Christina Lives Freely

Around four and a half years ago I wrote a blogpost called “Welcome to the World Augustine” where I shared the birth story of my firstborn son. I can hardly fathom how the time has flown by. Since writing his birth story, so much of life has changed for me and my family, and baby Augie is no longer a helpless babe, but a young boy who is already going to be starting Kindergarten this coming fall! I still remember writing his birth story on my laptop in the park not far from my house on a warm sunny fall day, grappling with coming to terms with this newfound identity of ‘mother’. Now, I’m sitting in the kitchen of our new home (we just moved a little over a week ago!) with a brand new helpless babe who is sleeping peacefully, wrapped and nestled onto my chest. Augie drew a picture and dictated a letter as a welcome gift for his baby brother where he wrote “my head is exploding in love!” which is exactly how I feel right now. My head and my heart are both spilling over with so much love and gratitude for this precious blessing that has come into our lives. Dearest baby Robin Scott, welcome to the planet! Here is your birth story my sweet little one ❤

Part 1: Early Labour

The start of March was a complete whirlwind. Ryan and I had just finalized the purchase of a new home, I was nearing the end of my third trimester, and I was wrapping up my last few sessions of music classes – all in hopes that I could have a little bit of time to rest, and settle into the new house before having baby. On Thursday, March 19, the day started like so many days before… but this time in our new family home which we had just moved into 5 days ago. Ryan left for work and Augie and I had breakfast together amidst a sea of moving boxes. I dropped Augie off at school and came back home and did my morning routine (morning pages, meditation and movement). Interestingly enough, I had fallen out of this morning habit which I’ve been doing fairly consistently since last November for about a week, due to the chaos of moving homes. But for whatever reason, I felt like I finally had the time and space to journal again, and my entry that morning just so happened to be about the kind of birth my heart desired for baby-t0-be. I wrote “I’m almost 38 weeks pregnant so baby could make their arrival anytime at all now! We’re planning to have an unmedicated water birth at the birth centre. I’m feeling really centred and calm about this upcoming labour and delivery. I trust in my body and baby to do exactly what we are designed to do. I’m feeling very confident that this will be a transcendental birthing experience and baby will be so loved and will be welcomed Earthside in peace and joy.“

Ryan’s mom came over to help with the unpacking and she even started to help strip the yellowed rose patterned wallpaper off what is to be the baby’s room. My sister also popped by for a visit and we took my dog Heidi out for a lovely walk around the new neighbourhood and even popped by my parents house for a quick hello. It was a glorious, sunshine filled morning. Spring indeed was just around the corner! In fact, the next day was the official first day of spring!

After our walk I said goodbye to my sister and ate some lunch, but then felt some mild cramping. I dismissed it as perhaps just Braxton Hicks contractions but at the same time, had the feeling that I really ought to get the baby car seat installed and pack my “go-bag” just in case. The cramping started to feel a bit more intense and came and went in very regular 10 minute intervals at this point, and I told my mother-in-law I was feeling quite a lot of cramping and gave my husband Ryan a call to let him know that early labour had likely started, but things were still so spaced out that I thought he could probably finish up the day at work before coming home. After all, I remembered with Augie, my early labour lasted over 24 hours and it was a full 30 hours of early labour before I was even admitted to the hospital – so I thought time was on my side!

I still had a few more to-do items that day, most could wait but one that was quote important was that I needed to pick up an antibiotic prescription from the pharmacy. On Tuesday I had received the results back from my routine swab ( that I was positive for GBS (Group B Streptococcus, something I didn’t have in my first pregnancy) and would need to have antibiotics administered during my labour to prevent the potential of the bacteria causing infection in my newborn. Because I was planning to have an out-0f-hospital birth I had to pick up the medication myself and bring it with my when in labour. I also had a walk planned with my friend Amy that afternoon to chat about my birth plan. Amy is a labour and delivery nurse and had kindly offered to be my doula and support Ryan and I during the birth of our baby. I gave Amy a call and told her that I was already in early labour and she laughed with delight. I decided to go pick up my medication and then pop by Amy’s to go for a short walk before picking Augie up from school. My contractions at this point were still around 8-10 minutes apart so I wasn’t too concerned about going out and about at this point.

My walk with Amy was so uplifting and encouraging – she is the kind of person who just bubbles over with joy, positivity and optimism. Not to mention, is able to find the humour in pretty much anything and everything. She was on night shift the previous evening and told me that these warm chinook winds seemed to have caused numerous women to go into spontaneous labour, I guess it’s a belief held by some health professionals that the drop in air pressure triggers membranes to rupture. Amy said she would bet that my waters would spontaneously break later that evening (spoiler, alert, she whats right!). As we walked I continued to have regular contractions and we discussed the plan for me to give her a call to meet us at the birthing centre whenever I was ready to head over there to have the baby. I called my midwife, Tessi (from Honeycomb Midwives), and gave her an update about my early labour and chatted about the plan to to call and meet her at the birthing centre once I dropped to around 5 minutes between contractions.

I picked Augie up from school and at this point I was starting to get the feeling that it was pretty imperative that I head home soon as the contractions were starting to feel both more frequent and intense. We drove home and I explained to my first son that unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to attend his science fair that evening because his baby sibling was on their way. Augie and I had been working on his project about sharks every day the past week and I was a bit sad to miss his first big school project but thankfully Gigi (Augie’s affectionate name for his grandma/my mother-in-law) was on standby ready to save the day and was happy to take him for the evening.

Part 2: Active Labour and the Birthing Centre

Once we got home I took a much needed shower and during one of my contractions I felt a small gush of liquid and saw my “bloody show” (the mucus plug that seals the cervix mixed with a small amount of blood) come out and swirl down the drain. Almost immediately after this happened, the timing between my contractions dropped to around 4-5 minutes and I immediately called Ryan and told him that things had started to progress faster, he couldn’t stay at work for the rest of his shift, and had better leave work RIGHT NOW to come home! I finished my shower, got changed and packed a few last things in my go-bag, called Tessi to let her know that we would be heading to the birthing centre shortly, and then impatiently waited for Ryan to get home.

Of course, there was more traffic than usual that day, but as soon as Ryan got back we were ready to go! We said goodbye to Gigi and Augie, wished him luck at his science fair, and hopped in the car. I texted Amy to let her give her the update as well. Just as we rounded the final corner my waters broke (in the car, of course!), and I waddled in with very wet pants to meet Tessi for my intake check. It was around 4:30 PM, and contractions were getting more intense by the minute. Tessi assessed me and estimated that I was around 5 cm dialated, so well in active labour at this point. Baby heart rate was sounding good, and she set up my IV for the dose of antibiotics I would need to treat the GBS.

After we finished up my intake and got the full dose of antibiotics done, we picked out our room in the birthing centre to have our baby! We chose to deliver at Arbour Birth Centre because I originally wanted to have a home birth, but amidst all the moving we felt it would be too stressful to have our new home prepared and ready to do so. I also really wanted to have a water birth and the process of renting a tub and setting it up felt a bit too daunting given everything else that was also going on with moving to a new house. The birthing centre was a great alternative choice to have a “home-like” birth, with all the home birth supplies there and ready to go, and access to a huge tub to have a water birth.

I was well into active labour at this point, and really focused on tuning in with my body and following what intuitive movements and positions felt the best for my body. Primarily, I found that forward-leaning positions, in this case, over the foot of the bed, with Ryan helping provide counter pressure during my contractions by squeezing my hips, felt the most effective to ride through the waves of intensity. Occasionally, lowering myself into a deep squat during the contractions also felt helpful, in combination with long deep breaths (and lots of low moaning and groaning!) while visualizing my baby descending down my pelvis was another position that was quite effective. Although I knew I was in active labour and the contractions were quite intense, they still felt manageable as I just focused on breathing through each contraction and keeping my body loose and rather than fighting against the pain.

By now contractions were only a minute or so apart and I was more than ready to get into the tub. Ryan got in the bath with me and I continued to position myself in a forward leaning position, this time over the edge of the tub in a kneeling position to keep my back and belly floating in the water, which helped relieve some of the weight and pressure from my low back. Ryan continued to provide lots of counter pressure hip squeezes through these contractions which were now very intense. It felt that getting into the tub, and into that position launched me straight into the transition phase of labour as my first contraction in the water was the strongest one yet. During contractions at this stage, I was fully in my own body and focused on breathing and riding through the pain and pressure, and it felt like the external world was just a blur.

Part 3: The Final Push

Tessi’s back up, another labour and delivery nurse, and Amy had both shown up by now as well – and just in time! Somehow between contractions I was able to relish the break and take brief moments to relax and lay back in the tub on Ryan’s chest as he held and supported me. Amy brought me some Vitamin water and helped me drink and stay hydrated between contractions. The entire atmosphere was really calm and joyful. Everyone was just so excited and happy that baby was on their way, and that my labour was progressing so smoothly. I was surrounded by three amazing health care professionals who were fully supportive of me and my birth plan – they filled my cup with words of affirmation and encouragement through the entire process. I was mostly just left to do my own thing – there was no fussing about or need to check my cervix. Occasionally between a contraction Tessi or the nurse would quietly and quickly check the baby’s heart rate to make sure they were still doing good. It really felt like me and my baby were in this journey together, doing exactly what we were meant to do, surrounded by incredible loving, kind and people who had full trust in me and my strength and ability to have this baby.

My low moans and groans started to become full on guttural war cries as I could feel the need to start to push during my contractions. Tessi encouraged me to reach down to see if I could feel the head of the baby and I could! My baby was almost ready to come out into the world! Due to her needing to have access to catch the baby, I had to try to reposition my labouring position from my kneeling forward lean. I tried to lay back onto Ryan but it was far too uncomfortable on my low back. I ended up in a side lying position in the tub for pushing, leaning into Ryans and I held onto his strong arms for support. Of course Ryan let squeeze his biceps into pulp while I pushed, and he didn’t complain at all!

I only had a couple rounds of pushing before the little head popped out, I had a extremely brief break between contractions to gather my strength, and then the next contraction Tessi told me to “pant” the baby out. Essentially, instead of bearing down on the push, I would breathe the baby out with short shallow breaths to reduce the risk of tearing (which totally worked, I didn’t need any stitches after birth!). The rest of my baby’s body slid out into the water and Tessi lifted them out of the water, placed them onto my chest and draped a warm towel over us in the tub. We did it! A wave of serenity and relief washed over me and I held my child in my arms for the first time. I took a little peek under the towel – it was another boy! Augie got the little brother he was hoping for! Our sweet baby boy was born on March 19 at 7:06 PM – just a couple short hours after arriving at the birthing centre!

Part 4: Hello, our little spring Robin!

Ryan cut the umbilical cord while we were in the tub, and then I was helped out of the tub, dried off, and lay down to rest on the comfy bed in the main room. I delivered my placenta on the bed, and then our brand new baby boy was placed on my naked chest and we nestled together for the golden hour of skin-to-skin while Tessi and the nurse took down medical notes – I was pretty oblivious to what was going on as my focus and attention was fully on our new baby! Ryan lay in bed with us and we talked about what to name the newest member of our family. We decided fairly quickly on Robin – a name that we both love, but also, Ryan’s favourite bird, also the bird that we got matching tattoos of after we got married, and our baby was born on the most gorgeous, sunny spring day just hours before the official first day of spring!

While lying in bed I face-timed my parents and my sister to let them know the good news – I think they were a bit surprised by how quickly Robin arrived! Ryan called Gigi and Augie, and since the science fair had just wrapped up, we asked them to come to the birth centre to meet Robin for the first time. I think the whole new environment and cluster of new faces was a bit overwhelming for Augie who refused to come into the room to meet Robin, plus he was pretty freaked out by the newborn baby cries he could hear! He told Ryan “I think I should wait to meet him once he turns three of four!” which I thought was hilarious. (His apprehension was short lived, as Augie is officially obsessed with his little brother now!)

By 9:15, we were pretty much all wrapped up! Robin had his weight and vitals taken, Robin and I had our very first little breastfeeding session, we ate lots of delicious snacks that Amy kindly brought for us, and everyone had a celebratory cheers with sparking apple juice to celebrate the arrival of our little spring hatchling! We packed up, said our goodbyes and headed home to spend our first night together as a family of four. What a day, and what a beautiful birthing experience. It is hard to express just how much gratitude I felt, and still feel. I was blessed with the exact labour and birth that I had journaled about and hoped for throughout my pregnancy, and blessed with such a healthy and perfect baby boy who is the perfect addition to our family that I didn’t even fully realize we needed until he arrived. Welcome to the world, Robin Scott, we all love you from the very depths of our heart and now that you have arrived, you get to experience a life on this planet Earth and all of the joys and sorrows and adventures that it will bring.