LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Rumer Willis recently spoke out about the unconventional measures she took to have her first child. The 34-year-old eldest daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis revealed that her water had not brokwn when she went into labor on the 'Informed Pregnancy' podcast on Monday, June 6. She said that she had to break her own water to keep the procedure going.
Rumer had earlier stated that she intended to give birth naturally after welcoming her daughter Louetta at the end of April. She revealed in the second installment of the two-part podcast series that she had a doula there for the birth in addition to her mother Demi, sisters Tallulah and Scout Willis, and partner Derek Richard Thomas. She revealed to the podcast hosts that in order to speed up the procedure, her doula allowed her to pierce her own amniotic sac.
'Well, should we break it?'
According to Rumer, her labor went rapidly and she "dilated from 2 to 8 inches in about an hour," according to People. Her amniotic sac didn't burst during that time, though. The 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' actor began experiencing a need to push and moved into the bathtub, but at that point, her doula confirmed that her water had not yet burst. "She was checking me and felt my water bag bulging, but still not popping, which was wild,' Rumer recounted. She continued, "So I was like, "Well, should we break it?'" saying that the doula had allowed her to take the initiative. "She goes, 'Well, you can.' I'm like, 'What?' I was like, 'Are you serious?'"
'It was crazy'
The famous daughter examined herself and confirmed that the amniotic sac was still intact. "I reached my finger up there, and I'm feeling and it was crazy," she added. "I could totally feel this little bag — it feels like a water balloon, but with a bit tougher skin." Fortunately, her doula was able to guide her through each phase while letting Rumer take the lead. "She just said, 'OK. On the next contraction, just push against it with your finger,' and I popped it," she recalled. "I think there's a photo of me and I just have this look of shock and surprise on my face. Because it's a different sensation when the water bag is pushing against your cervix to when the baby's head is."
'I pushed again and her whole body was out'
The good news is that she went into labor quickly after the amniotic sac was ruptured. "It was like I pushed a little bit. Like, I pushed — well, I didn't push a little bit, I pushed harder than I've ever probably, but it was literally like I pushed, her head was out. I pushed again and her whole body was out," she detailed. "There was no pause. There was no pause in between. It wasn't one of those moments where it was, 'Oh, your head is out.'"
'The most ecstatic, joyful moment of my entire life'
Rumer also claimed that Louetta was entangled in the umbilical cord, which had gotten wrapped around her neck, but she had a large group of people to assist her in quickly resolving the issue. "My midwife and my partner caught her. It was the wildest thing. She had a cord wrapped around her neck, but it was also wrapped around her body in like almost like a prom sash," she stated. "We had four hands under there, under the birth stool. I'm going, 'Give me the baby. Give the baby.'" She went on and said, "As soon as they untangled her, she was in my arms." "The most ecstatic, joyful moment of my entire life," Rumer said of meeting her newborn daughter. The 34-year-old wrote in her Instagram post, "Thank you for choosing me to be your mama, thank you for trusting me to guide you through your life. Every moment and contraction and every bit of the pain of birth was worth it and I would do it a thousand times over if it means getting to spend one sec with you."
