The Birth of Baby Tru
Being a first time mom, I had so many questions and fears when it came to my pregnancy and birth. I ultimately had the goal of going completely unmedicated. I knew that being my first time around, I would need the extra support from an educated person. That’s when I decided to look into a doula and ended up with the best, Meghan!
The Birth Story:
After going 1.5 weeks over and with 5 membrane sweeps that week with little to no progress, I decided to get induced 3 days before I was 42 weeks. This was a decision I went back and forth with for awhile, but looking back I am completely at peace with my decision.
Saturday 10/19, at 8:00am my husband, mom, doula Meghan and I all checked into the hospital. We then met with the midwife and discussed my plan and hopes. One thing to note is that even though I had a scheduled induction, I still didn’t want to get pitocin. So we started by doing a foley bulb. It was inserted at 10am and it dropped by 2pm. I then got another cervical check and was only dilated to what they call a “foley four”. I also took misoprostol which helps to soften the cervix as well.
Not much progress was done with those two softening agents so the next step to get things going was pitocin. I had my doula, Meghan go home to rest for a little while my husband and I decided on if I was going to start pitocin or not. I ended up deciding to start it and did so at 10pm on the 19th.
Contractions started to get more consistent and strong, as we all know happens with pitocin. This resulted in getting no rest all throughout the night. My husband, mom and Meghan took turns helping me while I labored, mostly on the yoga ball. And I truly can’t thank them enough!
Come Sunday morning at 9am, we decided to break my water to really get things going. This is when I experienced back labor and man was it as uncomfortable as people say. However, the warm bath was truly so relieving and gave me a little bit of relaxation. I labored in and out of the bath and on and off of the yoga ball for about 5 hours. 2:00pm came around and I started to feel pressure like never before. My midwife checked me and said I was only dilated at an 8. So I got back into the bath and tried to relax as much as possible. About 30 or so minutes later the pressure had gotten worse, I knew something was happening. I called my midwife in and she checked me while in the bath. She said nothing had changed but if I truly felt my body was ready that we’d get out and start to push. So we did so.
I started pushing in a squatting position as I wanted as much help from gravity as possible. I then moved to the bed and I used the squat bar to help. After only 31 minutes of pushing, we welcomed our beautiful Tru Grace into the world at 3:25 on 10/20/24. She was covered in meconium and even continued to poo on her momma during golden hour. But it and SHE was absolutely worth it all. ❤️
Although going completely unmedicated was my goal, having a healthy baby was my ultimate goal and BOTH happened. I truly believe having a doula was the reason I was so determined to and ultimately did go unmedicated. Not only to have the “outsider” (someone other than family) encourage you and to be motivated by them but also because they are so knowledgeable on what the labor and delivery experience is like.
If you’re a first time mom, or even a third time mom and are considering hiring a doula, DO IT. You absolutely will not regret it, especially if it’s Meghan. She is compassionate, genuine, supportive, and knowledgeable. The best coach to guide you through the toughest yet most rewarding experience you will ever go through!
