Welcoming our son: Nathan Lucas Wilkin

I had fully prepared myself for going overdue with our baby, almost everyone had told me the classic line of "first time babies are always late", "babies come on their own time"... I even had joked with my work that I should come in the week I was due and literally work until I popped.

I finished up at work on February 29th and was praying that I wouldn't have a leap year baby, since I can only imagine how frustrating birthdays/paperwork etc. would be- that week we also took in a show at the Jubilee Theatre; one of my favourite productions "The Wizard of Oz". The following weekend was busy with last minute projects, continued organizing, and eagerly anticipating when it would be "time".

Kyle went into work the week of baby's due date, and I was grateful that I hadn't decided to continue working as my body definitely needed the rest. Aside from my usual third trimester achy-ness I was feeling pretty run down. I was sure I had caught a cold and was trying to get it out of my system before baby arrived. Most of the week leading up to his due date was spent resting, drinking lots of fluids, and enjoying my last few days of truly sleeping in.

The morning of his due date (March 3, 2016) I woke up at 6:30 with an incredibly strong contraction. I didn't think much of it, since the past few weeks I'd been having contractions that would continue for a few hours and then stall out. I attempted to go back to sleep, but mostly tossed and turned until it was time to get up anyhow. We had my last prenatal appointment that day (40 weeks) with the midwife, so at 9:00 am I was checked and told that I was 1cm dilated. Our midwife advised to go home, rest, take some Tylenol and that things could take awhile to progress- since I was technically in early labour... Boy did things ever progress.

By 2:00 PM I was in a significant amount of discomfort, not really able to focus on anything when I was having a contraction (by this point they were 4-6 minutes apart). Tylenol wasn't doing it anymore, and I told Kyle we needed to call our midwife back to make a plan. She suggested meeting at the birth centre (closer to us) and then going to the hospital once we knew where we were at. I was checked at 3:30 and we were both completely shocked to find out that I was 8 1/2-9 cm dilated with my water ready to break- we were having a baby today. I think I just stared at Abi in disbelief (our primary midwife), we quickly decided that we wouldn't risk trying to make it to the hospital as I definitely wouldn't have time to be in the tub like I had wanted if we went.

We got checked into the birth centre, I felt pretty nauseous and was sick once before I got into the tub, just another confirmation that it was really time. I was able to get in the tub straight away which was AMAZING. My contractions finally became bearable and the pain was significantly more manageable to breath through. I stayed soaking for just over an hour and a half, the whole time with Kyle right beside me. We had three midwives, our primary, her backup and the student midwife- they all worked incredibly as a team: keeping cool washcloths on my head, making sure our water bottles stayed full (this meant no IV for me, since I was able to stay hydrated on my own!), filling out all the paperwork, and getting the supplies ready for when baby arrived. I pushed for about 35-40 minutes while in the tub, it was definitely the most intense part of birth- especially with zero pain medication.

When our sweet boy was crowning he decided to poop, so Abi had me get out onto the bed as a precaution (so he wouldn't breathe any back in). I pushed for another two contractions (one to get his head out and one for his body) and then he was here! Kyle was able to cut the cord, and then our sweet boy stayed on my chest while they cleaned me up and gave me shots (3) of Oxytocin in order to stop the bleeding, so I could deliver the placenta safely (which by the way was a piece of cake after baby haha). I couldn't believe he was finally here, after all the waiting and hoping, praying and planning. It felt surreal, like it was a dream but deep inside me I knew that it was "right" and I couldn't possibly feel more love and protection than I did for this sweet boy.

After I was mostly cleaned up we got him breastfeeding, our midwives helped me to make sure he had a good latch and we enjoyed skin to skin for the whole duration of him eating. While he was enjoying himself, he also covered the entire side of me in poop! This was truly my first "real" moment of motherhood haha. I was able to take an amazing hot (long) shower after, while Kyle stayed with him and they weighed him/did his entire baby check.

Time of birth: 5:47 PM on March 3, 2016
Weight: 8lbs, 5oz
Length: 19 1/4 inches
Hair: Dark Brown, and lots of it!
Eyes: Gray (at birth), have now turned to a darker hazel.

Just a few hours old. 

Recovery has gone really smoothly, and I definitely attribute some of that to having a drug free birth. I think no matter what method of birth you choose/end up having or pain management as long as you and baby are healthy and happy that is all that matters. For me, being able to give birth without any medication was incredibly empowering and I found kept the whole experience stress free. If I'm lucky enough to have a low risk pregnancy again (like I did with Nathan) then I would love to be able to have midwifery care again at a birth centre.

You can find more information about the incredible birth centre we delivered Nathan at here.