My First Birth

Akasha Hines (Doula & Childbirth Educator) 2014

It was 11:30 am as I walked into the Principal’s office. I was teaching first grade at the time and was ten days past my due date.

My feet were a bit swollen and I wasn’t feeling fantastic. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for over a week off and on but this felt a bit different. But how was I supposed to really know? This was my first baby and I was still unsure.

The one thing I was sure about was it was Friday, I wasn’t feeling great, and decided that this just might be labor. As I waddled myself into his office his face was cheerful but also concerned. I told him that I might be in labor. He couldn’t send me home fast enough.

After getting home, I called my doula. Being this was my first rodeo, she was an invaluable source. I was preparing to labor at home as long as possible and then go to the birthing center to birth this precious little one. My doula came right over and spent the next five-ish hours with me.

We bounced on a birth ball, breathed, played my hypnobirthing relaxation tracks, and just waited as labor progressed. I felt calm enough and having her calming presence there, helped me stay confident in my body’s ability to birth a baby. Surges (aka contractions) slowly progressed to a few minutes apart. However, I was still feeling not quite ready. They seemed to be close in timing but not strong enough.

I mean, how was I really supposed to know? This was my first labor. But at one point, I looked at my doula and said, “these have either got to get stronger, or I’m just amazing at this whole birth thing.” It was half-joking but half wondering about the unknown of what was going on in my body. Clearly, my baby was coming soon enough but…

We called the midwife and decided to go ahead and head to the center to just check on things. When I arrived, I was dilated to a 3 which is not active labor. AHA! I was right, these do need to get stronger. My body felt calm and relaxed but I just knew that the surges weren’t strong enough to push my sweet baby out.

So she sent me home. My midwife gave me a med. She said if what I was having was Braxton Hicks contractions then the medicine would relax me and the contractions would go away, but if it was actually labor the medicine wouldn’t stop the contractions.

I took the medicine, went home, crawled into bed, and tried to get some rest. Around 9:30ish, something woke me from my sleep. I flickered my eyes for a moment and then sunk back down into the bed. A little while later, there it was again but this time I knew what it was. A surge (contraction). And a real one. These were the real deal.

Stronger than before. Wrapping my belly from the top to the bottom and not just on the sides. Strong enough that I wanted to get out of bed, sway a bit, and just move around. So that’s what I did. I walked around our tiny house. I sat on the couch and watched the hubs play some Xbox game. I walked into the kitchen and stared into the fridge aimlessly.

As things progressed, I decided to take a bath. However, the bath in our tub was the most uncomfortable thing you can imagine. I made it a whole five minutes in the tub. Around midnight, the hubs decided to go to bed. So I joined him. I tossed and turned and made a hundred trips to the bathroom. On my one hundredth and one trip, my water broke. Luckily it was right after I had sat down on the potty.

I yelled out to my snoozing husband, “My water broke.” At which he did reply, “Are you sure?” “Am I sure?” Of course, I am sure! I think I would know. It was 12:45.

From this point on my timeline starts to get a bit blurred. I called my midwife and doula, we eventually got out of the house, and arrived at the birthing center at 1:45. We were greeted by my midwife and doula at the front door.

From here time slows and warps. I’ll speed things up a bit…for the reader’s sake. I turned on the one and only hypnobirthing track that I wanted to listen to. My poor support team had to listen to it on repeat. I climbed into the birthing tub, but after an hour, my labor had slowed and my midwife asked me to do a bit of walking.

So like a good girl, I did. Welp the next hour and a half were tough. Moving around did wonders for my progress. I actually ended up laboring in the bathroom for a good chunk of time. A bit embarrassing. If you ask a first-time mom her vision for birth, it’s probably not… “oh, I think I’ll go sit on the toilet for an hour.” But oddly that’s what happened and it’s a place where lots of mom’s end up.

After an hour and a half, my doula suggested getting back in the tub. I guess she could tell that I was ready for some relief. And the suggestion sounded so good, but I definitely didn’t want to slow labor. So I asked the midwife to check me. I was at 9cm!! Whoohoo! Let’s get in the tub.

The water was an amazing relief from the surges of labor. I’m not sure how long I was in the tub. I really have no idea at this point since time was completely irrelevant. My husband patiently poured water on my belly. As the water cascaded down my belly, I concentrated my mind on it. With every surge, I focused on relaxing and feeling the water on my stomach.

My doula asked me if I was ready to push… “Um no. I mean who is ready for that?” But then she gently whispers, “Honey, you are pushing.” At that moment, I realized, my body was doing exactly what it was designed to do. My brain didn’t really need to help it.

Shortly after my beautiful daughter was earthside. She was born at 6:29 am in the water like a little mermaid.

And little did I know, this was the beginning of my journey into birth work. God stirred in my soul a love for birth. Most women love babies and endure birth, but God showed me what birth could be. The amazing, beautiful, soul-empowering part of birth.