By Leeanna Brickhouse
My early labor, active labor, and delivery were not easy. As this was my first pregnancy, I didn’t really know what to expect so I stayed as strong as I could for my son, my husband, and myself. My 37th week mark, I lost my plug. The few days after that, my Braxton Hicks contractions worsened, and the only way I could cope was to be in fetal position or pacing back and forth.
My husband and I hadn’t slept in four days until finally, Wednesday night at 11:30 pm, my water broke. We packed our belongings and went to the center. My midwives were there ready to comfort me and prepare me for my son’s arrival. I was 4 centimeters dilated when I got there and in an immense amount of pain. My midwives then helped me out with some relief so I could sleep. By the time I woke up, I was 9 centimeters! He was definitely coming!
My original plan was to have a natural water birth, but Baby Mahri had other plans. My son’s head wasn’t positioned correctly so my midwives did as much as they could until they couldn’t anymore. My son’s life meant more to me than the wishes I had, and my midwives reminded me of that because my mind was all over the place. After being at the center for 12 hours, we then went to UNC hospital where it took 3 hours for my son to come. An hour and a half of that was the pushing.
Rebeca and my husband delivered my son at 2:18 pm on July 12th; he weighed 6 pounds and 4.5 ounces. After seeing my baby boy, nothing else mattered. Not the needles, the pain, the obnoxious nurses and doctors, none of that. My baby was born, and I was one happy mama. Thank you WBWC.❤