Topic: Doula Talk
I really want to share with you all the latest birth story. It was an emotional roller coaster of a birth, and I'm very blessed to have been there in attendance.
I met E at a babywearing class. We started talking about doulas, what they do and how Karen Prior had talked about them in her yoga class. We set up an interview and it was a done deal. I'd worked a lot with the midwives and we all felt connected. That was October. E's due date was 12/15. I'd never taken a client so close to Christmas before, but I just really enjoyed the couple and decided that it wasn't THAT great of a risk. When E hit 38 weeks, she told me that she just didn't "feel" ready. I admitted that she didn't look ready either LOL. At 39 weeks, she still felt like baby wasn't ready to be born. Then 40 weeks came and Pauline mentioned induction, but her cervix was anterior and effaced to 60%. E called me a bit shaken because she desired an unmedicated birth with no interventions. She completely trusted her body and really felt in tune with her body. She mentioned that she felt baby drop, but had begun to second guess her choices. We talked and after the conversation, she felt ready to continue her pregnancy. (this was my reminder that doulas are cheerleaders too!) The weekend before Christmas, we spoke and she made an appt with Dr. Lei for accupuncture. She went two days in a row with NO signs of labor. Dr. Lei told her that she was the first woman to EVER walk away with no contractions. We spoke again that weekend and I reminded her that Pauline had offered to cancel her induction and that she should still trust her body as she had her whole life. At 41wk 5dy she had another checkup, but woke up early in the morning with her first contraction ever. We both celebrated! LOL When she got to her appointment, Ann said she was 90% effeaced, 1cm dialated and baby was at -1 station. She requested that Ann strip her membranes, that was done, the NST showed all was well and she was sent on her way. She went and got an adjustment and we planned on her napping. At 5p she called me to "report in" and say that her nap was interrupted by contractions. She was so excited! The contractions were sporadic, anywhere from 8-15 minutes apart, but they were indeed real contractions. She called back at 7:15p and they were now consistently 10minutes apart, lasting 35-40 seconds long. I told them to call me back in another hour. She called at 8:10 and had just gotten out of her tub. They were now 1-3 minutes apart lasting 40-45 seconds. She wasn't ready for me yet so I went and took a 20 minute nap ;) At 9:05p her husband called me and said they were now lasting a minute and were coming at least every 2 minutes. I jumped up and headed their way. With labor like this, I just knew it would be relatively quick. NEVER ASSUME :) That's doula lesson #2!
We hung out at their house changing positions, eat, drinking, getting in and out of the tub, doing pressure points and talking. We decided to go to the hopspital at 11p because she felt the contractions were becoming more intense. Upon arriving at the hospital, triage was full. We waited and they got us a room, but the nurse apparently had a few issues with her or me or both. She performed a very rough internal and sent Ann in to complete it. She was admitted to the hospital at 12:20am being 100% effaced, 0station, but only 3cm. She felt really defeated at that point. Contractions were still very close together and lasting a minute. We got moved to a room and got her in the tub again. She requested to be checked at 2:45am and Ann said the only change was she was now a 4. E requested some nubain to take the edge off. She was still getting no break from the contractions and was exhausted from little sleep the night before. We got her back into the tub an hour later. She started chanting during the contractions. That was a first for me! And most didn't make sense LOL She finally said her code word, but we talked her into being checked before committing to the epi. Ann checked her again at 5:53a and she was now a 6 with a bulging bag but baby was turned wrong. We went through squatting and yoga poses and swaying and dancing and side lying and all fours. Pauline checked her at 8:25am and she was now an 8! Bag was still in tact and she wasn't ready to have it broken yet. *Side note - I firmly believe that her membranes developed a leak at 6:45. Each contraction would produce a small line of fluid down her leg, but I could get no one to agree with me LOL* She was checked again at 10:05a and was now at a 9. We were all super excited. She agreed to let Pauline rupture the bulging bag in hopes that baby would come on down. Pauline ruptured clear water, but found baby was STILL turned facing the wrong way. Again, we did pressure points, squatting, lunging, the "captain morgan" stance, swaying, dancing, all fours. You name it, we did it again. 11:05am, no change. Still the same. 12:20p, again, no change. E was VERY disappointed and defeated. We couldn't figure out why baby wouldn't move positions and why she couldn't get past 9. Pauline said with each contraction, she could feel baby move down, but she'd bring the cervix with her. After another round in the tub and more movement, Pauline mentioned an epi. E hadn't slept in over 24 hours and was exhausted and thought that the epi might give her what she needed to finish relaxing. The epi was administered at 1pm. She was check at 2:40p and still hadn't made any progress. That's when her body stopped. Contractions almost went away and it was determined she just needed more rest. Around 3:45 they started a slow pit drip. It put contractions back at 3-4 minutes, but only lasting 30-40 seconds. At 4:30p the only change was baby had dropped more and was at a +1 station. Again, we tried everything we could think of to get baby to move positions and finish getting her dialated. Somewhere in there, we all took a one hour nap. That was the extent of our rest. E slept inbetween contractions, but the 1 hour did us a world of good!! Around 6, we sat and talked. Pauline mentioned how it wasn't good to be this long at 9 and what her options were at this point. Baby had always looked great and was still tolerating labor very very well. I left E and her husband to have some alone time. I returned 15 minutes later to find them with questions about how a section would go. We all cried together and decided to get checked before a decision was made. At 6:30 there was still no change. We talked for 30 minutes and went over every detail possible. At 7 the decision was made to do a section. Everyone was called in, but Dr. Miles mentioned that we might get bumped. There was another baby with questionable decels. E told her that it was fine, she would wait so that mom and baby that were becoming emergent could get the care first. This is where God intervened. Dad and I went to have a bite to eat while E took a short nap before the section. We went over more details and I talked with him about post partum recovery and care for mom and baby. As we headed back, we saw the other mom come out of the OR, dad carrying baby behind. We knew it was our turn. As we entered the room, tears started to flow again and Pauline assured E that she would suggest this for her own daughter who is due in March. We asked if Pauline would check her, one last time. Just in case. There's always a chance right? So, at 8:15p, with me on her right, dad on the left and Pauline checking, Pauline looked at me and gasped. Then she waited. Then she looked at E and dad and waited. No one said a word. She quietly said, "Piper, would you grab that leg right there and dad, grab that leg. Let's push this baby out." She was complete. COMPLETE. The emergency section that bumped us saved E from having one herself (and come to find out, saved another mother with the EXACT same problem from having one too!!!!). Have to admit we all cried again!! After a few pushes and rests, baby started to crown. With some more intense pushing, baby was born VAGINALLY at 9:09p weighing in at 7lbs 11oz and 20 1/2 inches. The nurse mentioned she was overcooked, but really, she was great and ready to come out. Also, we found out WHY she wouldn't cooperate! Her head emerged beautifully, but as she pushed the shoulders out, Pauline and I watched as her right hand whipped around the front of her body as it had been on her opposite shoulder, most likely up by her head the entire time. We had our answer and it wasn't because mom's body wasn't working! It was baby not cooperating!!! LOL
so there you go. The most emotional birth I've ever attended. I am not an emotional person, but I cried 3 times and made it through on 1 hour of sleep, a fruit roll up, water and a piece of pizza.
As I left the hospital that night, I cried some more. This is why I do what I do. This is what WE are all called to do. This is what we are blessed to witness. My doula high has returned and I'm excited about birth again!!!
Posted by piperdanaiok
at 3:44 PM CST
