happy place to get the oxytocin flowing again. About 1pm I randomly threw up (foreshadowing) and noticed a large portion of my mucus plug release (a thick piece of mucus that blocks the opening of your cervix during pregnancy- keeps out bacteria). About 3pm on the 6th things really ramped up and I knew we were out of prodromal labor. Surges sped up and so did the back pain. While Rylan wasn’t sunny side (head down, facing the abdomen) my back labor was intense! I did not experience this with Remy at all, so it was a unique and threw me off a bit.
I got in the tub as soon as I could, I find water super relaxing, and it also helps me with pain. I used a lot of breathwork to cope with surges and thanks to the never tiring arm of my doula who poured warm water on my back for what felt like hours, I made it through. And basically, I existed in this state for a few hours breathing, holding Phil, and trying to focus on the water and the goal to meet my baby.
When I hit transition, those lovely hormones kicked into overdrive, and I had an epic exorcist like puke session while pushing. I thank god for the unwavering stomachs of my whole team! I’m a “see or hear puke and I puke kind of person”, so I have no idea how people listen/see that and have no issues!!
Pushing was still relatively fast (15 minutes) and it was a completely different experience and sensation compared to Remy. She was born en caul inside the amniotic sac and my water never broke, and I often describe her birth as just immense pressure. With Rylan, my water broke during pushing and that contributed to an increase in sensation. I roared through a few pushes and Rylan’s head came down and out. He got a little stuck at that point, his shoulder caught on my pelvis and the midwives calmly had me move positions and popped his shoulder out. Then with another push, he was out! (my back pain was immediately gone- that relief is like no other).
Rylan joined our family on January 6th, 2022 at 7:14pm and we’ve been smitten since! He’s got the most curious and sweet disposition and I’m so excited to watch him grow into himself.
