Hi there! I shared Caleb’s birth story here on the blog awhile back and today I want to share Sofia’s! I won’t get too graphic, but like I said with Caleb’s, if knowing all the details isn’t your thing, feel free to skip this post. 😉
My contractions started at 11:45 pm on May 4th. They were a bit irregular at first but averaged about ten minutes apart. Pablo was asleep and I figured there was no need to wake him until I waited to see if things were going to keep progressing, so I just stayed in bed and tried to rest as much as I could between contractions.
I ended up waking Pablo after about two hours when I saw the the contractions were continuing to come regularly and were getting stronger. We decided that he should take Caleb over to my family’s house right then, that way we wouldn’t have to mess with dropping him off on the way to the birthing center later. Strangely enough, Caleb was already wide awake in his bed when we went to get him! While Pablo was gone I worked on gathering up the last few odds and ends that we needed to take with us in between my contractions.
We left for the birthing center at 3:20; it took twenty-five minutes to get there. With Caleb, we only had to drive ten minutes but I was in transition already so it was. not. fun. This time, although the drive was longer, my contractions were a bit more manageable which I was grateful for.
Once we arrived at the birthing center my midwife checked me and I was about six centimeters. My contractions had decided to slow down a little so she told me to just walk around for awhile. I felt kind of awkward making my little circle back and forth through the birthing center and I felt bad for Pablo who had nothing to do but just watch me and wait haha. But, the contractions did start picking up again though after a half hour or so and once they did they got intense pretty fast.
After pacing around for at least an hour I got in the tub. The warm water felt really nice. I was able to relax pretty well in between contractions, but man, the contractions were intense. Although I knew in my head it would all end eventually I was getting awfully exhausted and impatient for it to all be done. Twice I kind of teared up but I despise crying in front of people so the tears didn’t last long.
Finallyyyy the midwife said I could try to push… and so began the most intense (read “horribly painful”) moments of my life so far. Ha. It was craaazy. I’ve always made fun of that silly meme that floats around facebook that says that during childbirth the pain a woman feels is equivalent to twenty bones being fractured at once. Well, birthing Sofia I could almost believe it.
But, thank God it didn’t last long because Sofia came into the world after just ten minutes of pushing, unlike the hour and forty minutes it took for Caleb. Like her brother though, she opted to come out with her hand by her head. Lucky me.
As soon as she was born (right there in the water) the midwife told me to reach down and lift my baby up. That was the most amazing experience ever. What an absolute miracle! That made it all worth it. <3 <3
So, Sofia Elizabeth Gaspar was born at 6:25 am on May 5th, three days before her due date. She was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 20.5 inches long. My whole labor experience lasted only six and a half hours – much, much faster than with Caleb. I’d hoped for a faster labor and particularly a faster pushing time and I definitely got it; I just kind of hadn’t thought about the fact that a faster labor would also be more intense! In retrospect though I’m still grateful it was fast.
This was my first water birth and I’m really glad I tried it. It’s hard for me to compare it to my non-water birth with Caleb since Sofia came so much faster, but I do think the water was helpful with handling the pain. The main reason I’d probably do a water birth again though is because lifting Sofia up myself after she was born was really incredible.
Recovery this time around has been great! God has been so good. Pablo and I are so thankful that God has blessed us with our sweet little Sofia and it makes us so happy to watch Caleb interact with her; he is such a sweet big brother.
Anyway, that is Sofia’s birth story! To basically sum it all up, labor is not cool at all but the reward at the end is amazing and also you pretty much feel like super woman. 😉
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