The Birth of Samuel William 10/6/22

Karynna and Jeremy welcomed their first child, Samuel William, on October 6! This first-time mom was gifted an atypical birth by her son, with a labor that seemed to go full force quickly. She also managed her early labor at home well, timing the drive to the hospital on the later end, which isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s definitely hard!

Out of the blue, I got a text from Karynna around 7:00 am, telling me her water broke around 6:30 am and she was having very light contractions. She had been ignoring them thinking they were Braxton Hicks at first, until her water broke. Soon after that her contractions were strong, long and close. I recommended she give it an hour and see what happens and then update me. Jeremy was at work but knew of Karynna’s plan to lay back down and continue to ignore them.

But by 8:30 they were already as close as 1-2 minutes apart, but lasting 40-50 seconds. She couldn’t walk between them and definitely had to focus through them. She asked Jeremy to come home since she could no longer think straight.

I got a call from Jeremy around 9:00 am that morning telling me the contractions were already long, strong, and close, and only growing more so on all fronts. Apparently, soon after her water broke things went from 0 to 60!

They soon decided it was time to head in to the hospital. Karynna was breathing through strong and close contractions when I joined her. Jeremy went to fetch bags out of the car while I supported Karynna in triage. She was dilated 4 cm when she arrived but had a lot of back pain between her contractions as well. That coupled with the contractions being much stronger than she anticipated, had Karynna wondering how much harder things could get. Karynna wanted to labor without an epidural but she said, “It hurts!”

Once out of triage, we went about offering comfort measures to help her settle into her room. I clipped the fan to the IV pole as Karynna breathed through long contractions. Being a nurse herself, she apologized to her nurse who had been called in. This just shows how sweet natured and empathetic Karynna is, as well as how in control she remained.

When she relaxed her bottom, she had a strong feeling like she had to have a bowel movement. It was 10:50 at this time, less than an hour after she arrived at the hospital. Since Karynna felt so much pressure, her nurse went to fetch delivery meds to have them available just in case she really was close to delivery.

Christian music began to play on the speaker to help keep Karynna focused and grounded. She drew strength from her faith in God, and the music really buoyed her. At 11:04 am she was dilated 8 cm! She dilated from 4 cm to 8 cm in just over an hour’s time! Her baby was moving down most definitely, hovering around 0/+1 station. Karynna’s midwife joined us about 15 minutes later.

Karynna had an interesting focal point to get her through labor—a sandwich from Taste! We continued to bring that up to encourage her through the contractions of transition. A heat pad on her lower back helped to ease the pain she felt there.

Around 11:26 am Karynna sounded a bit pushy. She told me she felt like she was clenching, but I told her it might be the baby’s head that she’s pushing against. She swayed her hips between contractions and did her open glottis breathing through them. Jeremy stayed within arm’s reach and made his presence known with a gentle stroke of the arm and lovingly looking on.

At 11:55 am Karynna did the dangle squat using the rebozo to bring her baby even lower so she might feel a stronger pushing urge. And by 12:00 she went into the shower for some excellent pain relief and continued relaxation as she moved through transition. She got out of the shower 25 minutes later feeling depleted. The heat of the shower can do that, but so can active labor. She lay down upon the bed but was scared to do so knowing it would likely make the contractions hurt more.

Karynna asked if she should push with her contractions. She felt pressure, but her nurse reminded her to wait until she could no longer hold off on the growing urge to bear down. She was dilated 9

We reminded Karynna to trust her body as she lay on her left side with the peanut ball between her legs. Her open breaths turned into gasps as her cervix opened to complete and we heard her begin to push. Her nurse called for the midwife who returned a short time later.

Shivers cascaded all over Karynna’s body as she transitioned from dilation to pushing. She followed the cues of her body and brought her baby down nicely. In fact, we could see her baby’s head by 1:30. A wave of nausea hit her during a push, but her baby was even lower as a result. I could see her baby’s head from the top of the bed at that point! Karynna reached down to feel her baby’s head for herself at 2:15, and the look of awe on her face was priceless.

Karynna continued to follow her body and push as it felt right, and in time she was rewarded with the birth of her Samuel at 3:08 pm! The love and relief washed over Karynna’s face and Jeremy’s eyes filled with tears. We could tell that Samuel was a chunky boy! But when he was eventually weighed and confirmed 9 lb. 8 oz. we were amazed! He flew right out of his mama just fine. He was measured at 20.5 in long. The placenta came a little bit later, and some bleeding was addressed with Pitocin.

The midwife leaned in and congratulated Karynna on such a beautiful job. She listened to her body and didn’t allow her moments of doubt cloud her goal of an unmedicated birth. She was surrounded in people who believed in her and she too, most importantly, believed in herself. It was a great reminder of the power of preparation and positive thinking. And the belief that her body was built by her God for birth didn’t hurt either!