Birth #1, Julia:
Four days before her due date, Jessica began having some cramping in the evening and went to bed early. Unable to sleep, she bounced on her birthing ball and felt what she later discovered was her waters breaking. Jessica experienced PROM and despite hours of waiting, walking, using her breast pump, and other measures, her contractions never became regular until she agreed to Pitocin. Almost immediately, Jessica endured excruciating back labor that eventually led her to ask for an epidural. After several hours of rest and allowing her body to ‘labor down’, Jessica vaginally delivered a healthy baby girl.
Birth #2, Claire:
Determined to have an unmedicated birth and to be in an environment that gave her body time to work, Jessica transferred to a free-standing birth center for her second birth. Ten days before her due date, Jessica experienced PROM once again. This time her midwives allowed her to wait at home until contractions became more regular on their own- almost 20 hours later. Jessica arrived at the birth center and used near-constant movement to manage her contractions. After asking to get into the birthing pool, Jessica experienced fetal ejection reflex and delivered a healthy baby girl 37 minutes later.
Birth #3, Henry:
For her third birth, Jessica was hoping for a repeat of her quick, redemptive water birth with baby #2. However, baby #3 had different plans and Jessica endured weeks of prodromal labor that had her questioning “is this it?” more than a few times. The day before her due date she had inconsistent cramping which eventually turned into light contractions throughout the next 24-hours. Contractions became more consistent and stronger in the early morning hours of October 29th, one day after her due date. After arriving at the birth center, Jessica labored standing, leaning, squatting, and in the water. Even though high winds caused the birth center to lose power when she was 8 cm dilated, Jessica stayed focused and delivered a healthy baby boy on the bed.
Jessica Wilson Bio
Jessica is a former elementary school teacher and new teacher coach turned SAHM. She lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband, Scott, and three children ages 7, 5, and 2. Jessica has always been a bit of a birth nerd and actually considered training to become a midwife before she turned her career goals toward education. She hopes to one day work in the birth world- possibly as a doula or childbirth educator. Jessica can be reached at jessica.kresevic@gmail.com or @jesswilsonnc on IG if you have any questions or just want to connect.
Resources
- The Birth Hour
- The Business of Being Born documentary
- Why Not Home? documentary
- Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin
- Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth
- Birth Without Fear by January Harshe
- Babies Are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered by Rebecca Dekker
- Local Birth Circle Group where women shared positive birth stories, answered questions, and offered support and community to one another
- Latched Mama Clothing for easy nursing access
*header image photo credit Nicole Bertrand Photography
Oath Care
This episode is sponsored by Oath Care – a welcoming community to connect with fellow moms, find judgement-free support, and get personalized expert advice from pediatricians, marriage and family therapists, lactation and sleep consultants, pelvic floor therapists and more. Download the free to use Oath Care app from oathcare.com or in the App Store or Google Play.