Cole's Birth Story

Jul 2019

4:00am on 7/12/2019 i got woken up with cramps. they were very mild but they got me up and out of bed. felt like period cramps with a combination of having to use the restroom 💩 i was past my guess date by 2 days and was definitely feeling the pressure of when cole was gonna make his appearance. i was convinced he was gonna come a week or two earlier like his brother but he had his own plan.

the night before i felt my belly drop drastically. cole was moving a lot and not in his usual ways - he was getting into position. i slept well that night but with the lingering fear of knowing what giving birth feels like. IT SUCKS.

we’re both a team if you think about it - but i needed to stay present to really honor that.

the early morning came and i knew exactly what was about to happen. i let my fears go and excitement crept in. i was gonna meet my baby boy. i had no set birth plan this time around other than i knew i wanted to birth him at home. i woke aj up and told him what i was feeling, he suggested getting back in bed to rest because of the fight that was about to come. at 4:51am i lost my mucus plug (thick collection of mucus that seals your cervix during pregnancy). at that point i sent a text to my doctor, dr. stu fischbein to let him know what was going on since i had a home appointment scheduled with him that afternoon. i also text my doula, ashlee sourupas to make sure she knew what was happening. they both told me to take it slow and keep them updated if the cramps/contractions progressed. they sure as hell did.

at 7:48am more mucus came out and my cramps became contractions. i started to pace around the house, elliott kept asking to play tea party and i was trying to focus on my breath. around 9:00am my good friend holly and ashlee came over for support. they both helped with putting oils on me, having me drink lots of water + coconut water, massaged my lower back, played with elliott and simply talked to me in between contractions. time was actually going by fast and i kept feeling cole move down and down and.. he was doing exactly what he needed to do and so was i. we’re both a team if you think about it - but i needed to stay present to really honor that.

then i noticed a butterfly that elliott always saw when he plays outside and i took it as a sign - push through.

laying on my side felt good up until 10:00am. after that, i couldn’t lay down or keep my legs closed. he was so far down that i had to move, walk, hinge over with my hands on the wall and my feet spread apart. by 11:30am was when it started getting really bad and i was moaning through every contraction which meant i was getting closer to meeting my boy. aj had called his mom to come over and pick up elliott because it didn’t feel right to have him home. we had talked about having him at the birth but when the time came, we decided that wasn’t the case. he left around 11:45am and i cried in the backyard knowing when he would come home it was gonna be different for him. he’d come back as a big brother and not my only baby. that was a tough moment for me. then i noticed a butterfly that elliott always saw when he plays outside and i took it as a sign - push through. 

i kept breathing through the waves, in between i ate siete chips and drank coconut water for energy. by 12:45 i decided to get in the shower which became a bath in the kids bathroom. i ended up wanting a water birth. again, i didn’t have a plan but my doula and aj improvised. they whipped out the kiddie pool my friend had given us for elliott and filled it with hot water. 

by 1:30pm i was in the middle of my kitchen, inside the water where i’d birth cole in. contractions were painful, there were no meds, pain killers or anything. all i used were essential oils, food for fuel and my mind to get me through. cole was doing so much work and i continued to feel him coming down. 1:45pm dr fischbein arrived with two amazing and sweet students from hawaii.

i was biting aj’s arm, yelling at the top of my lungs and at one point i couldn’t see because the pain was so bad. i continued to welcome it. pain equals progress and my doctor knew i was getting ready to push by the sounds i was making. he asked if my water had broke and i told him, i had no idea. he told me to let my body do its thing and at 2:30pm my body voluntarily started pushing - it was an out of body experience and all i did was breathe. my body literally pushed cole out. did it hurt?! ABSOLUTELY but my body was made to birth my babies. it took one push to have cole earth side.

i was holding on to aj’s arm, sweating, crying and mid bite.. i heard dr stu say, “he’s in his sac! he’ll slip right out if you give me one push”. i felt a pause and i gave a hard push which felt like everything was coming out and sure enough, i had birthed my boy in his amniotic sac attached at 2:37pm. i was on all fours and i immediately heard him cry. i turned around, sat and that’s when i met cole for the first time. he latched quickly and didn’t wanna leave my side, not a whole lot has changed since. the day coley was born was the day our family felt complete.