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.

The Birth of Clara Brown 5/11/20