"I loved this Christian Hypnobirthing soundtrack through my pregnancy and during labor! It kept me at ease mentally and my mind ready for the birth of our baby. It’s almost her first birthday already!"
At midnight of July 29, Will and I were up; I was bouncing on the birth ball hoping Eshy would decide it was time for labor to start and Will was getting his stuff ready for work the next day. She was very low and I had been cramping and contracting for over a week and it just never turned into anything. When I stood up from the birth ball I rocked my hips around in a circle cause she felt really engaged and to my surprise my water broke! I went and sat on the toilet to make sure it was my water and sure enough when I stood back up I continued to leak more. Will and I got so excited knowing it’s just a matter of time before contractions start so we were just going to rest until things started. I told my mom and let her know to come over and stay the night in case things picked up and she had to help take care of the boys when they got up.
Will and I prayed together and he went right to sleep but I couldn’t sleep because I was too excited so I went and hung out with my mom on the couch. At around 230 my contractions started about 5 minutes apart. They were very mild and I could breath right through them with no problem. I was just so excited contractions started already!
At around 4.30am they began to get a little closer about 4 minutes apart. I decided to go wake up Will and have him sit with me during contractions. They were still very manageable but could tell they were getting a little stronger. He wasn’t ready to wake upso I just got in the shower and woke him up after. The boys decided to wake up early that morning at 530 AM so they sat with us in the living room. I loved having them with us and they were so excited knowing that their little sister was on her way! At around 7 I asked my mom if she wanted to take the boys to breakfast. My contractions were about 3 minutes apart.
When they left I decided to get in the bath. Contractions were still very manageable getting a little more uncomfortable but I felt at peace listening to my Christian Hypnobirthing affirmations and prayers. My sister in law came over and was sitting with me while I was in the bath and with each contraction I just breathed through them. I had a couple more stronger ones in the tub and decided I wanted to get out cause it wasn’t comfortable to be there anymore. I rinsed off in the shower and this was about 8am. Here’s where things really started to pick up.
I went to the other bathroom and had three really intense contractions back to back. I got so hot and started sweating like crazy! My head was just dripping sweat. I told Will and my sister in law to tell our doula to come now. I walked back over to the couch and leaned against the couch and Will applied counter pressure to try to help with the intense contractions. I looked at him after the contraction and told him (very calmly) “I want to go get an epidural” 😂 He told me let’s just wait for Taylor (our doula) to get here to see if she can help with the pain.
I had another intense contraction and thankfully my Christian Hypnobirthing was playing in the background because it made my mind focus on God to get me through this. I decided I wanted to get in the shower again so I was heading back towards our room but stopped in the kitchen and leaned on the counter and all the sudden felt like I needed to push! I asked Kourtney to get the “Smooth Transition” tincture I had and took some to help ease transition. When I made it to the bathroom I leaned over the toilet and told Will that she’s coming right now. As I was starting to push Taylor walked in. I had a big contraction and pushed. The next contraction I let out a roar and her head came out. I had another contraction shortly after and the rest of her body came out!
She was born at 9:05 AM and Will caught his baby girl! She was finally in my arms and Will and I were so happy, we did it! It was such a special moment holding her for the first time! We then waited for the placenta to be birthed which took about an hour. Once it was out we burned it to detach it from her. My amazing doula took care of my placenta and made me a placenta smoothie.
We had been praying for a smooth quick birth and the Lord answered. We are so thankful God carried us through and protected us during her birth. There is not a more empowering experience than birthing a child on your own and nothing more connecting to your spouse than doing it together.
Rachel Olliff