Pampered Pregnancy – Blissful Birth

Saying Hello, When You Have to Say Goodbye

Susan called the GetBabied hotline around 8:30 pm on Saturday saying she had a high level of protein in her urine (a sign of severe pre-eclampsia).  The doctors/midwives at OBGYN North informed her that she needed to come in that night to have her twin babies either then or in the morning so that Zane could be delivered safely.  Marek, sadly, had passed away at 29 weeks due to Intra-Uterine Growth Restriction (IUGR).  Susan and Zane had, thankfully, made it to 34 weeks at this point… And the journey to make it that far was not an easy one.

Susan and Joey were so happy to find out they were having twins.  They had tried so hard to have these little ones.  So when they learned at 20 weeks that Marek was suffering from IUGR and, therefore, not thriving, they were understandably upset.  When Zane was also diagnosed with IUGR at 25 weeks, they were beside themselves.  And, at 29 weeks, when, during an ultrasound, they saw that Marek had passed away, they were grief-stricken.

How does one mourn and remain hopeful with anticipation at the same time?  Like finding the beauty in falling autumn leaves, the heart finds a way.  Susan and Joey began making plans for a possible vaginal birth with Zane and Marek, as Zane continued to thrive and grow. They changed practices to one that they really felt would give them the best birth possible and began taking a few childbirth classes.  It really was hard for Susan to do much more than this, as she was on bedrest by this time.   Not only that, but her body had begun to show signs of pre-eclampsia.

When Dr. Schiemenz called to say it was time for Susan to have her babies, the moment was bittersweet.  Although, ideally, it would have been nice for Zane to gestate a few more weeks, the time had finally come for Joey and Susan to meet their baby boys face to face, turn the page on a hard pregnancy, and begin a new chapter. Susan had lamented that while she was pregnant, even though Marek had passed, she felt that he was still with her because she was carrying him.  Now, a new level of letting go was necessary, as well as a new, more joyous and intense level of parenting.  Zane would need a lot of TLC, as he would be in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for a while.

As soon as they knew that they were going to have to head into North Austin Medical Center, Susan called the GetBabied hotline to alert the doulas.  Amy Nevland answered.  She said she would be more than glad to meet them up at the hospital as soon as they wanted her to be there.  Amy was Susan and Joey’s childbirth class instructor and was super excited to be able to support them during the birth of their twins. Susan wanted to get the game plan from the doctor first, since there was still a chance that they could have a vaginal birth if Susan’s blood pressure was stable enough.  In the meantime, Amy bought a current newspaper for Susan’s scrapbook, as well as retrieved Joey’s jacket that got left at the last childbirth class. (This was an important jacket.)

Because Susan’s blood pressure was very high and would not come down once they arrived at the hospital around 9:45 pm, it was decided that they would need to deliver the boys via c-section that night.  They always knew this might be a possibility at any moment, and they were scared.   Amy rubbed Susan’s feet and hands with lavender oil, and sang to her Romans 8:37-39.  A few “before” pictures were taken, and Susan was taken back to the Operating Room (OR).  There she would get her spinal and catheter, and the area where the incision would be made was cleaned.  This was around 10:50 pm.  Meanwhile, back in the Labor and Deliver room, Amy reminded Joey to put a peppermint scented paper towel up his sleeve so that Susan could have something nice to smell in the OR, and they discussed the timing of the c-section and how things usually worked.  Joey mentioned how he was trying to stay strong for Susan and how he was trying not to cry.  Then Terry Ishee, their pastor from Life Church Austin, arrived around 11:10 pm.  They all prayed together – prayed for Susan’s blood pressure (which was still very high), prayed for strength, and prayed for God’s peace to be in them and in the OR.  Shortly after that at 11:20 pm, the nurse came and got Joey to go back to the OR to be with Susan; they were all prepped and ready for delivery.

Terry and Amy visited for a while until Terry got a text picture from proud Dad Joey of Susan and Zane around 11:58 pm.  Zane was born at 11:30 pm.  He was such a sweet looking, alert little boy, weighing in at a lovely 4 lbs 2.6 oz. and measuring 14 inches long.  His Apgar scores were 7 and 8, losing points only for skin color.  Marek was born two minutes after Zane with his amniotic sac in-tact, weighing approximately 1 lb. and measuring 11 ½ inches long.

In recovery, a sleepy Susan lay, eyes closed, in her bed while a very watchful Joey sat at her side.  Marek lay all wrapped in a blanket with Susan.  Amy took a few pictures while Susan and Joey and Dr. Schiemenz discussed the details of the c-section.  She explained how each of the boys’ placentas were divided into two lobes with the veins of their umbilical cords connecting to each lobe.  This would possibly explain the IUGR.  Also, Zane’s cord seemed to be connected to more of his placenta than was Marek’s.  Dr. Schiemenz explained that this was a pretty rare occurrence.  When Joey went to the NICU to visit Zane, Amy and Susan processed the birth, discussed the value of grieving Marek’s stillbirth and rejoicing in Zane’s birth, and how it was difficult to do both but would seem utterly impossible without God’s help.  Amy then unwrapped Marek’s little hands for Susan to look at and hold – a moment that will forever be one of the most important and profound experiences of Susan’s life.  Joey came back a little while later with some great pictures of Zane in the NICU, saying how wonderfully active he was.  He described him as “scrappy.”

The photography company, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, was contacted in order to hopefully set up some time to take pictures of Marek later that day (it was 2:00 am on Sunday by this time).  This, unfortunately, had to be postponed because Susan’s blood pressure remained very high, even through 10:00 or 11:00 am on Sunday.   However, before that, Susan was able to pump a little colostrum for Zane.  And Zane continued to amuse the NICU nurses by trying to wiggle around in circles in his little warmer.  He was even rooting, signaling that he was ready to eat – an amazing feat for a 34-week-old!  Marek was brought into Susan’s room that Sunday morning, all dressed and wrapped up in a blanket.  It was then that both Susan and Joey got to really hold him and look at him and have their first tearful moments with him in their arms.  A friend brought their older daughter, Amber, by to say hi to her mom and dad and brother around 11:00 am.  Then Susan needed to take it easy and rest because her blood pressure kept creeping back up.  Later that afternoon, the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep photographer arrived to take pictures.  It was very difficult to take family pictures without Zane, but the medical professionals thought it unsafe to reunite the boys following the birth.

In the coming days, Susan continued to pump an amazing amount of colostrum and milk for Zane, who was doing very well for such a little guy.  Though Susan’s incision got infected and she had to make final arrangements for Marek, a new season of life had begun.

Susan write’s “What we see, is that God continually provides the love and support and compassion that we need to survive this. Marek is being taken care of better than he could have ever been taken care of by us and, although we don’t understand why he had to go, we know that God’s purpose and love and grace are covering all of us.”

Romans 8:37-39

New International Version (NIV)

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[a]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“Let’s go home!”

My Valentine’s Day Surprise: Unexpected Home Birth of My Son

The facts:  As a doula and childbirth educator, I always tell first time mom’s to labor at home as long as possible as long as they are healthy enough to do so.  The average first labor is somewhere around 14 hours, start to finish.  Of course, the question of accidentally having your baby at home inevitably comes up.  I always laugh a little (b/c it happened to me), but say that the odds of this happening with a first baby are small….like 0.7%, but with your second, the odds go up…to something like 2%.  I remind first time mom’s that the pushing phase for them statistically is anywhere from 30mins to 2 hours – plenty of time to get to a hospital—usually.  But, if you have a fast first birth, the odds of you having a quick, or precipitous, second birth go up.  And, if you have a family history of quick births, well, the odds for you go up even more.

My story:  The birth of my daughter (my first) happened on Christmas morning.  This was a surprise, as I was 37 weeks (most mom’s gestate 41 weeks and 3 days), and it started with my water breaking. (This happens about 10% of the time.)  After about 6 hours of active labor, A LOT of back pain, and 30 mins of pushing, she was born.  Not too bad, all things considering.

Fast-forward 3 years.  Valentine’s morning.  10 days before my due date.  I woke up around 3 in the morning feeling just a lot of pressure “down there.”  The pressure came and went.  I decided to sit on the toilet for a little while to see if these were really contractions.  As I sat there, I did deep yoga breathing, visualized my baby coming down, my cervix opening, and I did some light effleurage on my belly.  I didn’t time the contractions, b/c honestly, they didn’t really hurt.  At some point, my husband came in and said that he was trying to time my breathing.  To him, my contractions seemed to be 90 sec long with maybe 30 sec in between them.  (First clue that this was going fast.)  He asked if he should go back to bed, (LOL—as if), or take a shower and get ready.  I told him that we probably should just go now if my contractions were that long, as our hospital at the time was Scott and White, and we lived in South Austin.  (a good 37 minute drive with no traffic)

I stood up, and I saw some bloody show.  This is another good sign that things are progressing well.  I walked into my bedroom to get my pants on, and I actually felt my son get lower.  And I saw a lot more blood (which is totally normal, but I freaked out.)  Immediately, my body started pushing my son out.  I was doing nothing. One powerful pushing contraction after another started coming.  Of course, I really did freak out at this point, and threw myself down on my bed on my side, and I told my husband to call 911.  Honestly, my only fear and thoughts were, “He’s coming too fast.  I’m not where I thought I was going to be at this point.  Is it ok to push?  God, don’t let me tear.”  All these are normal thoughts and fears, I know, but at the time, no one was talking me “of the ledge,” so to speak.

We were going to call my parents, who, live in Georgetown, to come watch my then 3 year old, so we could leave.  No time for that now.  So, we call my neighbor, who told us later she was lying in bed awake wondering about me right when we called.  Then Dave called 911, telling them that I was in labor and the baby was coming…now.  My neighbor came over quickly, got in my face, and told me to just breathe.  What a welcome distraction!  Then, with a mighty pop and gush, my water broke, all over my bed.

At this point my body was just pushing him out, and I was just cussing and moaning and letting it happen.  It’s true.  This good little Christian girl cusses like a sailor during childbirth, apparently.  Needless to say, I wasn’t the picture of serenity, like I was just a few minutes ago.  I was crowning at this point, and the 911 operator kept assuring my husband that help was on the way, and to go ahead, lay on my back and push the baby out.  Ha! Have you ever TRIED to make a woman who is pushing change positions?  It’s not easy.  Besides that, I had read somewhere that pushing on one’s side reduces the risk of tearing, so on my side I stayed.  I pushed once.  Out came his head.  He immediately started crying.  Pushed twice, and my neighbor caught a slippery, crying, pink little boy.  Immediately, I placed him on my chest and started rubbing him and talking to him.  He was doing great!  Dave and Rebecca and I stared at each other in shock.  My 3 year old, who had heard all the commotion and woken up, was standing by my bed crying, wanting to crawl up to me.  My bed was a bit messy at this point, if you can imagine, so this was a no-go.

The 911 operator then told my husband to find a shoelace to tie the cord off.  Of course, at this point, my husband’s child birth class training finally kicks in, and he asks if it as vital to do this right away.  We knew that it would be fine, and in fact good for my son, to wait for the cord to pulse a little bit.  Besides that, we really didn’t have any clean shoelaces sitting around.  (We’re from Austin and wear sandals mostly, anyway. Geez.  I thought everyone knew that .)

The search for a shoelace ended when, 12 minutes after we first called 911, five very hot firemen came into my bedroom.  There I lay, in all my …um…glory, spread eagle, umbilical cord hanging out, baby on my bare chest, laying in a large puddle of birth goo.  They very sweet but looked slightly embarrassed, and started fumbling around in their bags for something…who knows what.  I told them we were fine, didn’t need oxygen or anything, b/c I didn’t know what my insurance was going to cover at this point.  Then a very awesome EMS lady walks in.  She said, “Oh honey, let’s get you and baby covered up and warm.”  Out comes the foil space blanket.  She clamped the cord then, and Dave cut it.  Then she asked if I felt like pushing out my placenta.  I told her not yet.  (I really didn’t feel like pushing anything else out, honestly, and I didn’t want any more mess on my bed.)  There was some discussion about riding in an ambulance to the nearest hospital.  I requested that I actually go to the hospital where I was already paid up, even though it was a further drive.  Then, the very hot firemen put a robe on me, and carried me down my stairs on a chair (HA!  Now this was some kind of service!). Then we loaded up in the ambulance.

Whoever invented the ambulance needs to know that they neglected to add any kind of suspension on that thing.  Seriously, the Runaway Mine Train ride at 6 flags is a smoother ride.  But, I did get to breastfeed Beck the whole way to Scott and White (a 40 min drive), and talk with the really nice EMS lady.  She asked why I didn’t just consider having a home birth.  What a great question!  Some of it, for me was financial.  But, honestly, I don’t really know why I didn’t really look into it.  The homebirth seed was planted that night, though.  :)

After easily pushing my placenta out at the hospital…almost a full hour after giving birth to Beck, the doc said my bleeding was normal and I had no tears.  I needed no routine Pitocin or anything.  YAY!  Being able to let the cord pulsate, push the placenta out on my own timetable, and not having routine pitocin were the few things that my ObGyn and I didn’t see eye-to-eye on.  But, at the end of the day, things worked out beautifully, and ultimately (and thankfully) it was really the best-case scenario for both Beck and me.  And, for lunch that day, my husband went to Mangia’s pizza and got us a perfect, heart shaped, deep dish pizza.  We really didn’t need to do anything else for Valentine’s Day.  We already had a great gift.

Some things to ponder:  Homebirth—yes!  My third kiddoe was born at home with a wonderful set of midwives, and I didn’t have to worry about making it to the hospital in time.  I felt completely safe and taken care of.  Family history of fast births – Yes!  My mother told me later that all her births were 4 hours long.  Geez!  Why didn’t I ask this before!  If I had to do it all over again, would I have done anything differently?  Yes and no.  I wouldn’t have been able to get to the hospital in time, regardless.  And, given the choice of having my baby in the car or in my bed…really?  Who would choose car?  I do wish, however, that I would have known how awesome and skilled midwives are, and how wonderful a homebirth could be with the proper support.  Then, at least I wouldn’t have had to ride in that bumpy ambulance.  But, then I wouldn’t have this awesome 911 call taped and saved to share with my son when he starts dating.  Hope you guys enjoy it!  It’s about 12 minutes long!

Beck 911

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Amy Nevland CD(DONA)

amy@getbabied.com

512-5-BABIED

Josh and Erin

As a childbirth educator and doula, I always make it a point to tell first time parents to labor at home as long as possible, and that the odds of them accidentally having their baby at home are very, very small.  In fact, researchers say that the odds of a mom having a precipitous labor (a labor less than three hours long) is about 2%.  More to the point, some studies show that the odds of a first time mom having a precipitous labor is about 0.7%.  Those are pretty small Vegas odds.  I know what your thinking…What, if anything, can I do to make those odds go up in my favor?  I feel like Josh and Erin’s story is pretty insightful.

Josh and Erin weren’t necessarily planning on having a doula at their birth. They had chosen to give birth in one of the beautiful, peaceful rooms at AABC south.  Erin had done some prenatal yoga. The midwives there had prepared them for labor and birth.  They were prepared and confident.  But one thing they hadn’t planned on, however, was a really bad cold and flu season.  And when Erin woke up in labor, and Josh woke up sick, they decided to call GetBabied for some extra labor support.  They didn’t know if this was going to be an all day affair or not.  And rightly so.  Studies show that most first time average labors are going to be anywhere from 10 to 18 hours long.  And pushing…Most first time moms will actively push at least 30 mins to 2 hours.  So, when Josh called Sat. morning at 6.45am to give a heads-up that Erin was in labor, and that her contractions were 4 1/2 mins apart and about 45 seconds long and that he was sick, I said what I normally say.  ”You guys need to try to eat some breakfast, and have Erin try getting into the bath tub.  It just feels good.  Or, if your feeling like speeding things up, go for a walk.”  He said Erin was coping well at the moment, so I said,  ”Thanks for the heads up.  Call me when you want me to come over.”  Erin sounded very “with it and together,” and almost a little chipper, so I definitely thought we had some time before things got really serious.

Birth is an amazing and unpredictable thing sometimes, and not that much later (around 7.30am), Erin had called again, saying that the contractions were getting more intense and that she would love some extra labor support at home.  I could tell as she was talking to me, that she was having to stop and breath as each contraction came on.  She still sounded great, just “in the zone.”   I did, at that point, ask if her mom had happened to have quick labors, on the off chance this was going to go much faster than I anticipated.  She said yes.  I grabbed some emergen-C and some echinacea/zinc tea for Josh (I had just bought for some for my sick family) and headed out as quickly as I could.

I was around the corner from their house, when Josh called saying that Erin’s water had broken, and that they were heading to the birthing center.  Erin had tested positive for Group B strep, so the midwives told them to go ahead and come on in for a bag of IV antibiotics.  I had told Josh that they might get sent back home after the antibiotics, and Erin told me later that she didn’t really like that idea very much.  And understandably so.  Turns out, she was in transition.

I followed them to the birthing center (after a quick Taco Cabana stop for dad), and found Erin laying quietly on her side in one of the birthing center’s large king size beds.  It was around 8.30am.  She was breathing well and seemed pretty darn calm.  She did say something about it burning “down there.”  I did think, at that time, that possibly it could be the baby getting lower into the birth canal, but I tried not to talk too much about that, as I wanted her to stay “in the zone.”  She was really making it look VERY easy.  After one really big contraction, Erin was most definitely laying in a LOT of amniotic fluid.  No doubt about it now.  Her water had broken.  I got her up and to the bathroom, where we cleaned her up a little bit, and Josh and I got her some fresh clothes.  Pretty much as soon as she sat down on the toilet, she started making pushing noises.  ”This sounds promising,” I thought.  As she sat there, and I reminded her to relax her shoulders and picture her baby getting lower and her body making room for the baby, I kept an eye out for the midwife…and for the baby.

A few minutes later Erin was comfortably laying on her side back on the bed, and Licensed Midwife, Leonora Colen, was getting the antibiotics going.  All the while, super sweet assistant, Michelle Gold, gets everything ready for baby to come. Erin very noticeably pushes again.  Leonora decided it would be a good idea to “see what was going on” at this time.  And, low and behold, after less than 3 hours of active labor, she was definitely 10cm, and the baby was really low and ready to be born.  I guess there was no time to use the birthing center’s beautiful, big jacuzzi tub.  Since things were progressing so quickly, and we wanted to reduce the risk of tearing, Erin stayed on her side to push.  In one good push, she was crowning.  She was so controlled and composed!  Her smiling mom got the camera ready.  Was it going to be a boy or a girl?  No one knew, yet.  In just a few more minutes and maybe 2 more pushes, at 9.14am, out came sweet baby Ember Olivia, weighing 7lbs 9oz and 20 1/2 inches long.

Ember was brought to Erin’s chest, and after the cord quit pulsing, Josh cut it.  Ember had pooped quite a bit already and continued to do so for a little bit.  After everyone was a little cleaned up, and lots of pictures and snuggling done, Erin and Ember got the knack of breastfeeding.

What a morning!  What a way to start the day!  Beautiful mom and baby and birth!  I feel so honored and privileged to have been a part of it (albeit only for a short time.)

Some things to take away from this birth story….1.  Genetics, they sometimes do play a factor in what kind of labor you may be predisposed to, especially in the case of fast labors.  2.  Choose a birthing environment that you know you will LOVE and feel absolutely comfortable in.  Erin didn’t have to endure 30 mins of questioning and a few blood draws and then see a doctor whom she has never met when she got to the birthing center.  She just got to lay quietly in a king size bed with the lights on low, undisturbed, until her midwife came to check in on her. She was able to stay in a good frame of mind.  3.  She was prepared via the comprehensive classes at the birthing center.  4.  She was physically ready through some walking and prenatal yoga she had done.  5.  She had a doula.

It was Friday evening.  My phone rang, it was my sister Amber.  That’s
strange, Amber knows I never answer my phone and she should just email
me, but wait, she is 36ish weeks pregnant, maybe I should take her
call.  I answered it breathlessly, “Are you in labor???” but the phone
is dead.  A few minutes later I got a text that said “sorry, I pocket
dialed you, I’m not in labor”.  Fair enough.

So imagine my surprise at 5:15am Saturday morning when the call
display said “Amber” again.  That is a very mean pocket dial.  Boo.
But to be snarky I answered the same way “Are you in labor??”.  She
replied, voice shaky, “My water broke at 4am, I’m at the hospital,
they are going to start pitocin at 7:30”.  I hopped out of bed and
gathered my wits and my labor bag and some breakfast for them and
hustled over to the hospital.

When I arrived, Amber and Trevor both looked a little tired, they
hadn’t gone to bed particularly early the night before, and had kind
of a rude early morning awakening.  Amber looked worried, and I looked
over and noticed her blood pressure was pretty high (the first time
that had ever been the case).  She was stressed and concerned about
her baby coming early, and feeling flustered, and ill prepared.  We
were supposed to be working on her birth plan this weekend, they were
supposed to pack next weekend, heck, they still had a baby shower
scheduled.  They had to get prepared and ready in a matter of hours.
My first job was to let her know that everything was going to be ok.
Her baby looked great on the monitors.  I was there to help her.
Birth plans are for hippies.  She had this.

Since going home to labor wasn’t an option with Amber’s high blood
pressure, we talked about how we could get her labor going.  It’s
tricky to have your water break before labor.  Without strong
contractions, labor can take a long time to get going.  That’s why
many doctors will start you on pitocin right away to move things
along.  I asked Amber if that’s what she’d like.  And she felt that it
seemed a little early to jump on the intervention train.  I agreed.  I
asked her if she wanted to try some other options – namely – walking
the halls of the hospital, and using the electric breast pump to help
organize and intensify the early contractions she was having.  She was
game.  When Dr. Yium came in to start the pitocin, we asked her if we
could have some time to do our own thing.  And she said sure.  This
was a big benefit for Amber – she didn’t have to be on any monitoring,
machines, or lines.  She could walk, eat, shower, pump, labor freely.

So we did just that for a few hours.  Contractions would pick up,
especially while pumping or walking.  Amber hopped in the shower
between pumping sessions while Trevor massaged her with the shower
head.  Dr. Yium would poke in every few hours and would notice Amber’s
labor getting more and more intense.  She came back to recommend
starting the pitocin, but heard Amber breathing in the shower and saw
contractions that were getting very close together, so she decided to
just let labor be.  I had hoped to score at least 4 hours of natural
laboring for Amber, but somehow Dr. Yium was letting Amber just be
patient with her labor.  Since she was ruptured, they never checked
her cervix all day, they just watched Amber and checked in with her
about progress in her labor.

By 8 pm, labor had kind of stalled, and Amber considered doing the
pitocin at this point.  She felt confident that she had given her body
due diligence to kick into labor on its own, and had tried all of the
resources she had to postpone pitocin.  But the lack of sleep from the
night before was catching up to her, and she felt ready to reap the
benefit of a pitocin augemented labor – efficiency.

She learned that she had made some progress on her own, she was 2cm
(0-1cm on arrival) and was 90% effaced (60% on arrival).  It was
somewhat disappointing that this was all the progress she had made in
many hours.  But it was a significant difference to this medical
doula.  1cm is an unfavorable cervix.  When you induce/augment an
unfavorable cervix, you are at an increased risk of cesarean section.
And it’s my job as a doula, and even more so as a protective older
sister to navigate that risk.  But by 8pm when Amber was ready to
augment, her cervix was super soft, and super favorable.  Her
contractions were stronger.  Her blood pressure was low-normal.  Her
uterus and body was warmed, primed, and ready for pitocin.

It didn’t take but the lowest dose of pitocin to immediately have an
effect on intensifying and organizing Amber’s contraction pattern.
Amber breathed through contractions beautifully.  She would close her
eyes, breath slowly and deeply throughout, never once losing focus or
control.  I asked her what her birth mantra was, and she told me that
she was singing a song in her head as she was breathing – Bob Marley –
“Don’t worry, about a thing, everything little thing, is going to be
alright”.  It’s as if this mantra was helping her believe it.  Helping
her believe that the worry and anxiety she felt early in her
pregnancy, at many times throughout her pregnancy, and with this
unplanned early arrival, were going to be alright.  Trevor was always
encouraging.  He made sure Amber was always hydrated, that her
chapstick was well applied, that she had cold compresses on her brow
and neck to stave off nausea, and that she was never emotionally
discouraged.  I massaged her sore leg muscles and her swollen feet,
kept hot packs on her back, and put pressure on her hips and lower
back as she moved through position changes.

At 11pm Amber was ready for an epidural.  Actually, she could have
totally just done the whole thing naturally.  I have no doubt about
it.  Perfect control, perfect breathing.  But, she was so tired, not
from exertion, just from sleep deprivation.  She felt that the
epidural would allow her to get some shut eye before she had to push
her baby out.  Post epidural she got checked and was 6cm, 100%, 0
station.  Quite a lot of progress which she was happy to hear.  We
turned the lights out and all were hoping to get a couple hours of
sleep.  But apparently baby had a different plan.  Amber was feeling a
lot of pressure in her bottom by 1am, and just couldn’t sleep anymore.
Nurse Janeka checked her closer to 2am, and sure enough, she was a
full 10cm and a +1 station.  For the record Amber went from 2cm-10cm
in 5 hours, a crazy feat for labor at 36 weeks.  Her body was ready!
I really think all of the mental, emotional, and physical prep Amber
did in her “pre-induction” made the induction phase of her labor
perfectly efficient.  Amber decided to labor down, and just rest and
let her body keep moving baby down without actively pushing, she was
able to rest some, but the pressure was so intense she was too
uncomfortable not to push after a while.

Amber started pushing at around 2:30am.  She pushed on her back for a
while, and nurse Janeka suspected her baby was OP by the way the
sutures on his head were facing as he was coming down.  So we thought
it smart to push in positions that would help rotate baby.  Amber
pushed on her right side.  She got up on her hands and knees and
pushed in child’s pose (a great epidural!).  She pushed on her left
side.  She made the full rotation to get baby full opportunity to
rotate as she was pushing him down.  An hour into pushing Dr. Yium
came in to check on the progress, and she too confirmed baby was in a
finicky OP position.  She reached up to her elbow into Amber and
manually rotated the baby around into the opposite orientation.  That
sure didn’t feel good, Amber grabbed my hand and took deep breaths
while Dr. Yium did this.  Then Dr. Yium left and said, OK – hopefully
that will help, carry on!

Amber seemed to be making the most progress in the “water ski” pushing
position – semi-reclined on her back, with her feet up on the squat
bar, with a rebozo tied to the squat bar that she would pull up on
with her hands as if she were waterskiing behind a boat.  Trevor and I
each supported a leg and Nurse Janeka counted and coached.  Amber
pushed hard, and made progress, slowly but surely.  At 6am Dr. Yium
was called back in for the final few pushes.  She was actually a
little surprised to get the call so soon because she said she had a
sinking feeling that baby’s position would be an obstacle to pushing
him out without forceps/vacuum/c-section.  But Amber had the will and
pushed so hard, never considering that this was something she couldn’t
do.  In the final pushes Amber pushed slowly and beautifully, letting
her baby just rest on the perineum for the last few pushes, there was
no rush, he would just sit there through contractions and she eased
him out very gently (and saved herself any major tearing).

Archer Samuel arrived at 6:13 am after about 3.5 hours of
pushing weighing in at 6lbs 11oz.  He was a little shell shocked when
he arrived (in fact his eyes were wide open as he was born and he
looked startled to be there).  After some stimulation he squawked and
cried and scored a 9 apgar at his 5 minute check – a perfectly healthy
baby despite his early arrival, and I could hear Amber and Trevor
finally breathe that sigh of relief that their baby was OK.  Finally,
they could now just take in all of the joy of that moment, and all of
the excitement that parenthood had in store for their future.
Everything, indeed, was going to be alright.

Rebecca decided that 11am would be a good time for me to meet her at the hospital.  She had the foley catheter the night before and arrived at 8am to start her pitocin induction due to her gestational diabetes.  Nearing 11am nothing was really going on just yet, and she didn’t feel it necessary for me to come stare at her doing nothing, so she texted me that 12:30 would be a better rendezvous time.  At 12:30, Sarah (my shadow doula in training) and I arrived to find a calm Rebecca chilling with her iPad.  She was feeling a few twinges here and there, but still nothing really exciting happening.  We talked about what would be her ideal labor.  She said the most important thing for me was to doula her husband.  J  How sweet.  But she elaborated, saying the Mike didn’t do well when he saw her in pain, and that meant if she was in pain she would have to pretend that she wasn’t, just to make sure that he didn’t get anxious, because if he was anxious she would get anxious that he was anxious, and the pretending would be difficult for her to do when she was in full blown labor, so if I could ensure that Mike was comfortable and anxiety free by assuring him that things were normal, then she could howl all she wanted with no holding back.

Dr. Campaigne and Midwife Liane strolled in around 1pm.  They suggested breaking Rebecca’s water.  Rebecca wasn’t sure and wanted to talk about it.  Dr. C’s thoughts were that she was already 4cm (we knew this since the foley bulb fell out overnight, which by design it does around 4cm), that the pitocin wasn’t really doing anything for the last four hours, and that it was time to allow the pitocin to be more efficient at a lower dose by doing the AROM.  She assured Rebecca there was no time limit.  Rebecca was ready to have her water broken.

Rebecca had been chilling in bed for most of the morning, but now with her membranes ruptured, it was more important to do some upright positions, and to change positions more frequently.  Both of these things help get baby in an optimal position, and get baby to move down.  Rebecca sat on the ball for a while, rocking back and forth.  Sarah and I squeezed some acupressure points on her hands as we did hand massage.  We needed some upbeat music to while away early labor.  I asked Rebecca what upbeat was to her so we could queue up something on Pandora, and she and Mike couldn’t come up with a solid idea.  Then she leaked out “Vanilla Ice”.  And I was all over that.  No boring yoga music or Enya for the hundredth time for me.  It was all about the 90s pop rap movement.  And you know Rebecca knew every word to Ice Ice Baby, Can’t Touch This, Baby Got Back, Bust a Move, Jump Around, Hot in Here, Play That Funky Music, etc etc.  It felt like I was at a high school dance.  Somehow, laughing at all of these songs, and secretly liking them all, and singing all of the words, was a clever distraction for all of us.  Rebecca walked, sat on the ball, did some hands and knees, and pretty soon, she couldn’t keep up with the words because she had to stop to breathe through contractions.  (Progress!)

Around 3pm Rebecca thought it might be a good time to hit the shower, for a change of scenery, and to also help ease the intensity of the contractions in her back.  Mike slipped his swim shorts on, and he sprayed Rebecca’s back with warm water in the shower.  They showered by candle light for over an hour.  When it was time to come dry off, Rebecca wanted to have the conversation about pain management.  She felt she was ready for the epidural, but I thought she was managing beautifully, so asked her if she wanted to call Andrea (aka Dr. C) to get a cervical exam, and check if she was progressing on her own, see where she was, to help decide what the pain management plan was (read: sneaky doula delay tactic).  At first she agreed, and had nurse Emily call Andrea over to come consult about the epidural.  Five minutes later she exclaimed “Oklahoma! Oklahoma! Oklahoma!”.  Apparently that was the safe word she had agreed upon beforehand with Mike, that when it came time for drugs, that would be her word.  She asked me to chase the nurse down in the hallway to tell her to order the epidural stat.  So I snuck into the hallway to tell nurse Emily the change in plan.  She said Andrea was on her way anyhow, but that she would start prepping the room and give Rebecca more fluids to get ready for the epidural.

Rebecca found a hands and knees position most comfortable at this point.  I jumped up on the bed behind her and did a double hip squeeze to help open her pelvis and take pressure off her lower back.  Sarah helped Rebecca find her voice during the contractions.  She was holding her breath and holding in her natural instinct to moan, so we encouraged her to let it go.  She would find a low moan, and that helped her regulate her breathing, her rocking, she had a perfect rhythm (which in my opinion is the key to natural birth).  While we were in our zone, nurse Emily noticed some decels on the heart rate monitor, the kind of decels that are during contractions, aka, head compression.  Head compression means that head is super low, getting compressed, or near 10cm.  Really?  Already?  Dr. C joined us and noticed the same thing, and said, let’s just check and see what’s up.  The cervical exam was 8-9 cm, a little lip, baby at a +1.  Dude!  Rebecca went from 4-9cm in the shower.  We talked again about what the epidural would look like, and encouraged her to skip it, she was so close, and went this far already, she was through transition nearly, and pushing would feel better, and it would be easier to push unmedicated.  Rebecca was wary, but was on board to keep on keeping on, knowing that Emily was still doing everything she needed to for the epidural if she decided to go back to plan Oklahoma on a whim.

Rebecca moved to a sidelying position to make it easier to monitor her baby.  Since baby was so low, they were having a hard time picking up her heartbeat.  This position worked for Rebecca as long as Mike put very firm counter-pressure on her lower back during a contraction.  I reminded her to use her voice, and pushed her, she was almost there.  Sarah got her a heat pack and stroked her hair between contractions.  I noticed in this position that Rebecca’s moans changed to something more guttural and grunty.  I looked over at Dr. Campaigne and we both nodded knowingly at each other hearing the sound, her body was pushing.  Rebecca concurred and asked if it was OK to push, since she had the urge.  Dr. Campaigne told her to listen to her body, and do what she needed to do.

Rebecca pushed in a side lie for a few pushes.  Dr. Campaigne reached in to feel a push to ensure Rebecca was moving the baby in the right direction.  She felt a tiny lip of cervix that was being pulled down by the baby, and told Rebecca she would hold it up while she pushed to get that baby under it.  Rebecca was none to happy about her cervix being a bit sensitive and swollen, it didn’t feel great, but with Dr. Campaigne’s help, baby went through the cervix and was on her way down, quickly.  Rebecca pushed on her hands and knees for a few pushes.  That baby was getting pretty low, but Rebecca’s feet were turning a little purple from being cut off in circulation by the pinch at her knees in childs pose.  She flipped on her back to finish it off.  When she was on her back, we could all see the baby’s hair – she was almost done!  I grabbed some warm wash cloths from my queso crock pot to put on Rebecca’s perineum, she really wanted us to help her out down there.  I held it on for a few pushes, and soon baby’s head was crowning, so I passed the cloth on to Dr. Campaign and she held it there while Rebecca pushed her baby out.  Rebecca felt the burn of that “ring of fire” but wasn’t afraid.  Dr. Campaigne actually encouraged her to stop and ease her baby out, but Rebecca wanted to push, and push she did.  Samantha arrived at 5:59 pm, after just 30 minutes of pushing.  After the placenta arrived a quick inspection of her perineum indicated no tears, not a single nick, no stitches.  That’s pretty unheard of for a first time mama (but so is 30 minutes of pushing, pitocin induction without an epidural, and active labor of 3ish hours).  So figures that everything would work out perfectly for Rebecca.  After she delivered her baby, Dr. Campaigne asked her if she felt like a rock star for the awesome accomplishment, or the empowerment of a warrior-woman birth.  I think she was still in a little bit of shock because all she could come up with was “my vagina hurts a bit.”  I hope she isn’t mad at us for nixing her “Oklahoma” plan.  If she hadn’t have been so darn efficient with this labor she might have had a window of time to get it.  So totally not our fault.

Much love to the Davies family!  Can’t touch this!

Sara and Ari did their diligence to prepare themselves as much as they could before their big day.  They took Bradley Classes, arguably the most comprehensive preparation for natural labor.  They made a detailed birth plan which focused on an intervention free labor and peaceful delivery.

On the night before their due date, Ari called me around 10pm letting me know that Sara was having some contractions, and that they were about 10 minutes apart, that she was coping well, and that they were intending to labor at home for a few hours, and would keep me posted. From our birth plan session we discussed laboring at home until contractions were 3 minutes apart (instead of the hospital standard 5) just to allow a more comfortable environment to labor, and to decrease hospital time and thus opportunity for interventions.  After a few text updates, they called me back shortly after midnight informing me that Sara was now 3 minutes apart and they were ready to meet at the hospital.  Perfect.  And, it was Sara’s due date.  Perfect.

When she was checked she was 3cm, she had hoped for 4cm, but a stretchy soft 3 with strong active and frequent contractions was good enough for the Seton crew and they got her set up to labor as she requested – no IV, intermittent wireless monitors, no cords, no wires, just a hep lock, and she could do what she wanted to do, which was exactly how she wanted to labor.  We walked the halls of Seton.  We did some side lying in bed to catch a rest between active labor positions (it was 2am after all).  Sara and Ari showered for some time.  Sara was managing things perfectly, anytime she felt out of control, Ari would breathe along with her, helping her find a pattern, and grounding her focus.

By 5am, she was 7cm dilated, with a bulging bag of water.  She had progressed a full 4 cm in less than 4 hours.  That’s about as text book perfect as you can get.

But then the natural birth plan perfection took a detour.  Between 5am and 7am, Sara was losing her control over the intense pain of the contractions.  All of our previous strategies to manage the pain weren’t working for her any longer, and the self doubt was creeping in on her.  She didn’t think she would be able to tolerate the pain any longer.  Dr. Binford was planning to check on her at 7am, and we set that as our mini-goal to labor naturally until the doctor arrived.  By 7am, it became very clear to Sara that pain management was the right choice for her.  She wasn’t feeling 100% confident in her decision, but we talked about pain and suffering.  Can she manage pain?  Of course, she had been doing it for many hours.  Should she suffer?  No.  She shouldn’t suffer.  And she was suffering.  There comes a time when even the strongest natural birth advocates need to adjust their plan.  And for Sara she reached that threshold and no longer felt the need to suffer, and made the choice not to.  We also talked about fighting against your contractions – your body is tight and tense with the contractions, the opposite of what it needs to be to get to 10cm and to push a baby out, and Sara felt that an epidural would help her gain back the relaxation that was required for the rest of her labor.

After the epidural kicked in, and Sara (and Ari) squeezed in a little nap, they were both calm, strong, and ready for the next phase of labor.  The quick clip of labor had slowed quite some bit, and Sara moved to 8cm, to 9cm, to 9.5cm over many hours.  Her bag of waters was indeed still intact.  Sara’s baby was having some irregular peaks and valleys in his heart rate, and after Dr. Binford ruptured Sara’s membranes it was discovered Sara had some meconium staining.  When Sara was complete, she pushed for a short time, but her baby wasn’t tolerating the pushing phase as well as Dr. Binford would have liked, and Sara was presented with two options.  Her baby was low enough for a forceps assisted delivery, or she could opt for a cesarean.  Sara did not prefer surgery, so consented to have Dr. Binford help her get her baby out quickly, safely.  After one long and tough push, baby Cooper arrived.  Despite being a really quick transition from birth canal to cord cutting, and the meconium, and the heart rate fluctuations, Cooper had solid apgars of 9 and 9, a strong cry, and a great latch and a strong, and long breastfeeding session when he was placed on his mother’s chest.

Before the drama of the delivery, Sara asked me what I was reading (while she had been sleeping).  I was reading a self help book, which I think is the first time ever in my life I’ve read this type of book.  The title was “The Gifts of  imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are”.  I personally struggle
with setting really high expectations of myself, striving for perfection, your typical overachiever from as early as I can remember.  My therapist recommended this book to me, and the notion, that it is in fact imperfection and vulnerability that create a more authentic self, and that I should find these imperfections and vulnerabilities, and allow them to be embraced as part of my public self, and that this in fact will only enhance the relationships I have with those people I care about.

But enough about me.  It’s not my story.  But it’s my reflection.  And Sara and I talked about some of our Type A Personality issues, our love of spreadsheets, and issues of control – so we bonded over how awesome we are, and how that is our biggest weakness.  :)

I wonder if having an “imperfect” birth is actually our first opportunity for vulnerability in our parenting journey.  It’s our first chance to learn that life is unpredictable, imperfect, challenging, and those of us that parent best are the ones who embrace the teachable moments of imperfection, and treat ourselves with compassion in these moments.  And grow.  And embrace future imperfections.

Did Sara and Ari have the peaceful and intervention free birth they had planned for?  Maybe not.  But did they navigate the detours with grace and courage, definitely.  I wish you much love, and many imperfections, in your new journey as a family.  AS.

Emily planned on being induced at 41 weeks, on Thursday, March 29.  I was the doula on call that Thursday, so I contacted Emily to make a plan.  She was going into the hospital on Wednesday night for cervidil, and they would start Pitocin on Thursday morning.  She said that she or her husband, Thomas, would call me when they were ready for some support.  At about 8 am Thursday morning, Thomas called me to let me know that they had started the Pitocin and that Emily was starting to feel her contractions but that she was managing fine.  They would call me again when they needed me.  At about 1:30, Thomas called to say that Emily’s doctor broke her water at 1, and Emily was ready for some support!  That AROM was bringing on some intense contractions.

When I arrived at the hospital at about 2, Emily was dealing with her contractions really well, supported lovingly by Thomas and her mom, Ann.  The contractions were short but pretty strong.  Luckily, Emily is a yogini and a master of deep, focused breathing.  The baby was having some heart rate decelerations, so her doctor wanted her to be in bed, but we tried different positions to make her more comfortable because side-lying was really doing a number on her hip.  She alternated side-lying with sitting on the edge of the bed and sitting upright in bed.  Thomas climbed onto the bed with her so that she could hold his hand and lean on him.  He was a steadfast support and a great cheerleader.

Emily’s doctor had limited her to ice chips, but she was hungry.  She hadn’t eaten since about 9 the evening before.  I suggested asking if she could have a popsicle.  They asked their nurse who said she would get approval, but Thomas took matters into his own hands.  As it turns out, Emily’s friend, Bree, is actually her OB’s nurse.  Going (almost) straight to the top, Thomas called Bree, and she said she would see what she could do.  In a couple of minutes, the nurse returned to ask what flavor popsicle Emily wanted.  It helps to have friends in high places!

After what Emily said was the best popsicle she’d ever had in her life, she got back to work dealing with those contractions.  We made a plan for her to get up and go to the bathroom and switch positions every hour or so.  Since she was attached to so many hospital contraptions, getting up to go to the bathroom was no easy feat.  Once she was in there, I suggested staying on the toilet for a contraction or two so that she could really relax her pelvis and encourage that baby to move down.

At about 3:30, Emily’s contractions started to get really strong.  Amusingly, this coincided with a visit from both Emily’s mom and Thomas’s mom, Diana.  They were respectful of Emily’s space, but they were also excited and full of their own memories of childbirth so they stood tittering in the corner for a while.  Eventually, they left, and Emily was at the point in her labor when she really needed quiet to focus and concentrate.  I told her that the great, deep, yoga breathing that she had done earlier would help her get through the tougher contractions, too.  And that’s what she did.  As they got closer and stronger, she tapped into her breath and focused on getting through each one as it came.  Thomas would hold her hand and cheer her on, and I would tell her when the peak of a contraction had come and when it would be receding.

Emily dealt with these intense contractions for several hours.  When her doctor checked on her at about 5:30 pm, he said that her baby had moved down a bit but that she was still dilated about 2 cm.  He suggested an epidural because it would help her relax and rest, which would hopefully allow her cervix to dilate more quickly.  Emily had planned for a natural birth, so this advice from her doctor came as  a bit of a surprise.  She and Thomas decided that they wanted some time alone, so I went to meet Ann in the waiting room.  After about an hour and a half, Thomas let us know that they had gotten the epidural.  When I returned to the room, Emily was no longer dealing with the contraction pain, but she was incredibly shaky from the epidural.  She said that right after the epidural, the new doctor on call came in and wanted Emily to know that if she didn’t dilate any more in the next hour or so, she would need to start thinking about a possible C-section.  Baby was having some decels that were concerning her.  Emily, Thomas, and I discussed their options.  We decided that Emily should spend the next hour or so resting and waiting for the next cervical check to make a decision.  Resting was hard for Emily because the epidural had made her so shaky.  Once her body adjusted, though, Emily was able to doze for a bit.  At about 8:40, twenty minutes earlier than the doctor had wanted to do her second cervical check, she came back in because she saw some decels that concerned her.  She suggested a C-section.

It’s never easy to hear a doctor mention a C-section, and Emily and Thomas were understandably upset.  They wanted to speak with their doctor, and they wanted to have some time together to discuss it.  They ultimately decided that it was the best option for them, and everyone started getting prepared.  Thomas and I suited up so that he could be with Emily in the OR, and so I could swap out when he went to be with the baby.

Things move fast when C-section preparations are underway, and in a little while, as I was waiting outside the OR to swap in, I heard a loud cry and knew that baby Max had been born!  After seeing her baby for the first time, Emily felt much better.  In the OR, she was a trooper, brave and peaceful.  She even fell asleep for a bit after Thomas left to be with Max.  When they were reunited, after Thomas spent time with Max in the nursery during his assessments and bath (which Thomas even helped out with), it was a beautiful moment.  Max snuggled right up on his mom, so happy to finally be there.  Thomas and Emily snuggled him and hugged each other, and it was just such a beautiful family moment.  Congratulations, Emily and Thomas!  It was not an easy labor, but you managed it with strength and grace.  Good work!  Now go enjoy that adorable little man!

Stretchy Max!

Burrito Max!

Katie woke up with what she thought was a broken bag of water on May 5th 2012. Katie emailed the doulas about what to do, and we encouraged her to go in and get checked to make sure it was really broken, but the advocate for going home. That is just what she did. Katie and her husband Hunter were “allowed” to go home to try to get labor started in their own space on their own time. They just had to be back by 10pm if contractions didn’t bring them in sooner.

Katie was contracting all day, but they weren’t big enough to bring her in early. I met her and Hunter at the hospital just before ten to talk about what to expect and make a game plan. After a quick pep talk, we walked upstairs and were put into labor room two. Katie’s contractions slowed down while she was getting checked in, which was totally normal for a laboring mama thrust into a new birthing space. Over the next hour and a half, several nurses tried unsuccessfully to start an IV in Katie’s fortress-like veins. They gave up for a bit and did a cervical check while they waited for someone fancier to try the IV. Katie was 1 cm dilated and 40% effaced, a big change from earlier in the week, but according to the doc she still had a long way to go and told her that even with pitocin, it might be a long time before we saw a baby. I reminded her that when a body is ready to open it will and not to worry about the time that it takes.

While we waited for the IV that would eventually bring the pitocin, Katie, Hunter, and I walked the halls. We enjoyed the storm and the super moon that were both raging outside. Around 2am, we aquired a new nurse who was able to place the IV (finally!). Katie was given a pole with fluids, a wireless monitor, and we set out into the halls for some more walking and squatting. I admitted to Katie, that I had a feeling about her birth. I had this nagging feeling that once her bag of waters truly burst, the baby would come and come quickly. We all hoped that would be true!

After what seemed like forever, I think somebody somewhere out in hospital land got in trouble for not already starting the pitocin and it was administered. Katie’s labor had already really picked up even before the pitocin, so it brought the contractions on with a fury. Katie labored fantastically. She listened to her body and changed positions a lot. Hands and knees was very productive for her, as was squatting. Hunter was the best labor support person I have ever witnessed (and I have been at some amazing births!). He gave her some much emotional support. He said all the right things. Their love filled the room. I know it helped Katie through some of the challenging parts of her labor.

Once Katie started to get tired, her and Hunter had some time in the shower. The shower was short, but it rejuvenated her spirits and relaxed her. Soon after at 6:30am, while laboring in hands and knees Katie had a super intense contraction that broke her fore bag with a POP. Labor progressed very quickly after that. At about 6:45am they did the second cervical check. Katie was 80% effaced and 7 cm dilated!

Katie transitioned like a warrior! She truly surrendered to her labor and let her contractions come. They were big and intense and beautiful. Hunter and I praised and applauded her while she vocalized through them. The doctor came in to check-in a little bit later, heard the vocalizing and checked Katie. She was 9cm! Katie headed over to the toilet to let her cervix finish opening.

Just around 8am, Katie was ready to birth her baby. She tried a variety of positions on the bed. Settling on changing from side to side, since baby girl hadn’t like moving down so low, so fast. With Hunter and I helping to hold legs and offering encouragement, Katie birthed Coriander June Cohen just before 9am on May 6th. It was beautiful. The new Cohen family were given space by the hospital staff. Once the baby nurse had the apgars, she said to just call her when they were ready to have her weighed. They got to hold and snuggle their sweet Cora for a good long while. Cora even latched on to the breast quickly and with no assistance. We even heard her loud swallows!

This was hands down, the most powerful birth I have ever been to. In spite of the inconvenience of her water breaking before labor, Katie toughed it out and got the birth and the baby she wanted. Congratulations Katie and Hunter! It was a huge honor to be at your birth!

The Happy Cohen Family!

I couldn’t find out which part to crop and put up on our testimonials page, so I say, let’s just post the whole thing, since Irene took such care to write it up.  :)

With the birth of our first baby, we were faced with a few challenges. We decided
not to have any family present. Also, I was dealing with elevated blood pressure,
constant leg pain due to sciatica, and great anxiety at the thought of labor and
delivery. So, while I researched Get Babied! and attended a couple of their “Meet
and Greet” early on in my pregnancy, I didn’t sign up with them until I was 33 weeks
along in my pregnancy. I was in serious denial of the whole birthing process.

However, once I reached out to Get Babied!, I was quickly connected to my doula of
choice, Amy N. Before I had completely signed up with them, Amy reached out to
me to discuss any questions and concerns I had about my impending labor. With her
knowledge, experience and resources, Amy quickly became someone I could really
confide in and turn to for advice for pregnancy issues such as blood pressure and
sciatica.

My pregnancy continued to be unpredictable. My OB suggested an induction since
I was 4 cm. and 50% effaced with no consistent contractions by my due date.
However, my son had his own idea and I naturally began labor the morning I was
to be induced. Labor progressed quickly and I was 5 cm before I checked into
the hospital. Amy was a great support from the very beginning. She made sure I
understood the pros and cons of the induction and suggested exercises to help my
baby drop as much as possible before my induction. Once labor started, while my
husband was a great support, Amy was also very supportive and did everything
from sneaking in some much needed snacks (e.g. cheerios, quarter piece of PB
sandwich, and Gatorade) for me to positioning my legs to make each contraction
as effective as possible. The snacks were much appreciated since my labor took
another unpredictable turn and I was stuck at 9.5 cm for 6 hrs. while I waited for my
son to drop further.

Giving birth to my son was the hardest and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.
My husband and I were so happy to finally meet our son, Benjamin, and Amy was
such a great support. With the few weeks that I had to work with Amy, she was
able to provide suggestions on lowering my blood pressure, consult on my birth plan,
suggest exercises to help my baby drop, provide great support during my labor (e.g.
leg massages, peppermint face towels, positioning suggestions, prayer, and take
some great pictures to help us remember the birth of our son) and just be a great
friend to me and my husband.

Additionally, Tanya was a great help as a lactation consultant. I was continuing
to experience some issues even though I was working with another lactation
consultant. After reaching out to Get Babied!, Tanya quickly called and spent a
great deal of time on the phone listening, providing suggestions and encouragement.
Additionally, she was able to fit us into her schedule for a home visit as quickly
as possible. Her help was a great relief as I was working with another lactation
consultant that was not going well. Her support and encouragement were priceless.
Irene T. – proud mom to Benjamin

I wrote the following story of Valerie’s birth in March, and when I sent it to her, she said that she would be happy to have it posted on our blog and that she wanted to include a note with it.  She said, “I really wanted to share my story with all the mamas and mamas to be out there to show that there are all kinds of births, whether we want them to be or not, and that’s okay.”  This is the story of Valerie’s birth.

Valerie’s whirlwind labor

Valerie had read all the books about labor, watched some videos about labor, saw the requisite “The Business of Being Born,” and even its sequel, “More Business of Being Born.”  She had even taken an online Hypnobabies workshop, listening to the CD’s at home on her own.  In her hospital bag, she had a very neatly organized binder with her Hypnobabies CD’s, comfort positions for labor, information of the different stages of labor, etc.  The lady was prepared!

So, when she went into labor very suddenly about 10 days before her due date, it came as a big surprise.  She was a first-time mom, after all, and she hadn’t had any warning signs that labor was impending other than some bloody show.  She called the GB hotline about the bloody show at about 1:30 pm on March 21, and I answered.  I didn’t think there was anything to worry about and suggested just going about her business as usual since she wasn’t having any contractions.  Valerie said she wasn’t concerned either and decided that she was just going to go back to getting her house ready for baby.

A couple of hours later, Valerie reported that she was having some cramping, which she would describe as contractions, though they were very mild.  But by 7 pm, Valerie was getting really uncomfortable.  She called me to say that her contractions were about 4 minutes apart and had been for a while.  She definitely needed some help coping.  I suggested getting in the bath, and I grabbed my things and headed to her house.

When I got to Valerie’s, she was in the tub, which was soothing between contractions, but during contractions, it was really uncomfortable for Valerie to sit with her legs out in front of her.  After a few contractions, I suggested getting out of the tub and taking a few contractions while standing up and leaning on the birth ball on the bed.  Valerie was so surprised that labor had gotten so intense so fast.  Since she had read so much about labor and birth, she was expecting a long early labor, with contractions 10-15 minutes apart for a while, during which she could leisurely go about doing calming activities to distract herself.  “I thought I would be baking cookies in early labor!” she said.  She wasn’t expecting to be dealing with contractions this intense so quickly.

Still, Valerie was handling these contractions like a champ, even though they snuck up on her.  It was clear that she was working hard on getting through each one, but all she needed was a reminder to breathe, and she slipped into deep, calming breaths.  She quickly realized that even though the hospital was close by she was getting to the point where the thought of a car ride seemed horrible, so we started making tracks toward the car.  Valerie’s husband, Jim, started getting everything ready and called Valerie’s doctor to give her a heads up.  It took a while to get to the car because those contractions were close and fast, and Valerie needed to stop what she was doing to concentrate.  But she was doing great!

We got to the hospital at about 8:40 pm, and the triage nurse determined that Valerie was 4-5 cm.  That’s a pretty good place to enter the hospital.  Once she got settled into her room, she decided that she wanted an epidural.  It seemed like the perfect time for it.  She was already dilated enough that it didn’t seem like it would slow down labor, and Valerie was exhausted not just from the intensity of the contractions but by the ferocity with which they came on.  Once she had the epidural, she felt much better and took advantage of being able to rest.  Her baby had been having some decels, but the doctor wasn’t too worried.  A different position usually helped.  As Valerie rested, we chatted about work and family and some of the celebrity birth stories in “More Business of Being Born.”  Some of the celebrities had awesome, empowering stories (Christy Turlington), whereas some were just annoying (Alanis Morissette).  Valerie had me cracking up as she related some of the funny things these celebrities said.

By 1:20 am, after some good rest, Valerie was complete and a +2 station, so she got ready to start pushing.  She didn’t want to use the stirrups, so we tried side-lying pushing for a while.  She was making progress, but with every push, baby would have decels.  After about an hour and a half, her doctor decided to use the vacuum to help Valerie’s baby descend a bit, but that little boy was not having it.  After more decels, some of which were concerning, Valerie’s doctor suggested a C-section.  This was the last thing Valerie wanted, but, not surprisingly, she handled this scary turn of events like a champ, too.  The decels were alarming enough that the delivery room became panicky and hectic as everyone rushed around to get Valerie ready for the OR.  Jim was suited up so that he could join her, and I sat down to wait.

After about 10 minutes, the charge nurse came in to tell me that the anesthesiologist was having trouble increasing Valerie’s epidural so they had to put her under general anesthesia, meaning that Jim couldn’t stay in the OR with her.  It was a scary moment, but not long thereafter, another nurse reported that baby was born healthy and vibrant, screaming and crying and having a lot to say!  It took a while for the anesthesia to wear off, and even so, Valerie was pretty groggy when I finally got to see her.  It had been a crazy day, and she was still kind of shell-shocked from it all, understandably.  When she finally got to hold baby Will in her arms, she felt much better.  Valerie is a strong mama.  Labor is one thing; that’s enough of a challenge on its own.  A surprisingly fast labor ending up in an emergency C-section is a whole other ball game, and Valerie handled it with strength and grace.  It was an honor to be with you during your labor, Valerie.  Congratulations on your new, beautiful family!

Happy family

Happy Baby Will