maia's birth story
this is the story of maia's birth on march 18th, 2008. (yes, she's almost 5 months and i'm just posting it now!) although i had hoped for a completely natural waterbirth in a hospital, it didn't go quite as planned (but what birth does!?)
the summary: due to some rapidly progressing pre-eclampsia that started at 36 weeks, i was induced with pitocin at approximately 37 weeks. after that, i received no further interventions and went on to have an orgasmic & drug-free birth. it was the most powerful & beautiful day of my life thus far.
Cast of characters: Josh- fiancé, Nancy - doula, Anne - midwife, Stephanie - midwife
This is the story of my daughter Maia’s birth. Originally “due” April 5th, I was SO sure she was going to stay in utero as long as possible & I prepared myself for this, but at 36 weeks I started to get the feeling she might come a little early. This was when I started to show signs of preeclampsia: I had protein in my urine, high blood pressure, and I was incredibly swollen. After coming back in for a blood test, my midwives determined the baby and I were still healthy enough and we’d check back in a few days. At 37 weeks I went back to the clinic with continued high BP, swelling, and protein in my urine, but this time I also had high uric acid and creatinine levels, indicating that the preeclampsia was beginning to affect my kidney function. My midwife did a cervical check and to my surprise, I was already 3cm dilated and 75% effaced. An NST showed baby was very healthy, but my midwives and their backing OB wanted me to be induced the next day, March 18th - they wanted to have me give birth before the pre-e started to affect my liver function as well. I was crushed. I had hopes of a completely natural waterbirth, and I was scared that the pitocin would make labor more unbearable than if my labor started naturally - I was scared it would have me begging for an epidural, but I was still determined to do it pain med-free & kept positive about things. I knew I needed to be healthy, and I had a lot of faith in body. For some reason, I just knew things would be okay. That night Josh and I frantically got the last few things for baby ready before we headed to the hospital at 7AM Tuesday.
I was immediately hooked up to a pitocin drip at 7:45 AM. I got set up in the waterbirth suite and tried to get a little more sleep before my doula was to arrive at 10AM. My hospital has a free volunteer doula program, so I had never met my doula and was a little nervous, but once Nancy got there, I immediately relaxed. We got started right away doing some walking with my mom. At 11:30AM Anne the midwife checked my dilation - I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced. We kept walking and did some work on the birth ball, but it was too tough on my feet and legs due to the swelling, so Nancy gave me an amazing foot massage after lunch.
Then I got some interesting news. Apparently the hot water heater was out and probably wouldn’t be fixed that day, so the waterbirth tub would be quite cold. Additionally, I found out that I hadn’t been tested for Hep C, which is a requirement for the waterbirth. I was NOT pleased, but figured that since the heater was out I wouldn’t have wanted to do a waterbirth anyways. So, they moved me to another room. We did some more walking, then I decided to try to labor in the smaller, in-room tub. Josh helped guide me through the contractions while I labored on all fours in the tub, but it was freezing in there, so it didn’t last long.
At 3:30PM Anne wanted to check me again to see if I’d had any progress, and I hadn’t. The baby was head down but still sideways, and I was still 3 cm. At this point, people said I looked exhausted, and Anne wanted to discuss options: Option A) she could try to break my water, but with where the baby was positioned we risked her getting stuck and then needing a c-section. Option B) I could have the pitocin drip turned off, get some sleep meds, and either go into active labor on my own or have my water broken in the morning - she preferred this option. Before she left to give us time to think, she suggested that we try to move the baby to more favorable position for my water to break. I got on all fours with the head of the bed raised high, and since she was sideways on my right side, Josh got on my left side and started to talk to her, told her a story, and asked her to come down - it made me so weepy to hear him talking to her so sweetly. We did this for about five or ten minutes. Then we talked and decided if nothing happened, we would choose Option B - I would get some sleep and start over in the morning.
When Anne came back in, we told her we’d decided to turn off the pitocin and try to induce tomorrow. She left and we started to say our goodbyes to Nancy. I stood up to give her a hug goodbye, thinking we wouldn’t see her again, and all the sudden...my water broke! The baby had listened to her daddy, moved into position and broke the waters on her own - HOW COOL IS THAT? Thankfully, Nancy never left. My water broke at 4:22 PM.
It was at this point that I really, truly felt my body take over. I actually asked the nurses if they had turned off the pitocin drip because it felt like I was in control, not the pitocin - but they hadn’t. Active labor started right after my water broke and it was quickly intense. I felt most comfortable on the toilet and I got into a groove with my contractions - Josh was in front of me and he held me as I swayed to the most amazing rhythm that I had absolutely no control over. Each contraction I had was the most painful right at the beginning. Then, once I got to the peak of the contraction, coming down from it was so relieving, and when it was over I would sit for a minute in a state of pure bliss, smiling. I remember feeling SO good after each contraction - definitely not what I expected to feel! It really felt more like pleasure than pain. When I threw up while on the toilet, I knew I was in transition. I think I even said something about being in transition out loud, but no one responded. I decided I was done with the toilet and moved to the bed.
Once in the bed, my contractions continued to feel REALLY good. After the initial pain at the beginning of the contraction, there was a build up that felt JUST like an orgasm - intense, tight, full-bodied, with heavy breathing I couldn’t control without the help of my doula. Then I would “come down” from it, nice and slow, which felt fantastic. I could get a grip on the breathing and relax, even if it was just for 10 seconds. It really helped me to get through contractions, because every time one started, I knew the blissful feeling wasn’t far behind. This is almost embarrassing to say, but during one particular contraction I had a vision of cloth diapers floating through my mind! It was unbelievably trippy. I never, ever thought that my own labor could be orgasmic, but it was! Josh told me later that I looked so happy after the peak of every contraction as I came down, and that everyone - Josh, my mom, the nurses, the doula - would stop what they were doing and watch me because I looked so peaceful.
At this point, I was definitely in transition - I kept asking people to put the blanket on me because “I’m cold”, then take it off because “I’m hot” and back and forth. This went on for a few minutes. Nancy suggested I labor outside the bed, but I was NOT having it. For some reason, I really wanted to stay in bed and labor on my back; it just felt right to me.
As I continued to have some pretty heavy-duty contractions, my doula suggested Josh go get a bite to eat since I might be in that stage for awhile. He left, and I continued to labor in bed. Then something changed. All the sudden, my legs started quivering and shaking out of control, and I felt like I needed to push. I remember yelling “WHY do I feel like I need to push?” and freaking out about it, so Nancy ran to get the midwife who was now on shift, Stephanie. It was now 6:50pm, and Stephanie asked if she could check my dilation, and said “You’re a 10! You’re ready to have this baby!” Immediately I responded “No, I can’t! Josh isn’t here!” So my mom grabbed her cell phone and called Josh, who had gone to the cafeteria. As my mom made the call, I HAD to push - I needed to listen to my body and do what it was telling me to do, and so I pushed. It felt so good to push, but a part of me held back while my mom called Josh. After unanswered call number 4, a nurse volunteered to run and find him, but then all the sudden we heard “boom, boom, boom, boom” down the hall of the maternity ward. Everyone could hear Josh running! Once in the room he breathed a sigh of relief, because he thought he had missed the birth! (Looking back, I don’t think Nancy recognized that I was in transition, or she may not have suggested Josh grab food…but I digress.) Anyways, once he was there, I was physically, emotionally, and mentally ready to push with his support.
Pushing wasn’t too much of a struggle. It felt satisfying, animalistic and intense to let my body take over and do most of the work. It felt most natural to me to put my chin to my chest and let my body do what it wanted. I had to bear down near the end when she was crowning, and of course, when I felt the ring of fire, but for the most part, she came down pretty well on her own. I remember crying when I saw her head with a mirror. She was so close!
Josh was between my legs the whole time I was pushing, right next to the midwife. When she started to come out, Stephanie asked Josh if she wanted to catch her. He looked at me as if to ask permission, and we both said “yes!” Looking back now I laugh, because at this point Josh put on gloves since he was afraid he would drop her - he’s a bit of a klutz. Once her head was out, I only needed to push a few more times, and with one final, exhilarating push, she was in her daddy’s hands, then immediately on her mama’s chest. My daughter was here! It was the perfect ending to my near-perfect labor - Maia Elizabeth stayed on my chest for thirty minutes just being hugged, kissed, loved, cuddled, and nursed. When her umbilical cord stopped pulsing, her dad cut the cord. Though we didn’t keep her placenta, we took a picture of it - it truly looks like the “tree of life!”
It’s hard to wrap up the story of the most intensely powerful, exhilarating & beautiful thing I have ever done. I guess I’ll just do it with pictures!
Timeline - March 18th, 2008:
7:30 AM - Pitocin started
4:22 PM - Water broke, active labor begins
6:50 PM - Pushing begins
7:22 PM - Maia is born! She’s 7 lbs, 6 oz & 21 inches long!
x-posted to naturalbirth
the summary: due to some rapidly progressing pre-eclampsia that started at 36 weeks, i was induced with pitocin at approximately 37 weeks. after that, i received no further interventions and went on to have an orgasmic & drug-free birth. it was the most powerful & beautiful day of my life thus far.
Cast of characters: Josh- fiancé, Nancy - doula, Anne - midwife, Stephanie - midwife
This is the story of my daughter Maia’s birth. Originally “due” April 5th, I was SO sure she was going to stay in utero as long as possible & I prepared myself for this, but at 36 weeks I started to get the feeling she might come a little early. This was when I started to show signs of preeclampsia: I had protein in my urine, high blood pressure, and I was incredibly swollen. After coming back in for a blood test, my midwives determined the baby and I were still healthy enough and we’d check back in a few days. At 37 weeks I went back to the clinic with continued high BP, swelling, and protein in my urine, but this time I also had high uric acid and creatinine levels, indicating that the preeclampsia was beginning to affect my kidney function. My midwife did a cervical check and to my surprise, I was already 3cm dilated and 75% effaced. An NST showed baby was very healthy, but my midwives and their backing OB wanted me to be induced the next day, March 18th - they wanted to have me give birth before the pre-e started to affect my liver function as well. I was crushed. I had hopes of a completely natural waterbirth, and I was scared that the pitocin would make labor more unbearable than if my labor started naturally - I was scared it would have me begging for an epidural, but I was still determined to do it pain med-free & kept positive about things. I knew I needed to be healthy, and I had a lot of faith in body. For some reason, I just knew things would be okay. That night Josh and I frantically got the last few things for baby ready before we headed to the hospital at 7AM Tuesday.
I was immediately hooked up to a pitocin drip at 7:45 AM. I got set up in the waterbirth suite and tried to get a little more sleep before my doula was to arrive at 10AM. My hospital has a free volunteer doula program, so I had never met my doula and was a little nervous, but once Nancy got there, I immediately relaxed. We got started right away doing some walking with my mom. At 11:30AM Anne the midwife checked my dilation - I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced. We kept walking and did some work on the birth ball, but it was too tough on my feet and legs due to the swelling, so Nancy gave me an amazing foot massage after lunch.
Then I got some interesting news. Apparently the hot water heater was out and probably wouldn’t be fixed that day, so the waterbirth tub would be quite cold. Additionally, I found out that I hadn’t been tested for Hep C, which is a requirement for the waterbirth. I was NOT pleased, but figured that since the heater was out I wouldn’t have wanted to do a waterbirth anyways. So, they moved me to another room. We did some more walking, then I decided to try to labor in the smaller, in-room tub. Josh helped guide me through the contractions while I labored on all fours in the tub, but it was freezing in there, so it didn’t last long.
At 3:30PM Anne wanted to check me again to see if I’d had any progress, and I hadn’t. The baby was head down but still sideways, and I was still 3 cm. At this point, people said I looked exhausted, and Anne wanted to discuss options: Option A) she could try to break my water, but with where the baby was positioned we risked her getting stuck and then needing a c-section. Option B) I could have the pitocin drip turned off, get some sleep meds, and either go into active labor on my own or have my water broken in the morning - she preferred this option. Before she left to give us time to think, she suggested that we try to move the baby to more favorable position for my water to break. I got on all fours with the head of the bed raised high, and since she was sideways on my right side, Josh got on my left side and started to talk to her, told her a story, and asked her to come down - it made me so weepy to hear him talking to her so sweetly. We did this for about five or ten minutes. Then we talked and decided if nothing happened, we would choose Option B - I would get some sleep and start over in the morning.
When Anne came back in, we told her we’d decided to turn off the pitocin and try to induce tomorrow. She left and we started to say our goodbyes to Nancy. I stood up to give her a hug goodbye, thinking we wouldn’t see her again, and all the sudden...my water broke! The baby had listened to her daddy, moved into position and broke the waters on her own - HOW COOL IS THAT? Thankfully, Nancy never left. My water broke at 4:22 PM.
It was at this point that I really, truly felt my body take over. I actually asked the nurses if they had turned off the pitocin drip because it felt like I was in control, not the pitocin - but they hadn’t. Active labor started right after my water broke and it was quickly intense. I felt most comfortable on the toilet and I got into a groove with my contractions - Josh was in front of me and he held me as I swayed to the most amazing rhythm that I had absolutely no control over. Each contraction I had was the most painful right at the beginning. Then, once I got to the peak of the contraction, coming down from it was so relieving, and when it was over I would sit for a minute in a state of pure bliss, smiling. I remember feeling SO good after each contraction - definitely not what I expected to feel! It really felt more like pleasure than pain. When I threw up while on the toilet, I knew I was in transition. I think I even said something about being in transition out loud, but no one responded. I decided I was done with the toilet and moved to the bed.
Once in the bed, my contractions continued to feel REALLY good. After the initial pain at the beginning of the contraction, there was a build up that felt JUST like an orgasm - intense, tight, full-bodied, with heavy breathing I couldn’t control without the help of my doula. Then I would “come down” from it, nice and slow, which felt fantastic. I could get a grip on the breathing and relax, even if it was just for 10 seconds. It really helped me to get through contractions, because every time one started, I knew the blissful feeling wasn’t far behind. This is almost embarrassing to say, but during one particular contraction I had a vision of cloth diapers floating through my mind! It was unbelievably trippy. I never, ever thought that my own labor could be orgasmic, but it was! Josh told me later that I looked so happy after the peak of every contraction as I came down, and that everyone - Josh, my mom, the nurses, the doula - would stop what they were doing and watch me because I looked so peaceful.
At this point, I was definitely in transition - I kept asking people to put the blanket on me because “I’m cold”, then take it off because “I’m hot” and back and forth. This went on for a few minutes. Nancy suggested I labor outside the bed, but I was NOT having it. For some reason, I really wanted to stay in bed and labor on my back; it just felt right to me.
As I continued to have some pretty heavy-duty contractions, my doula suggested Josh go get a bite to eat since I might be in that stage for awhile. He left, and I continued to labor in bed. Then something changed. All the sudden, my legs started quivering and shaking out of control, and I felt like I needed to push. I remember yelling “WHY do I feel like I need to push?” and freaking out about it, so Nancy ran to get the midwife who was now on shift, Stephanie. It was now 6:50pm, and Stephanie asked if she could check my dilation, and said “You’re a 10! You’re ready to have this baby!” Immediately I responded “No, I can’t! Josh isn’t here!” So my mom grabbed her cell phone and called Josh, who had gone to the cafeteria. As my mom made the call, I HAD to push - I needed to listen to my body and do what it was telling me to do, and so I pushed. It felt so good to push, but a part of me held back while my mom called Josh. After unanswered call number 4, a nurse volunteered to run and find him, but then all the sudden we heard “boom, boom, boom, boom” down the hall of the maternity ward. Everyone could hear Josh running! Once in the room he breathed a sigh of relief, because he thought he had missed the birth! (Looking back, I don’t think Nancy recognized that I was in transition, or she may not have suggested Josh grab food…but I digress.) Anyways, once he was there, I was physically, emotionally, and mentally ready to push with his support.
Pushing wasn’t too much of a struggle. It felt satisfying, animalistic and intense to let my body take over and do most of the work. It felt most natural to me to put my chin to my chest and let my body do what it wanted. I had to bear down near the end when she was crowning, and of course, when I felt the ring of fire, but for the most part, she came down pretty well on her own. I remember crying when I saw her head with a mirror. She was so close!
Josh was between my legs the whole time I was pushing, right next to the midwife. When she started to come out, Stephanie asked Josh if she wanted to catch her. He looked at me as if to ask permission, and we both said “yes!” Looking back now I laugh, because at this point Josh put on gloves since he was afraid he would drop her - he’s a bit of a klutz. Once her head was out, I only needed to push a few more times, and with one final, exhilarating push, she was in her daddy’s hands, then immediately on her mama’s chest. My daughter was here! It was the perfect ending to my near-perfect labor - Maia Elizabeth stayed on my chest for thirty minutes just being hugged, kissed, loved, cuddled, and nursed. When her umbilical cord stopped pulsing, her dad cut the cord. Though we didn’t keep her placenta, we took a picture of it - it truly looks like the “tree of life!”
It’s hard to wrap up the story of the most intensely powerful, exhilarating & beautiful thing I have ever done. I guess I’ll just do it with pictures!
Timeline - March 18th, 2008:
7:30 AM - Pitocin started
4:22 PM - Water broke, active labor begins
6:50 PM - Pushing begins
7:22 PM - Maia is born! She’s 7 lbs, 6 oz & 21 inches long!
x-posted to naturalbirth