my momma had her babies fast, really fast, and i followed in her footsteps with two precipitous births of my own!

swiftly born is the birth story of my precipitous delivery of our third baby. here is the definition: precipitous delivery is an extremely rapid delivery from the beginning of regular contractions lasting less than 3 hours. my labor lasted forty minutes from beginning to end.

jolted awake from a deep sleep, after hearing a loud pop, only to realize that i was sitting in a pool-sized bed of clear wetness.

i sat straight up and jumped out of bed to examine the sheets.  yep, i had soaked the bed when my water broke, everywhere!  thank goodness for the waterproof pads under me just in case. true confession: i sniffed the wetness to see if i had just wet the bed. no smell, so i was almost certain my water had broken.

 it made changing the sheets for our babysitter a lot quicker.  it was the middle of the night and i was scrambling to get dressed and run to the car after calling the babysitter and yelling, “please, come now”.  i prayed that he would not fall back asleep thinking he had been dreaming.

most folks call their doctor to let them know those facts, but i call the hospital and tell them we are headed to the hospital because of a history of precipitous birth!  the drive was 25 minutes from our front door to the emergency room entrance. this was baby number three and baby number two came in 40 minutes from water breaking to the delivery of the baby.

it was one day before my due date of november 6^th.  the ride was filled with low soft moans from me and loud groans from my husband as he ran several red lights to hurry and make it to the hospital.  he drove that car like an expert race car driver on the track heading to the finish line. i expected to hear sirens behind us or see flashing blue lights catch up to us, but there were none.

it was a clear starry night, the town lights were beautiful. familiar busy streets were strangely quiet and deserted.  i couldn’t sit like a normal person riding in the car.  i had so much rectal pressure that i had turned around and held onto the back of the passenger seat and sat on my feet to help hold the baby in.

racing to the emergency room entrance, a wheelchair met us along with my nurse friends from the labor and delivery unit where i worked.  we did not stop at the emergency room to be examined as per protocol, but went without stopping to the fourth floor.

 the birth unit was brimming with expectant moms in different stages of labor.  it was loud and alive with the sounds of birth: some pushing, others groaning, and one couple walking the halls.  my husband was out of breath from the crazy fast drive to get to the hospital and the excitement of seeing this new baby very soon. i had been silently hoping that my birth sounds would not be heard all the way down that long hall.

we were rushed right into a labor and delivery room and guess who was waiting for me – one of my favorite doctors and he greeted me with a big smile. . hallelujah! it was a good thing my doctor just happened to be at the hospital or he would have missed the whole thing.

the hall on the birthing unit was dimly lit because it was the middle of the night. as i entered my room, it felt overwhelmingly  bright with a neatly made bed and turned down white crisp clean sheets ready for me to climb into.

grinning with excitement, my doctor asked how i wanted to deliver my baby- standing up or lying on my side in the bed.  i looked at him funny and told him  i had no idea at that moment!

 i got up from the wheelchair and lay on my side curled up in the hospital bed. my husband was standing sideways close beside me. with my arms wrapped around his waist,  i had his leather belt pressed tightly to my lips, while still in the belt loops of his jeans.  the coolness was soothing, refreshing, and calming to me, but more importantly, it kept my mouth shut from saying how i really felt at that moment!

the baby warmer was turned up and ready if needed.  that red glow was the only noticeable color in the room. i had no time to change clothes except to take my pants off and climb on to the bed.  as the nurse adjusted foam straps around my waist, i heard the baby monitor on my belly reassure everyone that we were all fine, just moving quickly. i saw my own flushed cheeks in the mirror and disheveled, messy bed hair and a happy glow i could not deny.

i felt that next contraction, which was only the second one since i had arrived on the birthing unit, and i knew it was the one that would bring the baby down and out.

i was aware of my rapid breathing and my desire to scream with intense, continuous pressure.  instead of screaming, i braced myself to gently bear/bare down and gave steady, quick pushes at the doctor’s urging.  it took all my concentration and strength to guide the baby out.  slowly and all at once, my baby was born.

sure enough, at the doctor’s offer for my husband to lean in and catch his third baby, i felt my husband’s hands ready to assist as the baby emerged and slid out onto the bed. i observed my husband cut the cord.  his large hands cradled our newborn baby as he held him up high, like in that disney movie, the lion king, and examined him before laying him on my chest. his wide smile spread across his face.

i felt wet tears streaming down my face when that slippery baby boy was placed into my arms and i covered him in kisses: his face, his head, his hands, and his feet. he had been dried off a little at that point by the nurses.  that newborn baby smell could last forever if i had anything to say about it.  recalling this detail of birth was my favorite detail to remember again.

in that cool room, the warm blanket placed over the baby and myself was divine after delivery. my entire body shook from the fast paced delivery for about an hour.

the baby came so quickly through the birth canal that his nose was flattened and his face was bruised black and blue.  for two days, he and i did not share the same skin coloring when i looked only at his face. i saw my beautiful baby look at me as i looked at him.  he effortlessly figured out how to breastfeed and we began our journey together.

i took a deep, relaxing  breath and looked around me. i heard peaceful regular breathing from my baby and also from the exhausted, sleeping husband right beside us.

after the thorough examination of my lady bits by the doctor, i was so relieved to hear i had no need for stitches. the hard work of labor made my arm pits sticky with sweat and i had no fresh deodorant with me. i don’t remember if i brushed my teeth before leaving for the hospital.  i probably had stinky feet after taking off my shoes and socks.  the smells of birth that day included sweat, pee, poop,  blood, and placenta.  my tongue tasted the sweat on my upper lip because birthing a baby is a superpower. am i forgetting anything?

standing on wobbly, shaky legs, that quick first shower after delivery felt like being pampered at a fancy spa.  the long  shower nozzle was able to rinse the lady bits that were still way too tender for a soapy washcloth. even with the slight steady trickle of blood down my legs, i still felt refreshed, renewed, and much cleaner.

those first sips of water after the hard work of labor tasted like drinking from a cold mountain spring. we stayed a few more hours at the hospital, and stopped at burger king on the way home because all i wanted to eat was a grilled hamburger.  haha.  at that moment, it was the best hamburger ever!

because of my doctor’s gentle guidance and calming presence, i felt totally safe in that vulnerable place of imminent delivery.  my nurse friends surrounded me.  the baby was born four minutes after arriving to the hospital! i lived up to my name – swift. it was forty minutes from the water breaking to the delivery of the baby. whew!

thinking back on this pregnancy,

i loved to feel the shape of my super round belly, only noticeable from the side.  from the front or the back, i looked like my normal- sized self, but it was a very different story from the side.

i rubbed that pregnant belly a lot. often, i put my hands on that round baby  bump when he was moving around in there. husband, swifty, kissed that baby belly all the time. he enjoyed reading aloud to the baby and using my baby bump as a table. we had lots of laughs watching my warm cup of coffee move around on that belly.

 strangers were especially fond of touching my pregnant belly and i am still not sure what i thought about that! “back away” is what i wanted to say.  haha.  when i placed my hand on that baby bump, it felt like a way for me to connect with him. i talked about everything.  i shared my dreams for his life, sang my favorite songs, read aloud everything i was reading: textbooks, children’s storybooks, my bible reading for the day, recipes for the new meal i was trying.  that baby heard my voice a lot and he still does…

if recalling the details of your birth is traumatic, find someone to talk to.  i would suggest the postpartum support virginia as a great place to begin.

postpartum support virginia warm line 703-829-7152

recalling the details of this precipitous birth was so fun using all my senses to remember that night. here is a blog post written about this idea of using our senses to recall memories and special moments. i had a precipitous birth before this one and her story is one for the books! read it here.

about grammie doula

i am a full-time postpartum doula in sw virginia and my clients call me grammie doula.  i have 25 years experience as a labor and delivery nurse and then 10 years as a birth photographer.  during the pandemic, i was able to take doula training and now i support clients in-person and virtually.  i am a mom to 3 grown children, 6 grandchildren and 2 babies in heaven.  i live in a cabin in the woods with my gray-bearded husband and two pets who prefer his company over mine!