Sweet Leonardo's Birth Story
Leonardo was a surprise. We had big plans and we had just set up to get a puppy from Italy when we found out about him. Lachlan was only 9 months old so we were shocked, and understandably stressed. Adding another baby to our family wasn’t in the plan yet. We had a good plan, we were going to sell next year and buy a townhouse and then have another baby. The plan was to get pregnant in March of 2022, however now I was due in March 2022! So now we’re having a baby, again. We had no idea what the heck we were doing but we sold our apartment and tried to navigate what to do. That’s a whole other story, but in the end we found ourselves 5 hours from everything we had ever known and with no family.
We bought a wonderful home and property and we were excited to add little Leo to our family dynamic. Part of being able to move 5 hours away meant Joe had to stay behind in Vancouver and work. This left me very pregnant and with two kids, plus 4 cats and a dog! It kept me extremely busy and active during the entire pregnancy. I feel like it just flew by because I was so preoccupied with the other two boys and unpacking and making our house a home.
After Lachlan and his traumatic birth I saw a OBGYN to see about what this next delivery would look like. Actually I saw her when Lachlan was only a few months old. She said to me “No vaginal births, your body cannot handle it”. My family doctor after lachlans birth said she wouldn’t recommend another vaginal birth, she wouldn’t have even recommended one after Lucas complicated birth. A midwife said it was best to avoid a vaginal birth due to previous complications and my muscles…
So now we’re having a baby, again. We had no idea what the heck we were doing but we sold our apartment and tried to navigate what to do. That’s a whole other story, but in the end we found ourselves 5 hours from everything we had ever known and with no family. We bought a wonderful home and property and we were excited to add little Leo to our family dynamic.
Part of being able to move 5 hours away meant Joe had to stay behind in Vancouver and work. This left me very pregnant and with two kids, plus 4 cats and a dog! It kept me extremely busy and active during the entire pregnancy. I feel like it just flew by because I was so preoccupied with the other two boys and unpacking and making our house a home.
So I started to make my peace with having a csection (which is major surgery — and that’s what scares me). When we moved I requested to see a OBGYN who was local to me, and luckily I was able to find a amazing one. I asked all the same questions and received totally different answers. A vaginal birth was not off the table for me, but it wouldn’t be easy and we knew that. After a lot of planning my birth team and I decided the best course of action was a induction. Cue instant worry because induction, right.. February 25th 2022 Joe and I arrived at the hospital local to us (1 hour from our home) at 8am for a scheduled induction! I was so excited. I had ate a good breakfast, drank a lot of water, done some exercises, and cleaned my house. I felt good and confident. We started the induction by ripening my cervix using prostaglandin. After we started this we were sent home to let it work it’s magic, and set to come back in 6 hours. I started having some contractions right away, and felt extremely uncomfortable — this was exciting! The drive home was filled with many emotions and lots of pain over the bumps in the road. At home I rested and hung out with my kids. Finally we headed back to the hospital. By this time contractions had pretty well stopped and I was feeling a little discouraged. So take that story and x it by 3 different inductions including but not limited to pitocin. We even stayed in a hotel once thinking baby was going to come (spoiler, he didn’t). On the last day, March 3rd (oh ya like a week later – I know) we decided to try Cervadil. This scared me a lot.. For some reason more than Pitocin. We did it anyways. I didn’t feel much at first, but in the time it took me to walk out of the hospital to my car I felt like I was going to literally drop this baby out of my vagina in the parking lot (sorry not sorry).
We drove 10 minutes to the hotel where I declared I was NOT going to move and my husband could get bent if he thought I was going to be leaving this car at all. He called the midwife and explained to her my declaration of not leaving the car and that I was having major contractions. She said to head back to the hospital to recap. So we drove back, I waddled inside with commentary each step and crawled into the same bed I just left. When you live in a small town things like a little different. There is only 2 delivery rooms in our whole hospital! Generally you are sent home to labour, or if you live far you labour at a hotel. I was in a state of “I absolutely the f not will be moving” and so the nurses explained that someone in the other room was in labour and that I could stay BUT if someone else came in who was about to birth, I’d have to be moved. I agreed to their stipulations and they were so amazing to me. This was like day whatever for me, I’d been at this induction thing for a week. I was tired and grumpy and feeling discouraged. After hours of it not working, feeling contractions every now and then but not progressing I lost hope. Now I know this sounds silly because I preach and KNOW that dilation doesn’t mean much and things happen when they happen. However given my previous birth I had a lot of reserves. This was new territory for me. At around 12-1am I asked the nurses for a c-section. I couldn’t sleep, I was exhausted, baby wasn’t coming… And I was scared. Each day I I knew this baby was getting bigger and that terrified me after Lachlan’s 9.2lbs. I felt safer in a C-section than the thought of another stuck baby. But I felt defeated in this choice to have one. The nurses said I was on the board for 9am and to not drink or eat anymore. So I tried to rest, the contractions had a retry well completely stopped.
At 2:15am I woke up to pee, waddled to the bathroom feeling uncomfortable and bitter. When I got back into bed I shoved a pillow between my legs, got comfortable and closed me eyes.
At 2:30 I was awakened by what I thought was me pissing my pants abruptly BUT it was actually my water breaking. So this took me absolutely by surprise. I told the nurse and she didn’t think it was my water, but about 7 minutes after it broke contractions start heavy. I woke up Joe, who was shocked because we were sure this baby was not coming naturally (I say naturally but obviously I was induced).
At 2:56 I set up the phone in between a contraction to record my birth (which Joe ended up blocking, thank you husband).
At 3:03 he was on my chest. I had done it. I birth Leonardo at 8.8lbs vaginally with NO assistance.
My first assistance free birth. My first time feeling truly empowered after birth… A game changer for me.
You don’t win any metals for natural births, but for me I unlocked a sacred piece of my story. My doula and midwife didn’t even make it to his birth, it all happened so fast.
This is Leonardo’s birth story! It was a beautiful birth in its own beautiful way, and I have a wonderful little Leo. I do plan to share a in-depth view at my induction story, and the mental prep work that went into having this vaginal birth.
This was a physiological induction, this was a birth with intention and peace, and I look forward to sharing those pieces one day. Thank you for reading my story, and sharing in excitement with me after 2 traumatic births. Thank you Leonardo for changing our lives.
