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.

Mother of Many

My daughters stood and watched this with me, throughly absorbed. Thanks to Jill and crew at Unnesecearean where I found this.

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!

Share With Women: Am I in Labor?

AM I IN LABOR?

What is labor?
Labor is the work that your body does to birth your baby. Your uterus (the womb) contracts. Your cervix (the mouth of the uterus) opens. You will push your baby out into the world.

What do contractions (labor pains) feel like?
When they first start, contractions usually feel like cramps during your period. Sometimes you feel pain in your back. Most often, contractions feel like muscles pulling painfully in your lower belly. At first, the contractions will probably be 15to 20 minutes apart. They will not feel too painful. As labor goes on, the contractions get stronger, closer together, and more painful.

How do I time the contractions?
Time your contractions by counting the number of minutes from the start of one contraction to the start of the next contraction.

What should I do when the contractions start?
If it is night and you can sleep, sleep. If it happens during the day, here are some things you can do to take care of yourself at home:
● Walk. If the pains you are having are real labor, walking will make the contractions come faster and harder. If the contractions are not going to continue and be real labor, walking will make the contractions slow down.
● Take a shower or bath. This will help you relax.
● Eat. Labor is a big event. It takes a lot of energy.
● Drink water. Not drinking enough water can cause false labor (contractions that hurt but do not open your cervix). If this is true labor, drinking water will help you have strength to get through your labor.
● Take a nap. Get all the rest you can.
● Get a massage. If your labor is in your back, a strong massage on your lower back may feel very good. Getting a foot massage is always good.
● Don’t panic. You can do this. Your body was made for this. You are strong!

When should I go to the hospital or call my health care provider?
● Your contractions have been 5 minutes apart or less for at least 1 hour.
● If several contractions are so painful you cannot walk or talk during one.
● Your bag of waters breaks. (You may have a big gush of water or just water that runs down your legs when you walk.)

Are there other reasons to call my health care provider?
Yes, you should call your health care provider or go to the hospital if you start to bleed like you are having a period—blood that soaks your underwear or runs down your legs, if you have sudden severe pain, if your baby has not moved for several hours, or if you are leaking green fluid. The rule is as follows: If you are very concerned about something, call.

LABOR? WHAT DO I DO NOW?
First . . . If your baby is due more than 3 weeks from today and you are having back pain or stomach cramps, or there is fluid leaking from your vagina, or your baby has not moved for several hours, or you have other troubling symptoms, call your health care provider now!
Or . . . If you are overdue, be sure to see your health care provider at least once a week and talk with her about a plan for your care.

YouTube Changing Birth Culture?

This is an interesting blog post by Amy Romano CNM. She discusses how YouTube could be a potential change agent for birth culture. Cool! A use for technology that is positive and helpful :)

I'll admit....in my desire to share what normal birth looks like, I have 'made' my daughters watch several YouTube birth videos. My 6-year-old, Liberty, finds them absolutely fascinating. She begs to come to work with me and see someone have a baby. I told her maybe someday. My 9-year-old, Daja, is not so interested. But she's also very much a tomboy and shies away from 'female things'. She has been to work with me and watched a birth. She did ok but I don't think she found it as awesome as I always do! She was a little green when the placenta came out. I had hoped to let her touch it (with gloves on, of course) but ended up sending her out of the room. :)

T's Birth

I had been seeing T all throughout this pregnancy as well as her first pregnancy. A student midwife and I had caught the baby last time. I was looking forward to catching this baby myself! T was kind enough to go into labor during my weekend on call :)

T is an herbalist and does not believe in taking any man-made medicines with the exception of life-saving. Her first labor and birth was done naturally and this one would be the same.

I had just left the hospital to go meet my mother to try and do some christmas shopping when T called me. She told me she had been contracting through the night and the contractions were pretty intense. They were also about every 6 minutes apart now. Her water had broke earlier that morning. I told her it sounded like she needed to come on in.

When she arrived, I was a little nervous because she looked very comfortable, even when having a contraction. She would breathe through the contraction but there were no other signs that she was having one....meaning her body and face were very relaxed. I was thinking that she might be very early in the labor. But I also know that everyone handles pain differently.

We got her settled in her room, got a quick strip of the baby, who looked great. Then we got her in the tub. Her cervix was dilated 5cms at this point! Woohoo! T and I sat in the bathroom for the remainder of her labor. Well, she was in the tub while I sat on a stool beside the tub :) T was amazingly relaxed and seemed to enjoy the tub. We talked about all kinds of things....from family to spirituality! I was worried that I was distracting her from her labor but she assured me that everything was fine. Her contractions eventually began to move closer together, until they were about 2-3 minutes apart. I was really enjoying watching her labor. I was able to tell when she moved into transition...not because she made more noise or anything, just because she stopped talking but still maintained a very relaxed appearance. I could tell that she was becoming more focused and drawing inward. She looked beautiful!

Eventually she told me that she could feel the baby moving down. I rechecked her while she was in the tub...she was 8-9cms now. However, I had a feeling that would be changing quickly. We waited a few more contractions until she felt like she needed to push. I rechecked her to find the baby at +2 station (+3 is crowning) and told her she was definitely ready! We moved her to the bed, where she made herself comfortable. She pushed when she needed to, focusing on her husband, who stood at the bedside. She was absolutely silent. She looked exactly how I would imagine a labor goddess to look :) She pushed with great control for about 6 minutes. She delivered another beautiful baby girl over an intact perineum approximately 2 hours and twenty minutes after arriving!

Congratulations T and I can't wait until the next one!!!!!!!

Prevent Cesarean Section