Alexis' Birth Story | Roots Birth Center

I didn’t have a hard pregnancy in the sense that some pregnancies are hard, but this pregnancy was hard on me. We wanted this baby so much and wanted a sibling for our eldest child, but I had a very hard time enjoying being pregnant the second time around. I felt extra tired, felt the color drain out of me, felt my eyelashes and eyebrows disappear (google it, so weird), my spirits were low, and I didn’t feel good in my body. This baby was taking it all out of me despite my efforts to dial in my nutrition, exercise regularly, and get plenty of sleep.

In addition, I was diagnosed with a partial placenta previa and it was down to the absolute wire (37 weeks!) as to whether or not I would need to have a scheduled C-section. The stress of that created this pressure cooker of uncertainty and anxiety that, looking back, was also contributing to some mild perinatal depression. And while all of that is a normal part of being pregnant and felt managed, I still felt pretty miserable and cranky much of the time. My poor midwives!

Each night in the week before my due date, in the wee hours of the morning, I would have a window of time where my contractions would start and then a few hours later would grind to a halt. This happened all week much to my frustration until finally on Saturday night, they were powerful enough and 2-3 minutes apart that I called the on-call midwife Aly and asked her to meet us at Roots.

We were excited. My husband and I packed up the car. My contractions were steady, more powerful this time, and I was having to really focus on my breathing through them. Shortly after arriving, my contractions stopped. I was mortified, I was sad, I was angry and could not believe I was still pregnant. “How could this have happened to me!?” I thought. “I know my body, I have done this natural birth thing before, why would my body and this baby not cooperate with me? I’m in control. This baby needs to come out NOW.”

Nope.

Aly leveled with me and said, “You just have to accept that you will be pregnant forever. And then baby will come.” I cried and knew she was right and we packed up our things and went home to a disappointed not-yet-a-big-brother and his grandma and went back to sleep for a few hours.

When I woke up, I was still having the off and on contraction but I decided to ignore them in the spirit of #pregnantforever. I told my mom to get ready and we loaded up in the car and went out to run errands and get out of the house for a bit. On our way to Target Mom even joked that, “maybe we should pick out a cute new maternity outfit for you since you’re going to be pregnant forever!” I was so crabby, but I managed a smile. I am still so grateful for her positivity and calm that week.

I gassed up my car. Had a contraction. Ignored it. We made a stop for a coffee and a cookie that I didn’t eat. I had two contractions. I ignored them. While we were in Target, I had to go to the bathroom a few times but tried not to think about it too much and just carried on. Pushing the shopping cart, I had to stop a few times, and though I don’t remember this, apparently moaned out loud according to my mom. While looking at baby clothes to kill some time, the song “Low Rider” came on, and this guy walking around in the baby section was whistling it annoyingly and I almost snapped at him. I should have known then I was “in labor,” and the irony of the song is not lost on me. After a few more contractions, I started to feel my anxiety rise and told mom to meet me at the front of the store after she paid for our things. I went to the bathroom one more time and there went the rest of my mucus plug.

I drove home, having some contractions that told me I probably shouldn’t have been the one driving, but my mom doesn’t drive in the city and we were only 15 minutes from home. We got home, and I started pacing. I called Aly. She said to go about my day and when I couldn’t do normal activities to call her and she’d meet me at the birth center. Less than twenty minutes later I called her back and said “I think I’m going to throw up, we’re on our way.” My husband was down the street on a short walk with our son, so I had my mom yell for them to come back. A few contractions later when I still didn’t see him, I started to say “We have to go! We have to go now!” She called him again and he finally came in the house. Once he saw my face, I think he knew to finally hurry. Luckily we’d left everything in the car from the night before. There was incredible pressure, waves of contractions, and I knew we had to get to Roots because this baby was coming. We kissed our boy goodbye and he said, “Will you come back home with my baby?” After we left, he looked at my mom and said, “Come on grandma, let’s go take a nap.” I think he knew it was going to be a big day.

We live very close to Roots Birth Center, a 4 minute drive, and I had had a sneaking suspicion this baby would come fast all along. I knew second babies could sometimes be speedy, and my mom’s birth story with me confirmed this as well. As luck would have it, Aly was already there having just seen another patient, and good thing too. We arrived at the birth center at 12:50 pm and I immediately started asking for the birthing tub. Aly patiently took my vitals and started filling the tub and said I could get in once she’d finished. I was ripping off clothes and was so uncomfortable the only position I could tolerate was hands and knees. I just wanted in the water! I got in, had a break between contractions, cracked some joke at my husband about taking his sweet time getting back into the house, and then had my first push which broke my water. Corrinne, the birthing assistant then arrived, and came sliding in on her knees like a baseball player to open her laptop and start charting for Aly. I remember observing how loud I was. In my first birth, I was quiet, inward, and hardly made a sound. This baby roared out of me. My second push birthed her head, and our daughter, fast as a lightning bolt, my sweet baby girl, flew into the world at 1:13 p.m. just shy of 9 lbs. If Aly hadn’t been there, our baby would have been born in the car.

I caught her myself and pulled her right up onto my chest. It was the most natural, animal, intense, and incredible thing to greet my baby with my own two hands and finally be holding her.

My body had done a lot of work that week, and had decided to labor a little at a time, getting my body and baby ready for this lightning fast birth. I lost a lot of blood with my son and I lost a lot of blood with my daughter, which we planned ahead for, but each time midwives were my saving grace. Several shots of pitocin, strong uterine massage, blood pressure checks, and nothing but the utmost care, attention, and support, and I was indeed home for dinner. We came home to an overjoyed little boy who couldn’t wait to see “his” baby, a home-cooked meal, my warm bed, and the comfort of our home nest. I am continually amazed at the work midwives do. I love both my birth stories, and am so grateful to Aly and everyone at Roots for helping me catch my baby girl, Berlin “Linney” Rebecca, born October 27th, 2019 in the water right here in North Minneapolis. Our family feels complete.