Surprise Car Delivery with Doula Support in SWFL Makes for an Unforgettable Experience

"Our birth story

After going through child loss this pregnancy was full of bittersweet moments and being constantly reminded that

lightness and darkness exist in the same space. Looking back at our first labor and delivery it all seemed great in the moment

and as time passed there were moments and circumstances that I wished were different and ultimately put a bitter taste in

our mouths the more we educated ourselves. Knowing we wanted a much different experience this time is why we

found a doula and were perfectly paired with Tara for the last 9 months.

My babies are pretty easy on me and pregnancy was mostly a breeze minus some pelvic pain. Which, when paired with

a pelvic floor therapist suggested by our doula was another example of how everything was going to be different this

time. I wanted to focus on the things I could do to best prepare for labor and delivery and give this baby the best version of

myself. Between PT, focusing on nourishing foods, being mindful, and finding the support we needed I felt better equipped for

our quickly approaching due date. The only thing I would continually joke about with everyone was how long our drive to the

hospital would be and as a second time mom I was worried we wouldn't make it in time. Our first pregnancy was induced so I

almost felt like a first time mom this go around because I was determined to have as natural of a birth with as few

interventions as possible. I didn't know what my water breaking spontaneously felt like or letting contractions come on their own but I was welcoming the experience and knew we had the best support available.

I think I knew without knowing that labor would happen when it did.. up until that point I had been staying up later at night

and this particular evening I was so tired and falling asleep on the couch by 7:30. I took it as a sign that if labor started tonight

that I should get to bed early to just get whatever sleep I could. By 8pm I was in bed thinking about how the following day

was our due date, how labor and delivery was imminent and dreading all the parts of the process that really shouldn't keep you

up at night (IVs, bloodwork, tearing, needles in general). And as I laid in bed I felt a warm gush... getting up as quickly as

a 9 month pregnant lady could I waddled over to my husband and told him my water just broke. I couldn't believe it.. I texted

Tara and let her know that my water broke but I haven't had any contractions, she assured me things would start in the next

few hours and to try and sleep as much as I could. I finally got myself back into bed and tried sleeping the rest of the night, each

time I rolled over or moved I'd leak a little more of my waters and had maybe 1-2 contractions per hour throughout the night.

They were strong enough to wake me up and forced me to focus on breathing through them but I'd fall back asleep

between them until the morning.

By 5am I was over trying to sleep and little spurts of gushing so I got up and texted Tara that

contractions were spotty but happening. She said it sounded like my outer layer of fluids broke but not everything and once the

rest of the water released things would ramp up. I got on my birth ball and between that and some strong bowel movements by

6am contractions were regular. The bathroom had become my safe space. I breathed through contractions that came every 2-3 minutes apart but weren't long enough (between 20-40 seconds). Staying in touch with Tara over the next hour she assured

me, we were doing it, this was labor and that by 7am we could head to the hospital because it sounded like active labor was

happening. I remember texting her back "already? It seems so early" and also thinking to myself if I have hours more of THIS I'm in for it... I got out the TENS unit I heard about on some podcasts, I had my husband bring me an ice pack for my neck and it's almost like as soon as I acknowledged that Tara thought it was time...my body was screaming it was time to leave. Seems like no matter how prepared you are it still took forever for us to actually get in the car and go.

By 7:20 I was texting Tara that we were in the car on the way and as we pulled out of our driveway I felt like I needed to call her. I wasn't having an urge to poop but I was feeling my body tense up with each contraction, these were strong and intense.

I was in the backseat on my hands and knees trying to breathe through contractions while my husband drove and Tara talked me through each wave of intensity on speaker phone. You know how women say you kind of go into your own world and start to have those animalistic groans.. that was me, in the backseat of our car. I briefly thought after talking to Tara for a few minutes that we would be fine and would meet her at the hospital but almost instantly needed to call her back because something changed. My body was ready to push.. I couldn't control it, the noises I was making were primal and I was pushing. We were about halfway to the hospital or 15-ish minutes into our drive and I remember feeling and telling Tara that I felt like the baby was coming it felt like she dropped and was started to come out and as the contraction ended she pulled back in... which to me meant the next few contractions were what I've planned for all this time.. Just not in this way. Tara was the voice of calm and confidence during the

break between the last contraction. It was such a relief to not feel the intensity but knowing it was coming again was hard...

the next contraction came and I knew our baby's head was starting to come out but not fully at this point. This was one of the

only moments I remember really pulling myself together because I did not want to tear again with this birth and from all the

prep work I knew I needed to not fight this moment. I had to breathe and let myself wait for the next contraction for baby's head

to fully come out, give my body the time to stretch and hope that we didn't stop at a red light and someone look over to see what

was happening in our backseat. Once baby's head was fully out I knew it was only 1 more push so I waited again for 1 more contraction and as I reached down I caught our daughter and pulled her to my chest. I heard Tara reassure me that she could hear her crying, that it was a great sign, wrap her in a towel and when we get to the hospital they will be ready for us. I had it in me to take two pictures holding our baby in the backseat of the car before we arrived at hospital in complete disbelief of what just happened and I look at them often like it was all a crazy dream.

As promised, Tara rallied the troops and we pulled up to curb side service. A small team of nurses and the familiar face of our doula were waiting for us. I slowly got out of the car and onto the bed they rolled out as I clung to our baby and we went straight to a room where I delivered the placenta, my husband cut the cord, and we were left to bond and soak in all that happened.

I had always been inspired by the women who have homebirths or commit to the route of a birth center.. we looked into it, we weighed our options and ultimately stuck with "the norm" as our plan but this birth was anything but the norm. She arrived on her

due date and left me feeling so empowered and confident in my ability to bring our baby into this world. There was something so

intimate and special about doing it on my own, trusting my husband to get us where we needed to be, and having Tara guide me through it. It was a brief moment in time that was all consuming and aside from delivering in the car, everything I wanted in

a natural, no interventions, hands off birth. I got exactly what I wanted just in an unexpected way and honestly I wouldn't

change a single thing about it."