Ezra’s due date was 5/23/21, a day that came and went without any excitement. 

My plan was to allow Ezra to decide when he was ready to be born and allow labor to begin naturally, so I was trying to be patient though must admit I was hypervigilant about any signs of labor. 

My last day of work before maternity leave was 5/24/21 and had been working full-time throughout my entire pregnancy. On 5/25/21, the first day of my maternity leave, I spent many hours at the pool relaxing, reading, swimming, and floating. 

At the end of the day, my husband and I were getting ready to go grocery shopping together and took a moment to lay down on the bed and chat before setting out. While we were chatting I told him that I was worried I had started maternity leave too soon and that I would be bored by tomorrow; as we were chatting I felt something strange leaking out of me and as I stood up I realized my water was breaking. I ran to the shower and experienced a huge gush of fluid and a ton of excitement that labor had begun! 

I informed my doula and midwife of the news and was encouraged to eat a high-protein meal for dinner and try to get lots of rest. I experienced sensations in my low back throughout the night but was able to sleep without issue. 

My doula gave me labor-inducing exercises to do and I completed them that night and early in the morning when I woke up. My contractions finally became more active around 3 pm on 5/26/21 after I began nipple stimulation using my breast pump. 

Around 5 pm my doula and midwife decided it was time to transition to the hospital as labor was beginning to pick up and was becoming difficult for me. I was using my hypnobirthing calm breathing during this time and had become started to experience time distortion. 

By the time we arrived at the hospital, I had trouble walking due to the intensity of my contractions, which were exclusively and 100% back labor. Despite my implementation of all Hypnobirthing techniques, my labor was extremely intense! I began vocalizing with each contraction during the transition. 

By the time I was 10cm dilated, it had been about 30 hours since my water broke and I was aware that the sooner Ezra was able to arrive, the less chance of infection. My midwife informed me I could begin pushing at this time, though I was hoping to breathe Ezra down using the Natural Expulsive Reflex. I attempted to harness the NES, though I was experiencing so much sensation and was so tired of the intensity of my back labor after 30+ hours that I decided to try pushing to move things along. 

I roared with each push, and it took about 2 hours for Ezra’s head to emerge completely at 2:41 am on 5/27/21. Finally, he had arrived and we enjoyed over an hour of skin-to-skin. From the time my water broke to the time he was born, I had been in labor for about 33 hours. 

Though I did rely on pushing at the end, I birthed my son without any medical intervention whatsoever with the exception of IV antibiotics due to exceeding 24 hours from my water breaking. 

I am grateful for all I learned in Hypnobirthing as I was able to remain extremely calm throughout my pregnancy as I developed trust for my body and the natural birthing process.