02| Lynley Box: Two Birth Center Births, Water Births

Lynley is a busy mom of two who lives outside Winnipeg with her husband Riley, daughter Isla and son Harvey; her husband works long hours as a pilot and Lynley is a Physio Therapist in a hospital. Lynley and her husband have known each other since high school and he has always wanted kids, so after some convincing he finally got Lynley on board and luckily first cycle after removing her copper IUD Lynley was pregnant! While her husband was sleeping she snuck away to take a test and when it came back positive she asked him if he still wanted to be a dad before showing him the test and he was ecstatic. With the pregnancy happening so quickly she found herself a bit nervous as if things were "too good to be true" but thankfully every big milestone came and went to help ease Lynley's worries.

"I was super nauseous, super tired. So tired in fact that I stopped going to the gym, I could hardly make it to work and back"

Lynley started to feel nausea and exhaustion around that 6 week mark, and being told it would let up around that 12 week mark she looked forward to that transition and about 14 weeks things began to turn around and she was feeling back to normal. In Manitoba parents are booked for their first ultrasounds at 20 weeks so at 13 weeks she booked a private non diagnostic to surprise her husband and that's when she says it really began to hit home that they were soon going to be having a baby.

"My husband every time we left hes like "I just feel like a sperm donor, I don't feel like I actually matter at all'."

In that first trimester - early into the second trimester Lynley was seeing her family doctor, but after gathering some information into Midwifery and together they decided that was the best fit for them and so she applied, but since she was applying a bit later (15-16 weeks) she wasn't sure if she was going be be able to get a spot in. To Lynley's surprise she got in and she explains the level of care they provided.

"From then on it was just so much better, everything. The appointments are 45 minutes to 1 hours long, they talk to you and ask you what your concerns are and they just give you so much information you really feel like you are able to make an informed decision not just 'oh this is what we do' and have to live with it".

At that midwife practice they work in teams of three's, so for each appointment you rotate through each of them so you can get to know all of them on a personal level and the guarantee is that one of them will be there for the delivery of baby which Lynley found much more personal and made her feel very comfortable with everyone on her care team. Her midwife practice has 2 options for birth, you can delivery in hospital, at home or in their birth center; Lynley and her husband choose to go with the birth centre option where they gets her own suite with a bed, there's dimmed lighting, quiet and peaceful environment , a large tub you can labour and birth in, a shower plus some extras set up for moms to use while labouring and Nitrous Oxide is the only medical drug pain relief available to moms birthing at the centre.

Lynley says she has a fairly uneventful pregnancy, towards the end she did start to notice some pelvic pains which she chalked up to being near the end and baby becoming quite heavy on her body and the hormones starting to relax and loosen up. Her due date came and went, not very dilated at that point in time and she did a sweep that didn't end up putting her into labour but soon after her due date she started getting some irregular contractions for about 48 hours so her midwifes advice was to take some pain relief and get a bit of rest. When she woke up after a rest that evening Lynley was in active labour, she laboured at home a bit, her husband had her walk up and down their stairs to get things moving along. After a really strong contraction she told her husband to call their midwife and they set a time they were going to meet up at the birth centre and off they went. Once they arrived around 7 pm her midwife preformed a vaginal exam and was about 3 cm and with no set birth plan Lynley opted to hop in the tub which she found to be very helpful with pain and about 3.5 hours later her water broke and shortly after that Isla was born. Lynley says there was a bit of concern she has a bit extra bleeding so she got out of the tub for a check and get any possible concerns resolved but once everything settled she laid Isla on her and she did the breast crawl to have her first feed. After a much needed shower they headed home and were tucked in cozy in bed around 6 hours after Isla was born! Postpartum was a bit of an adjustment for Lynley finding her new groove into motherhood and struggled with breastfeeding in those first early weeks; she explains how the midwives were very hands on and she says she wouldn't have been able to figure it all out without their help and support.

Lynley and her husband Riley went back on forth on when o start trying for a second and after realizing there's never a "prefect time" Lynley had her IUD taken and out the second month of trying they were pregnant - Isla was with her when she did the pregnancy test so when it came up positive she had Isla go and surprise daddy with the stick. The midwives put priority on moms who have previously been under their care so when Lynley applied for care with her second pregnancy she was accepted into the came care she had with Isla which was so special to her and she started doing check ups around 8-10 weeks along.

"They included my daughter because she was with me for a lot of my appointments. They included her, had her help, and it just felt like a bonding experience for us, and really helped her to figure out that there's a baby coming and prepare her for what was coming up".

Again Lynley was quite nauseous from about 4 weeks on so she went in to get a prescription for Declectin which helper her a lot, she also says she had a lot of back pain and pelvic pain this time starting near the end of her first trimester but being a Pelvic Floor therapist she was able to manage her symptoms. Lynley had some early labor similar to Isla's, 40+6 she went in for her check in and she was 4-5 cm, no contractions but they did preform a sweep to try and get things moving along; she ran some errands with still nothing happening so she headed back to the birth centre to try some more tricks to get labor going which didn't really do much but when Lynley's husband Riley suggested they do stairs since it worked so well the first time with Isla she compromised and did a few set of squats that did the trick and put her into active labour. Since the water worked so well for her as pain relief the first time she opted to get in the tub for another water birth and about 2.5 hours after active labour started her water broke in the tub and Harvey was born. Harvey went right onto moms chest and started his first feed at breast, while he did they Lynley hung out in the tub and they waited roughly 10-15 minutes before clamping and cutting the cord. When she was ready she handed Harvey off for his newborn check and she enjoyed a well deserved shower and hopped into bed for that precious family cuddle, then they were off to head home about 5 hours after he was born. Sweet Isla was convinced she was having a baby sister, so when she first met her new brother she was still in a bit of denial but it didn't taker her long to fall head over heels for the newest addition. Postpartum with Harvey was much easier and Lynley's husband Riley was off for 2 months which was a lot of help to allow mom to have the chance to rest and heal.

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