Jennifer and Steven welcomed their third child, Grayson Anthony, on August 3! This was also my third time as their doula, and it is no secret how I love the richness of the relationships cultivated with my clients over subsequent pregnancies and births. Jennifer’s cervix gradually opened in the weeks before her due date, its familiar rhythm playing out. After all, Jennifer had always birthed her babies early. We were in touch a few days before, as she was feeling some cramps and sensations she wanted to talk through. Having babies previously doesn’t necessarily mean you know what to expect for each individual baby. But she trusted she would know when it was truly labor. And it turned out that she would have a definitive sign.

Then I got a text at 11:09 pm on August 2, just a couple days later. Jennifer’s water had broken! That settled it. Her baby would be coming soon. She went in shortly after since there were required antibiotics. But the silver lining was that they would save her from laboring actively in the car. She would just be a bit wet. Jennifer and Steven arrived within the hour and got settled in their hospital room. She was dilated 4 cm and 80% effaced, a very good starting place. Needless to say, with regular contractions already, albeit short ones, I left for the hospital. Third babies can be somewhat unpredictable. Who am I kidding? Really, all babies can keep us guessing.

I entered the room a short time later to find Jennifer’s contractions pounding out steadily every 3 minutes. She was sitting on the bed like a small buddha, inhaling and exhaling deeply with each contraction, then opening her eyes to rejoin the room in between. Her hair was tied back in a mom bun, for she knew the hard work that lay ahead. Her midwife was in the room with no plans to leave or stray very far. Jennifer rolled forward to labor over the birth ball as I found some piano music to play in the background. And by 3:00 am Jennifer was requesting earnestly that Steven stay close. Her contractions were washing over her and it took more effort for her to come up for air. She desired our hands nearby to hold or at least to touch her so she felt grounded and connected. Her quiet exhales had moved to sighs and at 3:26 am she was dilated to 6 cm.

 Jennifer followed her body as it pulled her deeper into labor. Her sounds shifted along with her demeanor and she progressed quickly before our eyes: 8 cm at 3:39 and then fully dilated by 3:44 am! The midwife edged closer pulling the delivery cart within arm’s reach. Pushing out her baby took more effort than expected as Jennifer clung to Steven’s hands over the ball. And when Grayson emerged it was clear why! He was born with his hand by his head! But because Jennifer was so controlled as she followed her body’s instinct to push there were no tears. Grayson arrived at 4:01 am to the awe and wonder of his adoring parents. Jennifer cried happy and relieved tears as she looked down upon her sweet baby, catching her breath as we all waited for her the pronouncement of gender. Jennifer found her way back down upon the bed cradling Grayson all the while. “You did a great job,” was all her midwife said as she stood by. The rest was left in our minds and hearts as we marveled at the beautiful birth we had just witnessed. And as if to seal the end up like a bow, Grayson was latched to his mother’s breast by 4:22! Oh, and he was born on his mom’s birthday. (At least labor was over before the sunrise on her special day!)

This sweet family is so special to me and every birth journey with them unique. Once again Jennifer showed the perfect balance of control and letting go as the waves grew higher and stronger around her and within her. But she never allowed them to carry her off to sea. They simply returned her to shore, babe in arms. Congratulations again!

Grayson today

Keely and David became parents on May 11, right in the midst of the COVID pandemic. They were students in my 8-week BirthWorks class, which finished up right as the world was thrown into a tailspin. Hospitals restricted support persons to one, and there were masks and social distancing all over the place. Keely and David rolled with it, and kept a positive outlook knowing that a new baby would give a wonderful perspective and bright light to focus on in the midst of such uncertainty and worry. Keely managed to see her due date come and go and waited over a week beyond before her labor began. With an induction scheduled for less than a week away, the clock was ticking.  Keely felt bouts of contractions the night leading up to the induction, but she managed to stay pregnant. She and David reported to the hospital and powwowed with the midwife to put together a game plan. Keely was 2-3 cm dilated at the start so the plan was to use a balloon with low dose Pitocin overnight. However, soon after the balloon was in place, contractions picked up. There would be no need for Pitocin after all.

Keely got some medication to aid in relaxation and sleep and they allowed for some sleep off and on for an hour. Then her water broke! Within an hour of her water breaking, she was dilated 6-7 cm. It was just 12:47 am! Keely was hoping to get some more sleep but her baby had other plans. (Don’t they always?) She labored on her hands and knees quite a lot for it seemed to make her contractions the most tolerable. But it was likely also the reason her labor sped along so quickly! There was talk of laboring in the shower, and she even had the wireless monitor ready to go, but things moved too quickly for that. Keely remained in that position on the bed and focused on breathing deeply in her nose and out her mouth, with David beside her every step of the way. 

Baby’s heart rate dipped, most likely due to the rapid progress of her labor, but Keely continued to breathe with her contractions until her body was led to push. And she pushed well! Connected by Facetime, Keely’s birth team, doula included, encouraged her and cheered her on. Keely was dilated 9 cm by 3:51 am and was pushing full force shortly after that. A forebag was broken by the midwife and in Keely’s words, “then Clara flew out!” Keely welcomed her daughter, Clara Brown, into the world at 4:16 am. “We’re tough! We did it! We can watch the sunrise together.” Such sweet words spoken to this baby girl in her first moments. Clara’s birth was a beautiful reminder of the power of a woman, the love of a mother, and that even in the midst of a pandemic, life goes on. Babies are born. And thank goodness for that. Clara was welcomed with such love and her parents exhaled their relief and expressed their thankfulness at the tremendous gift of her birth. I loved getting to know this couple as we journeyed together, and even though hospital restrictions left us connected virtually at the time of the birth, my heart was with them as sure as if I had been in that same room. Congratulations on the arrival of your precious gift, a profound reminder that the world will go on.

Christina and Sam welcomed their son, Sean Elliot, on April 19! They were students in my 8-week BirthWorks class as well. Christina’s labor was a lesson in the unpredictable nature of birth. It was confusing from start to finish. I got a text from Christina around 6:20 pm on April 18 telling me there was a good chance her water broke. With leaking here and there, after many hours had passed, she went in to the hospital as advised by her midwife, just to confirm that her water had indeed broken. And yes, it had, although she was not yet having contractions. Her cervix was 3 cm dilated, 75% effaced and her baby was at -2 station. She returned home to try and rest with the plan to call at 6:30 am with an update.

At 4:45 am, they had an update. Christina was contracting and they seemed closer than 5 minutes when Sam tried to time them. She had labored in the shower for an hour and was feeling significant back pain with contractions. Sam did counter pressure and encouraged Christina to labor in forward leaning positions. Her labor was intensifying and Sam recognized the change in Christina’s demeanor as her labor required more of her focus. She returned to the shower to labor and when she emerged it was time for me to come. 

When I joined Christina she appeared to be laboring very actively. She was feeling discomfort in one hip, which had me wonder if her baby was still a bit malpositioned. Christina labored on her hands and knees over a pile of pillows, side-lying, standing by the bed, all as her contractions grew stronger and stronger. She cried out at the peaks which had us suspecting it was nearing time to head back to the hospital. One more trip to the shower to labor, and then it was time to make the trek. 

When Christina arrived at the hospital around 8:00 that morning and was triaged, she was dilated a surprising 3 cm. She had not opened significantly from her previous check nearly 10 hours earlier. She was effaced to 90% though and her baby had moved down to -1 or 0 station. The unremarkable change in dilation was a shock to all of us. However, a tidbit was confirmed with the exam that shed some light on her lack of progress: her baby was in the OP position. There was still some work to be done. But Christina had been up most of the night with contractions that were closer than 5 minutes apart for much of that and she was tired. She opted for some iv pain medication in the hopes it would help her to relax and maybe get some rest. 

Things changed incredibly quickly after that because by 11:15 am Christina was dilated 9 cm! (Remember, she was only 3 cm dilated 3 hours earlier!) Things progressed so quickly once she relaxed! And when she rolled over to her hands and knees, her baby made his final rotation and was born OA! And you know when he was born?? Sean came barreling into the world at 11:34 am after hardly any pushing! He weighed 7 lb. 4 oz. and measured 20 in. long. He changed his parents’ lives in that moment, and proved that every bit of it was worth it. Christina was a warrior through an especially unpredictable labor. She followed the cues of her body and trusted that her decisions were always the best ones. You truly rolled with it and you did so during a pandemic. Congratulations to you both! You should be so proud.

Sean Elliot today!

Erin and David welcomed their second child, a son this time, on April 5! Erin like many of my clients, has the distinction of giving birth during the Pandemic, with hospital restrictions that relegated my support to virtual. Funny thing, I was her in-person doula with the birth of her first, so we were curious how this virtual-doula thing would pan out. We had our prenatal visit and remained in steady communication prior to labor. Erin’s body made gradual changes that had her midwives telling her weekly, “Today could be the day.” But still, she had bouts of contractions that had her thinking it might be labor, only to fizzle out with a bath. They had a rather hefty commute to contend with in addition to securing care for their toddler, so the logistics of when to leave were complicated.

Then late on Sunday, April 5, I got a text from Erin that was different. It was nearly 10:00 pm (that was different!), and she was really having to breathe through her contractions that were felt down low. They were far apart at 10 minutes, but they had Erin stopping in her tracks and that was something. Well, just 30 minutes later, Erin’s contractions had moved to 5 minutes and then closer, and much stronger and longer. David was talking Erin through each one, reminding her to drop her shoulders and take deep breaths. I could hear him on the other end of the phone. Needless to say, they were packing up and heading out. They arrived at the room at 11:00 that night, and began the admissions process. The midwife came in to assess a short time later and determined that Erin was dilated 6-7 cm with a bulging bag. She felt so much pressure, almost like she was pushing. I reminded her that the bulging bag would make her feel that way and to blow through it as her body finished dilation. A cold cloth on her neck offered a little bit of relief, but her labor was racing on full speed. Erin’s water broke at 11:32 pm and she was fully dilated that instant. Her contractions immediately moved to pushing contractions as she roared her baby to crowning in moments. David was such wonderful support to Erin, looking into her face and supporting her neck through the past part of the birth. When labor moves that rapidly it can be difficult to get a handle on it, but David was definitely Erin’s touchstone. Their baby’s head was crowning by 11:40 and at 11:46 pm Scott Bearach was born!

“Sweet boy,” said Erin, as Scott struggled to open his eyes for the first time in a bright room. His cry was strong and we could tell he was on the chunky side. Erin did an incredible job in the midst of a tornadic labor! She was in active labor less than 2 hours! After things settled down and they had their magic hour with their son, the moment of truth came to learn exactly how big Scott was. He weighed in at 8 lb. 12.8 oz. and measured 20.5 in. long. He was definitely a sturdy baby! Congratulations again, on giving birth with such courage and strength during such an uncertain and crazy time. It was an honor to be present, and to have David be such an excellent hands-on partner. You both rocked it and I am so proud of you!