The Birth of Mila Lilliann 6/4/22

Amadly and Bryce met their daughter, Mila Lilliann, on June 4, after a long and patient journey. I got a text just before 9:00 am on June 3 that Amadly had been experiencing intermittent leaks since 2:00 am. She wasn’t sure if her water broke but thought it best to call her doctor, who recommended she go to the hospital and get checked to see what was going on. They confirmed that Amadly’s water did break and since it had been about 12 hours since it broke, she would be admitted. Thankfully, Amadly and Bryce stopped to get some food on their way to the hospital! This might be a long road.

Amadly had no contractions, and her cervix was not dilated. Pitocin was mentioned but she preferred to wait on that. Instead, she agreed to give oral Cytotec a try in the hopes it would ripen and help get things going. Amadly did her best to rest that night. But after several doses of the medication, by around 6:00 am the next morning her cervix was only dilated a fingertip. It was time to begin Pitocin. Amadly needed contractions if she was to have any chance for a vaginal birth. And by the time the Pitocin had begun, her water had been broken over 24 hours. We were hopeful her labor would eventually get going and were thankful for her patient doctor.

By 11:00 am, Amadly sent an update that her contractions were growing stronger and rhythmic, coming every 4-6 minutes. She was dilated 2 cm and her doctor broke the rest of her water. It was encouraging to know her cervix had dilated, and we were optimistic breaking her water all the way would continue forward momentum. Amadly continued to rest so she would have the energy necessary for active labor.

By 1:30 pm Amadly was breathing through her contractions that were coming more intensely. In fact, her contractions were requiring so much of her focus that she was at the point of requesting an epidural to help. The Pitocin was raised incrementally throughout the day. But the baby kept having decels with the contractions, so the Pitocin had to be turned down.

It became a dance between helping Amadly into positions that would encourage dilation, while also maintaining an effective level of Pitocin that baby could tolerate. It was a fine line and involved rolling to the left and the right, using the peanut ball and turning down Pitocin, and then starting it back up. By 6:20 pm, the pit had been turned down due to multiple decels, and Amadly was checked and 3 cm.

The nurses changed shifts bringing some different energy, and that nurse and I worked together to get Amadly’s baby out. It had been nearly 40 hours since her water broke and there wasn’t a lot of time left. We had her in runner’s position, and then upright in the throne position. And by 9:15 pm, her cervix was still 3 cm, but stretchy. So her nurse stretched it to 4-5 and did a membrane sweep that got her cervix to 4 cm.

We shifted Amadly to a reclined position, placing a blanket and pillow under her right leg for asymmetry, and then we helped her to the left runner’s position by 9:45 to help stabilize her baby’s heart rate. The next step was the game changer. We helped Amadly into the flying cowgirl position in the hopes it would open her pelvis and allow baby to descend. Her baby responded with decels through each contraction that popped back up after. After about 15 minutes in this position, and several sequences of decels, her nurse checked her cervix at 10:12 pm. And we were all thrilled to learn she was almost completely dilated!!

More people got involved, bringing the hospitalist OB to the room to fill the gap until Amadly’s doctor got there. The heart rate continued to dip off and on, but baby always recovered after about 3 contractions. This had been her pattern for the past day or so. Amadly breathed oxygen through a mask to give her baby a boost, and they also turned down the Pitocin. And Amadly pushed!

She pushed so well. Every push brought her baby down, and her doctor arrived around 10:20 pm with plenty of time to cheer her on with us. With Bryce by her side, and several other people as well, Amadly brought Mila into the world at 11:09 pm on June 4, 2022. She only pushed for an hour, which felt fair after how long she had been waiting, even to the point of having a c-section discussion just in case.

Mila weighed 7 lb. 1 oz. and was 21 in. long. She had Apgar’s of 7/9 and came around quickly to enjoy skin to skin with her mom. She latched for the first time at 11:40 that night, and Amadly and Bryce were smitten. And we kept talking through the amazing timeline which just goes to show how important it is for baby to be in the right position to come out!

It was a team effort for sure, but Amadly and Bryce’s openness to try new things and to even consider a c-section, validate how much their hearts wanted to meet their baby girl safely. And in the end, she was born vaginally and just perfect. I am so proud of Amadly’s courage and her confidence to advocate for her choices, all while balancing them with her doctor’s recommendations. And we are all extremely grateful for her doctor who was patient and not alarmist too. Amadly was blessed with an excellent team!