Hannah and Nick welcomed their second daughter on December 25, 2021! She was absolutely the best Christmas gift they ever received, but she made them work for it. Hannah and Nick took my 7-week Birth Essentials childbirth series to prepare. Who says once you’ve had a baby you don’t need to take a class? Plus, it was a nice opportunity for them to carve aside some intentional time preparing for their second birth. That can be a challenge with a toddler to take care of.

Photo credit: Kristin Watkins Photography

Hannah’s first birth began with an induction for high blood pressure, so she was hoping to avoid the induction process this time around. She sought out midwives for her prenatal care and birth, knowing their model was more fitting for the birth experience she desired. But even though she took the class and had previously giving birth, she still found herself confused as to when labor might be starting. She noticed increased mucus discharge, but the nothing. Then a few days later she texted that she was 99% sure her water had broken. Surely this was it! She tried to rest overnight, but we expected her body would respond with contractions. When it didn’t contract with consistency and then flat out stopped, she went in to see her midwife as instructed. And it turned out her water had not broken significantly enough to warrant going to the hospital. The plan was to wait and see and to minimize anything that didn’t stop her in her tracks. Surely her body was very close to labor.

Later that evening on December 24, Nick texted to tell me Hannah’s contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and consistently lasting longer than a minute. She had also thrown up so surely this was it! It was late at night, but Hannah was past the point of sleep, since her contractions required all of her focus. She got in the shower and within 45 minutes they had moved to less than 5 minutes apart consistently. They called the midwife and she told them to head to the hospital.

We met there around 2:00 am and Hannah was shown directly to a room for which we were thankful. (No triage!) She was dilated 4 cm, 80% effaced, and her baby’s head was at -1 station. This was a big change from her previous appointment so it was a great validation. Hannah’s body shook in response to the hormones of her labor and the pain became so intense she struggled to cope. Hannah chose to get an epidural and within the hour she was comfortable and had the option to sleep.

Soon after the epidural an exam showed Hannah to be dilated to 6 cm, 80% effaced, and her baby’s head at 0 station. These were big changes in just over an hour. With contractions coming just 2 minutes apart, all signs were pointing to a baby soon! Then again, what do we know?

We had Hannah in a variety of positions and made good use of the peanut ball. Her midwife came in about 30 minutes later and Hannah was dilated to 7 cm. Hannah tried to rest at this point since she really hadn’t yet, but she had persistent pain on her left that made rest elusive. She tried to keep her head in a positive place though, knowing she still had much relief.

Two hours later, Hannah was dilated 8.5 cm. We moved the bed into the throne position to use gravity to our advantage. We were careful only to have Hannah upright for 30 minutes so prevent her epidural from migrating down to her feet from her belly. She returned to the reclined position until 30 minutes later when one of her doctors paid a visit. Hannah was ready to have her water broken and was glad the doctor stopped by! It was broken at 7:25 am, and with just a lip of cervix, the doctor asked Hannah to give a push to see if it slipped past the head. It didn’t, so she labored down another 30 minutes.

Her nurse encouraged Hannah to do a practice push at 8:00 and then again at 8:20, which finally revealed the cervix was gone! Since it had taken so long to dilate to complete, we suspected her baby was OP. We helped Hannah roll over to her hands and knees where she began pushing. Then she pushed on her right side, and then we assisted her into the flying cowgirl position, putting the peanut ball between her legs, while pointing her feet inward behind her. Then we switched it up at 9:00, encouraging the internal rotation of her femur by putting the peanut ball between her ankles and calves.

And that might have been what finally did it because at 9:10 am Hannah moved her baby from +1 to +2! We could already see her baby’s dark hair and when we told Hannah this she choked back some tears. She pushed on her right side with great effort, and we placed a cold cloth on her neck. And right at 9:30 her midwife joined us and quickly suited up for delivery. Hannah felt a lot more pressure with each contraction and as her baby’s head began to crown, she reached down to feel with her own hands. I love when moms do this!

The midwife pulled the delivery cart up to the side of the bed 5 minutes later as Hannah continued to push with all her strength. And then we saw the head, emerging with the cord loosely wrapped. The next push revealed the culprit that delayed the process—there was a hand by the chin! Eden Elizabeth was born at 9:46 am on Christmas Day! She was the best Christmas gift ever, weighing in at a perfect 7 lb. 12 oz.

Hannah held her sweet baby so tightly, it was as if she’d never let go. She cried and was so grateful to have her daughter in her arms. Nick was steadfast support the whole way through, always right beside Hannah believing in her, trusting her, and most of all loving her.

Hannah’s midwife gushed over her beautiful placenta and gave her a tour of the vibrant home she had grown for her baby. Sweet Eden was born a bit juicy, so she took a stop at the warmer, and then a trip to the nursery. But she was back within the hour.

I was so honored to stand beside Hannah as she labored. She did all the prep work and when labor was more challenging than expected, she rolled with it and maintained a positive attitude. She was surrounded in support and when she met her baby, we were there to celebrate with her. I grabbed my things up a little while later since there was another client whose baby wanted to be born on Christmas. It’s worth noting that Hannah tried to send me away to the other client sooner, but I knew she was in the capable hands of my backup doula. It takes a village for all of us sometimes.

The Birth of Eden Elizabeth 12/25/21