There were so many previous nights I thought, “Is this the night? This could be it. How was I really going to be able to tell which one would escalate into true labor? Was it just another night of Braxton Hicks contractions?”

 

There I was 5 days “overdue” and anxiously waiting to meet my new baby boy. Let me just start by saying my mothers intuition was so far off this time around. I first thought I may have twins growing inside of me, wrong. I then thought he’d come early, also wrong. There ended up only being one baby and he chose to arrive past my due date.

 

Born on Thursday June 4, 2020 at 9:47am. Weighing 8lbs 10 oz and 20 inches in length.

 

Wednesday evening about 7pm the night before he arrived we went for our usual family walk. I was the speed of a waddling turtle and could barely make it around the block. The movement helped the “surges” kick in, however this had happened many times before so I didn’t think much of it. After putting my daughter Jakayla down for bed around 9pm, I decided since I wasn’t sleepy to head downstairs and watch my tv show while bouncing around on my yoga ball. I figured some “me” time would help me relax and I knew the yoga ball would be good for Jamari. Sure enough I ended up bouncing around on that ball for over an hour while watching “Money Heist.” (Best show ever. I recommend this show to anyone who loves action and great acting.)

 

 

Anyway, Trenton, my 14 year old nephew, ended up coming down around midnight and we chatted for a bit. I got really tired and thought, “Ok, if these surges do turn into the real deal I should probably get some rest.” So I headed back up to bed in Jakayla’s room. She tossed and turned so I needed to lay still and quietly next to her to let her know I was there. But being quiet and still was beginning to get harder and harder for me. The surges were picking up and I needed to document each one, however, the light in her room from my phone wasn’t helping her sleep well either. I felt doomed. We all needed good rest for what lies ahead. I also didn’t want to wake up Stephen until I knew 100 percent that I was in actual labor. I had so many false alarms prior and didn’t want to disturb him until I knew it was legitimately time to go to the hospital.

 

 

Sure enough the surges picked up. They increased from happening every 15 min to every 10 minutes and then every 5 minutes. When I started getting closer to every 5 min I thought, “Ok let’s get my last min things situated. This is it. I’ll do that and then wake up Stephen with “it’s time to go.”

I also knew after 15 min of having surges every 5 min that I should call my Dad and his wife, Claire, to head on over so that there was no rush or waiting on them if I soon needed to leave for the hospital. It was about 5:30am when I made that call. Then sure enough Stephens instinct must have kicked in because he woke up naturally on his own to find me packing up the last min things we needed. I told him my Dad and Claire were on the way and that this was it.

 

 

They arrived and we loaded up the car, “Wife in Labor” sign and all. Half way there we realized we had yet to call our midwife. Haha We made the call and she met us there. We arrived at the hospital around 7:30/8am. I sat in a wheel chair at the front entrance while Stephen parked the car. Due to Covid19 we had our temperatures checked and were required to wear masks. All clear. Stephen wheeled me on up and we got checked in. When they checked my cervix in triage sure enough I was 6cm dilated! Yippeee! Straight to delivery. It felt like my baby boy was going to arrive in no time.

 

 

Once we got into the delivery room the surges really really picked up. We had about 2 to 3 nurses helping and our midwife Mallory. She was amazing! Her presence was calming and reassuring of the process. They were very helpful with different positions etc. and all wearing a lot of PPE, due to Covid.

 

 

I had the urge to push pretty quickly once we arrived in the delivery room. So there I was pushing and breathing my baby down. I tried many different positions and I was very grateful for bringing my knee pads. I had them on the whole time and they made it easy to go on my hands and knees anywhere in the room. I highly recommend bringing a pair of knee pads over a yoga mat.

 

 

One thing I was really nervous about was how was I was going to push this baby out with a mask on my face the entire time? 10 min into arriving in the delivery room I literally said, “f this mask” and I tore it off my face. There’s no way I could wear it, talk about sweaty, irritating and the last thing I was thinking about. I thought for sure they would mention how I was required to wear it, but I think all these women understood so no one objected. I felt so much relief. Plus I knew I wasn’t infecting anyone with Covid due to a negative test result I had a couple weeks prior to my birth. After ripping my mask off, I tried my own ambu bag mask that I brought to help with my breath, but that didn’t last long either. I had nothing to hold it in place and I needed both hands to hold my various positions. So, they offered me an oxygen mask without the oxygen and I ended up wearing that for most of the labor.

 

After feeling like I had been pushing for awhile I remember thinking to myself, “When is this boy going to arrive? This is taking waaaayyy longer than I expected. Where’s the truth in what everyone always says about the second labor being much easier?” With Jakayla, I only pushed 3 times and, BAM, she was here. This boy had me WORKING! I kept asking, “Am I crowning?” It felt like he was just sitting right there. Then I would think, “Nope, my water hasn’t even broke yet.”

 

And sure enough they checked and said, “No, you’re not crowning yet, but your 10cm dilated and there’s bulging, so he’s almost here.” I felt so discouraged. But I tried really hard not to let it stop my motivation from getting this boy out sooner than later. When I heard that I was 10cm I did feel some relief knowing I had already made it past the “transition phase” so that gave me some encouragement.

 

Sure enough not long after, I was squatting on the bed when my water finally broke. I was so excited! It’s almost time to meet my boy. I thought for sure “Okay, now it’ll be just a few more pushes.” Unfortunately, I was wrong. He had me pushing for about another half hour so. The midwife let me know he was facing upwards, what they call, “sunny side up” and that I needed to visualize myself pushing him down first and then up, because his forehead keeps hitting my pubic bone. I thought, “Oh man oh man, but ok, I can do this.” Every time he got close to coming out I would tire out and feel like I had to start all over. The hardest part was pushing him past the point of where my hemorrhoids felt like they were tearing! Yes, I had hemorrhoids. One of the nurses noted that if I pushed my head forward rather than letting my head go backwards when I pushed it would help move him downward. She was right. I used the momentum of my head and strong push to get him lower and lower. Sure enough Stephen let me know he could see his hair and that I was almost there and he kept saying imagine Jakayla’s face when she gets to meet him. With him and the nurses holding my legs in steadily in place and me determined and focused to get him out, Jamari Paul Baffour Nuamah arrived to this world at 9:47am. He was 8lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long. A big boy. Right when he came out he was already facing me due to his “sunny side up” position and they placed him immediately on my chest. He was perfect. A big handsome cute baby boy, worth every single moment.

 

They delayed cord clamping and actually let me feel the cord pulsating. It was amazing. Then they had Stephen cut the cord. They originally asked him if he wanted to catch the baby right before Jamari came out but he was like, “Uhhh no no, you guys catch him.”

They then pushed on my uterus to help deliver the placenta and then they numbed me and stitched me up.

 

The whole time baby Jamari was skin to skin on my chest and we were just loving on him, soaking up every moment. It’s amazing how quickly he did the “breast crawl.” He was able to latch for a little bit the first day but then we did end up needing to use the nipple shield again like I did with Jakayla. Check out breastfeeding with flat or inverted nipples – natural tips and trick for more information.

 

8 hours later he was bathed. We asked why there was an 8 hour wait requirement to give him a bath and the hospital explained that there’s evidence that shows that if the baby bathes too soon after being born they can have a harder time regulating their own body temperature. Keeping the baby close to momma and having as much skin to skin is best for the baby to regulate its body temperature on its own.

I really liked that the hospital I delivered at supported my natural birth. And they acted quickly when it came to checking on my recovery process.

 

Unfortunately, my bladder doesn’t react well to giving birth and stopped working properly afterwards for both births, first with Jakayla and now again with Jamari. But this time around I was prepared and the nurses were great about catching it early. I did end up having to go home with a catheter again for two weeks, which has served it’s purpose and is now behind me. Thank god. My bladder works properly now and I can function like a normal human being.

 

We ended up spending only two nights in the hospital and then I was discharged. I was so happy to be headed home where Jamari was welcomed by his family. It was such a beautiful moment I will forever cherish.

 

Mommas, friends and family! I did it! We did it! Baby Jamari is a healthy and happy baby boy and I am a safe and sound momma bear who can’t wait to share this journey with everyone.

 

 

One thing I’ll always remember is right after he was born my midwife turned to me and looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Momma you are strong! Most women would have ended up in a C-Section due to the position the baby was in, but not you, you did it. You didn’t give up and you kept going. You did it! You are a strong woman.”

That is the nicest thing you can hear after delivering a big baby boy with absolutely no drugs for pain management. I felt like a warrior. I feel so blessed for knowing how to use hypnobirthing and having a great support system. If you’re a momma interested in having an all Natural Birth in a hospital, Click Here for more information.

 

Or if you want to know more about hypnobirthing Click Here.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my birthing story. Let’s connect! Feel free to leave a comment below with your experience! We would love to hear from you!