I’ve been meaning to share this forever, but it is so special to me that I never quite felt ready ALAS my son is 9 months old today and I feel like sharing! I feel like sharing this for the mama’s who are pregnant and need a birth story that is positive. I feel like sharing this because I love this little baby boy so much that I can’t even describe it and I could shout from the rooftops I’M IN LOVE! I’M IN LOVE, AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS IT. I feel like sharing because it is a story worth remembering. I wrote this within the 1st week postpartum.. in the middle of the chaos.. but I needed to write because I needed to remember the day I became Maverick’s mom, because it is a day from which I will never be same.
39 weeks, July 1st 2023
July 4th. Independence Day. I thought to myself wouldn’t it be funny if Maverick was born today because his name means independent.
We started the day by deciding Eric should go to work. We just had a 4 day weekend together and everyday woke up wondering “is today the day?” I had been having contractions on the weekend but nothing seemed too serious since we had had many days of early labor since June 7th when Mav wanted to try to escape early because he was breech and his skinny little buns were making his way toward the finish line a month early.
Okay. Pause the birth story to explain, Katie…. alright.. my breech baby. Breech just like me.
June 7th. I started to have contractions. I was not due until July 8th. This was not great. I started tracking them. They were not strong or consistent but they were not ignorable. My belly was hard. I was uncomfortable. I reached out to my midwife and she wasn’t too worried but she could probably sense that I was and so she invited me to come into the clinic. She assessed me as they do. Took my blood pressure. Measured my fundal height. And she tried to feel for his position. It had previously been confirmed that he was head down and that he would likely stay that way. But my midwife took her time feeling his position. Really wiggling around. I never really knew that this was okay but they like FEEL the baby while it is in your belly. She looked at me with slightly furrowed brows and said “Katie, I am not positive but I think your baby might be breech.” And so we had a discussion about what would happen if he was truly breech. (two days later it was confirmed with an ultrasound) I would have the option to CHOOSE to have a c-section, I could attempt to birth him buns first but it would be at a different hospital that my midwives didn’t have rights at, or I could get an External Cephalic Version aka a manual baby flip from the outside. But if these contractions didn’t chill out I would have to have an emergency C-section. SO. She told me to go home and rest and keep that baby put because he needed to make it to 37 weeks at least. She gave me something called a moxibustion stick… hahaha this was like maybe one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done but I was desperate for my baby to turn. I was supposed to burn this stick close to my pinky toe. Lol. And so I did. For the next like 5 nights in a row. Eric was also flipping me upside down.. trying to get Mav to turn. We did all the things. I felt it was worth it to try to do my very best to birth him as naturally as I possibly could. AND IT WAS!
For 4 days I had to fast (which was SO HARD being pregnant and fasting!!!) I had to call the hospital in the morning to see if they had a spot to get me in to SQUEEZE MY BELLY. We got an ECV on June 14th and with sooooo much prayer the doctor was able to turn him in my belly. It was incredibly painful but so worth it to me because it meant I had a sure chance of birthing my baby naturally. We were told there was only a 10-20% chance of it being successful and I responded that we were already in the miracle zone being in the 3% of pregnancies that are breech so 10% seemed good! It was only this OBGYN’s 3rd successful flip of her career. The entire room cheered and clapped when it worked, and I burst into tears. 🙌🏻 for the next two weeks I had cramping and internal bruising and bruising from the IV and blood tests but it was so worth it. My midwife was such a hero that day. She just. Was there. Supporting us. Helping to remind me to breathe. Giving us space and kicking the doctors out of the room when we needed some time to think. If this procedure had gone wrong they would have had to whisk us into an emergency c-section THAT DAY. I was so grateful for her. Am still. She hugged me after. Have you ever been hugged by a doctor? Probably not! Anyways THE ECV WORKED. AND HE STAYED DOWN.
So.
Birth day.
Well… “labour day.”
I felt nothing happening in the morning of July 4th. Just my usual tired and incredibly hard to move and roll over pregnant self. I had some cereal and Eric went to work and I went back to bed.
9:30 am I woke up feeling like I’d never eaten in my life and made the quickest breakfast sandwich. During the assembly of said sandwich I received a FaceTime from the Hermkens children (some of my most very favorite kids out there). “Hi miss Katie!! What are you doing???!” So I chatted them up while mowing down some food and my dear friend Debbie invited me over for an action packed day. I went over to watch her collect a fence from their backyard and other various items and fill up a uhaul to take to the dump. After spending the entire weekend at home “just in case” the baby decided to come I decided to go because I wouldn’t be too far from home if anything started to happen. I genuinely was just along for the ride on this hot July afternoon.
12:30pm I sat in a hot garbage smelling uhaul while Debbie and Brian unloaded it from the back for 10 minutes.
After this we dropped Brian back at their house and returned the uhaul. From there, a childless for the day Debbie suggested we go see our dear friend Ale and her new baby Drew downtown. I had been mostly staying home/close to the hospital for the past week so I was like… okay! Nothings gonna happen fast if it’s gonna happen… right!? But the Holy Spirit really guided me in this moment and I was like… Deb is it okay if I move my car from your place to somewhere in East Van so I don’t have to come back to North Van and drive home over the bridge in traffic? She said sure! So we grabbed a bunch of snacks for Ale and I got some chicken tenders for myself then moved my car to east van and I hopped in Debbie’s car and we went downtown listening to some old school worship with the windows down ripping in her standard Nissan micra.👌🏻(I feel it should be noted that I had so many chicken tenders during my pregnancy that my brother began to call the baby my chicken tender experiment. I am so glad it was my last meal before giving birth hahaha)
We arrived at Ale’s and Debbie cleaned her dirty feet in Ales sink from the morning activities. 😂 I sat with Ale while Deb asked her all of the questions about her new baby. I was feeling pretty spaced out. Not really hearing a lot of what was being said. But just happy to be with two of my best friends. And then I felt a bit of a gush like maybe I peed myself…? So I quickly got up and went pee for reals. But I was so confused because I had never peed myself before. While in Ale’s bathroom I raided her cupboard for a bigger pad and thankfully this freshly postpartum mom had what I needed. And I came back out and told them… guys I think I peed myself? And they were both like “oh yahhh!! That happens late pregnancy!!” And so I was like. Okay.. sure yah. Its probably nothing! I kept peeing myself a bit here and there but didn’t think much of it. I basically had a diaper on now. It was fine. I’m fine.
Me just after my water started to leak, Ale 8 days postpartum with Drew, Debbie a mom of 4 who is very familiar with all of this.
The last photo of me pregnant with Mav
Deb and I left Ale’s around 4:15 and she drove me to my car and gave me a hug and said “ I’ll see you again before this baby comes” and I was like I dunno Debs I hope not! And got in my car.
This moment was also guided by the Holy Spirit. 4:30pm I texted Eric to see if he wanted a ride home from work. And he said yes. Usually he turns me down because he likes to read on the bus on the way home! So I actually back tracked to go to his work and get him. There was a decent amount of traffic so it took me near half an hour to get there. While I was on 12th and Clark waiting to turn left to go to Midland I had this HUGE crammmmmmp! but I still was not sure if it was the real thing. I assumed it was probably my bowels, so as soon as I got to Midland I waddled past Eric’s young coworker guys and went straight to the bathroom. I found a couple of specks of blood on my pad which was interesting after not seeing blood for many many months. I had also “peed myself” a few more times. I spent 10 minutes in there. Trying to clear things out. But having some big cramps. Cramps that I didn’t know yet were actually labor. And Eric came and knocked on the door to see if I was okay because everyone was ready to go. Slightly embarrassing.
From there I got out and just squatted down by the office in Midland and I tried to be cool but I couldn’t really be cool and Eric was like “have you downloaded the contraction app I told you to get?” And I was like NO can you just do that FOR ME?! Lol. So he did. Immediately.
I waddled out of the store with Eric and the two young guy coworkers and made it to the car. I started timing the contractions that happened in the car all the way home and they quickly went from 5 mins apart to 3. They were peak pain at 50 seconds in. I was told by my midwives that as a first time mom I needed to wait until I had consistent contractions for 2 hours 3 minutes apart last for 1 minute so we went home. I was like… I think I need to just sit on the toilet again. And my contractions were continuing to be consistently 3 mins apart. Eric grabbed a quick bowl of pasta and was like we are going to the hospital NOW. I was resistant. A rule follower. I didn’t think I was allowed hahahah but I am so glad he didn’t listen to me.
I couldn’t get ahold of my midwife. The urgent line wasn’t going through. And I hadn’t been able to text her. So I decided to what’s app her and it was such a fluke that she checked it. She then called Eric and we were just pulling into the hospital. He couldn’t pick a parking spot to save his life! Just kept driving by open spots… waiting for a better one. I was like JUST PICK ONE BABE COME ONNNNNNN!!!
We went in through emergency and I could not walk in. I found a bench right out front and worked through a contraction. It was also like 28 degrees outside. Eric found a wheelchair to grab me and the people allowed us to completely bypass the huge line at emergency 😂 I guess a woman in active labour is a priority. He wheeled me to get checked in and we made it up to labour and delivery. It was familiar. The same place we had our ECV 3 weeks before.
I immediately tried to go to the bathroom and was really just doing anything possible to try to get comfy. And I could not. There is no ‘comfy’ when your body is contracting with the power of a million suns. I felt so powerful. Like I couldn’t believe my body was doing this. This massive squeeze from the inside. It was WILD. And terrible. We had a young red headed nurse who was just at the end of her shift. She tried to help us and offered me some laughing gas and I think perhaps the idea of it helping me may have helped? Laughing gas seemingly does nothing, I think that’s the joke. Laughable that it helps. It did not. It helped me to breathe perhaps but only for a moment did it make my face feel numb. 😂🤷🏼♀️I managed to find some slight comfort on the bed laying on my side. That was all. And that is where I stayed.
My midwife arrived and checked to see if I was dilated and I was already 4cm and seemed to be making good progress. She checked to see if my water had broken and it must have started to leak when I was at Ale’s because the test came back positive. At this point she showed Eric how to help me through some contractions using the gas and putting some pressure on my back and the nurse was there helping as well. When my midwife came back she said… “okay guys… this is my nightmare.” And she proceeded to tell us that there were not enough nurses available to help us and we were the last to arrive so we would either need to go home and potentially give birth at home or go to another hospital. The red headed nurse was then on her way out the door like “bye guys! Nice to meet you and good luck!” 🫠
I was quite literally moaning like a cow, sucking on laughing gas and NOT in a place to be making a decision to LEAVE a hospital. Thankfully, a few contractions later my water fully broke alllllll overrr the bed. Eric HEARD the sploosh before he saw it. But my midwife was quick to notice that there was some meconium in the amniotic fluid and she had another nurse confirm this. That nurse agreed that because of the meconium I needed to be put on an iv and have the baby’s heart rate monitored so this, although kind of alarming, was reason enough for this nurse to be taken from another woman in labour who was progressing much slower and tend to me. And I, most certainly would not be leaving the hospital without birthing this baby!
They started to notice his heart rate would drop after contractions for a bit and I was just praying every single time for this little man and then it would pop right back up. They were going to have an obgyn come assess the situation but my midwife was really on top of it. He always perked back up.. meanwhile I was just in so much pain. The new baby monitor strapped to my belly was another added pressure I just could not deal with anymore. And I was like. On my knees asking Eric if I could get an epidural. Asking him why we decided not to? I want an epidural. Please can I have one. Please. I don’t want to feel this anymore. And he was like “babe no one said you can’t have one!”
My midwife checked me and I was 6cm dilated and so there was still time and in a matter of moments all the lights were turned on and a wonderful Doctor named Dr Gracias came and began to explain some risks of epidural to me and I was like mhm okay yah DO IT please! Lol. After the next contraction passed I have never cooperated more obediently for a needle in my life. They made me sit up and hug a pillow and Eric sat in front of me and I put my feet on his knees and he held my legs still while they taped up my back and gave me the drugs. Like. I think a pre baby version of me may have been like “oh but the needle will hurt!” HAH. It did not.
A few minutes later I took this pic:
Frown lines decreasing. Medicine is a gift. I looked Dr Gracias in the eyes and said I love you. Everyone laughed. I truly meant it though. What a guy. 🫶🏻
From there the chaos took a break. It was 10:15 pm and my contractions continued to come just as strong but I could only feel them about 10%. I got cold all over. And itchy. But I’d take that 100x than the pain I felt before. They covered me in warm blankets cuz somewhere along the line all of my clothes came off hahah. They monitored us both constantly in this time. My sons heart rate continued to fluctuate but always came back up, thank you Jesus. 😩🙌🏻
At midnight I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. My midwife showed Eric how to help me and I was laying on my side holding up my own knees. I didn’t realize they actually wanted me to hold my breath. One of the first things I knew about my son was that he had a lot of hair. She had me reach and feel it. Before I knew it his head was out. My midwife was like Katie his heads out. And I was so shocked! I was like IT IS?!? And she was like yeah do you wanna try to get the rest of him out… and I was like ha gimme a second.. and then one push and he was here. And my body just felt so much pressure release and he was placed on my chest and rubbed up a bunch until he squeaked and cawed like a little baby bird. He actually lifted up his head and looked at me and in that moment I knew he truly was Maverick. I think I was kinda just laughing lightly and eyes watering looking at Eric and looking at this tiny wiggler. What just happened? I was just going to pick up my husband at work and then all of a sudden I was at the hospital birthing this human 3 days earlier than I was due. He was a guy who shows up early, just like his Father. They gave me a shot of oxytocin shortly after to help my placenta detach. That needle hurt more than the epidural hahaha. But we just looked in disbelief that there was a new human in our lives, FOREVER. I think it took me a while to believe he was actually mine. Like days. My own baby. 🥹 they measured him 7lbs 12oz. 54cm long born July 5th at 1:22 am. Not born on Independence day. He had dark brown hair and slightly grey skin haha that turned super pink in time. His hair is now golden reddish like mine, Bless the Lord O my soul. My very own ginger boy. I think I’ve said “ I can’t believe you’re mine,” about 1000 times to him since this day.
They had Eric cut the cord right away because it was no longer pulsing so my placenta must’ve given up not long before Mav was born. It had done it’s job well. The placenta came out with one push. I was empty. Nothing else huge to come out of me. What a relief. 😂my midwife stitched me up. She gave me some freezing first because my epidural had decently worn off by then. She said I had 2nd degree tearing but she said the stitches were some of her best work. Lol. and I was like great thanks Jenny! I only get one vagina! 😂
From there Eric took a little nap. It was like 3:30 am and he was face first on a couch in the corner of the room. He did so great. I think he had way more birth trauma than me. He saw it all and he cannot unsee it. My sweet husband. He had worked all day and then all night. haha. He was tired. I was fired up. I was just sitting. In a pool of blood. Holding my very calm and quiet baby boy. I felt peaceful. Have you ever sat in a pool of blood feeling peaceful? What a day/night! I could hear the mama in the other room having her baby too, and just sat there rooting for her. Get it girl! At some point the nurse told me I would be able to have a shower. So then I don’t really know why but I tried to get up by myself. See if my legs worked. Lol. And they did. But I was still strapped to a machine haha. My IV was out but my epidural line was still attached. 😅 so I was stuck. And the nurse came and was like what are you doing!? Lol.. just standing watching the blood pour down my legs. She unhooked me and helped me to the shower for the most cold shower of my life (because of the epidural) and then literally gave me a hand towel to dry off with. 😂😅 I was shaking like a leaf, note to self… bring a big towel next time.
From there I got settled into one of those hospital gowns that basically is like wearing nothing, and into a wheel chair with Mav all bundled on my lap and we were moved to a new room that we had to pay for. On our way out of labour & delivery Eric got to push a button that played a bell sound in the entire hospital to announce that a new life had been brought into the world. And all the nurses around cheered. It was very special.
Our room was nice. Private. We each had a bed. Mav had a bassinet. I sang “the circle of life” to him while he stared at me through the glass in his bassinet. We hardly slept. We got to change his first meconium poo diaper which was pretty horrible. Lol. I wish we had put diaper cream or vaseline or something on him fresh outta the womb so that nasty poop wouldn’t have stuck to him like that and we wouldn’t have had to fumble around trying to clean that up so hard while he screamed away. Something crazy happened in one of the rooms next to us. To the mom. She was okay in the end but there were alarms blaring and we could see so many shadows of people rushing by our room. It was not peaceful and I wanted to go home but the nice nurses checking on us also made me want to stay. Overall these hours flew by and we left the hospital around 4:30 pm. In and out less than 24 hours. But everything felt much more peaceful once we got home although I did miss having a nurse bring me ice pads every couple hours. Man… those ice pads were such a gift!
All in all. Labour was more painful than I imagined. Pushing was not as hard as I thought. Getting an epidural was a BLESSING. And midwives and nurses are actual heroes. I felt so powerful. And the moment he was ejected from my body was truly one of the best moments of my life. I am SO grateful to God for a healthy baby boy and for keeping me safe in all the chaos of pregnancy and birth and postpartum. I am not the same person I was before. I am Katie 2.0, the mama to Maverick Bennett Riedstra.
Here’s our first selfie together. <3 just me and my boy.
