Natural Childbirth
"You are a midwife, assisting at someone else's birth. Do good without show or fuss. Facilitate what is happening rather than what you think ought to be happening. If you must take the lead, lead so that the mother is helped, yet still free and in charge. When the baby is born, the mother will rightly say: 'We did it ourselves!'." ...The Tao Te Ching
Caitlin's Birth Story
Phil was supposed to go to the cities (Minneapolis) for most of the day on my due date. I didn't sleep well that night. I had been having some pretty strong braxton hicks contractions. Josh had me up for two hours in the middle of the night. That morning when I woke up at 5 am and got out of bed to go pee there was a gush of warm fluid down my legs - ewwww! I went to the bathroom and sat down. I didn't think I had peed since it was completely involuntary and I still had to pee.
I changed and decided to get on the computer. I realized I had a near constant backache and was having contractions about every 10 - 15 minutes. I called my mom in SD to let her know that this was it and she said she'd be on her way as soon as she could take a shower and throw her stuff in the car. I woke Phil up at 5:30 and told him I was in labor and he *wasn't* going to the cities. Then I called our Doula, Carmen, at 6:00 am and let her know what was going on. She asked if I wanted her to come over. I said yes because I figured it would go pretty fast.
I took a shower and Carmen showed up around 7 am. The boys woke up and we got them breakfast and finished packing for them, around 8 am we took them over to Angie's house (a friend from LLL). We came back home and sat around for a while. My contractions were really irregular - anywhere from 5-12 minutes apart. After a while of sitting around watching TV Carmen and I decided to go walk around Wal*Mart for a while. We were there for about an hour and my contractions while we were walking around were about 5 minutes apart and 30 seconds long. When we came back home and sat around and my contractions slacked off and became irregular again. I put some cinnamon leaf essential oil in a diffuser and after about 10 minutes everyone was feeling really lightheaded and spacy so I put it out.
My mom made it to our house around 12:30. The boys were having fun at Angie's so we decided to let them stay for a while longer. Carmen and I took a walk around the neighborhood to try and get things going. We walked for about an hour and my contractions were getting fairly regular again. When we got back everyone was hungry so my mom and I went to Quizno's and got subs for everyone, on the way back we picked up the boys.
I was supposed to go into the clinic for my 40 week apt. at 2:30 so around 2:00 I called and talked to Cathy, the midwife on duty, and told her what was going on. She wanted me to come in anyway but I really didn't want to because I was afraid I'd get there and they'd want me to go to the hospital and I knew it was too soon. I debated it for a while then Carmen suggested that I try to rest for a while. We went back to my bedroom and she read a guided relaxation out of Wise Women's Herbal and then we both closed our eyes and rested for a few minutes. Around 4:00 I called and tried to get out of it again but the midwife was pretty adamant about it. I decided there wasn't much I could do - my conscious wouldn't let me blow it off.
We packed our stuff into the car and Carmen, Phil and I left for the clinic around 4:30 fully expecting not to come back. We got there at 5:00 just as they were closing. They said that Evelynn (the midwife on call) was waiting for me over at the hospital (right next door) so we walked over there. When we got up to the Women's unit they told us that she was waiting for me at the clinic! About a minute latter Evelynn showed up and she asked how I was doing. I told her what had been going on so far and she asked me why I was there - I told her that I hadn't wanted to come but Cathy had insisted. She suggested that we listen to the baby quick and then I could go back home until things picked up - I was relieved beyond words. The baby sounded fine and everyone talked and joked for a while then Evelynn said that as long as we promised not to wait till the last minute we could go since she didn't want to have to come to our house to deliver the baby (she lives two blocks from us).
We left the hospital around 6:00 and decided to get some dinner. Phil wanted to know where to go. Carmen didn't care and I said I didn't feel much like eating. Phil decided to go to Applebees and I was kinda ticked because it's loud and smoky and I don't really care for the place. Since there wasn't a wait we went in but standing there before we were seated I decided I couldn't stay there. We went to the bar to place our order and I had to go pee. I went in the bathroom and a minute latter Carmen came in and asked how I was doing. I told her I just wanted to go home. We placed our order and left. Phil drove us home and then went back to pick up our food. When he got back we ate. My contractions were still really irregular but they were getting starting to get uncomfortable, I couldn't walk through them anymore. I was getting annoyed, I thought I was going to go really quick this time and I was getting depressed and frustrated. I asked Carmen when she thought we should go to the hospital and she said when you aren't smiling anymore.
Around 8:30 I decided that I should try to get some rest so I went back to our bedroom and laid down. My contractions backed off to around 12 minutes apart. I had two contractions while I was resting and decided with the third to get up because they were too uncomfortable to get any rest. Almost as soon as I got up I had another contraction. I went to the bathroom and when I came out I had another contraction. Carmen made a comment that I looked pale. I knelt on the floor and leaned my upper body over the birth ball while Carmen put did counter pressure with an ice pack on my tail bone. I told her I wasn't smiling anymore and she said that she had noticed and we both laughed. We timed a few contractions and they were still pretty erratic, 4-8 minutes apart 30-45 seconds long. We all debated what to do for about 15 minutes during which time I started shaking and feeling nauseous in between contractions. I finally just said "we're going...now!" Phil called Evelynn to let her know that we were on our way.
The car ride was 25 minutes. Carmen and I rode in the back seat so she could keep up the counter pressure on my back during contractions (I only had 3). We made it to the hospital around 10:00 and they were waiting for us. I refused the wheelchair so the nurse/orderly? took our bags and Carmen helped me walk. When the elevator got up to the OB floor I was mid contraction, Carmen asked our escort to hold the elevator for a minute. I was leaning on Carmen with her supporting most of my weight and we were swaying through it. I heard Evelynn behind me saying something like "are we dancing?"
We went to our room and I told Evelynn I didn't want to be checked. The nurse, Nicole, started to get out the monitor but I told her no. Evelynn nodded to her that it was alright so Nicole got out the Doppler and listed with it. Evelynn asked me if I wanted to get into the Jacuzzi and I said yes so Carmen put on my Cher CD and the aromatherapy machine while Evelynn filled the tub. I got undressed and got in - talk about heaven! My contractions slowed down again while I was in the tub but it was a well needed break after the car trip. Carmen massaged my hands and Phil sorta hovered behind and kept my water filled and brushed the hair out of my eyes.
After a few contractions I got out and we decided to put the birth ball on the foot of the bed so I could kneel behind it and Carmen could sit behind me and rub my back. In between contractions I would lay back against Carmen and relax as much as possible. During contractions I would lean over the birth ball with Phil standing at the foot of the bed holding my hands and making sure the ball didn't move while Carmen used a bag of ice to put counter pressure on my tailbone. The worse the contractions got the harder I told her to push, I don't know how she managed to keep it up. Nicole took my history in between contractions and listened to the baby again.
I complained that the contractions weren't getting regular and Evelynn said that it didn't really matter. I asked Carmen if she thought we were getting any closer and she laughed and said yeah, I think we're getting pretty close (she wasn't talking about labor). Not too much latter I started having to use the "sounding" technique that I had learned in my Gentle Childbirth classes during my previous pregnancy. A couple contractions latter I had the undeniable urge to push. I shouldn't have been surprised to see that Evelynn had already anticipated it and everything was being set up for the birth. Evelynn asked me if I had decided what position I wanted to deliver in and I said that I had to stay on my hands and knees. Since Phil was supposed to help deliver the baby I decided to turn around to make it easier for everyone. I leaned forward on my elbows and Carmen talked me through the contractions telling me how good I was doing and stroking my shoulders and back, I think, things get a little fuzzy here. Phil kept up the counter pressure on my tailbone until delivery was immanent. I remember Nicole struggling to get to my belly to listen to the baby with the Doppler and apologizing for having to make me uncomfortable.
When Caitlin started coming down I know I got pretty vocal. I really wanted it over with and her out but Evelynn was telling me to slow down and let things stretch so that I wouldn't tear. Luckily my contractions completely stopped for a minute or two and I had no urge to push. She asked me if I wanted to feel my baby's head and I reached down and touched her. It was weird and neat all at the same time - I never got to do that with the boys. The urge to push came back and I was bearing down again and groaning and yelling "It hurts, it hurts!" I think Evelynn was still telling me to go slow and saying I was doing good and stuff like that. Then I felt her sorta pop out and I semi-heard Phil say it was a girl. Carmen asked me if I had heard what my husband had said and I said no, I looked back over my shoulder and Phil said "It's a girl" again. Evelynn told me to do a "donkey kick" over them and turn around so I could take my daughter, at first I had no clue what she meant then I figured it out and turned over onto my back so they could put Caitlin on my tummy (another first). It was so amazing! Evelynn had her hand on the cord waiting for it to stop pulsing so Phil could cut it, which he got to do (a first for him). The placenta delivered spontaneously fairly soon afterwards.
Pretty soon Caitlin was nursing and everything was being cleaned up. Nicole was wonderful, very kind and gentle. After about an hour they weighed and measured Caitlin. They asked if we wanted to do the bath right away and we said no, we'd wait until morning. They didn't put the eye ointment in her eyes until after her first bath, which was about 11 hours after she was born. Everyone settled in. Carmen took our car back to our house and then took her car home from there. Phil, Caitlin and I all settled in. Nicole asked if I wanted to get into the Jacuzzi and I said yes so she filled it up for me then left us alone. Phil held Caitlin while I relaxed for a while in the tub. Then we all tried to get some sleep. The next morning Phil gave Caitlin her first bath and my mom brought the boys up to meet their new sister. They were really excited. Alex kept looking at her and said "Mom, she's beautiful." Talk about melting your heart!
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Natural Mothering: Caitlin's Birth Story
First on-line: 01/08/2002