Teressa's Birth Story

Friday, August 27,th was the day after my due date. I remember it clearly as it was 119 degrees outside, and I was over being pregnant. I decided to swim laps in my pool and walk on the treadmill alternately for over an hour even though I could barely move. I had heard that exercise, pineapple, and lots of walking could bring on contractions, so I did all three. That night, around midnight, I felt my first contractions. I started timing them, and finally decided to go to the hospital around 7am.

I was dilated to 3 cm when they checked me, and I decided to stay. I did a lot of walking at first, and remember asking the nurse at what rate I could expect to progress. She said approximately 1cm an hour, so I remember playing mind games with how well I was doing, and stated at 12 noon I wanted to be checked, expecting to be at least 6-7 cm and almost done. Well....I was at 4 cm at noon, and while the pain was bad- it was somewhat manageable in the tub. I had back labor, so the contractions were painful, but they were far enough apart that I could handle it.
The pain in my back began to worsen around 1pm, and I tried several positions with a ball and in the tub to try to get the baby to turn. I decided the tub was the most comfortable, so I went back there to wait. Shortly after I got in the tub, my midwife had to leave to deliver another baby. It did not seem like I was progressing, so I thought this would be more than fine. By the time the nurse came in to check the baby’s heartbeat the next time, I was yelling in pain and was thankful to throw up to get a break from the pain. My contractions started happening one on top of another, and I felt like I could barely catch my breath. I literally fell out of the tub with each contraction while the nurse was asking me to “rate my pain from 1-10”. I made her leave, and during one horrible one yelled, “I need an epidural now!” to my poor mother sitting outside the bathroom. She ran to get the nurse I had just told to leave, who needed me to get back to the bed to check me first.

It took me about ten minutes to get back to the bed because the contractions literally made me fall over. The nurse thought I was exaggerating my pain I am sure, and thought I was just being dramatic. We got back to the bed, and I was at 6cm, and my water had popped sometime while I had been in the tub yelling. My midwife was still delivering another baby, so she gave the ok for an epidural. I was so frustrated with myself that I had not “stuck it out” with natural childbirth, but I felt like I was passing out and I couldn’t think of an alternative. I remember looking at the clock, which read 3:40pm. I was convinced the clock had stopped for several hours and that it could not possibly still be the same day. The epidural involved getting an IV in and some fluid that the nurse promised would only take ten min. She could not get the IV needle in my arm for about ten minutes, because my contractions were constant. By the time the fluid started entering, I was begging her to make it go faster, and a minute later I was overcome with the urge to push.

The nurse looked at me, somewhat shocked, as it had only been 30 minutes since I was at 6cm, and said she should probably check me. I was at 10cm and could not stop pushing. She ran and got my midwife, who ran in as I was already pushing regularly. This part I don’t really remember at all, but it was not painful. I was on a mission, and it felt like my body took over as if it knew exactly what to do. I was told I pushed for less than 15 minutes, and I kept thinking I had to wait, because my daughter’s father was not there yet.

Amaya Grace was born at 4:08 pm and weighed 9lbs 2 oz and she was 21 inches long. They put her right on my chest, and I will never forget how she squeezed my finger and turned and looked right at me with huge, beautiful eyes. She had a full head of hair, and was absolutely the most perfect miracle I could imagine. It was almost shock I felt that the whole time I had been waddling around in pain, and wishing away my third trimester, I had the most amazing little girl inside me.
Her dad made it about ten minutes later, and was able to cut her umbilical cord. I sat for a long time with her on my chest, not wanting the moment to be over. I felt a great sense of pride in the fact I had made it, although unintentionally for a portion of the time, through natural childbirth, and I was overcome with love for Amaya, as if she had always belonged in my arms, lying on my chest. She is truly an angel sent by God.

Doula Services During Midwife Retreat

It's that time of the year again! It's the time when we five midwives go on a retreat to evaluate our services, assess goal attainment as well as forming new ones. It also gives us the opportunity to strengthen our bonds with each other. Unfortunately, it does leave a short period of time when none of the midwives will be available for call. The dates/times this year are from Thursday, September 23rd at 7pm until Monday, September 27th at 2pm. Dr Rau, a female physician who shares call rotation with our doctors, has graciously agreed to cover the midwives during the weekend from 5pm on Friday until 7am Monday morning. Our own doctors will be available during the remainder of the time.

However, I do have some good news...

Taylor Kalander, a local doula, has also graciously agreed to offer her services for free to those midwifery patients who desire them. She will be available from Friday, September 24th at 6pm until Monday, the 27th at 2pm. Here's a little more info about Taylor...

I am a trained birth doula and postpartum doula working on the last portion of my certifications through Doulas of North America International (DONA). I have experience with multiples, preemies and special needs infants through my work as a nanny. I am a native Southern Californian, but have enjoyed living in Arizona for the last ten years. I am so glad to be working with the clients of Bethany Women's Healthcare and look forward to being a part of your special day!



The nursing staff at Phoenix Baptist Hospital Labor & Delivery have the contact infor for Taylor. If you arrive in labor during those times she is available, simply ask the nurse to contact her! Taylor can also be found on Facebook, Twitter (babylovedoula), and her website will be available soon.



Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have!

Sharon's Birth Story

The story actually begins about 3 weeks before Maxine was born. I had started to develop an itchy rash around my belly button area and it just went crazy after that. Before long my body was covered nearly head to foot with a PUPP (sometimes PUPPP) rash, which is common in first time pregnancies and mothers pregnant with multiples. Funny thing is that other mothers I've known in my time have never mentioned this rash. So there was one level of discomfort. Thankfully, it didn't last long. As soon as labor started, the itchiness went away.

The day before I went into labor I developed a soreness in my jaw. I thought that it was do to me clinching my teeth at night or stressing about being passed my due date. Thankfully, it didn't last long. As soon as labor started, the ache in my jaw went away.

Labor started at about midnight on August 31st. I was up for my usual trip to the bathroom, but was feeling some unusual cramping, more than te Braxtons I'd experienced before. I wanted to be sure this was labor so I waited an hour before letting my hubby know. When I woke him with the news he bolted upright and I pushed him down again. I told him to chill out and to get a little more rest before we rustled up the crew. At 2a.m. I was sure it was labor and called the nurse-midwife on-call at the midwifery clinic. She said I should head to the hospital when my contractions were 2-5 minutes apart. They were about a minute or two apart. I tried to eat a banana because I was hungry, couldn't hold it down. Phone calls were made and people started arriving at the house, including the best doula in the woorld, my SIL. Once the car was packed and we were sure about my contractions we headed to the hospital. Thankfully, it didn't take very long to get there. The hospital was only a mile and a half from our house.

My hubby, my SIL and I arrived at Phoenix Baptist Hospital and checked in through the emergency room at around 3 or 4 a.m. We were brought to a triage room where a nuse checked and found I had dilated from 1 to 2 centimeters during the examination. We were admitted to the third floor maternity ward and assigned a laborng room and there we waited for the midwife on-call. We thought it was going to be Lisa but she was just coming off her rotation. Then we were told it was Tiffany but she wasn't scheduled. It turned out to be Lylaine, but she was in a morning meeting until 10a.m., so we wouldn't see her until after that. Thankfully, it didn't make a difference when the midwife arrived. The baby wouldn't be born until nearly 9p.m.

The nurses who attended to me were all right for the most part, many I liked and I am grateful for their attention and support. Others I could have done without, but that's the way the evening went. Some moments were better than others. I was slowly making progress, stalled at around 4 centimeters, but then got stuck again at 6-7 centimeters. During the whole process my SIL/doula and hubby are helping my through everyone one of my contractions. I was blowing rasperries all night long. I got to labor in the whirlpool tub which was nice. Other times I was hanging from my hubby's shoulders, at the counter or on the birthing ball. The whole time trying to concentrate on blowing raspberries which helped process the toughest part of the contractions. But later my lips suffered from all that raspberry blowing. Thankfully, there is chapstick, Burt's Bees in fact. And in the end I have my baby girl.

So while the stalling was happening we had to move onto plan B - induction. I was not looking for to this part. My fear was that things would start to rollercoaster out of control and I would end up in a terrible position that required an emergency C-section. My water bag was broken and it turned out to have Meconium in it. This could spell bad news if Maxine stayed inside too long. I was hopefully then that the process would be over soon. Well, part of my prediction was right. I did end up with an emergency C, but it didn't take a rollercoaster ride to get there. It was more like a wild bumper car ride. The Pitocin made the contractions more intense, sometimes two coming one after the other. At one point I was contracting big time, trying desperately hard to concentrate on blowing raspberries and failing, tossed my cookies and pulled a muscle in my abdomen. After that I threw up my hands and said I'd had enough. I was done. Thankfully, the end was just around the corner and somehow I was laboring for another hour under the Pitocin. I knew things were ending, it was just going to take a bit longer to get there.

A Pitocin blocker was administered and I was getting prepped for a C-section. The surgeon and the midwife commented on how odd my belly looked, when Maxine was doing her peanut-yoga move and they didn't know what that meant. When I saw I was in the process of getting the C-section, I was less scared of that than I was of anything else. I felt like the end was finally near and I would have my baby soon. Sure, the deliver process wasn't what I had planned, but as long as Maxine was born and all right, that's all I cared about. The midwife stayed with me the whole time. The anesthesiologist was the best and when he gave me the spinal tap to numb me from the waist down, it was a breeze. Once the curtain was drapped before me, I was comfortable and somehow feel asleep. The next thing I remember was waking to see my husband in his surgical bunny suit taking pictures and video of the baby being born and the sounds of my daughter crying. She's got such as beautiful cry. My hubby got to videotape her being cleaned and her sinuses and lungs being cleared of the meconium. You could see in the video her color change from bluish to pink as she cries through the procedures (which I will post soon). When she was cleaned they brought her to me so I could give her a kiss and then she and my hubby went to the nursery for Maxine to get some more cleaning and attention. Thankfully, my hubby got to experience a lot of firsts with Maxine. He is very proud of this fact.

It took an hour after I was wheeled into the recovery room before I could see my daughter. I wanted to breast feed her right away but there a couple of complications. 1. The nursery nuse tried the football hold to feed Maxine from the left side and it just wasn't happening. So her first feeding was with her daddy and a bottle of premixed formula. 2. Both Maxine and I were tired. Thankfully, this gave me a chance to rest, but I so wanted to be the first to nurse her. I still get to and have been which has been a joy and definitely an experience that I know I'll never forget. Then something returned that I thought I'd gotten rid of or was gone for good, my tooth ache. Yeah, it returned. I thought again I was pressing my jaw at nght and creating the ache. No, it turned into a legitimate tooth ache. I needed to see a dentist as soon as I was released from the hospital. Everyone was making phone calls to different dental office to see if I could be seen right away. We found a clinic close to home, Encanto Dentistry, who could see me right after I was released from the hospital. They allowed me to nurse while waiting in the chair until it was time to get x-rays. X-rays showed that I had an abscess that needed immediate attention so they planned a root canal, but in the process they discovered there was no way to save the tooth and it would have been best to just extract it. Now mind you, I just had a baby, I was operated on, my hormones were crazy unbalanced and I was in pain from the tooth ache - queue to emotional breakdown. I just cried. But once the tooth was extracted I felt relief right away. Still, this just peaked all my stressors for the last few weeks. I'd honestly had enough and I was done. Thankfully, I was finally done. With the tooth out I could go home, relax, nurse and be with my new family.

It was an ordeal towards the end, crazy as could get and definitely not serene or how I had hoped or planned, but it is done. In the end, I have a beautiful baby girl who is loved by many and spoiled by all. I have a kind and wonderful husband who is attentive, funny and adores his little girl. I have a supportive and fun SIL/doula who I wouldn't trade for the world. I have family and friends who have helped us out beyond compare - we thank you!

*Aside from Tiffany - Turns out Sharon had a heart-shaped uterus! *

Chelsea's Birth Story

When my husband and I went to bed on Sunday night July, 11th and I was 2 days passed my due date, we were both discouraged we had to start another week without our baby. When I got up in the middle of the night for a routine bathroom break, I got back into bed and while trying to get comfortable felt a tug in my belly. It was the strangest sensation, almost like someone plucked a guitar cord inside me. Though not painful at all, the feeling was so strong I could almost hear it. I thought nothing of it, but was putting myself back to sleep thinking about labor for the millionth time and when it happened again, my water broke about 1.5 seconds later. I had heard it could be a gush or a trickle and in my case, a “gush” was an understatement. I hopped right up and yelled to my husband “it’s happening it’s happening!”.

After getting up and washing a load of sheets, we started getting ourselves and our things ready to go. My contractions started about a half hour later and didn’t feel any different than the ones I had been having on and off for the previous couple of weeks. The only difference this time was that they were consistently coming about seven to eight minutes apart. They started getting a little bit stronger right away too. We left our house and headed to the hospital about an hour after my water broke and did a little bit of waiting there. By the time we got into our room at around 6am, I needed my husband’s help through each contraction. Lisa checked me I was only dilated to 3 ½. I thought (I was hoping) I would for sure be at least 5cm. Nope. But, I kept laboring and taking each contraction one at a time. I got in the tub right away and that felt great!! Believe it or not, sitting in the squat position over the toilet felt really relieving too. So for the next few hours I went back and forth between the two. After having the urge to push Lisa checked me again and she said I was 7-8cm now. It was about 9:30am and we realized labor was moving along fairly quickly for me! That was such an encouraging place to be. Knowing that I had done the work and gotten that far, made me feel like I could do it the rest of the way. About an hour and a half after that the urge to push was coming a little bit more frequently. Tiffany was taking care of me at this point and she decided to check and I was dilated to 9cm! That was awesome! At that point different people started coming in and getting the room ready for delivery. I started thinking, “I’m so going to be holding this baby by noon, and you’re practically done!”

Now, the urge to push was coming every couple of contractions and there is no way you cannot bear down when your body is doing what mine was doing. Tiffany checked me again and this time the news was much less encouraging. I could see the look on her face and as I was laying there in the tub she said “Well, you’re still a 9…and since you’re not fully dilated and you’re having the urge to push, your cervix is swelling”. That was a blow I was not prepared for. I had gotten so far and in my mind I was so close to the finish line!! At that point Tiffany was suggesting that I get an epidural and pretty much the only way to avoid doing it, would be to resist the urge to push and lay down on my side until the swelling went down…how ever long that would take. My contractions at this point in labor were really interesting. I was having several that I could sit and breathe through and then one or two that were really intense and gave me the urge to push. My husband asked Tiffany to go out and talk and when he came back he and I talked and we agreed that the epidural was what needed to happen. The anesthesiologist was called but I gave myself a mental pep talk and thought, “Okay, it was mental you can get through them, don’t push! If you can go without pushing until she gets here then you don’t need the epidural!” Right then I was having several less intense contractions that I was able to relax and breathe through. Then, as the anesthesiologist walked in I remember bearing down yelling “I have to push”. That was just confirmation that we were doing the right thing. So, I got the epidural and laid on my side for three hours switching from side to side every half hour.

Sure enough, the epidural did what it needed to do and the swelling went down and my cervix completely dilated. Yay! At this point the baby was at a +1 station and they decided that they wanted him to come down just a little bit further before I began pushing. I really wasn’t able to feel hardly a thing with the epidural so it was fine with me to wait. After another two hours the baby hadn’t come down any further so one of the nurses came in and we started pushing. Pushing with the epidural was a lot different than I was expecting. The nurse told me I was doing great, but I wasn’t able to feel like I could get a good grip since my legs were dead weight and I was numb everywhere. At first the nurse’s input was really encouraging and she kept saying what a great job I was doing, but the pushing seemed to be getting longer and longer and longer and her responses started to change a little bit. After an hour and a half Tiffany came back in and wanted to “observe” my pushing and I knew something was up. We tried some different positions and she told me my pushing was great. That was a relief to hear. Then she checked me and told me that the baby was transverse so every time I pushed he would hit my pelvis and turtle his way back up. That was causing his poor little head to swell and although it wasn’t harmful to him at this point, she could only let me go for another half hour before he needed to be out.

When she informed me of this, I knew I was in for a c-section. I remember looking at her and saying “just tell me”. And, she did. She told me I was doing a great job, but that she was out of tricks and techniques and there was just no way the baby going to make it out vaginally. I instantly felt disappointed in myself and like a failure. My husband asked to have another word with Tiffany and she explained it all to him. After my husband came back and we had a few minutes to ourselves to talk and accept what needed to happen, we surrendered to the c-section. Tiffany came back in she reassured me of how great I did laboring and that we weren’t giving up, we were just doing what needed to happen now.Still pretty disappointed we prepared for the c-section and my 8 pound 14.2 ounce, lopsided-cone headed; baby boy was born at 8:46pm that evening. Hearing his cry was a miracle. He was healthy and finally here.

I didn’t get the experience that I had wanted going into labor, but my experience was amazing nonetheless. I’m so grateful that I was able to experience labor without drugs up to 9cm and even after having an epidural I was still able to experience what pushing was like too. That being said, one of the most important things that I learned throughout this process was how important it is to be able to trust your caregiver. Tiffany wanted me to be able to deliver my baby just as naturally as my husband and I did. She did everything she knew how to do to get us there, but thankfully; she was wise and experienced enough to know when it just wasn’t going to happen. Her goals were my goals and because we did everything that we could physically do to reach them, we didn’t give up and I didn’t fail. For that, I am grateful that Dr. Martin was able to perform a c-section to deliver my beautiful son, Noah. He didn’t come the way that we had hoped, but he came the way he needed to. It would have been nice to have a natural childbirth experience, but I wouldn’t change the experience that I had for anything. I learned so much about myself throughout the entire process. Labor and delivery is an amazing experience no matter what, but thankfully, Bethany’s does VBAC’s and I’ll get to try it all again next time! I’m anxious and looking forward to it already

VBAC Restrictions 'Lighten Up"!

In the wake of the NIH conference on VBACs, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) updated their statement regarding VBACs and accessibility to them. This is great news and a step in the right direction.

Here's the main highlight...

"The College guidelines now clearly say that women with two previous low-transverse cesarean incisions, women carrying twins, and women with an unknown type of uterine scar are considered appropriate candidates for a TOLAC" .

S's Birth Story - Graphic pictures

I spent a good bit of time getting to know S and her husband during her pregnancy. I was thrilled when she went into labor while I was on call! The following is her pictorial birth story with some light commentary from me. I thought it was awesome that S's friend and family members were very interested in capturing every aspect of her experience so I asked permission to post, what turned out to be some wonderful photos. GRAPHIC PICTURES ahead!!!!!




The happy (or not-so-happy) couple arrived earlier for a labor check. After walking for a bit and being re-evaluated, it was decided that she should go home. If I remember correctly, she was a couple centimeters dilated at this point.

Once S returned, she got serious about laboring :) She was further dilated, admitted for labor, and tossed in the jacuzzi tub to labor further. She had great support from her husband, mother, and best friend. Her dad was also readily available with any assistance needed.

Fresh out of the tub...

Showing dad some different massage techniques....not the most flattering shot of me :P

Working hard! At this point she was around 8cms but the labor was starting to slow down, leaving her stuck at 8 for a while. S was becoming exhausted after hours and hours of labor. At this point we did have some discussion about pain management options.

S getting some rest once the epidural was in place.

Me and S's husband waiting for a baby to present herself.

Providing perineal support as S pushes the head out.

I assist the new daddy as he catches the baby. You can see the cord :) My finger is not in the baby's eye, just the angle :p

Good sized kid for a first baby. Momma did wonderful, pushing for maybe 45minutes.

A natural....

Cara's Birth Story

Ok, I finally have the opportunity to reflect on my birth experience long enough to share my story with you…

My energy was completely drained for a quick minute here but I have replenished my energy and am ready to take on the world with my new son, Angel Jackson (A.K.A. AJ)

From the moment that I met with my fabulous midwife, Tiffany Jackson, I insisted on going through the birth process with no drugs and doing everything as natural as possible. Tiffany reassured me this was totally possible and reasonable. As I began to share with people my “birth plan” of no drugs, people would laugh at me and tell me I was crazy! Or they would look at me like I grew five heads. I shared these comments with Tiffany and again she reassured me my birth plan was totally possible. I put my faith in Tiffany’s words. So here is how my birth plan played out…

On June 7th, I kissed my husband good-bye and off to work he went. I am a teacher therefore I am blessed to be home from the end of May until August. During the time off, I began to tackle things that I had been putting aside. On the 7th, I got a burst of energy and decided I was going to DEEP clean the house (little did I know that this is called the nesting phase…). I began by bleaching and scrubbing everything I could and ended with carpet cleaning the entire house. My husband had asked me weeks ago to make cheese enchiladas for him as he loves them. I had gone grocery shopping picked up everything to make the enchiladas along with some other goodies. My plan was to take a shower, nap and then make the enchiladas for dinner. I carried out my plan, showered, napped and began to make the enchiladas at about 5:30 p.m. Just as I finished rolling the last enchilada, I felt a trickle of water, as though I had waited too long to get to the bathroom and pee’d on myself. I put the enchiladas in the oven, set the timer and off to the bathroom to handle business. Little did I know this was the start of my water breaking. I sat on the toilet and I pee’d forever, which wasn’t pee as I later found out, this was my water breaking. I called Tiffany and she advised me that it sounds like our son was going to make his arrival earlier than the planned due date of June 24th and to head to Phoenix Baptist Hospital to be checked out.

I waited for my husband to get home and about 6:30 p.m. we headed to the hospital. The contractions were about 3 minutes apart and I started to reconsider at this point my initial birth plan of no drugs. As I sat on the towel in my husband’s car my water continued to flow…..We arrived at the hospital and I instructed my husband to park the car in the parking lot and I could walk to the hospital, all the while reconsidering my no drug plan. I walked into the hospital to be greeted with a wheel chair and a labor and delivery nurse who took me to the labor and delivery floor. I was assigned to an amazing labor and delivery nurse, Stephanie. In the meantime I waited for Tiffany to arrive at the hospital and all the while still reconsidering my idea of no drugs during labor and delivery. Stephanie checked me and I was 5 ½ centimeters at 7’ish. Stephanie put me in the Jacuzzi and what a world of difference this made. I was back to my original mindset of I want to bring my son into this world as natural as possible with no drugs. Tiffany arrived, offering encouragement, compassion, comfort and guidance on how to work through the contractions and the feelings I was experiencing. My husband was my best friend by my side. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to welcome my son into this world!

Tiffany checked me about 9’ish and I was 9 ½ centimeters. With the help of my husband and Tiffany, they removed me from the Jacuzzi and I went to the bed to begin pushing. Stephanie was fabulous with the “Tug of War” pulling and pushing process. This helped me channel my strength into pushing. As I entered the “Ring of Fire” stage of delivery, I “begged” for relief from the pressure that I was feeling in the anal and vagina area. Tiffany, Stephanie and my husband encouraged me to keep going with no drugs as they could see the head. At 10:13pm, AJ was welcomed into this world with my husband, Tiffany and Stephanie by our sides. There was immediate feeling of relief felt both physically and emotionally. Although AJ was born early by 2 weeks, he was healthy and perfect size at 7lbs, 4 oz, 18.5 inches long. Angel Jackson is a blessing to our family and lives.

To all of you that are expecting your child and considering going through with a birth plan of no drugs, have faith in yourselves and your bodies; your body was made to do this. I was told this during a birthing class and didn’t believe it until I actually went through with it. Now, looking back, I wouldn’t change a single thing.

Jessie's Birth Story

I have finally got around to doing it. Energy has been drained but now I am back at it. Ready to roar.

As pregnant ladies do, I made a birth plan. I wanted no drugs, the least intervention as I could get and I was going to birth my baby the way my body wanted to. As we all know, things don’t always work out the way you plan them.

I know what went wrong. For sake of hurting feelings I won’t point it out…just tell you my story.

My mother came down to AZ from AK to see the birth of her grandchild and for some reason I had a feeling we were going to be early, (due on June 2nd) so Mom came down on May 30th. A week passed by and nothing yet. I had all the common questions, “When is the baby coming?” “How long are the going to let you go?” “Hurry up and have that baby already.”

I know most first time moms go over, but all these repetitive questions made me feel anxious and kind of angry people were expecting me to know when the baby was coming. Like I was in charge of when I birthed.

As the time started getting closer to Mom leaving we started looking at natural ways to trigger labor. We walked and walked and walked.

On June 10th, Thursday, we went to Metro Center Mall and walked around for a couple of hours. I walked stairs, sat in the vibrating chairs, got a foot massage and contractions started. They were getting closer and closer together so we decided, being five minutes away from the hospital, we were going to go. When we got there and I got hooked up to the monitors, the contractions started spacing themselves further apart. Six minutes, seven minutes, so they sent me home. I really at this point just wanted to have the baby. When the nurse in triage called Tiffany, (the midwife on call) I told her I wanted to get my water broken to get things started. They told me to come back in the morning and we would be scheduled for an induction. So we went home still pregnant.

That night, I thought about it. This whole pregnancy I didn’t want any intervention. I hadn’t even taken Tylenol for headaches. Why now at the very end had I chosen to have an induction? Why have the baby come when everyone else wanted the baby, not when the baby wanted to come? I told my mom who was supposed to be leaving that Sunday, “I want to have the baby before you leave, I don’t want your trip to be for nothing!” She said, “Well don’t get induced on account of me leaving, the baby will come when she comes.” (We didn’t know what the sex of the baby was, but she wanted a girl, to have three girl tiger Gemini’s in a row. Her, me, and baby.) So when she said that, I thought ‘you know she is right! Baby will come, forget everyone else.

The next day we decided to go to Arizona Mills, another mall and walk some more. We met up with my cousins there and walked around the mall for four hours. We heard pineapple helped induce labor so I was eating that all day while we walked. We walked and walked, but I didn’t feel any contractions. When we went home our feet were so tired. Husband got home from school and we went about our night.

At 12:35 I felt my first contraction. Out of nowhere they came on and so I decided to time them. Five minutes, seven minutes, six minutes, but they were getting regular. I waited for a little while to make sure it was for real this time, and at 2:30am I decided to wake my mom. It was time, guess baby was waiting for daddy to be able to be there. It was the weekend.

So I called my cousins and told them it was time and we went to the hospital. I got checked in triage and I was at 4 cm almost 5, so they decided to keep me. I went walking. We walked around labor and delivery and contractions got to the point where we had to stop now and again to work through them.

My room was finally ready and I was hooked up to the monitors again for five minutes to check and make sure the baby was doing okay still. When we were done, I got up and walked around the room for a while, was able to get into the tub and labor in there for a while, then I went back into the bed to rest. This went on for like 8 hours. Lisa, the midwife decided to come in and talk options. At this point my water hadn’t broken. I was dilated to 5. We decided to break my water. There was a little meconium in my water, which is normal for overdue mothers. Lisa wasn’t concerned so we continued to labor.

Then my mother in law showed up.

Her, Husband’s sister and Aunty wanted to come into the room and watch. Something I didn’t think was a great idea. I felt it was a private moment, and for those who know our history, it wasn’t something that felt “right.” Husband was torn. He wanted to share this moment with his Mother, at the time I didn’t realize that but he was ready to leave me if I didn’t let her in the room. She made it about her. I was getting at a point where contractions were unbearable, 12 hours of pain without meds, and now I wasn’t progressing. I was stuck at 5 cm. I went to the toilet, and when I came back to sit on the bed more water came out. This time it gushed and was dark with meconium. Lisa came in to talk to me about what we were going to do. It was about the baby now and at this point I was barely able to get through anything. Baby was moving away from the external monitor, so they put an internal monitor in me.

We decided it was time for pitocin to get contractions rolling and cervix dilating. I know from all the birth stories that pitocin makes contractions very painful, so I opted for the epidural. With the epi came the catheter, and oxygen mask. After I got it, I was in heaven compared to the last 12 hours. I told Husband his mom could come in now. I felt no pain, and wasn’t embarrassed anymore. Husband and I were able to get some sleep and even though I couldn’t feel the contractions, I felt some pressure in my anal region. They told me that was the baby’s head and contractions. So I could still feel them, just not as strong. By 6pm I felt urges to push. I asked to be checked and I was fully dilated! I was ecstatic. They told me we would start to push about 6:30pm because we had to wait for a doctor for the baby because of the meconium. Time finally came around and we started to push with the contractions. I couldn’t even feel the baby moving down. People were all around me telling me I was doing great and things were going well, but I couldn’t tell!

7:30 rolls around and they finally could see the head emerging. Seven minutes later I hear, “It’s a boy!” It was such a fantastic feeling getting him out. The pressure was released and I was so happy to hear I had a boy! Half the family was hoping for a boy, and the other half a girl. Guess you can’t go wrong with 50/50 chances! I was just hoping for a healthy baby.

Julian James Cleveland was born on June 12, 2010, weighing in at 7 lbs 12 oz, 20 1/2 inches long. He is a lovely addition to our new family and we love him dearly.

Colleen's Birth Story

My husband and I started trying to get pregnant in March of 2009. The first few months were unsuccessful, however being an A-type person, I started reading up on pregnancy/delivery even though I wasn't pregnant yet. Before doing this reading, I always just thought I would get pregnant, go to an OB-GYN and have my baby in the hospital with a heavy dose of pain meds. Once I started researching my mind changed completely! I began to form a strong opinion in the complete opposite end of the spectrum. I believe doctors have over-complicated the beauty of childbirth. Afterall, for centuries women were having babies without drugs, and they continued to have more than one so it had to be somewhat tolerable. Also, being a Christian, I began to realize God created my body to handle childbirth without any assistance and that He wouldn't give me any burden I couldn't handle.

In late July we discovered we were pregnant! I liked the idea of a midwife, but I had no idea where I would begin to look for one. Anxious and eager to see someone I ended up going to an OB-GYN office. From the initial visit I could tell they were not 100% behind me doing an all natural childbirth. When I asked what the practice's c-section rate was they said 25%! That was a little too high for my comfort. I decided I'd relax a bit, and take the time to find an office that had midwives. A girl at church recommended Bethany Women' s Center, so I made an appointment---the smartest move I made while pregnant!

My pregnancy, fortunately, did not have many complications nor did I really get seriously uncomfortable. The only hold-up I ran in to was my due date rolled around and still no baby! I tried everything--and I mean EVERYTHING- to spur labor: sex, walking everyday, spicy food, pineapple, massages, pedicures, etc. I went to 42 weeks, and my baby was still not coming on her own. Thoughts of wanting to be induced definitely filled my head, but my husband kept reminding me that the baby would come when ready, and induction would interfere with my plans for a natural childbirth. The midwives worked with me to get the baby to come out, using the most non-invasive plan as possible.

I ended up having a foley catheter put in and was sent home overnight. The idea was the catheter would help dialate me, and labor would start on it's own. The next morning I woke up, and the catheter was still in me and no contractions. We were told to come to the hospital since i was so late. When I got there at 8 am, I walked for an hour before the catheter fell out, but still no real contractions. They sent me walking some more, still nothing. Finally at noon they broke my water, and I had made it to 4cm. I began to feel tiny contractions, as I continued to walk the hospital hallways. Around 4pm I began to feel real pain. I was still walking which helped. But I was devastated when at 7pm, I was only 4.5 cm---I had only dialated half a cm!!! Diane, my midwife, assured me that I was still making progress; it was ok. From 7 pm til 5 am I was having strong contractions every couple minutes. At around midnight they checked me again and I was at 6cm. It was good I was making progress, but I felt like it was going so slow. I was getting very tired and was starting to doubt whether I could do it. I'd been awake for 24 hours and was losing energy fast--I just kept praying that when they checked me again I would be close to 10cm. When they checked me around 5:30 I was relieved to hear I was at 9.5 cms. I knew I could make it.

From there it all went super fast. Within a few minutes I was ready to start pushing. Diane told me the harder I pushed the faster it would go, so I just pushed with all my strength. Diane did an amazing job helping me push effectively. I know talking to friends who had drs. deliver their babies they felt like they didn't know how to push. I have no idea where the energy came from, but I was able to harness it and push her out. THe pushing was definitely the hardest part but also the best, because I knew I was that much closer. An hour and a half later I had a beautiful baby girl lying on my chest. I know every mom thinks her baby is perfect, but Madeline really was so beautiful (some newborns are kinda weird looking)---those extra couple weeks really paid off!! It was one of the most amazing experiences, and I am so proud of myself and thankful to God, my husband, the nurses, and my midwife, Diane, for helping me get through it. I'm not ready to do it again any time soon, but I know I*'ll be ready/capable. And the amazing part is you really do forget the pain you go through.

Channel 12 Interview with one of our midwives

A's VBAC story

I had been having surges for the past week off and on. By Saturday night I had called my doula to let her know that we were getting close. On Sunday, I had bloody show so I was wearing a cloth pad and we went to trader joes and while there I felt my legs sorta wet and so we headed home. I definitely had lost some fluid.

I called my doula and so Sunday night she slept the night since I was having contractions every 7 or so minutes and was 80 percent. We tried moving my placenta since it was a bit anterior, but it didn't do a lot of help. I wasn't dilating. Monday I did a lot of walking and the contractions were staying at around 6-7 minutes apart. I again called my doula, she came up around midnight or so from another birth. SHe told me she'd have to head to the other for around 6 am. At around 4:30 I was still having contractions and went to the bathroom and I had a very thick discharge and saw some meconium. We decided that I should probably head into the hospital. She had another doula accompany me. This new doula was very awesome! She was very calming and in spite of not knowing her she was super supportive and helpful. At the hospital they checked me and I had a leak in my fluid so they kept me rather than turning me home. I was 100 percent.

I was having surges every 5-6 minutes at this point. With some walking and rest I wasn't progressing. I was around 2.5 cm around 10 am. I was doing some laps and using the birth ball to get through surges. I swear I was the only one walkin, so I had no idea where all the other birthing moms were. Shortly after that the nurse came in and said that I had to stay on the bed now since she had read the policy and VBAC patients had to be under constant monitoring. At this point, I started crying. I asked to see my midwife. While we waited, the new doula let me know that each thing was my choice and with policies there are ways around it. In my mind I kept thinking that there was just no way I could progress from less than 3 cm to 10 without any movement. The midwife came in and let me know what my options were - stay there and listen or request an AMA form (against medical advice) to allow me to walk. Apparently this policy isn't always enforced, and it is up for review in May. Anyway, while waiting and talking (and plenty of tears) my progression definitely changed. I had been having contractions/surges every 5-6 minutes and after the situation, I had barely 2 contractions over a 45 minute period) and definitely affected how I was feeling about the whole situation. After I signed the form I laid in bed for quite a while and did some thinking. I had received some beads from a birth circle meeting and another set from my friends at a blessingway. I asked for those and thought about all the well wishers I had through this birth. I got up and we tried to do some nipple stimulation and a shower to try to get things going, and I just didn't feel it happening so we requested a breast pump, which I also didn't feel helped the contractions get closer. By this time my doula had come back but was exhausted so shortly after she went home. It was around 6 pm and I spoke with the midwife and we decided that we'd try a small amount of pitocin to try to get my body moving again. I knew that once this happened I'd have to stay on my back so we did some walking again. Ravi and I had a few disagreements - I posted via my blackberry that I needed some "eggplant parmesan" (there's a recipe on the web that "guarantees" labor), and Ravi wanted me to remained focused, I was beginning to waver in my belief that I could get through this. I tried some stadol to get some rest because I had been up for basically 3 days and hopefully it would allow me to relax some. While I was able to get some rest, I wasn’t sure if I had progressed. I asked to be checked (we were minimizing this due to the water being broke) and I was at 4.5. My "agreement" to myself was to do the pit if I wasn't at a 5.

We started the pit and the contractions were within 2 minutes of each other within a few hours but I was in horrible pain. They had been slowly upping the pit and I didn’t feel I was able to handle the pain since I had barely any down time between contractions. I had asked that no order be put for an epidural because I wanted to be sure that I spoke with my midwife again before asking for it. The hospital staff had been mostly awesome to this point because I know they wanted to ask me for an epidural for quite a while but in my birth plan I had asked to not be asked. I called for the nurse and let her know that I wanted the pit turned down. This helped the contractions subside but I knew that wasn’t going to get me closer to having the baby! I was without a doula at this point and was confused and definitely losing focus again. I asked for the midwife, and I swore she was just never coming because every contractions felt like an eternity! While waiting for her to come back, I requested the pit be turned off. The nurse basically told me that if I asked for it, she could, but she couldn’t keep changing it. She turned it off, and I let her know I’d like an epidural. She had to call the midwife who was on her way to get the order. I felt so sad and deserted at this point. No doula, midwife was taking forever, I wasn’t progressing!
Finally just as nurse came in and turned off the pit, the midwife came in and we had a short talk and we agreed that the best bet would be to do the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and explained the procedure to me. I still think it is a bit funny that they didn’t tell me the side effects of this, but I got the whole “fetal death” talk when I asked for intermittent monitoring. Anyway, we started the pit again along with some antibiotics (this may have happened earlier?) since I had been ruptured for a while and was having cervical checks. The epidural didn’t fully take effect but I was able to get a few hours of sleep. I woke and was feeling the contractions and was able to use breathing to hopefully make them more positive. I had feeling on my left side and most of my vaginal area. Around an hour later I was still awakeand felt the rest of my water break. I asked for the nurse and she came and said I was a 9. I never felt so good in my life! I was getting the urge to “bear down” and she said that it wasn’t time yet. I didn’t really stop myself , but she told me it’d be at least 90 minutes before I’d probably be complete. I looked at the clock- it was 6 am and he was almost all the way in position. Shift change was in an hour. Couldn’t help but think of this! Anyway, the new midwife came in around 6:40 and checked me and said I was definitely at a 10 at this point and baby was fully ready! I could feel that she was trying to help me stretch. She had me do a few test pushes so I’d know what to do. I swear I thought I was pooping (earlier on I had called the nurse to change the bed pad because I swore I pooped, apparently I had farted and there was some show). We worked on where I should be pushing and adjusted the bed (I had wanted to birth squatting but only had use of half a leg so without an additional support person this wasn’t possible. I began pushing with the surges and could feel him progressing again and again. At one point he was crowning and she asked me to feel his head and I said I can’t. Apparently both she and Ravi thought that meant I was giving up, but when I showed them, my arm was too short! Anyway, around 7 am, more people began coming in and I kept saying WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE! It definitely was distracting. A midwife from the UK was in to catch the baby, and I was fine with this, the previous midwife had asked if I was okay with this, which I was. We continued pushing and I felt him begin to come through and was getting tired but knew I had more in me. I was being cheered on by the nurse and two midwives and Ravi. Finally at 7:17, less than 30 minutes of pushing, Rohan Jakob entered the world. I am glad the epidural didn’t fully take effect, without it, I’m sure pushing would have been more difficult. I also am thankful for the entire process of getting this baby here. I now have confidence in my body that I didn’t know I had. I had wavered many times but we made it through.

In the end, he was a vbac and I'm so happy that we were home within 12 hours of his birth. He never left our side :) Official stats (after nursing and pooping and all that jazz)
Born 4/28/10 at 7:17 am19.5 inches long7 lbs, 4 oz13.5'' head

Tons of thanks to my friends who’ve helped me get to this point and especially to Sarah for coming to our house before 5 am to pick up Viveka. I’m so thankful that I knew Viveka was in good hands while we were in the hospital!

Push It!

I am sitting here at my husband's bedside and am so thankful, among other things, for a laptop and free WiFi! Phoenix Baptist is a wonderful hospital but I have been told there is no WiFi available. I would really be insane by now (we've been here for 6 days now) with no internet! I am taking advantage of this time (and believe me, I have a LOT of time on my hands at the moment) to do some blogging and catch up on my regular blogs I like to read.

I was over on At Your Cervix when I found a link to this wonderful blog carnival on pushing....a a baby out that is. Amy Romano is hosting this carnival on Science and Sensibility blog. I very much enjoyed the post and think you will too.

The Fifth Healthy Birth Blog Carnival: Push it real good!