Birth Stories

Daniel's Birth Story
January 26, 2007

I wanted to write to tell you that our little baby decided to make an early debut!!! Daniel James Rowan was born on Friday, Jan 26, at 3:19 am. It was a crazy week. My water broke with gusto on Tuesday evening, the 23rd, at about 6:30pm while I was at work. I drove home to meet up with Jim and called the midwives who told us to come in to get checked. So we hastily packed our bags, put the car seat and base into the trunk and headed in to Mt. Auburn. They did an NST (non-stress test) to check on the baby - he was totally fine - and contractions - not many, not strong enough and not long enough. The midwife told us to go home and get lots of rest and to come back in the morning. Determined to not be induced w/ Pitocin, we did everything we could (which, of course, was limited because the water had broken.) Unfortunately, things didn't really seem to pick up overnight, so I was pretty bummed. BUT, that morning, the midwife did say that they might let me go home to labor. Sure enough, we got to the hospital, got hooked up to the NST, and everything was fine w/ both me and the baby. We left the hospital and went to Burlington Mall to walk and walk and walk. Still, things didn't pick up. They had told us to come back that night, which we did, and were in for a bit of a longer time on the monitors, since one of the midwives was in a delivery. Luckily - again - we seemed to be able to convince them to let us go home to get a good night's sleep before coming back in the morning to be induced. (I suppose we were pushing our luck with their "24-hour" water break rule...)

So, after a good night's sleep, we made our way back to the hospital (4th time's a charm) even though surges still weren't coming with any pattern or particular strength. This time we actually brought our bags inside and were immediately checked in. I was really bummed, since I had been very anti-Pitocin and learned I wouldn't be able to labor at all in the jacuzzi tubs they have. After the few moments to be sad about having to have an IV and these monitors, Jim recommended I listen to some of the HypnoBirthing scripts. The Birth Rehearsal you had recorded was exactly what I needed to hear to move past the disappointments and psyche myself up for the birth. (thank you, thank you!) It really did put me in the right frame of mind.

They started the pitocin at the lowest dose, with the intention of increasing it every 15-30 minutes. The midwife on duty - Julie Mann - was awesome. Also, one of the student midwives - Kelly - was also unbelievable, and very familiar with HypnoBirthing, which proved to be invaluable. They were really sensitive to my fear about the pitocin putting things out of control, so they were very conservative with the increases. Also, they did have a telemetry unit for the monitors so that I could be up and about (maybe spent 45 minutes in the bed in the beginning, after that, was moving all over the room.) It took a long time for surges to pick up in intensity, even though they were coming regularly enough and lasting long enough. I'd say that "early labor" lasted from about 8am until maybe 3 or 4pm, at which point things really started picking up. Jim was fantastic, encouraging me to listen to the scripts and helping out with light touch massage and counter-pressure. There were a few times when things had increased with such intensity that I really didn't think I'd be able to handle it much longer. The surges were coming one on top of another with a lot of intensity and hardly any break in between. I broke down crying, at which point the midwives asked what was wrong - I was frustrated, afraid I wouldn't be able to keep it together, etc - and they dialed the pitocin down for a while to give me a chance to recover. That ended up being really helpful so that I wouldn't give up.

The midwives had a shift change at 7pm - which I greeted by throwing up with gusto (lovely). Of course they were all excited that this might mean that we were closer to birth, but sadly that wouldn't be the case. The new midwife came on and after a bit more labor, asked if I'd be willing to be checked (up to this point, I had not been checked at all, including at any appointments.) It turned out I was dilated to 4cm and 80% effaced. Hearing such a "low" number was a little discouraging, but they assured me that getting from 4 to 10 tends to go more quickly. And Jim reminded me that effacing is often the hardest part, too, so that was encouraging.

We kept on laboring from 8pm throughout the evening, growing a bit weary from the lack of food, but still able to keep things together, despite the ever increasing intensity. At one point, somewhere around 1am, I was just so wiped out from exhaustion, that they again dialed it down to give me a chance to rest. This was also invaluable. The surges moved back to about 5 mintues apart so that I could rest. After about 30 minutes or an hour (funny how one loses track...), they turned things back up. Intensity was there, and they wanted to check me again... 9 and three quarters! Within 30 minutes, I felt the urge to breathe him down. I got up on the bed with the head all the way up, kneeled down w/ my arms over the back. That position seemed to work out best for us. Jim was facing me and the midwives and nurse were behind (the student midwife, Kelly, stayed with us the whole time - 9am until about 4am - such a trouper!!) We seemed to be making progress with breathing (and grunting and screaming) him down, but the midwife who arrived at 11pm (and whom I also greeted by throwing up - weird!!) mentioned that my bladder was full and I might try emptying it. The thought of moving was completely insane to me, but figured it was worth it to try. The second I got off the bed and on the floor, felt the need to bring him down right then. So, squatting by the side of the bed, leaning over and holding onto Jim from the other side of the bed, with the midwives on the floor ready to catch him, his head finally started emerging. We got it maybe 1/3 of the way out before I felt my legs about to give out. I got back on the bed in that kneeling position and really had to bear down to get him out - really give it everything I possibly had plus some - and his head finally made it all the way out! The rest of his body was easy (except for the fact that both of his hands/arms were up by his head, causing a bit of vaginal tear). Once he was out, I had to contort myself around the IV and monitor lines to sit down and hold him. He was just perfect. A little bit of a cry after he came out, just fantastic. We got to visit with him for a little while while his cord stopped pulsating. They then clamped him up and brought him to be weighed while they tended to me. They brought him back and he breastfed immediately - such a champ! He was 7 pounds, 13.6 ounces and 21 (!) inches long. I had a bit of bleeding afterward, but nothing too severe. They stitched me up and we just hung out with Baby Daniel for about an hour.

He's been doing great since then. Eating, sleeping and pooping like a pro. Already gained back 5 ounces from his discharge weight. :)

Reflecting on the birth, it was a WHOLE lot harder than I thought it would ever be. I felt a lot more pain than I thought I would, though I am chalking that up to the pitocin and the fact that, despite the water breaking, my body wasn't really "ready" for labor. Not being able to eat was tough, being hooked up to the IV and monitors was tough, but overall, I'm really happy with how everything turned out. There were times during labor that I thought there was no way I'd be able to keep this up without pain relief and there's no way I'll ever attempt natural childbirth again, but after seeing how alert he was at birth and how well I felt afterwards (with the exception of the vaginal tear), I most definitely WILL do it again this way. The midwives were so complimentary of the job we did, which was so encouraging. Kelly knew just what to say when she'd see me tensing up during a surge to get me to relax the right muscles. It was really a great experience. Thanks to you for everything, too! The Birth Rehearsal proved to be just about the best thing for me to hear during the whole day.

Sorry for the short novel. I couldn't spare a detail for you!

All our best, Meg, Jim & Daniel

I'd love to post your HypnoBirthing story here!
Email me: shaileen@gmail.com

HypnoBirthing^® - Taking the World by Calm