The Pregnancy We Never Planned For

Finding out I was pregnant was very emotional because it was a complete surprise. We had not envisioned having any children so creating that mental space was challenging.

Pregnancy, however, was smooth. I am a pelvic health physiotherapist and I had worked with many, many pregnant individuals through various stages of pregnancy and postpartum care. Despite not wanting children myself, I was very interested in the physiology and biomechanics of pregnancy and birth and I was excited to experience the other side of it. I kept active through the pregnancy and surrounded myself with positive birth stories. Going through the modules on Positive Birth Company was very beneficial and I felt ready. I wrote out my birth wishes and discussed them with my midwives and we decided a hospital birth with minimal intervention would be the way to go. I coached my husband to be my "doula".

"What helped me the most was being armed with information about all the potential interventions that could happen and the medical need for them."

My water broke on the due date, although I didn't realize that it was amniotic fluid. I called the midwife the next day and told her that I was unsure. She had me go in and tested for amniotic fluid. I was barely dilated so the decision was made for medical induction.

Pitocin was given via IV at around 2 pm and the surges began. I found that humming through them helped a lot and my husband was able to give me counterpressure to ease some of the discomfort. However, unlike spontaneous onset contractions, Pitocin induced contractions tend to blend into each other so there are no breaks. I found myself getting tired at around nighttime and had a conversation with my midwife about starting an epidural. About 2 hours after the epidural kicked in, the midwife checked how dilated I was and I was 9.5 cm! I started to feel some pressure and an urge to push so we tried different positions for bearing down. My husband helped to ease the tension in the room by joking around.

My son was born at 3.50 am amongst a lot of laughter and joy :)