Anelisa and AJ are parents! They welcomed their son, Layton Grey on 10-10-20, a really neat sequence of digits for a birthday, don’t you think? They also happened to be students in my summer 8-week BirthWorks series. Anelisa felt contractions off and on and practiced discipline in minimizing and ignoring them, although she was still quite excited and ready to meet her baby. Her cervix did some preparing ahead of time, dilated to 2 cm at her 38-week appointment, and she left that day wondering if she would make it to her next appointment. Well, although she had an eventful week of contractions and suspected water leaking, she left her 39-week appointment dilated 2.5 cm and 80% effaced. Her doctor predicted the baby would come in the next couple of days but I always hesitant to jump on board with such predictions as they often leave expectant moms frustrated and disappointed when they aren’t true. But Anelisa maintained a laidback attitude and knew her baby would come at his right time. And it just so happened that her doctor was right…

About 24 hours later, on Oct. 10 she sent a text telling me she was having regular contractions at the 7-minute interval, not quite a minute long. She put in a few hours at work that morning, and with the opportunity to really tune in to her body, she had a strong inkling it was the real deal. And 2 hours later, at 4:30 pm, Anelisa and AJ were ready for me to head to their home for labor support! I arrived to find Anelisa draped over the birth ball breathing calmly through contractions. She was chatting in between and handling things well. She was definitely laboring. And over the course of those two hours together in their home, Anelisa’s demeanor changed from a chipper chatty one, to a concerned and serious one. With strong contractions every 3 minutes, lasting about 70 seconds, we were out the door and at the hospital by 8:00 pm. And Anelisa was dilated 5 cm and so relieved to know she had made good change! Once in her room, her thoughts moved towards an epidural. “I’m pretty sure that’s what I want.” She continued to breathe calmly through contractions that were demanding more of her than they did at home. And trying to labor on the monitor in bed can make the idea of an unmedicated birth seem much harder to execute. Her nurse made a call, but the CRNA was not available right away so the shower became the plan. We were also aware of Anelisa’s goal of an unmedicated labor and knew the shower would be a good place to continue her progress.

An hour in the shower was magic! Anelisa worked harder but felt relief from the warm water. And as she relaxed, she vocalized louder and deeper, expressing in her voice the changes happening within. She felt increased pressure and then we heard a splash (while she was in the shower, mind you)! Anelisa’s water had broken and the pressure that followed was a whole different level. She soon got out of the shower and was dilated 8 cm. She labored on her side and hands and knees, positions she moved into instinctively, and was fully dilated just 20 minutes later. The doctor was immensely supportive, allowing Anelisa to push in positions that felt best, with no counting or directing. And after just 30 minutes of pushing, she welcomed her son at 10:54 pm. Layton Grey weighed 7 lb. 11.2 oz. and was 20 in. long and had a full head of brown hair. The love overflowed as Anelisa and AJ looked with wonder into their son’s eyes and took in his features. They had done it! And they had done it so well. Anelisa didn’t get drawn into her labor too soon, conserving her physical and emotional energy so she had what she needed for later. She listened to her body and labored in ways that felt best, surrounded in loving support from start to finish. Thank you for the honor of serving your sweet family as it grew from two to three.