Birth Story: Water Birth at Birth Center for First-Time Mom, Valerrie Craig
Show Notes:
[1:11] Our Reviewer of the Week, debbielovedan, says “So thankful I found this podcast! I’m in a first time pregnancy in my 30’s, and I saw someone else mention this podcast a few weeks ago. Well, I’ve been binging it every day since. I even make my husband listen when we’re both in the car. I feel empowered when I go to my OB appointments and ask the questions. My husband and I signed up for the birth course last night, and I’m so excited to get started. Thank you for helping me feel confident in my first pregnancy!”
Thank you so much. What an excellent review! I love it. 💜
[2:05] This week’s episode is a birth story from Valerrie Craig. She is a first time mom and has a 15 month old now. She is a life coach and a healer with Reiki and lives in San Diego.
[3:30] Valerrie walks us through her pregnancy journey, which was overall very easy. She lives with her mother and grandmother who were jealous of her easy pregnancy. Her biggest symptom was feeling faint if she didn’t eat every few hours. She originally thought that you could only give birth at home or at the hospital. She never knew about birth centers.
[6:16] She found out about birth centers through Google and found one that was only five minutes away from her house.
[6:46] Her birth partner’s major concern about the birth center was the cost. Even with insurance, they still had large copays. He was very supportive and wanted to learn more about the birth center.
[7:40] How many weeks did it take to go from meeting an OB to meeting a midwife? Valerrie was about 18 weeks when she switched her provider. She loved how her midwife would talk to her about birth and her options for giving birth in a tub. She loved that interventions were not common at the birth center and it was also a student midwifery practice.
[10:13] Valerrie talks about her birth partner and how supportive he was of moving from a hospital to a birth center. There was a potential for him to be deployed when she gave birth so he wanted to makes ure she was supported and taken care of if that was the case. She would also send him podcast episodes for him to listen to and they would practice different birth positions and counter pressure.
[11:54] She and her birth partner practiced the relaxation techniques mentioned in the birth course. As an Enneagram 3, she wanted to do everything she possible could to prepare for her birth. She did perineum massages, drank red raspberry leaf tea, ate dates, and the three free exercises every day. She also did magnesium water float therapy.
[15:19] As her guess date came closer, she switched to a yoga ball and would use that instead of her desk chair. She did squats and tried to keep her body open and stretchable.
[15:49] Valerrie walks us through her first contraction to birth. She declined all cervical checks. She was 40+3 weeks pregnant when she went into labor. She’d been having lots of prodromal labor throughout the last few weeks. She never had consistent contractions throughout her labor. She did the Miles Circuit and fell asleep in child’s pose at one point. After a whole day of labor, she had a bloody show. She drank coconut water, pineapple juice, and tried to stay as hydrated as possible. She decided to put a diaper on in case she started leaking since she was laboring at home. She was in child’s pose on her bed and would get very intense contractions. Her husband was doing hip squeezes when they head a pop and a gush of water came out. They went to the birth center where the midwife got them set up with the tub. She couldn’t get comfortable in tub, on the toilet, or on the bed. As her contractions became more intense, she got into the tub and had her partner hold the fan in her face. Since her grandmother had prolapse, she was terrified of having the same thing so the midwife held her perineum the whole time Valerrie was pushing. She felt like she had a mental block of fear of becoming a mom which just froze her entire body. She knew she needed to release it in order to let her body progress. She communicated her feelings with her partner and made her feel heard and understood.
[33:47] Do you remember what your contractions felt like and how they progressed? She felt like they were like period cramps which would come in waves.
[34:56] What else was your birth partner doing to help you? Valerrie created a list of affirmations for her birth partner and instructions on what to do if a certain thing happened. He also rubbed her back, kept her hydrated, and supported her the best way he could.
[36:43] She did a lot of breathing and swaying her hips to get herself through the contractions. Breathing techniques were huge for her!
[38:09] Valerrie’s advice for mamas is to be over-prepared and have resources in place to allow the birth to go whatever direction it needs to. You have the resources, knowledge, and experience to implement things so that it’s not happening TO you but FOR you. For birth partners, ask questions, take notes, and don’t take things personally.
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