Birth Stories and Baby Pictures!
Below are stories and photos from various families who I have had the pleasure of working with during their pregnancy and/or birth, either as a childbirth educator or a birth doula. These stories are in the mother’s own words. I am so proud of all of these mothers, fathers and babies, and see the incredible strength in each of their stories! [My comments/clarifications are in parenthesis in pink.] Many other stories are untold here but just as beautiful – if you have taken my class and/or used me as your doula, I’d love to include your story! Please email me.
Sawyer’s Birth Story
Mom: Jennine
July 24, 2008 – Kadlec Medical Center
Attended by: Dr. Anderson, nurses, and me
Kristina’s role: birth doula
I met Kristina for the first time at my baby shower. [Kristina: that's where we agreed to have our first meeting...it was a fun idea!] I was due on July 27th 2007, and my shower was about a month before. I really had no one else to be with me during my labor and delivery, as the father of my baby showed no interest in my child, and my family lives far away. My first impression of Kristina was that she gets along well with everyone, and that she is good at reading people. I imagine that she is probably a very intuitive person. I am as well, and after meeting with her after my shower, talking on the phone several times, having her come to one of my doctor appointments with me, and having her demonstrate some labor coping techniques, and finally sitting with me through some false alarm (braxton hicks contractions) I was very comfortable having her with me during my labor and delivery.
I was Kristina’s first doula client. (However, unless you were told this, you probably would not have known.) From the get go, Kristina was awesome at what she does.
I started to dilate about 4 weeks before I gave birth. I was at about 4 centimeters before I ever went into labor. My body didn’t painlessly dilate though, I had significant dilation with braxton hicks contractions. Add to that daily headaches, and the July heat, and you had a crabby pregnant lady. Because of this, I was induced the evening of July 23rd.
I was shown to my room, and changed into the standard issue hospital gown. My daughter and my dad had accompanied me to the hospital, and they sat with me while I was hooked up to the fetal monitors. Not much happened for several hours. Kristina came, my dad and my daughter left, and a phlebotomist came and drew my blood. (twice because the first time it hemolized) I had a nurse try to hook me up to an IV, despite the fact that I stated clearly that I wanted a saline lock. Thankfully, that nurse was just ending her shift, and we got a new, way more open minded nurse. Both her and Kristina were my allies during my entire labor and delivery. [Kristina: she's right - her nurse WAS great!]
The doctor placed cytotec on my cervix, and I asked if I could walk. Thankfully, I was allowed to walk, with intermittent fetal monitoring. I don’t remember how long I was allowed to walk, and how long I had to be monitored, but I do know that my nurse let me walk a lot longer than she was supposed to. Which was totally fine with me. I wasn’t feeling very many contractions, and my baby was perfectly healthy. Kristina and I spent hours walking the halls. We really got to know each other more during this time, which I think really benefited both of us during the hard patches to come.
Finally, after monitoring my contractions, they decided they were strong enough to break my water. This was the start of true labor. Immediately after my water had been broken, my contractions intensified. By intensified I mean I went from feeling basically nothing, to having contractions every 2 or 3 minutes, and not being able to talk through them. Unfortunately, I was ordered to be monitored in bed during this time. [Kristina: they wanted to monitor her to make sure the baby was okay after breaking her water.] I don’t remember how long I was to stay in bed, but my body was telling me that lying down was not the thing to be doing. I tried changing positions, but laying on my side just made it hurt way worse. Kristina sat with me during this time, and talked me through the contractions. I remember repeatedly asking her how much longer I had, and she would tell me to focus and I didn’t have much longer. [Kristina: Jennine asked me only 2 minutes into the monitoring if she was almost done, and I didn't have the heart to tell her she had just gotten started. I had her focus on staying in this moment instead.] This was probably the hardest part of my entire labor. Finally, I was permitted to get out of bed (I later found out that the nurse let me get up earlier than I was supposed to.) which was totally awesome.
At this time, I remember feeling like I had to poop. I knew that I probably didn’t, it was just the baby coming down, but just the same I felt more comfortable sitting on the toilet while having that sensation. Both the nurse and Kristina were in the room, and at that point I really didn’t care. None of us were at all surprised when I really didn’t have to go to the bathroom, and I finally decided to get into the jacuzzi.
The water really helped, which surprised me because it did nothing to help with my first labor. After awhile My labor intensified, but it still wasn’t as mentally exhausting as when I was required to lay in bed. I remember feeling trapped in the pain, and I screamed several times. Later, Kristina said she was very worried about me, because several times, I had begged her to help me. She sat with me, poured water on my belly, and tried to talk me through my contractions.
My contractions continued to intensify, and finally I could not take it any longer. I asked for a narcotic. I remember that the minute I asked for it, Kristina jumped up to get the nurse. There was absolutely no hesitation, lectures, or anything. [Kristina: I handle this differently with each client and we work out how they want me to respond. Sometimes I can suggest to try a few things first if we agree on that beforehand, depending on how much they want to avoid pain medications.] Very soon after, the nurse checked me and found me to be 7 centimeters. She gave me the narcotic, and left Kristina and I to cope with my contractions.
Immediately I felt more calm. I don’t think it really helped pain-wise, but I do think that it relaxed me. I was better able to cope with the contractions, and better able to tune into Kristina.
This lasted only a short time, and then my contractions began to tire me. At this point I just felt like I could not go on. Looking back, this was probably transition. I asked for an epidural, and was hooked up to an IV bag. I found strength in knowing that the epidural was coming, and that there would be an end to my pain. I was told that I would need to be hooked up to the IV for 30 minutes, and then the anesthesiologist would administer my epidural. Heaven. [Kristina: great plan...but it just wasn't meant to be 
]
Something told me that I needed to get out of of the jacuzzi. It was excruciatingly painful to move. I stood in the doorway to the bathroom and my hospital room for a long time, trying to gather the courage to get to my bed. Then, out of nowhere, it felt like the baby was literally going to fall out of me. I made it to the bed, and just laid there. At this time, I was in my own world, and I can’t really tell you what was going on. [Kristina: she was dosing between contractions and I was by her side talking her through them.] Sometime soon after, I remember the anesthesiologist coming into the room, saying something to me, and then raising my bed. I kept trying to concentrate on the contractions, and hoping he would just hurry up. Between contractions, I remember falling asleep. The contractions had actually eased up at this time, and a peaceful, calm, feeling washed over me. [Kristina: we call this "right before pushing" stage time the "rest and be thankful stage". This was an excellent sign she was ten centimeters.]
Then out of nowhere, my body began to push the baby out. At first I said nothing, in hopes that by some miracle I could still get my epidural. Then it became evident that the birth was going to happen, and very soon. I announced that I was pushing. [Kristina: This was a very brave moment for Jennine. In essence, when she voiced that she was pushing, she was in fact refusing the epidural.] I remember the aneshesiologist wheeling his cart out, and I remember laying on my side.
Despite the fact that I was terrified of pushing a baby out of my body with no epidural, I was actually pretty calm. I think that I was more calm during the delivery than the labor, because I knew the end was so close.
I announced that I couldn’t do it, to which every one told me I could. [Kristina: I actually said "You ARE doing it!"] Kristina was right next to me, encouraging me, and without her encouragement, I wouldn’t have decided to just forget about the pain and push him out. With my next push (and apparently the hospital bed still elevated in the air from the anesthesiologist) Sawyer Patrick was born after just 96 minutes of labor.
I remember my son was crying, and as soon as the doctor laid him on my chest, he stopped. Even today, when I think about his birth, I think about how my son just automatically quit crying as soon as he was skin to skin with me.
I cut his cord, and spent a long time nursing him and just holding him.
Sawyer’s was a hospital birth, and was pretty intense. I was lucky to have had a nurse who was willing to work with Kristina and I to have less of a medicalized birth, and a doctor who was willing to let my body do its thing (after the induction). I was not subjected to a multitude of cervical checks (only one), I was allowed to labor in peace, and I was not confined to bed (for the most part). And most importantly, I was lucky to have Kristina. Her coaching gave me the strength to continue on.
I walked into labor and delivery completely unaware of what was to come, and I walked out a different person. There are a lot of things people don’t tell you, and one of those is that labor has the ability to change you. It doesn’t just make you a mother, the experience of it really can make you realize what you as a person are capable of.
—–
Jack’s Birth Story
Parents: Lisa and Scott
March 4, 2009 – Kadlec Medical Center
Attended by: Dr. Ortolano, Nurses Shannon, Nurse Becky , cousin Melanie, and Lisa’s mom
Kristina’s role: Childbirth educator
Actually, Jack’s birth started on Monday, March 2, 2009, when we had our weekly doctor’s appointment with Dr. Ortolano. My checkup was good, and the monitor showed that Jack was also doing good, but an ultrasound showed that I only had 4 cm. of amniotic fluid left – getting dangerously low, according to the doctor. Considering that we were already 12 days past our due date, and that I really wanted to have my baby naturally, Dr. Ortolano said that we’d better begin induction. He set me up to go to the hospital at 6:30 pm, that evening. The rest of the day was sort of a blur – getting last minute things ready and distracting myself so I didn’t think about it too much. After so much waiting and anticipation, it was a bit disconcerting to suddenly have an appointed time scheduled for my labor to start.
Eventually, it was time to go. We stopped by Mom’s house to drop Lela off and say Hi/Bye to mom and Grammy. At the hospital, we got checked into our room and I got changed into my nightgown, then the nurse put in my saline lock and hooked me up to the monitor. After that, we waited for the doctor. He finally arrived at about 11 pm and inserted the Cervadil – this would stay in for 12 hours, softening the cervix and hopefully getting labor started (he said this only happened in about 10% of women). We spent a relatively uneventful night, with me strapped to the monitor and not sleeping much. On Tuesday, around 11 am, the nurse removed the Cervadil and checked my cervix – it had softened considerably, but was still only dilated about 2 cm. At this point, I was starting to have some contractions, but not very strong and still 7-8 minutes apart. Dr. Ortolano was not impressed – he said those contractions would not cause my labor to progress.
I was still hoping to avoid Pitocin, and the nurse had mentioned another medication we might try, so I was pretty disappointed and a bit upset when the nurse came back to the room wheeling in an IV. I actually freaked out a little – I guess I’d just heard all of these horror stories about Pitocin-induced labor that I was scared to go through it. Suddenly I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I don’t really know what all upset me – maybe it was just me being tired and overwrought, or that this just wasn’t going at all as I’d hoped it would, combined with doubting my own strength to get through it and fear that all of this would just lead me down a path of needing a Cesarean. The nurse came in and talked to us about Dr. O’s logic, which I understood on an intellectual basis, but I was crying by this time and couldn’t shake this sense of fear and disappointment. As I said, though, I understood intellectually, so we went ahead and started the IV. Our nurse, Shannon, assured us that they would start at the absolute minimum dose (2 mg?). Also, they were supposed to increase the dose every 30 minutes, but she said she’d leave it up to me – if I felt like I wanted to wait and see how things were going, they would wait. [Kristina: this was wonderful that the nurse recognized Lisa’s wishes and voiced that Lisa could make the call to increase the Pitocin on her own.]
Shortly after they hooked me up, Dr. Ortolano called to see “what he could do to make us happy”. He got on the phone with me and explained again what the nurse had already told us. He offered to try something different, but said that he felt like this was the best option at this point. I explained my fears the best I could, pointing out that someone (actually, his ultrasound technician) had told me that Pitocin-induced labors increased the chance of a Cesarean section by 25%. He said that absolutely wasn’t true, and that the longer I waited the greater my chances of a C-section, and that’s why he was trying to jump-start the process. He also reiterated what the nurse had said, that they would start me off at the lowest dose, and progress only with my permission. All of this helped to calm me a little.
Scott and I talked for a while, and then I asked him to put on an episode of “House” to take my mind off of it. Yeah – that lasted about 10 minutes, then the contractions started. Not overwhelming, but right off the bat they were only 2-3 minutes apart. After about 30 minutes, our nurse recommended upping the Pitocin to 4 mg (?), so we did, but that was the last time. [Kristina: This is a very low dose - it didn't take much!] We stayed at this dosage for about 2 hours, during which time my contractions got more and more painful and stayed between 1 and 3 minutes apart. I was doing a lot of deep breathing and moaning my way through the contractions. I tried different positions, but the contractions became so intense so fast that I couldn’t bring myself to walk or do anything too active. I guess Jack was still posterior, and I was having a lot of back pain. At some point, my cousin Melanie showed up. We’d spoken in the morning, and she was going to drive down from Spokane in the evening, but had decided not to wait. I think she showed up at about 2 pm, around the same time that Mom got off work and came up to our room.
By this time, I was in full-blown labor. Every contraction sent deep waves of pain through my lumbar spine. Melanie started providing counter-pressure, which helped A LOT, and ended up being one of the key techniques that got me through that day and night. By 2:30 pm, we still hadn’t upped the dosage of Pitocin, and my labor was continuing to progress steadily, so the nurse took me off the medication. The next few hours passed in a blur, changing position when I could, moaning and concentrating on keeping my breathing steady and regular, and feeling my loved ones touch me and talk me through it. At some point, I asked for some pain reliever to take the edge off – they gave me something called Ubaine (or something like that) [Kristina: Nubain – a narcotic in the IV]. I was so tired already, and my cervix was still only dilated maybe 3 or 4 cm, regardless of the strength and frequency of my contractions. I was afraid I’d never be able to last through the labor. The medication helped – it didn’t dull the pain, but enabled me to rest between contractions. Amazing stuff, actually.
At some point, I was sitting on the labor ball, visiting with everyone as best I could, and when I stood up my water broke – that was exciting! A sign of progress! After that, I got into the bathtub for awhile, which was really nice. All of these things – the back pressure, the bathtub, my family – helped a little, but I was still about at the end of my rope. I was actually weighing the pros and cons of an epidural in my head while I sat in the tub, and then 6 pm came, and the nursing shift changed. All thoughts of an epidural vanished when I met our new nurse, Becky. [Kristina: Becky’s a wonderful nurse and legendary ‘round these parts] Becky had been a Doula and a midwife prior to becoming a L&D nurse, and she just jumped right into a spiel about natural birth, how excited she was about us and patients like us, and what we were going to do to accomplish it. She also told us that she’d just gotten back from a month’s vacation, where she’d been delivering her son’s baby – an at-home water birth. She promised that, if I had this baby during her shift, she’d go get her photo album and show us pictures of the birth.
Dr. Ortolano later explained that he’d planned on teaming us up with Becky since our first meeting in his office, but that he’d been worried because our due date fell right in the middle of her vacation. Then, as things worked out, we ended up there on the last day of her first shift back at the hospital. She was assigned to us exclusively, and spent most of the next 12 hours in our room. She was great. She didn’t suggest medication or other medical interventions. She kept me changing positions as much as possible, and tried to keep me relaxed, until the contractions got so intense that all I could do was lay on my side. Then she coached me through them, rubbing me, holding my hand, and talking to me. At that point, it seemed like the pain never went away – between contractions, it just stayed in my back. This went on for hours.
Sometime in the wee Wednesday-morning hours, Becky checked me, and I was still only dilated 8 cm. I was in almost constant pain, despite everyone’s best efforts at making me comfortable. Mom, Scott and Melanie alternated putting pressure on my spine, holding my hand, and feeding me ice chips – for several hours, I’d been feeling so nauseous that even water seemed intolerable. They only left the room to refill the ice glass or get food for themselves. Becky recommended putting me back on Pitocin to speed up the contractions and finish dilating my cervix – the “cervix of steel”, as she called it. If I would have been capable of tears, I think I would have started crying. The idea of having my contractions come any closer together, when I already felt like they were on top of each other, was just more than I could bear. Bless Becky. Instead she gave me one more shot of pain meds – something different, whose name I can’t remember, but I remember she said it was very short-lived – it would stay in my system less than an hour, but might give my body enough of a rest between contractions to allow my cervix to finish dilating. And it worked; sort of…it got me to 9 cm. At that point, I think she’d had enough of my steel cervix – she started massaging it back and told me to push on my next contraction.
It couldn’t have taken more than 10 or 15 minutes of this, and she had me fully dilated. Like magic! And, oh, what a relief that was – to finally be DOING something, rather than just suffering through each contraction. Amazing! After that, I started pushing for real – that is, now I was pushing to get the baby out. I was so exhausted, I remember thinking there was no way I’d have the energy for this last part, especially if it lasted for hours like I knew it could. I wanted my pushing to be as effective as possible. I’d read about pushing “into the pain”, which I thought I understood. Becky coached me, and I finally found that spot. The feeling was both wonderful and terrible. When I pushed correctly, I could feel something inside me MOVE – not like a bowel movement, but like I was pushing out a part of my own body (which, in a way, I guess I was). It was wonderful because I knew it was right; I was doing what I was supposed to do. But, oh, it felt so WRONG at the same time.
I changed positions a couple of times – from lying on my side to kneeling over the back of the bed, and back to my side again when my knees gave out. My pushing must have been pretty effective, because after only a little over an hour, Jack was crowning and Dr. Ortolano was finally sent for. Honestly, I was beginning to wonder if nurse Becky was just going to deliver Jack without bothering with the doctor! Once Dr. O got settled in, with his equipment neatly and calmly arranged around him, then the real work began. He coached me along, bringing my hand down occasionally to feel Jack’s head – as encouragement, I’m sure, though it sort of freaked me out. His little head was so soft, and it was folded in the middle – it didn’t feel like there was anything resembling bone in there!
I was making good progress, but every time I stopped pushing, Jack would retreat back up the birth canal a ways. [Kristina: this is pretty normal actually – the head comes down, then retreats a little. It’s a little like “two steps forward, one step back” and is nature’s plan so we don’t tear too badly.] Some doctors might have broken out the forceps or the vacuum extractor at that point, just to make things go faster, but not Dr. Ortolano. [Kristina: Dr. Ortolano is very patient and does his best to let things go slowly to prevent tearing.] Instead, he told me that I was going to start following his instructions – instead of just pushing during my contractions, I was going to push when he told me and breathe when he told me. By not taking any breaks, we would try to keep Jack from retreating any more. I don’t know how long this went on – 10 or 15 minutes, maybe – before I finally gave one huge push and Jack’s head slid out…at which point the doctor told me to stop! Oh, God, that was really hard, and painful! But, I looked down, and there was his little head – what a strange and amazing sight! Once Dr. O finished suctioning out his mouth and nose, he had me push the shoulders out. Then he said “Lisa, look down here”. When I looked, he said, “Now, Lisa, reach down and pull him up. Pull hard!” I put my hands under his tiny little arms and hauled him up onto my chest. He sort of cooed, and snorted, then lay quiet on my chest. Then the nurses started drying him off and he began howling – he didn’t like that at all!
I was overcome with pride and joy as I looked at this perfect little person lying on my chest. And, even though I’d just pulled him out of me, even though we were still attached by his umbilical cord, I could hardly believe this was the child I’d been growing and feeling inside me for the last 9 months. Mom and Melanie were taking pictures, I think, but Scott and I were just staring at him in awe for a long time. Dr. Ortolano stitched me up and had me push the placenta out (which we all admired and got pictures of – what a cool and incredible organ!), Scott cut the cord, Becky ran out to bring back her photo album and show us pictures of her granddaughter’s birth. Then there were hugs all around, and everyone left, and then it was just us three – our new little family – all alone in our birthing suite. It was amazing. We had about 3 hours to ourselves before anyone came it, and it was lovely. Jack stayed awake most of that time – first on my chest, then on Scott’s. When the nurse finally came in, she just checked Jack’s vitals, and mine, then helped us start breastfeeding (which Jack took to right away) and left again. Eventually, she came back and helped me to the bathroom, and weighed and measured Jack. Much later, another nurse came and gave him his first bath – with cold water! Poor guy. He didn’t like that much. Then, visitors started coming – Mom and Grammy, Melanie, my Dad, some people from work – and time started passing again.
And, I guess that’s the end of Jack’s birth story. I realize now, reading through it, that I speak a lot about the pain. I suppose that’s because I was inundated by it throughout my labor, and it was difficult to concentrate on anything else happening around me. But, there are a few things that stick in my mind. Scott’s face is one – always there, whenever I looked for it – and the pressure of his hand in mine. I know for a fact that he only left my room one time, to eat dinner out in the hallway so that the smell wouldn’t nauseate me. The pressure of a hand on my back is another – for much of my labor, that hand belonged to Melanie, bless her heart. But I know that my mom and Scott also took their turns. Melanie’s voice is another clear memory – a litany of encouragement and reassurance that followed each and every contraction like clockwork. My mom was another constant, feeding me ice chips, offering encouragement with both touch and words. What a team! Between the three of them, and Becky, our wonderful nurse, they got me through one of the hardest trials I have ever endured. And we were rewarded with an incredible prize at the end. This was truly the proudest accomplishment of my life.
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Alaina’s Birth Story
Parents: Deanne and Justin
Kennewick General Hospital
Attended by: Dr. Brooks and nurses. Not the plan – both her midwife (Rebekah Pierson), and her doula, (Amanda Booth), understandably didn’t quite make it!
Kristina’s role: childbirth educator
The day started out like most of the other days leading up to it. I had already given my Dad a hard time for “cursing” me. He really wanted me to have the baby in September, rather than August because we have so many birthdays and anniversaries already in August. Justin was at work and I stayed home with Dean and Joyce. They were helping can peaches that day. I guess they weren’t really “helping”, they were doing all of it and I sort of watched and asked questions here and there. I made a nectarine pie earlier in the day and was really looking forward to eating it after dinner. I felt pretty low key the whole day. I was trying to remain relaxed and patient as we waited for the baby to come. I was feeling somewhat restless though, and I was able to get some dusting done. Just after 6pm, I decided to go lay down on the bed for a little while. As I was laying there, I started to have some contractions, but they didn’t seem to be a big deal and weren’t painful. I had been having contractions like this on and off for several days now and decided not to get too excited about it. Besides, they didn’t last or progress, so no big deal.
Justin worked late that night and I was still resting when he got home. My mother in law made dinner and I came out to eat around 8pm or so. After dinner, I completely indulged in some nectarine pie and vanilla ice cream, probably having a little more than I should.
Sarah had done some acupressure on my ankles earlier in the evening and she was encouraging Justin and I to take another walk after dinner. We left the house around 9pm and as we were leaving, Katelyn came running out crying. She wanted to come on the walk too and it just about broke my heart seeing her upset and running to us. She was probably wondering what we were doing and why she was being left out this time. We like to go on walks as a family.
We didn’t go on a very long walk, but we found one small hill to go up. Katelyn got tired after walking up the hill and wanted Justin to carry her back. She fell asleep on his shoulder-it was really sweet. On the way back to the house Justin said to me, “you know, this might be the last walk we take as just a family of three.”
We got Katelyn to bed and decided we would try a few more “at home” induction techniques. I hardly had a chance to fall asleep when I felt my first contraction. I looked at the clock and it said 11:11pm. It was a fairly strong contraction, so I decided to pay attention and see what would happen. About 9 minutes later, I had another one. These were a lot stronger and more painful than the contractions I had previously been having and I wasn’t able to try and sleep through them. I decided to change into my “labor clothes” (just a tank top and a pair of Justin’s athletic shorts), managed to put some fresh deodorant on and just started walking around trying to breathe through the contractions. I started writing them down as they came. Here is what it looked like:
Contraction:
11:11pm
(9 min)
11:20pm
(6 min)
11:26pm
(5 min)
11:31pm
(4 min)
11:35pm
(contraction while on the toilet)
11:41pm
(3 min)
11:44pm
(2 min)
11:46pm
I Stopped keeping track after that.
I could not believe how strong the contractions were. I called Amanda, my Doula at 11:52pm to let her know I was in labor. I told her I was going to try and stay at home for a while and she told me she’d be here in an hour. I really didn’t want to wake Justin up because he had been up since 4 am and had just barely gone to bed. I did go in and tell him that it was happening though. However, he has no recollection of that. I figured I could let him sleep for a while since things had just started and Amanda and Sarah could help me for the time being. After I called Amanda, I went down to tell Sarah that things had started and she came out to help me. I had been trying to use the breathing techniques I had been practicing, but it wasn’t working very well. I tried to think of the things I had learned in birth class. I pictured the Labyrinth. I tried to focus on the things I had chosen to use as focal points. Not much seemed to be helping. I could not sit still. I had to keep walking or rocking, it was the only thing that helped me get through each contraction. [Kristina: on birth day, most mothers very quickly gravitate to one or two things that actually help them that they learned in class or was purely instinctual, and for DeAnne, the movement was it! She sounds like she was coping very well for such a fast labor, which usually are more intense.] I tried to sit on the birth ball, but it was really uncomfortable. The contractions were getting more and more intense very quickly and I started thinking to myself that there was no way I was going to make it several more hours like this without any pain medication.
I started to feel sick to my stomach and went in the bathroom. I had pooped about three times already, which I was happy about because I really don’t like to do it while I am pushing. I threw up big time. That nectarine pie wasn’t so good the second time around. Sarah came to check on me and I told her to go get Justin up. He came down to see if he could help and turned the bathroom fan on right away. He asked if I was ok and I told him, “no! we need to go!” I asked him to bring me the phone so I could call my mom and then he went upstairs to get our bag and get some clothes on. (In retrospect, I should have called Amanda again to tell her we were going to the hospital, as well as my Midwife). [Kristina: DeAnne shouldn't worry about this...she had just a few things on her mind!] My mom answered and sounded like she didn’t know who I was, which admittedly, kind of annoyed me at the time. Like who else would be calling in the middle of the night. I couldn’t talk because another contraction was coming on and I put the phone down and told Sarah to “tell her”. Apparently my mom didn’t hear me say, “hold on” and they got disconnected (I think). Eventually she got the message. It was about 12:15am when I called her. Justin was about ready and got the car started. Sarah was trying to get Audrey’s things together to take her out to my mother in law in the trailer. I remember saying to Justin, “screw the birth plan.” (When I said that, I really had no idea that I was already in the transition stage. Had I known that, I would not have said that.) I had to go to the bathroom again and went upstairs. I was having another major contraction and suddenly I felt my body bearing down. I think I was in shock and I called for Sarah and told her, “I think I’m pushing, I think I’m pushing! We have to go, we have to go now!” I tried to breathe. I wiped off and saw some thick blood. I grabbed a towel and headed out to the car. The cool night air felt so good to me. I threw the towel on the seat and got in the car. Justin was close behind and I started having more contractions along with the urge to push. I became very vocal at this point. I think I may have howled as we backed out of the driveway and went over some bumps. I was so thankful that Justin wasn’t poking along. Things got crazy at this point. With every contraction, my body was pushing. I felt my water break in the car. I absolutely felt zero control over what was happening. I was yelling and screaming and telling Justin, “I’m pushing, I’m pushing!” I heard him hit the gas pedal. Luckily under normal circumstances, the hospital is only about 10 minutes away. I believe the clock in the car said 12:26am when we left the house. Justin remained very calm, but drove fast. I seriously was howling and hollering and screaming with each contraction. I could not believe what was happening. I was trying to breathe fast and keep my chin up like I remembered hearing you were supposed to do if you were trying not to push. Nothing was working though. It was a force stronger than I could reckon with. I kept screaming, telling Justin, “hurry! I’m pushing, I’m pushing! She’s going to come out, she’s gonna come out!” The pressure was unbelievable. Part of my fear or distress at this point, was not knowing whether or not my body was even ready to be pushing a baby out. I was worried I wasn’t dilated enough and having never experienced this sensation without an epidural, it certainly did not feel like a baby could possibly fit through that opening.
Justin got on the phone and called 911 to let them know what was going on. I swear they were asking a million questions and I was getting a little annoyed. Couldn’t they hear me screaming in the background. We were a few blocks from the hospital and I was very worried that this baby was going to come out in the car. Justin was great. He was holding my hand and saying, “don’t push, don’t push, you’re doing great!” I felt slightly hysterical at this point. I yelled some more. “She’s coming out, I can feel the burning, I can feel the burning!” I became even more worried at this point when the burning sensation started because I had heard that described as the “ring of fire” as the baby’s head is coming out. There truly was a moment that I wondered if I was going to be catching her in the car. (By the way, it burned, so to speak, but I would not say it was a ring of fire.) They were waiting for us at the ER entrance with a bed. They tried to help me out, but I could hardly move. I managed to get on the bed and continued howling and yelling the whole time. I lost a shoe getting on the bed. I remember saying, “help me, help me! She’s coming out, she’s coming out!” They ran me down the hallways (luckily it is a smaller hospital), and I was yelling the whole time, like a mad woman. I saw one woman come out into the doorway of one room to see the commotion. I could not help myself. I was telling the medical staff, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I never thought I’d behave this way.” I felt embarrassed because I am normally a pretty quiet person. It was almost like an out of body type experience. On the way into the room, I said, “can I get a shot of something?” I was mostly thinking for my crotch. You know, maybe a little local anesthetic. I don’t think anyone heard me or answered me. [Kristina: they probably did hear you but just knew there was no time and they were concentrating on doing all they needed to do!] They managed to get me onto the delivery bed, take my pants off etc. My body just felt rigid. I was grabbing the bed rails with all my might. At some point Justin made it into the room. He tried getting me to grab his hands, but I wanted to hold the bed rails. He was cute. I remember him asking if I wanted the music. HA! I declined. The staff was telling me to bend my legs and don’t be scared. One of the nurses only managed to get one glove on and another one’s glove was all crooked and had some fingers in the wrongs spots and some fingers not in any spots. I got my legs back and my body kept pushing. It felt like the baby was coming out of my crotch and a huge turd was coming out of my butt. It hurt. I felt more burning and pressure, but there was nothing I could do. There was not one push during the entire process that was of my own will or choice. I could not believe what I was feeling. Her head came out and I felt some relief, then some more burning and her body was out, then more relief. Alaina was born at 12:40 am. She was delivered by Dr. Brooks. We barely made it into the hospital room and it was the most horrifying, intense, exciting, exhilarating, coolest, most amazing experience that has ever happened to me. I got the natural birth I was hoping for, just not nearly in the way I had imagined. So much for all that practicing. I felt so bad for Sarah and Amanda, who along with my midwife, missed the birth. But it was incredible. Total scene out a movie, type birth story. All of it true. We have a beautiful, healthy girl and I am so happy with the birth experience I was able to have. I may not have gotten to do all the things I had hoped for, but the preparation and education I had done ahead of time all made it possible for me to not only cope, but cope very well, if I do say so myself – through a very fast and intense labor and delivery. I would do it all over again in a second!
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Mikos’s Birth Story
Parents: Katie and Cliff
Kadlec Medical Center
Attended by: Dr. Mulholland, nurses, and me
Kristina’s role: birth doula
Clifford and I were very excited to start our family, we were newlyweds and we both always wanted to be parents. Getting pregnant with our son was a little earlier than we would have planned ideally, but that’s life! [Kristina: Katie was technically a teen mom, but quite wise for her years.] We were pleasantly surprised and couldn’t wait to hold our first son!
It was our second pregnancy. I had miscarried before, and was pretty traumatized by it, but after the first trimester those fears of it reoccurring were scarce. I gained weight like crazy!!
I was underweight when we conceived, and gained over 70 pounds by the time he was born. That also was not expected, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Kristina helped to put a lot of the spirituality back into childbirth for me. It was an intimate and sacred experience, and the very clinical side of prenatal education (which I did not receive primarily through my doula) [Kristina: doulas actually don’t do any of the clinical/medical stuff] took away from that somewhat. My doula really helped for me to get back in touch with the miracle of being pregnant, not just the condition. I had a lot of sciatic nerve pain, my whole leg would go numb, and it was very painful. Also heartburn like crazy!! Almost two weeks before baby day I started pre-labor. The “They are ONLY braxton hicks” attitude of many labor/delivery nurses was nowhere present in her, which was refreshing. [Kristina: all contractions are doing SOMETHING to prepare your body for labor – I don’t use the term “false labor”.] I was dilated to a centimeter, 10% effaced, baby heads down and ready to go, for two weeks. Twice I went in to the hospital after my membranes being stripped, hours of timing contractions, walking, and trying every other suggestion I had heard from doctors to get labor going. Contractions less than two minutes apart, me with tears streaming down my face, and still no cervical change! It was terrible! Kristina helped a great deal in that process which I decided was the worst: WAITING!!
Finally, after nearly two weeks of anguish, I was induced. They broke my water and baby really got to work! But in the midst of all this, toe nail painting. ha ha ha! I had not even been able to SEE my toes in months, none the less have them pampered, It was great! [Kristina: I often paint the toes of the women who do opt for an epidural.] I tried a bath first, because I wanted the soothing water before my epidural, but I couldn’t stay warm. The whole process had me shivering and uncomfortable, and I couldn’t have any lit candles or anything, so I abandoned what I had envisioned as this relaxing romantic soak for good old fashioned pharmaceuticals!! [Kristina: Katie’s plan had always included an epidural at some point when we had talked prenatally.] I had an epidural at 4 centimeters, which to me seemed to happen a lot quicker than I expected. [Kristina: She was in pretty good, hard labor. I was very proud of her. I actually remember it being five…] When the epidural had kicked in (and we learned about the button finally!!) I relaxed while Kristina diligently rubbed my back lightly. The relaxing, calming hypnotic effect I thought the bath would have I finally got, and she really hung in there rubbing me for a long time!! I had the urge to push early, but it sure wasn’t time yet. While my husband layed on the sofa, Kristina in her chair, and me in the bed, we waited. I didn’t tell you this, but the urge to push became so strong after a while I couldn’t help it, I started secretly pushing. I didn’t want to say anything because I was tired and didn’t want to make a fuss just so a nurse could tell me it’s not time yet again, so I just pushed quietly. I couldn’t have stopped if I tried. [Kristina: I had no idea Katie! You were so quiet! Good for you though! Mikos got to labor down quite a bit before the actual pushing began, so you probably really shortening the pushing part of labor.] When the nurse came in shortly there after and said I was fully dilated I was like “That’s a relief!” All in all the active labor was between 6-7 hours, from when they broke my water to when little Mikos finally made it into the world.
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If you had me as a birth doula or childbirth educator and would like to share your birth story and/or photos, email me! I’d love to include your story.