The Birth Story of Colette Tyler | Jacksonville Birth Photographer

On September 1st, I went in for my 41 week appointment. My midwife went ahead and scheduled my induction for the evening of September 6th. We discussed multiple options to try to get labor going before then so that I could have my birth center birth. I cried in the office because I was so sad that the birth I was planning might not come true. I asked my midwife to check and see if I was dilated and if so, to do a membrane sweep. I was 1.5 cm so she went ahead. We made a plan for me to come back in two days for another one. I went home and called my friend and we went curb walking and then I went home and tried pumping to induce labor. Around 9pm that night I started feeling crampy, but didn’t believe it was contractions. I honestly felt like I was constipated. Nicholas looks at me and says “Paige, I think those are contractions.” We began timing them and they were about 5-6 minutes apart, however, and consistent. The contractions were getting a little closer together and stronger so I got into the shower to relax. This slowed things down some. At 10 p.m. I called the birth center to let the midwife know I was in early labor. Around 10:30 p.m., Nicholas made me some raspberry leaf tea and he went to bed at 11:30 (he did ask if it was okay). I attempted to sleep on the couch with the TV on. However, every time I fell asleep I would have a contraction and it would wake me up. Around 3am my doula arrived and I labored at home until 4:45. When I left my house, contractions were 3 minutes apart.

When I arrived at the birth center they had the essential oil diffuser diffusing the oil I had picked, the lights dimmed, and my worship playlist was set up. My midwife checked me and I was 4cm dilated, 70% effaced, and -2 station (thankfully, they did not tell me any of this). I labored on the bed while the tub finished filling. I labored in there for a while (the warm tub felt amazing) and Nicholas joined me. He provided counter-pressure, as I was having so much back labor. Throughout all of labor, the contractions seemed so intense. Every time I struggled and wanted to give up, my doula looked at me and said “this is the way”. Eventually I got out of the tub and tried to relax in bed to help things progress. At 7:30 a.m. the midwife checked me again and I was only 5cm dilated, 90% effaced, and -1 station. Thankfully my midwives did not share that information, I would have been very discouraged. At this point, I had been in labor for a while without much “progress”, however, my contractions were very intense and some were back to back without breaks. I got back into the tub for a little while again to try to relax to help my body to progress. Throughout the night/day my birth team fed me dark chocolate peanut butter cups, gave me water, and put a fan on me. A cold towel on my neck was life giving during labor. I was struggling and giving up on myself at this point. My amazing midwives and birth assistants placed their hands on me and prayed over me. It was such a beautiful experience. To aid in getting baby to lower and progress my midwife decided that I needed to go walk. It took everyone in that room to convince me to leave the warm tub and walk. I put on a postpartum diaper and shoes, got wrapped in a towel, and walked around the outside of the building. At this point my contractions were so intense that I was unable to move during them. It was very difficult to control my breathing and voice in a way that was effective rather than being a waste of energy. I held onto Nicholas for dear life with every contraction and my doula applied counter-pressure. I think somewhere between the end of this walk and getting back into the tub I hit transition. Once back inside, I labored leaning onto the edge of the bed and then the birth assistant had me labor on the toilet and place my feet up on her legs as she sat in front of me. This created more pressure and I argued to get up. My birth assistant reminded me that I was doing great, was strong, and that this position was bringing me closer to my baby. I then got back into the tub and labored in there and eventually began feeling the need to bear down.

At 10:30 a.m. my midwife asked if I would get out of the tub so she could check me. I was 10cm complete and +1 station. I got back into the tub and it was the first time I had smiled since arriving to the birth center. I was so happy to finally be in the pushing stage of labor. Nicholas then also got into the tub and I was surprised. I did not think that he would want to be in there with me while I delivered the baby. I pushed for a long time in a squat position with my hands on the side of the tub. Baby was still en caul and I was able to feel her amniotic sac. It ended up breaking while pushing. After three hours of pushing, she was born at 2:12 p.m. I delivered her leaning back against Nicholas, with him holding me up. My midwife brought her out of the water and handed her to me. It was a moment of so much joy and so much relief.

An unmedicated, low intervention birth was the birth of my dreams. I had prayed and prepared so much for this birth. It was way harder than I had imagined it would be. I feel so empowered after giving birth to my beautiful girl.

Transitions Birth Center | Jacksonville, Florida