Pampered Pregnancy – Blissful Birth

Oliver Matisse is the first baby I’ve seen born who made more of a fuss than his mama. Stephanie is a yoga instructor – in fact she just completed her certification in prenatal yoga! She was blessed with a quick birth, and she really made it look easy. I’m including the precise times in this birth story because I’m still amazed at how fast this first baby was born and how gently his parents welcomed him to the world.

Oliver Matisse

Stephanie’s husband Ben called around 4:30 am to say that Stephanie’s water had broken around an hour ago, and her labor was progressing quickly. She’d had Braxton-Hicks contractions pretty regularly for the past week, but this was much different. Stephanie and Ben were doing great for the moment, but they wanted me to know they might need me soon.

Ben called back a couple of hours later with an update – contractions were already 3-5 minutes apart! He had called the doctor when the contractions were 7 minutes apart and the doctor said they could come on into the hospital, but Stephanie and Ben decided to wait. Stephanie’s ideal labor would be to show up at the hospital ready to push, so they wanted to labor at home as long as possible. I stayed on the phone through a couple of contractions and could hear Stephanie doing her deep yoga breathing in the bathtub. She sounded great – her breathing was deep and regular, and she was talking easily between contractions.

I offered to come over – Ben said he’d check with Stephanie and get back to me. A couple of minutes later, at 6:20, he texted to say they were ready for me. Then he texted again in another half hour, just as I was leaving – contractions were regular and 4 minutes apart, lasting about a minute. I arrived at their house at 7:10, said hello, and stood by for a contraction or two. Stephanie’s contractions were obviously very strong and close together, and she was trembling and breathing deeply as she leaned against the bathroom sink. I tried the double-hip squeeze, but she didn’t like it – she was doing great on her own. I was only there a few minutes before I followed them out the door – we were already headed to the hospital!

Stephanie was so strong and in control. Instead of parking at the door, we parked in the regular hospital parking lot, and she held Ben’s hand or walked slowly with his arms around her from the car to the hospital. A couple of people offered her a wheelchair, but she refused; she just kept walking slowly and steadily, pausing every couple of minutes to lean on Ben during a contraction. We got to the hospital around 8:00 am. As we got settled in the room, she just continued her calm yoga breathing and then spoke fairly normally between contractions. She did not seem like a woman in transition – so I was amazed to hear the nurse, Katie, say she was fully dilated. Stephanie had achieved her goal of laboring at home as long as possible!

Stephanie stayed focused throughout all the questions, the heplock, and the admission process. Ben was right by her face, quietly helping her focus her breathing and reminding her how great she was doing. I tried some low back massage and counterpressure, but Stephanie didn’t like it. Eventually I found a long, flowing rhythm that she enjoyed on her shoulders and legs that seemed to help ease her trembling and felt relaxing during contractions.

Although Stephanie was fully dilated, she didn’t feel a strong urge to push yet. At 8:40 am Dr. Eng did a cervical check and found that the baby was still pretty high, at 0 station. So Dr. Eng suggested that Stephanie labor down for a while – in other words, try to breathe through the contractions without spending extra energy pushing. This way Stephanie could rest for as long as possible and not have to push as long. Stephanie tried a lot of different positions – she used the squat bar, leaned onto the birth ball on the bed in hands and knees, sidelying, and even lying on her back – she was so far in laborland that she appeared deeply asleep between contractions with that one.

Ben didn’t leave Stephanie’s side except to get her water. He even sat on the bed behind Stephanie so that she could lean back onto his chest while he wrapped his arms around her. He was a wonderful support person. He kept humming “You Are My Sunshine” under his breath and whispering to Stephanie – each time it seemed to help her get more focused and relaxed. With the lights turned low and the two of them snuggling on the bed, the feeling in the room was of quiet tenderness and serenity – it was lovely.

Around 9:00 am Stephanie was feeling cold, so she got under some warm blankets and I stepped out to microwave a couple of hot packs. Stephanie practiced a few different methods of pushing: with and without a count, upright and lying down. At 9:37 Katie did a cervical check and found that the baby had moved down lower to +1 or +2 station. By 10:00 am, Stephanie was looking at the top of her baby’s head in the mirror as she pushed. She eased him out at 10:23 am, and Dr. Eng placed him, squalling, right onto Stephanie’s stomach. I could not believe such a fast birth could be so serene!

The nurse stamped Oliver Matisse’s feet on his birth certificate and into his baby book while Stephanie held him on her belly and delivered the placenta. It only took a few minutes for Stephanie to get Oliver Matisse latched on and nursing. She tried a couple of different positions that he didn’t like at first – and he made his disapproval known with some feisty noises of protest. But once he was latched, he sounded like he was purring! Once the placenta was born, Ben did some placenta prints – he stamped the placenta onto a sheet of paper, getting an image that resembles a tree.

Ben Making Placenta Prints

Ben is a biologist and artist whose artwork uses the same method as that of placenta prints – but with entire animals! Check out his beautiful work at his website, inkedanimal.com.

Is it a balloon? Is it a flower? No, it's a placenta!

Stephanie and Ben, you guys really made my job easy. I’ll always remember this as one of the sweetest, gentlest, and most creative births I’ve attended. Much love and congrats to you both, and to future artist Oliver Matisse!

Stephanie & Snuggly Oliver