To set this video in context, I'd had strong but irregular contractions most of the night. I slept in between them until around 3 am. As soon as I got up in the morning, they became regular and close together. I labored for around 3.5 hours on land, leaning over a dresser or sink during contractions and moving my hips around. I got in the pool for the last hour: about 25 minutes of late labor (a.k.a. "transition") and 35 minutes of pushing. I was a stretchy 5 cms dilated before I got in the pool, so I went from 5 cms to pushing in about half an hour.
This video shows one laboring contraction in the pool, then skips about 20 minutes later to the pushing stage. I show parts of every pushing contraction, so you can hear how they increase in volume and intensity. I edited out a lot of the waiting between contractions, especially if no one was doing or saying anything interesting.
My 6-year-old daughter Zari came in to watch the birth when I was pushing. We had invited her to be present as long as she could sit quietly. She did pretty well, although she got rather squirmy at times, especially when my vocalizations got really loud. You'll see me giving her encouraging nods and reminding her to sit still.
You'll see the CNM take heart tones once in the video. She checked heart tones a few more times (they were always in the 130s-140s), but those got edited out.
The video is 20 minutes long, and Ivy is born around minute 15.
One of my favorite screen shots...right after I looked and found out we had a girl.
You are such a rockstar! Thank you for posting and sharing with us. You are awesome.
ReplyDeleteWow, I am so impressed at how calm you are out through the whole birthing experience!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Just Beautiful. I am so grateful that you would share your experience with us. I know I will watch it a few more times to psych myself up for birthing #3 in October!
ReplyDeleteI am feeling my body push with you while watching this, remembering. :) How cute you are with Zari. And "I wanted a boy one!" Hahahahhahahaha!
ReplyDeleteAmazing job, mama! Thanks so much for sharing with the world!
ReplyDeleteThis is unbelievable!! I cannot get over how calm you are, while simultaneously working incredibly hard to birth your beautiful baby. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
ReplyDeleteThat was awesome, Rixa, I'm so in awe! I love that you just did it all yourself. I can't wait to have that kind of awareness with my next, as I was completely focused and out of it with the first at home in the pool and didn't ever get a rest between contractions for like 20 hours. This is an amazing birth, just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThat was awesome!!! So inspiring!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! Wow. That's about all I can think to say. Just Wow! Good work momma, and thank you so very much for sharing a nice, calm labor and delivery. Thank you for helping normalize the birth experience. You have done so much good by sharing--it helps the 21st century reconnect with what is true and good about being a woman. (That is NOT to say that surgical or hospital delivery is inherently bad. No judgement here.)
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thank you for sharing. <3
ReplyDelete"I wanted a boy one..." is the cutest, cutest thing.
ReplyDeleteThis was fascinating, Rixa - thank you for sharing it. And your reassurance to Zari in the midst of it all was beautiful.
This video was so awesome! I watched it with my 4 and 6 year old daughters and we all LOVED it. Your kids' comments were sooo funny. You were a rockstar when you nodded at your daughter during a contraction! Your vocalizations reminded me of pushing out my posterior baby! (It was tough.) You did great! You earned that medal! ;)
ReplyDeleteIncredible! Thank you so much for sharing your birth video with us. Watching your pushing stage felt so familiar--those sounds just came right back to me. Congratulations again on the birth of Miss Ivy!
ReplyDeleteLove it! Thanks for sharing. I think "I wanted a boy one" is my favorite birth video line EVER! :)
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It was so different than Inga's birth, much more how mine sound. The entire time I was watching I was thinking "Man, every birth I see makes me want to give birth less and less" and then Ivy came out and I cried and thought maybe having our fourth baby won't be so bad.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing--when that little hand reaches up out of the water I cry every time! And I love how Zari rushed over immediately.
ReplyDeleteI finally watched the video. Awesome! You did so much more work to push her out than Inga - you were clearly not happy about that! She's so beautiful. I hope you're getting rest and enjoying her.
ReplyDeleteSuch a powerful video - you are such an inspiration! :-)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful =) Thank you for sharing
ReplyDeleteim expecting baby #3 in october, too! so excited, but get nervous every once in a while, just remembering the hard work it takes to bring a little person out into the world. this video reminds me what a joy it is!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's been almost 2 years since my last birth, but watching this video took me right back there. The intensity, the tension, raw power, etc during contractions and pushing. I was pushing right along with you! Thank you for this video. Serene is great if that's what happens for you; it's by no means the gold standard in good births. I can't call any of my births 'serene'. I'm loud, grunty, yelling, even screaming, can barely talk in between contractions, and shoot, I dropped the F-bomb (which I never say) when I had a 2 minute long contraction that broke my water and pushed the baby out all at once. Can't call my births serene, but dang, were they awesome. Yours was amazing too! Zari was so sweet and fun. Makes me look forward to having #4 for us in a couple years (my three are all the same ages as your older three). :-) Congratulations Freeze Family on the arrival of Ivy Claire! And major props to Rixa for that triumphant birth! :D
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm a stranger here. But after deciding on a water birth I've been scouring the Internet for videos to envision what it's really like (on average) and to see if I could find the right birth tub! I went through more of your blog than I thought I would because your story is beautiful and your video amazing and inspiring to me as well! Thank you for sharing, you never know who you can influence.
ReplyDeleteBut my main question, is what birth tub were you using? It looks soft n flexible enough but the edge looked nice and firm to hang on to. I imagine my body doing that while dealing with the labor pains. Did it stay a nice warm temperature throughout?
Again, thanks for sharing! It was a wonderful video, you are super strong and encourage all of us to get through this!
Mindy, it's a La Bassine--a common pool used for waterbirth. The sides are very strong and supportive, which I really liked. I've been at births where women used an AquaDoula, and the edges are very thin and rigid. Definitely not comfortable for leaning over on.
DeleteThe pool keeps the temperature quite well. If it does get a bit cool, you just run more hot water into it. I've never stayed in long enough for that to be an issue, though.
I thought it looked most similar with the striped like sides. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteWishing you happiness with your beautiful family!
You are amazing! So composed and calm. What a powerful birthing experince. All the best!
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