Postpartum
Birth is such a singular point in parenting overall, a minute fraction of the total hours, and is so variable in experience that it seems a combination of a faux pax, nosiness, and taboo to ask about or share. “I gave birth” is akin to “I finished a marathon” in that the outcome is shared more than the journey. Birth falls even lower on the totem pole than other heroic or athletic accomplishments, in part because once you reach the stage of giving birth, finishing is not even optional. The birth journey itself then becomes more a narrative of something to be endured rather than something to be accomplished.
Birth stories are meaningful for a lot of folks including those looking for insight into how their own future births might go, and those who view the birth journey itself as a transformational act. Though society might not ask about the journey by default, for me it’s meaningful and I’ve found other’s sharing to be so as well, so I will share in turn the birth story of my fourth baby. If that isn’t your cup of tea, then instead I suggest you check out my latest experience with Claude Code or one of my other many non-birth related blogs. If it is: I don’t have the first and third documented on the net, but you can check out the birth story of my second baby if you are looking for more.
Baby’s Birthday
Note on language: I use a hypnosis birth framework called Hypnobabies to give birth, it involves a slight rewrite of common birth language: contractions->pressure waves; labor->birthing; and talking about sensations in more neutral ways (pressure, discomfort, etc.) than traditional birth “pain language”. So that’s the language I use here. It can be a bit hokey, but it does work quite well in that being neutral, for me, reduces and delays discomfort significantly. It’d be odd to try to switch my mindset back after so much training, so enjoy the hokey language and perhaps an easier more comfortable birth to boot.
40 weeks + 1 days
Castor Oil smoothie
Went into the birth center to do NST monitoring (fetal heart rate – looking for variability and movement as well as contraction monitoring) in the afternoon – we are doing this at least twice a week now to ensure the placenta and baby are doing well. All my previous births have been at ~41.5 weeks and ⅔ had meconium – bits of baby poop, which can cause complications. With the 3rd we started an in hospital induction at 41 weeks to try to fend off the meconium, but the baby still came just as late as the others (although luckily without meconium). With this baby, we decided to do a “rolling thunder” approach of a little each day after 40 weeks to nudge things on, with the hope we could stay out of the hospital and I could give birth in a birth center, where I would be more comfortable with my preferred birthing method (requiring focus, low interruptions, good vibes, etc.).
After seeing where I was, we decided to move things on a little bit with a castor oil smoothie (low dose) which has evidence of efficacy in making birth onset ~3x more likely. I drank the smoothie at 8pm – a recipe of almond butter (2 tbsp), a cup of apricot juice, and castor oil (2 tbsp). I went to bed around 10pm and felt some light waves early in the night’s sleep, but they tapered off midway through the night
• • •
40 weeks + 2 day
Foley Bulb Placement
Watch said 7 hours of sleep, despite wakeups. Got acupuncture for induction in the morning and went in to birth center to have the Foley bulb placed at 6 p.m as an outpatient procedure. Did NST monitoring for 10 mins before and an hour after. Got decent sleep with some discomfort until around 2 a.m., when after noticing lack of discomfort, I decided to add traction, and the bulb came out. That meant it had done its job. Dilated to around 4 cm.
• • •
40 weeks + 3 days
Light Outpatient Induction
Watch said 7 hours of sleep last night, despite wakeups. After the Foley bulb came out in the middle of the night, we dosed misoprostol in the morning and again in the evening as an outpatient procedure, with an hour of monitoring after each dose. This is meant to soften the cervix. Cervical check was uncomfortable, I had given permission to sweep membranes. Apparently my lower cervix was soft but upper needed some work.
In between, I went home, had lunch, and went for a walk into town with my middle child. Walking was a struggle, just tired as well as some light waves. We got ice cream at the halfway point, then I ate lunch and took a great nap when I got back. I went to an induction massage in the afternoon (tried to prop up my belly to encourage the baby to straighten up) and DoorDashed dinner, eating in a park nearby, before heading back for the evening dose. Got home, talked to Casey, and headed to bed. Didn’t have high hopes for the night. We hadn’t seen any waves on the monitor. Which was a shame because I felt maximally ready: well slept, well fed,
• • •
40 weeks + 4 days
At the birth center
After a big day Saturday gearing up for birth, I was prepared to head to the birth center around 7:30 a.m. to see what was next. I was in for a surprise, though. I woke up a bit after 1 a.m. with pretty intense waves. I’m not sure how far apart they were (Casey: about two minutes), but based on where I felt them, it seemed like the baby had dropped. I ran the bath to see if they’d calm down and woke Casey around 1:30 a.m. to get the team together and start timing waves. I got in the bath, but the waves were still intense. I’d hop out to manage them, then get back in.
I got dressed and put on my hypnosis tracks. I found I liked standing and rocking during waves. I’d do so leaning against the couch or the table. I tried the birth ball a few times too. Vocalizing helped a little. I wanted Erika to arrive quickly so someone could stay with the kids, because I wanted to be at the birth center before the intensity ratcheted up further. I tried to pee, but not much came out. I felt like I might need to poop but didn’t want to go there, because that could also mean pushing the baby out so I put that in the back of my mind. Finally Ericka arrived at about 2:07 am, and in between waves I made it to the car and buckled in. I listened to my hypnosis the whole drive. The bumps were hard, but I made it. I did start shaking a little from the hormones.
We got to the center and they ran a bath. I wanted to pee again but still not much came out. I hopped in the bath and was delighted it was warm, hot even, and not tepid. I had expected them for some reason to be more conservative about the temperature and I love a good hot bath. In fact the promise of a nice bath during birthing was a huge draw to me in choosing a birth center instead of a hospital. The atmosphere was wonderful, with candles and geodes and my birth team all around.
During waves I’d lean against the back of the tub, then sink back in between them. I tried a few waves staying in the water, just using hypnosis and being more still to see if that worked better. It was hard to commit to at first, but once I did, it was easier. For the waves where I leaned against the tub, our doula or Casey helped with hip squeezes, which felt nice. I remember thinking, wow, we’re just at the beginning here—there’s a lot of intensity still to come.
Then as things ratcheted up, I decided to get out of the tub. I had Casey go fetch my yellow waffle robe from the car for a costume change and to absorb the water. Dr. Kaiser helped dry me off a little.
I went to pee again and my waters broke over the toilet. No meconium!
I went to the side of the bed and did my standing-and-rocking wave routine and said, “I feel like I want to pee and poop and push the baby out and everything at once.” Dr. Kaiser said that was understandable. I added, “I’m starting to feel a little pushy—but not sure if I’m ready.” I was worried it was too early to push. I couldn’t tell how long we had been there (Casey: about 15 minutes, we arrived at 2:26 am), but it felt like not long.
Nevertheless, I started to push, which feels a bit like pooping. I pushed and was very vocal. Usually in the pushing phase the discomfort goes away for me, but I still had discomfort with that push, which made me anxious: that perhaps I wasn’t ready to push; disappointed: because I actually love the pushing phase; and worried: that I’d push over a too closed cervix and cause complications. But then on the next push I felt a water-balloon-like feeling, which to me meant the head might be right there and it wasn’t too early. Sure enough, they confirmed it, and on the very next push the baby came out, after two waves in two minutes of active labor. I think it was about thirty minutes (Casey: 22 minutes, at 2:48 am) after we arrived.
They set me up on the bed and placed baby on me. She was quite active and looking around, and only made a couple of small cries. I was so happy and proud. I mentioned I wanted the Pitocin shot, which can help the placenta come out and reduce hemorrhage risk, and the doctor said she was already planning on it. We sat and enjoyed baby while waiting for the placenta, which seemed to take longer than usual. They massaged and waited, and pulled a little. Finally it came out. Casey cut the cord and we sat enjoying our baby. I needed to pee, but they didn’t want me walking yet and I couldn’t go on the bed. When they eventually let me walk, still not much came out. They wanted to empty my bladder, so we did a quick catheter. That worked and everything was fine after that.
Baby started to nurse a little and did well on both sides. She was very active before we left a few hours later. Just after 6 a.m. we were home—before our other kids woke up. I went into the nursery while they ate breakfast. (Casey: They were curious if the baby had arrived yet but Christine was resting so I held them off for a couple of hours. Then we went upstairs to say hi to Mommy!) Then Casey surprised them by bringing them to me and introducing them to their new sister.
I was so glad to be home. Physically I was able to walk, but getting between the bed and the nursery was a little painful with cramping, and nursing was tender. Baby mostly wanted to sleep; I tried to feed her, but she wasn’t interested (Casey: she spat up a bunch of amniotic fluid later then got hungry!). She had three poops. I took some ibuprofen around bedtime for the cramping, which at times felt more intense than the birth itself (and I did not have hypnosis going for that). Finally, around my own bedtime she became interested in drinking, so I only got about three and a half hours of sleep. She had a big wet diaper in the morning.
It was a great day and I’m very proud. Hoping my body will be more recovered and less crampy tomorrow. (Casey: Christine seems already far more comfortable having been delivered and was moving around the house with ease and confidence.)
Written the following day, February 9, 2026
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