Need a Doula in San Antonio?

On Thursday, May 15th I woke up and within an hour started having a bloody show and could tell that the contractions were different than before. I was so excited that things were finally starting to happen! I decided to go ahead with my plans for the day, and asked Mom to accompany me in taking the children to the library and grocery store. We got back home around 1:30 PM. I had been having sporadic contractions that felt different than usual, but nothing regular. The bloody show came and went all day long. I tried to take a nap that afternoon but couldn’t sleep, every time I dozed off a contraction would wake me up. Nelson came home at the normal time and we had a typical evening at home with the children. I walked for about 1 mile with Mom at about 7:30-8:00 PM, then came home and got the children in bed. I took a shower, then organized a few things around the bedroom in advance preparation for the birth. I was still having contractions and knew it would happen sometime soon, but I had never had a labor that was “slow to start” like this one before.

At 11:00, right after my shower, I asked Nelson to check my cervix. He was actually the only one who did this for me during my entire pregnancy and birth! We had measured his finger, and he had already enjoyed being able to feel the baby’s head a few days beforehand. This time he said he could definitely feel a change from the night before (which was the last time he had checked), and his best guess was that I was 4 cm dilated and at least 75% effaced. I called my midwife to give her the report, and she said that she was going to try and get some sleep but to call her back when anything changed.

Somewhere around 11:30 or so I started feeling tense and could tell that I was also getting anxious about what was coming. I had been working hard on not allowing my fears to overwhelm me, and knew that I needed to relax and try to sleep – not knowing when labor would really get started or how much sleep I would get that night. So right before midnight I laid down and turned on my Hypnobirthing CD, it was 22 minutes long. I did not watch the clock during that time, but I counted 5 contractions – with another one immediately following. They weren’t too strong yet, but the relaxation helped a lot and I had to stop and breathe through the contraction that happened after I got up and went downstairs. Looking back, I am convinced that the relaxation I did at that time was very instrumental in helping my body go into active labor when it did.

Nelson was working on the computer when I told him that the contractions had started getting closer together. I decided to write them down for awhile, and between contractions I unloaded the dishwasher and did some other cleaning. I wrote down contractions for about 30 minutes starting at about 12:20, and they were quickly progressing from 3-4 minutes apart down to 2-3 minutes apart.  Nelson was very calm about it and said that he thought it would be fine to call our midwife now, since my labor seemed to have established itself. I didn’t want to call her too soon, but remembering how fast Philip’s labor was helped me to decide to go ahead and have her let the other midwife know and start on their way. So I called her at 12:45 AM on May 16th and asked her to go ahead and come.

I was feeling ready to go upstairs and lie down at that point, but Nelson made the comment that he was looking forward to eating my “labor project” cookies, so I decided to at least get the cookies started so that he could have his wish. I had previously come up with several ideas to keep me busy and distracted during my labor, and all week long I had been looking forward to making my favorite oatmeal cookies when the big day came. At that particular moment I could have cared less about eating cookies, but they did keep me busy and active for awhile longer. I got them all mixed up in the mixer, and Mom was just arriving as I was putting the first batch into the oven. I was so glad to see her so that I could give her the rest of the job – my back was really starting to hurt during the contractions and I wanted nothing more than to go upstairs and lie down! Nelson tried to encourage me to stay up awhile longer, but I had already had enough and didn’t listen to him any more.

I laid back down in my favorite side-lying position on my bed at about 1:20 AM and turned on my hypnobirthing CD again. It was less than 5 minutes or so when my midwife arrived and came upstairs to greet me. I was much more comfortable lying down, and although the contractions were getting very intense – I was able to relax by listening to the CD instructions and lots of deep breathing. I could hear things going on around me – people arriving, people talking, the birth pool being filled, the front door opening and closing, and in the background – the sound of rain from outside of our open bedroom window. My midwife listened to the baby’s heart rate shortly after she arrived, and said it was “perfect.” This gave me a lot of peace and helped me to remember why I was in labor – I would be meeting me new baby very soon!

After the hypnobirthing CD was over, I asked my midwife to start the tape of Nelson reading scriptures to me with music in the background. She did that, but I didn’t really listen to it because I started listening to her voice instead. She said that she wouldn’t have thought that I needed to be talked through the contractions, but because I was able to tell her that I liked it, she kept doing it. She was also running her hand lightly up and down my back with each breath, and I was doing really well focusing on the sound of her voice and the feel of her hand. The “balloon breathing” technique that I had practiced with hypnobirthing didn’t take away any of the pain, but it did help with keeping me relaxed and focused on the opening of my cervix. At one point I asked her to put some frankincense on my lower belly and back, and another time they used a warm washcloth with an essential oil mixture on it of jasmine, geranium, and lavender.

Nelson also took a more active role in supporting me during this birth, because I had previously asked him to do so. He talked to me a lot more, reassuring me and reminding me that we would be meeting our baby soon. Nelson and my midwife together were a huge support for me in being able to stay calm, relaxed, and in overcoming my fears. One thing I kept saying to myself over and over again the whole time was “perfect peace.” God had given me the scripture just that day from Isaiah which says “He will keep thee in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” I just continued praying for that perfect peace to be in my heart and in my body, so that my body could do the job it needed to do and bring my baby to me.

I’m not sure what time it was – maybe about 2:15 AM, that Nelson told me that the pool was ready for me to get into anytime I wanted. The contractions were getting harder to handle, and I was going through an inner struggle to remain relaxed. I felt very comfortable on the bed (all things considered) at that point, and didn’t want to ruin my relaxation by getting up. But I kept thinking about the fact that the bed hadn’t been prepared for the birth yet (no plastic under the sheets) and my midwife also reminded me that I should empty my bladder once more before the birth. So I forced myself to get up and into the bathroom. At this point I realized that the other midwife was in the room, sitting in my rocking chair, and I felt very relieved and glad that everyone was there who I needed to be there at that moment. Just as I thought, the contractions immediately intensified and I had a very hard time dealing with the next one that came while I was sitting on the toilet. Nelson came and talked me through it. While I was there, my midwife brought me several drops of myrrh oil to rub on my perineum. We had read that this would help with the pain of crowning, and looking back – I hardly felt anything at all during the moment the baby was coming out – so I guess it worked!

I had about 2-3 contractions on the toilet, and then decided I needed to get into the pool. I had another contraction on the way to the pool and then felt so relieved to be able to lie back and relax again in the water. I knew things were progressing pretty fast so I asked my midwife to go and wake up the girls, they wanted to be there during my labor so that they could be my doulas. They both came and stood on either side of me, rubbing my hands. At this point I was working hard keeping my goal in mind, visualizing myself lying back down on the bed in a while with my new baby in my arms and suckling her at my breast.

I don’t remember exactly how long I was in the pool before the birth, my best guess is only about 15 minutes or so. I did not want anyone to yell at me this time to get me to stop pushing, I just wanted to let it happen. I think I had resigned myself to the fact that my babies just like to come out fast, and there isn’t anything I can do about it. I felt the baby moving down with each contraction, and my lower back started hurting terribly. I actually felt a little bit of warning before the pushing urge came, and I consciously decided to say it aloud “I want to push the baby out now” so as to let them know that the baby would be coming soon. I heard my midwife open up her gloves, and then everything was quiet again between my contractions. I felt the baby moving down again, and with the next contraction I pushed hard. I felt a pop (which was the water breaking – we had all forgotten that it hadn’t happened yet) followed by two big lumps of something – the baby’s head and body. It happened so fast that I didn’t have time to feel any pain associated with the actual birth, only the contractions were still hurting. I heard someone say my name to calm me down, but it was already too late – the baby was in the water and it was over. Nelson caught her (with the midwife’s assistance) and he brought her up to me and we both held her with our hands. I almost immediately looked between her legs and said “it’s a girl!” I had to look again a couple of minutes later just to make sure I had seen it right.

Summer’s birth was peaceful and I was able to let go of my fears, just like I had been praying for. She weighed 7 lbs. exactly and is a beautiful blessing to our family!