Ada Roan changed her parents’ world forever when she arrived on July 1. You see, they didn’t know whether she was a girl or a boy, so when she came barreling into the world, promoting her brother to BIG brother, her parents were thrilled. But let’s backtrack a bit to the beginning. Elisa and Trae were repeat clients of mine so they reached out very early in the pregnancy. They also secured a place in my refresher class to brush up on labor and birth and to dedicate some special time in preparation for this little one. There was a long drive this time, just like the first time, but Elisa was comfortable with laboring at home until she was certain things had kicked it up a notch. She sent me a text around 8:00 am on June 30 to tell me she thought something was happening. It was early, if it was even labor, and she was trying to rest. She continued to have contractions through most of the day without progression, and finally managed to take a nap and wake to virtually no contractions. But that evening they had returned, although still mild. I counseled her to minimize and not update unless she had to stop what she was doing to cope and so Elisa tried that.

Then at 1:33 am, Elisa reached out to tell me although she had some outliers, her contractions had become quite strong and she was calling her midwives. They were still just 5-10 minutes apart, so not terribly close. However, with an hour’s drive ahead of them, a call to them midwife confirmed it was go time. And over the course of that drive the contractions intensified to 3 minutes apart and very strong. Trae had called in a favor to the bridge tunnel and had an escort insure their safe and very swift passage. It was a record-breaking trip across the tunnel for Trae, that’s for sure. Elisa was greeted by her midwife and confirmed 7 cm dilated soon after setting foot in her room. She was admitted, baby was monitored, and she labored on through the required initial 20-30 minutes.

But a funny thing happened as Elisa labored on her side. Holding Trae’s hand and breathing through very strong contractions, she began to involuntarily push! Trae recognized the sounds and knew what was coming. Later the midwife would commend him on his keen ear for labor. Elisa’s water broke with a splash 10 minutes later at 3:48, and she was pushing unrestrained with the next contraction. Elisa rode the powerful waves of her contractions in that bed with such strength and control. She didn’t push long, and in her endearingly comical way, she managed to shriek, “Holy ring of fire,” right as her baby was coming out. At 4:03 am her sweet baby was born and Trae announced, “It’s a girl!” And their sweet Ada was born in the OP position, looking right up at the ceiling, which in hindsight explained a lot about the on and off contractions. But it was also an unintended protection against giving birth at home or on the way! Elisa snuggled her sweet girl and had her latched easily and recounted the crazy ride of her birth (and the crazy ride to her birth!). Ada weighed 7 lb. 4 oz. and measured 20 in. long, weighing over a pound less than her big brother. Elisa was grateful for that small mercy. And I, for one, am grateful to have been there to serve you and to witness your strength once again as you crossed the threshold to motherhood after a very surprising (one again) labor. And I am once again grateful to the providers and staff of Sentara Leigh Hospital for recognizing doulas as an essential part of the birth team and no longer restricting their access to in person birth attendance.

The Birth of Ada Roan 7/1/20