The calmest 8cm I have ever seen
I spoke to Erin at 9pm before she headed off to bed. She reported that contractions were about 8-12 minutes apart, manageable by breathing, and that she was going to get some rest before her big day. But it didn’t take long for her to call me back and by 4am I was in triage with her at North Austin Medical Center. Erin was convinced they would send her home since she walked in so calmly and didn’t appear to have any noticeable labor signs. But a checkup from her midwife Kathy indicated Erin was at a solid 6cm and was 100% effaced. Erin wasn’t going to go home without a baby in her arms.
After a relaxing lavender infused foot massage from Cary (a new GB apprentice doula shadowing the birth) and I, Erin found that the most comfortable position for her active labor was on her hands and knees. She was on the bed, with a birth ball at her head for support. Her husband Drew was an expert counterpressure-hip-squeezer so he manned the back end. I held Erin’s hands and helped her focus on her breathing – bringing it deeper and lower and slower to get through the peaks of the ever intensifying contractions. Cary did an awesome job of keeping Erin hydrated with ice water, and kept cold mint-oiled compresses handy for Erin’s brow. Cary, Drew and I would rotate through the three labor support positions to keep ourselves from tiring, and to keep Erin’s progress moving forward. Drew was a wonderful birth partner knowing exactly when Erin could use supportive encouragement and loving touch. Within two hours Erin was 8cm, textbook perfect on the labor curve. I commented that this was the “calmest 8cm I had ever seen” noting how quiet, peaceful and serene the labor room was. Nurse Heather didn’t hesitate to raise her hand quickly and concur that this was true for her too (and between the two of us we’ve seen lots of laboring mamas).
Erin liked laboring on hands and knees the best, but after a later cervical exam she was complete on one side, but had a pretty thick cervical lip on her left side, so Dr. Sebestyen recommended changing positions to get baby to put some pressure on the thicker side to get Erin to a complete 10cm. Erin labored on the toilet, on the birth ball, standing up and slow dancing with Drew, on her side, doing lunges on the bed, and back to hands and knees. In less than an hour she was having the overwhelming urge to push, and without hesitation Dr. S gave her a green light without even checking Erin – she is that kind of doctor – just listens to women’s bodies and lets them do what their bodies are telling them to do.
Dr S. encouraged Erin to get in to a squatting push position with the squat bar installed on the bed, and the lower half of the bed dropped to accommodate. We encouraged Erin to push with her contractions, to breathe deep and respond to her body’s urges. Erin did her thing quietly and we encouraged her quietly. The pushing phase for Erin was just as calm and peaceful as her entire labor journey had been. Erin’s bag of waters was still intact at this point, and it was fascinating to watch her push her baby while still in the amniotic sac. The sac bulged out in front of baby’s head with each push. Ultimately the water broke with a big push from Erin, but we were just a few pushes shy of a “lotus” delivery. Erin was resisting her pushes a bit in the final crowning stages which is a totally natural response to the pressure of an unmedicated birth. Cary warmed some washcloths in hot tap water and I applied them to her perineum to soothe the ring of fire and help get blood flow to the area to encourage tissue stretching (and discourage tissue tearing). Erin gathered her strength, and pushed with all of her might pulling herself up on the squat bar to a standing squat for the final few pushes. Baby Eleanor Pearl was borth at 11:32 on 11:23 and weighed exactly 8 pounds and measured exactly 20 inches. Congratulations family Calver and thank you for allowing Cary and me to witness calm, beautiful, natural birth at it’s finest.
Dr. Sebestyen pointing Drew in the right direction to cut Eleanor's cord
