Isobel Joined The Fam! Rachelle's Birth Story

I had been having contractions for weeks, but on the evening of April 15 (a casual 8 days after my due date) there was a change! They were more similar to labor contractions and consistent, so I went to bed hoping they'd continue through the night. They didn't, but I had a few that were so strong they woke me up. 

I woke up on the 16th with a gut feeling that I'd have a baby that day, so I texted my fabulous midwives Central Texas Midwifery, officially started my mat leave and let my mom know to pick up Llewyn from school. Llewyn left for school and I was determined to get contractions to pick up again, so I went on a long walk. I came back home, watched Summer House, and made a second breakfast and finally, around 11:15 am,  contractions started to slowly come back. Around 11:45 am I went on another walk with my gal, Tiff, and the contractions continued! At 12:30 pm, I felt what I thought could be some of my waters breaking, so one of my midwives popped by to check in and I texted Tiff to come back to the house (she was there for Llewyn's birth too!). We figured my contractions were just sorting themselves out and would be up and down for a few hours at least. I took a shower and started on the RHOBH reunion until Tiff showed up. We chatted for a while and tracked contractions.

 Around 3 pm they had slowed down to about 7 min apart and only 30 seconds long, we we went on a walk to get some coffee. On the walk, I was having contractions every 2ish minutes, but they were still short and not super intense. We got to the shop and decided to have Oliver come and pick us up - right before we left, I had a big contraction with my iced latte in my hand. 

We got home around 4 pm and my midwife called to check in - I had another big contraction on the phone and she suggested she swing by in 30 mins to check in. We hung up and then I had another big contraction, told Oliver to have the midwives come now. The contractions didn't stop! I was officially in active labor!

Oliver filled the pool as I labored in the living room with Tiff. My other midwife arrived around 4:55 pm and helped get everything set up. Around 5:15 pm I got in the pool, a few mins later I was in transition, and then a few minutes later I was pushing. The moment I realized I was pushing, I was determined to get it done quickly and I did. After 4-5 pushes, Isobel was out at 5:56 pm. A whole 1.5 hours of labor! Sweet relief flooded over me and all the pain I had had my entire pregnancy was gone. 

The first few weeks of newborn life are exhausting and trying, but she is a gift to us. My midwives and our community have supported us in so many ways. Life is very sweet.