Ada's Story

I have wanted to post my girls birth stories for a while, but just never got around to it. However, in light of all that my midwives at The Baby Place, have been going through, I thought this was a perfect time to tell my story, my girl's story, about our experience with an out of hospital birth. It is my way of saying thank you to Colleen and Jerusha Goodwin. This post will be Ada's story.



Ada’s Birth Story

It is always said that you are likely to be late with your first baby. I had hoped this wasn’t going to be true for me, but alas it was. My due date was December 16th. I had hoped that I would actually be early because our ultrasound had given us a due date of December 8th. My midwife kept telling me to hold our due date loosely and not to worry if I went late. The funny thing was that before I was pregnant, we had been practicing Natural Family Planning and my calculated due date from NFP was December 23 and that was the day my little girl was born! She was 1 week late to the day of my December 16th date. As I drew closer and closer (and then past) my due date I had a feeling that if I didn’t wake up in the morning in labor then it wasn’t going to happen that day. And that is exactly what did happened. Funny how God given intuition and nature were right. Not the high tech ultrasound, but my own body was more reliable!

I woke up at around 3:30 am on the 22nd with contraction. I was instantly excited. Of course I knew that the best thing for me was to try to go back to sleep. I would need to rest and the contractions were definitely real, but they were easily managed. So I went back to sleep and woke up around 5:30am. I remembered from our birth class that the best thing to do once labor started was to rest and to eat. So I got up and ate a little something (a bowl of wheat chex to be exact). I kind of enjoyed being up alone and in labor. It was sort of my little secret that I would get to share once everyone else woke up (my parents where staying with us at this point). I was having trouble getting back to sleep, but I think it was more from excitement than from pain. The contractions were easily managed but by my casual clock watching, they seemed to be about 5 minutes apart. It surprised me that they were so close together already but I still felt fine. I drifted in and out of sleep until about 8 or so when Marcus woke up and I finally shared my little secret with someone.

Marcus helped me begin timing my contractions and they were 3 to 5 minutes apart. This is when they typically say you need to go in, but I really felt fine and I did not feel like I was in danger of having this baby now. It was a snowy, gray day though so we called our midwife to see what the best thing to do would be. She said to go ahead and come in because of the weather. They would check me, and then determine if I should stay or go back home. So we headed into our birthing center at around 9:30 am. I could not keep the smile off my face as we walked in the center. I’m sure I was beaming. They checked me and found that I was only 1 or 2 cm and 70% effaced. Colleen, one of our midwives, said that we could stay there if we wanted but we’d probably be there all day. She thought I’d be more comfortable at home. So she advised us to go home rest and eat! There was a subway on our way home so we stop and got some lunch (early lunch that is…) then went and got a car wash. I remember thinking this was a funny situation. How often do you see a woman in labor eating subway and sitting in a car wash! I had to laugh.

We headed home, and my parents had gone to stay with my brother and his family for the day to give us some privacy. I felt weird about laboring at home with them there, so they kindly agreed to give us some space. We got home and we laid on the coach, watched a movie (Little Lord Fauntleroy) and snacked. I again casually watched the clock and my contractions stayed about 3 to 5 minutes apart. After the movie I felt like I needed a little more help getting through the contractions. The birthing center had lent us a birthing ball to use while we were at home, so I kneeled on the floor with my elbows on the ball and tried to relax. Marcus began timing my contractions more consistently and helping me with counter-pressure, and whatever else I needed. After a while, I started to feel uncomfortable, almost afraid. I felt cold, almost like I had a fever, and I would shake/shiver every now and then. I really felt like it was time to go back to the birthing center. I wanted somewhere safe and cozy. So we called our midwives and our doula and head back to the birthing center at around 5 pm. I remember going to the car when I had a contraction and I felt so weak and shaky. I had to stop and hold on to the car for support. It felt scary and I started to cry a little. Marcus reassured me that everything was ok, and we’d be to the center in no time. I felt tense and uncomfortable in the car. Every bump felt like a huge jolt to me. I couldn’t wait to get there.

When we got to the center I’m sure I was no longer beaming. I remember my midwife saying “Things are a little different than this morning aren’t they?” I smiled weakly and said yes. They checked me again and found that I was at 4cm. My midwife told me that for first time moms 4 cm is usually when they feel labor begin to change. She reassured me that I had made good progress, but I felt a little disappointed. I had labored at home almost all day and I only gained 2 cm? But despite my disappointment, all my fear and discomfort had seemed to go away. Our room was all set up and I just wanted to get as comfy as I could on that big bed. I knew that lying down was not an ideal labor position, and I was starting to have some back pain, so I opted for just sitting cross-legged on the bed. It seemed to be the most comfortable.

So there I sat for who knows how long! Marcus timed contraction while my doula rubber my shoulders and back and did just whatever I needed. Jerusha, our midwife, came in and checked the baby’s heart rate every so often. It seemed that the baby was dropping rather quickly because the heart rate seemed to be further and further down my stomach every time she checked it. She told me I could get in the tub if I wanted to now. I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 11 pm! I still felt that the contractions were manageable and I sort of wanted to wait for the tub until things got more intense. But the lure of the warm water was too tempting. I got up and got in the tub, and we put some music on. As soon as I was in the water my back pain and any other tension just melted away. They brought me some cool rags for my head and face. So I sat in the warm water with cools rags on my face and neck, Marcus timing contraction and my doula rubbing my shoulders. It was extremely comfortable! I started feeling hungry so I ate a granola bar while I was in the tub. I rather felt like I was at a spa being pampered rather than in labor! My contractions where getting closer together, almost a minute apart, and harder. I even had a few that would double peak. I would feel them start, they would reach their climax, start to go back down and then climax again before finally stopping. We knew that close contractions and double peaking was a sign of transitions, so we really thought things were moving along! I should have know that the fact that I could still have a conversation was a sign that I was not in transition yet. Since I thought things were moving along nicely I wanted my midwife to check me again. So Jerusha came in to listen to baby’s heart rate and check me. She actually laughed when she went to check the baby because the heart beat was so far down that she could barely reach it while I was in the tub. She then checked me and I was 100% effaced with baby at a +1 station, but I was still at a 4! No progress. That was all I could think about! Jerusha told me that the baby dropping was actually better progress than dilating, and since the baby was so low she thought things would start moving along really fast now. I remembered all the things from our birthing class about the fact that things are still happening even if you are not dilating, etc. etc. I had our midwife telling me I was doing just fine and that things would probably move quickly. But I felt a little demoralized. As soon this feeling came on, my back pain came back and I no longer felt comfortable in the water. I wanted to get out of the tub. I needed to change something.

I got out of the tub, but felt weak and tired. I wanted to just kneel on the bath rug for a little bit to get enough strength to get back to the bed. So I sat on my hands and knees trying to wait for a good time to get back to the bed. As I sat there I began to feel sick. I leaned over the tub and threw up my granola bar. My lower back was really starting to ache. My doula began giving me counter pressure, which was the only thing that seemed to help. I kept asking her to press harder. It wasn’t until the next day when I realized how hard she must have been pressing because I had bruises from it! But at the time that was the only thing that felt good! Jerusha came and offered me the birthing ball to rest my arms on. I thought this was a little unnecessary since I was only going to be there a short time. But I couldn’t get myself to say any of the things that were in my mind. I didn’t want to talk I just wanted them to read my mind. I thought I had only been in that position about 10 minutes. After the birth I said something about this to Marcus and he looked at me kind of funny, then said “No Carrie that was almost an hour that you were there.” I was totally shocked! Time flies when you’re having… fun? Maybe time flies when you’re having a baby!

I finally made it back up to the bed and resumed my sitting position. Again it seemed to be the best thing for my back labor. My midwife kept telling me she could check me again if I wanted her to. But the last thing I wanted was for her to check me and tell me that I hadn’t dilated any more. So I decided no more checks until I felt like something changed. At this point I am sure that I was finally in transition. Marcus was still counting contractions but I was not paying any attention because the contractions weren’t really going away or pausing for that matter. They would begin, peak, begin to subside but then they would just increase and peak again without ever really stopping. I had a vague thought to tell him that he could stop counting, but again I couldn’t get myself to say anything. The heart rate checks continued and they made sure I was still drinking water. I remember being so tired I just wanted to sleep. At times it seemed like I was sleeping and that I was sort of dreaming about my contractions. They seemed to be the only thing I was aware of, this up and down wave of pressure/pain/tension. At one point I had to go to the bathroom again. But there was no way I was getting up or even going to have the ability to say what I needed. So I just peed where I was. I was sitting on a big sheet cover/fluid catcher thingy so I didn’t think it would be too big of a deal. Something that I would have thought would have been so humiliating before, I didn’t even think twice about now. At another point I did almost fall asleep and I started to fall over since I was sitting up. Luckily, my doula was right there and she caught me before I fell over. Now I knew I needed to just lay down. I was too tired to stay upright. I laid on my side knowing that was a better position than on my back.

As soon as I laid down I think I must have relaxed further because things really kicked up! It was intense and I was no longer able to relax through the contractions. I had to grip the pillow and I started to cry. I knew things were getting closer to the end, but still it was hard. I was tired, I was hurting, and I just wanted to be done. Thankfully this only lasted about 5 contractions (or so I think ☺ ) and then all of a sudden I wanted to push. Maybe want isn’t the right word. I had to push! That was the hardest moment of my labor because I was still having really hard labor contractions, with the urge to push, and my water broke right on the first urge to push. Weren’t my contractions supposed to subside and space back out once I wanted to push? Again, thankfully, the hard contractions and the urge to push at the same time only lasted about 3 to 5 contractions (I think ☺. I started sort of rolling or thrashing around. I had to move, I had to get comfortable, but I didn’t know what to do. Nothing seemed to be comfortable at this point. Jerusha came in to check me and she had a strange little smile on her face. She said “I thought you might do that, where you go right into wanting to push.” And sure enough I was at 10 cm. I remember Jerusha’s words, “I think we are ready to have a baby.” That seemed to be the cue for things to finally ease up and the contractions to start spacing out. I was suddenly aware that Marcus was sort of holding me down. I’m sure it was because of my recent “thrashing”. I asked him to let me go so I could roll back to my side. The fact that I could form a coherent sentence was proof to me that the worst was over, and the best was almost here! I was so relieved that hard labor was over I just sort of laid there breathing heavily. Like I was trying to catch my breath after running a long distance. Jerusha and the other midwives got everything ready and Jerusha asked me to come sit on the birthing stool. I wanted to, but I was so relieved that my contractions were finally spaced out and I was somewhat comfortable compared to the last hour that I just laid there. She finally came over and pulled me up so I could go sit on the stool.

The stool really was quite comfortable, it felt natural to me. (I will not attempt to explain what a birthing stool looks like because it is nearly impossible to do!). I would push at each contraction and then just sit there with my eyes closed after it stopped, enjoying my sense of no pain and new found energy. I remembered stories other woman had told me about not knowing how to push. I did not have that problem! Every contraction was very strong and I couldn’t stop myself from pushing. In fact I began pushing too quickly and Jerusha had me try to relax through the contraction then push after it so that baby wasn’t coming too fast. This was very hard to do! I remember in our birthing class they had told me to tuck your chin in and sort of bear down. Well that was what I was doing, but I guess it was too much! They finally had to tell me “Carrie, lift your chin up and just breathe.” I remember during each pushing contraction the feeling of the baby’s head and I kept saying “owe”. It did not hurt as much as my labor contractions did, but it still wasn’t pleasant so I guess owe seemed the right response. Periodically Jerusha would tell me to feel how much of the baby’s head was showing. I was amazed at the progress. Then they began to talk about her curls that were already visible and I began to get more and more excited. I was finally going to meet her! It took one final contraction to deliver her head and her body followed before that contraction was over. They set Ada in my lap and I just stared at her. I could hardly believe it was all over and here she was! My entire labor was about 23 hours, but I only had to push for about 45 minutes. Ada had a very short cord, so they went ahead and cut it so that she could move somewhere other than my lap. I sat on the stool and held her until the placenta was delivered. I remember very little about that. I remember Jerusha asking me if I was having a contraction. I said I didn’t know because I couldn’t feel anything that felt like a contraction to me. Then Jerusha was splattered with blood, which I assume meant the placenta was delivered!

Marcus and Colleen then took Ada to wash her hair and clean her up a little while Jerusha attended me. I was bleeding a lot. Though I was very unaware of this. I got back onto the bed and was just so happy to be done with everything and to know my girl was here and was healthy. While I laid on the bed relaxing, Jerusha was trying to get the bleeding stopped. They gave Ada back to me to hold so that my uterus would contract better. They finally had to give me a shot of pitocin to get the bleeding under control. The strange thing was I really did not know the severity of what was going on. All the midwives were calm and just acted like this was ordinary business. I appreciated that! I had to have a few stitches and this actually scared me! I had to keep telling myself “You just had a baby, you can handle a few stitches!” Once they were done with me, they brought Ada back over and we started learning how to nurse. They had weighed and measured her, and she was 8lbs 12oz. and 21 inches long. Big girl! By this time it was around 3:30am on the 23rd, Ada having been born at 2:29am. Jerusha thought that Ada was doing well enough at nursing that I could probably lay down and nurse her. So I laid on my side with baby snuggled in close. Marcus joined us in the bed and the midwives basically said “goodnight” and we were allowed to sleep and recoup till morning.

Ada’s birth came later than I wanted it to, and my labor was longer than I wanted it to be, but it was all worth it. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. It is amazing how each of my kid’s births will be unique. That will be their own little story of how they got here. It truly is amazing to see how birth is perfectly designed. How your body knows what to do even when your mind doesn’t! How you can’t always control labor, yet labor seems to do ok without you controlling it. Having a natural birth did not scare me, but it actually made me want to do it again! What will next time be like? I can hardly wait!