The Birth Story of Rowen Laine 11/1/21

Another sweet soul has arrived! Presenting Rowen Laine, born to her proud parents, Arielle and Randy. Arielle had already given birth vaginally and then by c-section, so she was no stranger to birth and how unpredictable it can be. She hoped to avoid another c-section though, so she added a doula to her birth team, knowing the support would be important. Arielle, did a wonderful job advocating for as much time to wait before a potential repeat c-section. There was only so much time her providers were comfortable waiting, and she wanted to go into labor on her own.

It didn’t end up being an issue, thankfully, because Arielle’s first labor contractions happened just a day or two before her 38-week appointment. She had been extra busy that day, so she wondered if it might just be her uterus talking after being on her feet so much and probably not hydrating as she should. Arielle got into the bathtub and stepped up her hydration, but her contractions soon moved to the 5 minutes apart interval and grew much more painful. Mystery solved. This was labor.

She moved to the shower for additional pain management and soon felt it was time to head to the hospital. Her labor seemed to be ramping up quickly and her other two daughters would be waking up soon. Once Randy’s mom arrived to watch the girls, Arielle and Randy left for the hospital. They made their way to Sentara Leigh and arrived at 6:45 am, right as the morning rush hour was taking hold. The contractions were already coming every 3-5 minutes and the car ride was very unpleasant. Good thing they left when they did.

 Arielle was reassured to learn she was dilated 6-7 cm! This was great news and it was also the perfect time to get an epidural. She was struggling with relaxing into the pain and felt the rest would do her good since she would still need to push her baby out.

Two hours later, the midwife came to do a check and Arielle was still dilated to 7 cm, although stretchable to 8. Her cervix was thin and easily opened so we were hopeful she would be pushing soon. In the meantime, we made sure she was in a variety of positions to encourage her baby’s head upon the fading cervix.

Another two hours passed, and Arielle’s cervix was still at 8 cm. Her midwife recommended Pitocin and Arielle was comfortable with that. Perhaps the extra oomph would help those last two centimeters disappear. Arielle continued moving all over the place, including laboring on her hands and knees. Her baby got the advantage of many positions in the hopes the combination would be just the thing to move Arielle to pushing.

After two more hours and no further cervical dilation, an IUPC was placed to make sure the contractions were strong enough to make change. We also did a side-lying release the really helped to relax Arielle. By just past 3:30 that afternoon, a cervical exam revealed that Arielle’s cervix remained at 8 cm, although her baby had descended from -1 for so many hours to 0 station. There was some cervical swelling in the front, so we tried Trandelenberg to get baby’s head off the cervix to reposition. We had tried every position we could think of by then and were hoping for some progress.

However, it was not to be. Arielle’s doctor came in and when she did an exam she could feel the same cervical swelling. She also mentioned that she noticed the baby’s heart rate was trending upward and was tachycardic, and there were several noted decelerations that may indicate her baby was losing steam. The kind doctor looked Arielle in the eyes and expressed her recommendation that a repeat c-section be the mode of birth for her baby. And Arielle did not hesitate to get on board with that. 

Once the decision was made, the Pitocin was turned off, shifting from strengthening contractions to helping Arielle be more comfortable and her baby less stressed. They added a bolus to her epidural and soon were ready to move to the OR for the birth. Arielle and Randy were eager to meet their little lady who was giving them such a run for their money.

Rowen Laine was born at 5:54 pm on November 1, 2021. She weighed 7 lb. 7 oz. and measured 20 in. long. She was in her mom’s arms soon after delivery and managed to nurse 30 minutes on each side in her first hour or two. It was an excellent start, and to see the look of serenity on Arielle’s face at the end of her birth journey, was confirmation that she had made it through! Randy and Arielle were infinitely flexible, with a sense of humor that carried them over the surprisingly long hours of the labor. I will always be so honored to have been invited into their birthing space.