On Wednesday, June 14th at 10:46p we welcomed our 6th and final baby, Beck Brye Folsom, into our family. Our family is officially complete š¤ 5 weeks has flown by since Beck was born and Iām so grateful to be on this side of delivery! The delivery was a marathon, lasting for 21 hours from start to finish but thankfully only 3 1/2 hours of super active labor. Whether you’re a first-time mom or have experienced childbirth before, I hope this story empowers you to have a natural birth at the hospital or at home!
ALSO! Check out my blog about my quick tips on how to prepare for a labor without pain meds here.
Getting to the hospital
I was 39.5 weeks when I first started having contractions. They were about 6-7 minutes apart and woke up around 1:30am on the morning of June 14th.
Little back story….Brigg (our 3rd babe) ended up getting Strep B after I tested negative for it during pregnancy so with all my deliveries after him, I get the antibiotics to prevent that from happening again. Tricky part is that you have to have the antibiotics for 4 hours to be treated and have the green light to deliver. That really made me nervous cause Revās labor and delivery was about 3 1/2 hours once we got to the hospital and only 90 minutes after my water was broken.
I continued to have contractions that were consistent and got to 4 minutes apart by about 4am and even though they werenāt killer and I definitely could have labored longer at home, we decided to go to the hospital to be safe so we didnāt miss that 4 hour window. We got there around 4:45am – they check me and we decide to stay and let labor pick up at the hospital. I got my first dose of antibiotics at 8am.
Breaking my Water
Plan was for my midwife to come back at noon and if we needed to she could break my water and really get things going. So thatās what we did – for some reason with all my labors, thereās no substantial cervix progression til the waters break. I was a 2 when I got to the hospital and barely a 3 at noon. Midwife broke my water at 12 and things picked up but not anything like my previous births.
I was having some back labor so I knew the babe was positioned funky. I continued to walk, bounce, do some movement on my hands and knees to help baby drop and shift. At 5pm I was still only a 3 1/2 after contractions continued to pick up.
Being Flexible with the Birth Plan
Thatās when my midwife recommended sweeping my membranes and starting pitocin a couple hours later if things were still moving slow or we would be laboring forever which I also didnāt wanna do. While getting on pit was not the original game plan and I knew the risks if I didnāt get into active labor soon so we decided to get started on pitocin at 7pm. I Increased by 3 every 30 minutes until I hit 15 and maintained that til I delivered at 10:46pm.
Active Labor using movement & the tub
I got through active labor mostly in the tub and using body movements to help shift the baby’s position. Occasionally, I’d get on the bed and let my husband, JD, apply counter pressure to help with my back labor. Itās hospital policy that you canāt deliver in the water and we knew things were so close, so I knew I needed to decide on a birthing position.
I knew I wanted to try something other than delivering on my back cause thatās what I did with my first 5 and Iād read so many things about letting gravity work with you as you deliver so I at least wanted to try any other position for this birth.
At that point, my midwife recommended I get outta the tub to go through some contractions with one leg on the stool, doing side lunges/rocking through each contraction to see if it would help the baby shift positions and really drop down for delivery. I hadnāt chosen the exact position I wanted to deliver in….the position chose me! I got through a couple contractions rocking with my right leg up and the pressure was increasing through each one.
Baby Beck Arrives with one Final Push
We switched the stool to the other side and I felt the baby shift in that contraction – at this point, I knew the worst was over and pushing honestly felt amazing! I pushed w/ each breath slow and controlled through that contraction and Beck flew out as my midwife caught him. (Catch my reel of the birth story cause my Mom captured that part and itās pretty amazing to see!)
The feelings that flood the moment your baby is out and you get to hold them in your arms are simply indescribable. ? I turned around and sat on the floor to love on our precious boy and felt so much gratitude and relief that we were on the other side of the delivery. ??
As I sat there, I saidā¦. āOh my goshhhhh that was amazingggg and Iām so glad itās over!ā?? No truer words in that moment. Both Jonnie and Knox came with my mom at 12pm when my midwife broke my water and it was so special having them there for all of this. Beck latched right on during our golden hour and has been nursing like a champ ever since.
Why I Chose A Natural Birth at the Hospital
After having 6 babiesā¦ 2 with epidurals, 1 with an intrathecal that was done too late to even help, and 3 unmedicated for painā¦.Every birth was so unique and I will be the first to say thereās no wrong way to bring a baby into the world as long as mama and babe are safe!
After having our 3rd (Brigg) unmedicated and feeling SO empowered and loving the experience but also knowing what type of pain I had to go through, I decided to get an epidural with our 4th (Fynnlee) then ended up with a spinal headache for 7 weeks that was hellllllll.
That was a big reason why I decided to go unmedicated again with both Rev and Beck and I had to do some serious mindset work and meditation around some of the fears I had and the resistance I was feeling to get ready for both. The marathon delivery was absolutely worth it!
Truth is, I have never felt closer to Heavenly Father than when Iām in labor and bringing one of His precious children into the world. And now we get to officially go from having babies for the last 14 years to raising babies for the next 18 and forevermore.?
