As soon as we found out we were pregnant with Ellyson, we knew we wanted to pursue a different route than the hospital birth of our son Zane.  We had watched the Business of Being Born a few times and knew that we wanted a midwife to deliver our second child. We were blessed to have a wonderful obsterician with Zane, but during our hospital stay we definitely felt that we had been cycled through the stereotypical labor & delivery shuffle, and were determined to have a different experience this time around.  We met Donnellyn during an orientation session at All About Babies Birthing Center, and immediately knew that God had led us to her! Every month it was such a joy to meet with Donnellyn – we felt personally loved and cared for, and we learned so much more about babies and pregnancy with her. We felt fully prepared for a natural water birth after spending so much time with Donnellyn, with our doula Tonya Buffington, and the baby preparation classes at AAB.

Ellyson’s birth story actually starts 20 days before she was born! On February 8^th, we had our 40 week visit with our midwife Donnellyn, and she said she thought there was a chance I could have the baby that weekend. She had checked me and said I was 70-80% effaced and that I was starting to dilate. She encouraged me to consider starting my maternity leave. She said either way, baby arriving that weekend or not, I could use the rest – and I was certainly tired by then, so I went back to work and announced that 2/9 would be my last day.  I called my mom and told her to plan on flying over from El Paso. 

 

 Friday 2/10

Our original due date came and went, with nary a sign of labor. My mom got into town, and that’s the only exciting thing that happened. I’m pretty sure we just ate pizza and watched a movie, and trusted in God’s timing!

Monday 2/13

Another visit to the midwife, and somehow we talked about an early sonogram that I’d gotten with my original obstetrician, which originally put my due date at 2/17 or 2/18.  I had disregarded that information and therefore never mentioned it to Donnellyn until then, but it turns out that early sonograms can be better at estimating due dates than LMP (last menstrual period) dates. So, based on that, Donnellyn adjusted my due date to 2/18.

 Saturday 2/18  – A repeat of 2/10 – nothing happened! Other than me getting anxious and tired of being preggo!

By Thursday 2/23, I was starting to think that God needed some help with this. (hah!) So under the advice of Donnellyn, I made my first visit to an acupuncturist (labor induction by acupuncture only works if the body is truly ready, and typically takes at least two visits) and I also took a very long walk. Nothing happened.

Friday 2/24 – The first acupuncture doc was closed on this Friday, so I visited a second acupuncturist. Interestingly enough, she put needles in different spots than the first guy did.  But still, nothing happened.

2/25 – Saturday afternoon – I was of course STILL pregnant – so I had a third visit to get acupuncture, and this was a fascinating session,  as she also suggested I try a labor-inducing technique called “Moxibustion” – which I learned is a treatment that’s origins lie in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s the practice of burning mugwort, that has been aged and rolled into a stick. The acupuncturist mentioned that we would light the stick of herbs and hold it over the acupuncture points she showed us. Sounds all fine and dandy, until she then warned us that when the herb was burned, it smelled exactly like marijuana and we should probably do the whole procedure outside. (!) That made us pretty wary….and we never got desperate enough to resort to that suggestion! Instead, that day we also took a walk around the park, I ate lots of pineapple, and continued trying other various “labor inducing” tactics (no castor oil though!)

Monday 2/27 – Yet another visit to my wonderful midwife. At this point I was definitely 41 ½ weeks pregnant, and per the state she was required to schedule me for a biophysical profile, which entailed a sonogram and basic bloodwork. The state requires these to ensure the baby is fine (had one with Zane too!) Also, since I was still only 2 cm dilated, she did a “vigorous” stripping of the membranes, and sent me to a specialist – a neonatal chiropractor, who we had already gotten to know since she was in our baby classes! She knew exactly what adjustments I needed to get me aligned and allow the baby to get into position – she did her magic, and we went home to enjoy another nice long walk, a nice dinner, & a glass of wine. Yep, per my wonderful doula & midwife, wine was a perfect prescription to help me relax, which my body needed to do if I ever wanted to go into labor!

I went to bed that Monday night praying that I’d wake up in labor. I at least had the reassurance of knowing that we had a biophysical profile scheduled for 10am in the morning, so no matter what there definitely something I had to look forward to.

Tuesday, 2/28/2012

I woke up to a contraction a little bit after 4am. I laid in bed through a few more, and decided to start timing them. They went from 15 minutes apart to 9, then started being consistently 6-7 minutes apart – and were definitely stronger than any of the Braxton Hicks ones I’d been having for weeks. I was very excited to realize that this was it! I was actually in labor!

By that time it was after 5am and I decided I should get up and shower. For some reason I really felt the need to wash my hair – kind of silly when you’re planning a water birth and it’s most likely going to get wet anyways! But still, the shower felt great and helped me mentally prepare for the day ahead. I continued to have contractions – each one I just made sure to breathe through and remind myself to interpret the feeling as pressure, instead of pain. I didn’t resist against them – I relaxed myself into each one and envisioned the muscles of my uterus slowly but surely pushing the baby into position.  This helped immensely!  I can honestly say that by doing this, the contractions weren’t painful. Just tons of pressure.

I waited until 6am to wake up Mike and tell him the exciting news. I knew that it might be a long day, and I figured that Mike knowing he got up after 6am was less tiring than thinking he’d been up since 5-something.  Mike was extremely excited to hear that it was really and truly time & was instantly awake (a small miracle since he’s not much of a morning person).

I texted my doula Tonya, and my midwife, Donnellyn to inform them that labor had finally commenced, and to figure out our next steps. At 6:15 Donnellyn asked me to time the contractions exactly – the start & stop times and how far apart they were. She was trying to decide if she had time to go to another appointment before heading to the birth center to meet us.  I had downloaded a wonderful app on my phone that tracked all of that info, so it was easy to send the info to both her and Tonya – the file I sent showed them 5-6 mins apart, averaging a minute long.  Through the next hour, I kept Donnellyn informed of everything that was happening (midwives want to know every detail of every bodily function once you’re in labor!) By 7:45 I was seeing some long stringy mucous, which is a good indicator that the body is getting primed to push a baby out! Donnellyn decided to skip her morning appointment and go directly to the birth center.  Tonya was texting me the whole time too – reassuring me that each little thing happening was normal, and reminding me to eat a high-protein breakfast so I’d have energy for the day, and to drink lots of water to stay hydrated (quite the opposite of a hospital labor, where they starve you and only allow ice chips, on the off chance that you’ll have to have a c-section surgery!)

At 6:30 I had awakened my mom to tell her the exciting news as well, and let her know that she’d want to get Zane to daycare pretty soon.  I went downstairs and found that sitting on the exercise ball made each contraction pretty easy to get through. Zane was up by 7 and so even though my “labor plan” had included watching fun movies or playing games, instead I found myself watching Toy Story for the 286^th time. It was good to spend some time with Zane though, knowing it was the last time I’d get to be with him before everything changed completely!  I tried to eat a waffle and grapefruit for breakfast, but found my appetite surprisingly lacking (usually I’m starving in the morning!).

Tonya arrived around 8am and talked me through a couple more contractions. I was really happy sitting on the exercise ball through each one, but she really wanted me to sit on the toilet through a couple of them, because that position really helps open up the pelvis, and also, switching positions in general just helps the baby get engaged and into the birth canal.  Even early on, I did not like those contractions on the toilet…sitting either way (normal or facing the back) just was uncomfortable for me.

We talked about general stuff – I specifically remember Mike & Tonya talking about organic gardening.  Nothing major was happening, but I started to stress about getting to the birthing center, and about having contractions in the car, so we made the decision to go up to the birthing center  – All About Babies, in Argyle. My mom left to take Zane to daycare and we finally got to turn off Toy Story (great movie but not exactly great material for early labor!) and the silence was actually calming.  Tonya told me to stop tracking my contractions, and that was great advice…up until then I kept watching the clock in anticipation of each one, and even though I wasn’t tensing against them…just having that expectation of one about to start made it seem stronger and longer. As soon as I stopped tracking them, they were much easier to get through! Mike went through our checklist and loaded everything into the car, and Tonya had me sit through 2 contractions on the toilet (ugh!), and then we were off!  Mike had the brilliant idea to bring a little “wobble disc” with us for me to sit on (a small inflated disc) and it was perfect – between that and the not-so-great suspension on our Explorer, I easily made it through three contractions during the 20 minute drive up to All About Babies.

When we arrived at the birthing center at 9am, everything was already in motion. Donnellyn and the student midwife, Lauren, were there setting up the bedroom and the bathroom & birthing tub with everything we needed.  By 9:15 Donnellyn was checking my vitals – everything was perfect! – and when she checked me to see how labor was progressing, we got an awesome report – I was already dilated to 5 centimeters!  I was so thrilled to hear that – I’d only been in labor for 5 hours and was already halfway there, and was feeling great.  Tonya suggested that we walk around for a bit and let gravity help labor progress. As much as all I wanted to do was sit on the exercise ball, I knew that I wanted labor to go as fast as possible, so we went outside and walked around the birthing center a bit. It was a nice morning, a bit chilly but pleasant. Mike and I talked about how excited we were and each time I stopped to breathe through a contraction, Tonya was right there, doing an awesome job as my birth coach, reminding me to just interpret the sensations as strong pressure and to trust that my body knew what it was doing. I know it may sound silly to read that, but this really and truly helped. I visualized each contraction pushing Ellyson into position, and trusted that God had designed my body to do this very thing, so I was able to relax into each one and breathe through them. Tonya would put pressure on my lower back, which helped, and showed Mike how to do that also.

We went inside a little before 10 for me to refill my water (I was drinking what felt like oceans of water at this point) and I had a Lara bar, to ensure that I had enough protein in my system to sustain my energy.  I sat on the ball for a few contractions and then Tonya had me up and walking again. As I walked through the kitchen of the birthing center, I felt my water break and got even more excited!  Since I didn’t get to experience any of this with Zane’s birth, it was really cool to see and feel my body going through each natural stage of labor!  By the way, even though it was a decent amount of fluid, it was definitely not the crazy amounts that you see in the movies. Tonya & Donnellyn immediately went into action – Donnellyn tested the “water” and confirmed it was definitely amniotic fluid & at that point we headed into the birthing suite.  I played a game (Peggle) on my iPad for a little bit, and read some verses in the bible, and then Tonya had me sitting on the toilet for a couple more contractions (again, ugh!).  At this point, I’m pretty sure I was in the “transition” part of labor, where I started to really focus internally, because the details start getting fuzzy. I remember that the contractions were definitely getting stronger and closer together. I was still able to breathe through them, but it took more concentration with each one – I couldn’t talk through them anymore. I just had to close my eyes and breathe.  Up until then, I’d been happily conversing with everyone…and then I heard myself say something to Mike in a pretty sharp tone, and I realized, hey! That’s a sign of the next stage! Yay! More progress.

At 11am, Donnellyn and Sherry, the assistant midwife, announced that I could get into the tub! I was so very very excited to hear that!  I climbed right in and it was like sinking into a piece of heaven. Mike got in too and sat at the back of the tub to support me. The contractions instantly felt easier to get through. It’s true, the water really acted like a natural epidural – an “aquadural” as they say.  I tried a few positions before I found one that I was really comfortable in. Yes, I did say “comfortable” in the context of labor! The contractions themselves were uncomfortable, but in between, it felt great to relax against Mike and feel the warm soothing water surrounding me.

At one point I tried kneeling and resting my head on Mike’s shoulder/chest, but that position was terrible for me, it was like I felt every bit of the contraction everywhere in my body, but especially my back. After two contractions that way, I moved and laid lengthwise in the birth tub, and that’s where I stayed for the rest of the labor.  Right after I got in the tub, my friend and amazing photographer Christy Stich showed up to document the labor & birth.  I was so thrilled that she had arrived in plenty of time to capture this life changing event for us!

After a while, the contractions strengthened in intensity, and I started using a tactic Donnellyn had mentioned in our birthing class – “singing” the baby out through the contractions.  It wasn’t singing in the normal sense, it was more of a long, low, breathy, deep note through each contraction.  Almost a moan, but “moan” indicates pain, and most of the contractions honestly weren’t painful.  The whole time I was in the tub, Donnellyn had been checking the baby’s vitals with the Doppler, but once I started the “singing” it seemed like they were checking more frequently.  At this point, I had my eyes closed most of the time. I knew that Mike was by my side – he was doing a great job putting pressure on my lower back – and I was only vaguely aware of other people in the room.

The whole time I was in the tub, my “labor and delivery” playlist was playing  – it was so great to have my favorite songs on! At this point though, I remember Tonya asking me what song I wanted to be playing when Ellyson was born – it was really exciting to hear that question, because I knew that must mean they thought I was getting close! I knew that each contraction was bringing me one step closer to my sweet baby girl.  I remember that I spent a lot of time internally talking to God, and trusting His plan for this labor. Mike and I had prayed through the entire pregnancy for a supernatural labor, and spent a lot of time reading a lot of verses about how God provides for His children, so I focused on that, and the fact that my body was built by God to do this.

As things progressed, I did start feeling a ton of pressure in my back too, and about that time they told me I could start pushing with my contractions. They had to remind me a couple of times to push from my belly, instead of from my face….for some reason it’s a natural tendency to hold your breath and try to push that way, versus pushing with your abdominal muscles! When I was pushing, I would put my hands on my belly, and I could definitely tell when the baby had moved into the birth canal, because she was very, very low compared to where she had been prior to labor. That was another exciting sign for me!

I do specifically remember having one very hard contraction that did seem pretty painful to me, and from my perspective, I feel like I yelled out – but everyone else tells me I didn’t (maybe I was just yelling in my head?) – and after that push, I felt a bit panicked, and opened my eyes and said “I can’t do this!”  It just seemed to be too much to do, and there was no way I could do it.

Tonya had me look directly in Mike’s eyes and she coached him to encourage me, and encourage me he did. He reminded me that I was strong and that God was with me, and that I was doing great and that I could indeed deliver this baby.  In the back of my mind, I recalled hearing & reading that once a woman in labor gets to the “I can’t do this” point, the birth of the baby is imminent. What a relief to remember that!!  And it truly seemed that after I’d said that, things progressed really fast. I felt a ton of pressure and multiple people told me to reach down and touch Ellyson’s head – she had crowned!!  It was awesome to feel her there, to know that we were getting so close, and to discover that she had a head full of hair just like her brother!

My memory gets hazy at this part, but I remember multiple people talking to me, to encourage me and help me out – but then I disctinctly heard Donnellyn say “No one else give her directions. It’s very important she listens only to me.” And then she told me “Amy, we need to deliver this baby. We need to get this baby out.”  She didn’t tell me why she suddenly got so serious, but it certainly helped me focus.  (I later learned that she started seeing a lot of meconium and was worried that the baby was ingesting it – which would not have been good. Thankfully we discovered she hadn’t been – all was clear!) Nonetheless, everyone took notice and kept quiet while Donnellyn provided firm but loving guidance to me through the rest of the labor.

It was just a waiting game from there. I pushed with each contraction, and rested in between. This was to allow my body to stretch and make room to deliver the baby.  After another 2 pushes, I heard exclamations about seeing an ear, and then a dimple. I remember Tonya playing the song I had requested – “How He Loves” by the David Crowder Band. It was wonderful to hear that in the background, because I knew we were close to the end.  Those next couple of pushes were definitely the hardest – there’s what’s called a “ring of fire” that women encounter during labor, and I definitely experienced that. Everyone kept reminding me to breathe and relax. The more relaxed I was, the less “fire” I would feel. So I stuck with it and pushed through, though there was a big part of me that didn’t want to at all!  I will admit, it definitely felt like I was trying to push a bowling ball through a toilet paper roll. It wasn’t easy. It was hard work! But finally, someone told me that her head was delivered, and that after one or two pushes, we’d be holding our baby. What an encouragement!!   I gave 100% on the next few pushes, and at 12:30pm on the dot, after feeling like I’d pushed out a watermelon, there was an immediate sense of relief, and exclamations of joy all around me – and then I experienced one of the best moments of my life – feeling my beautiful, sweet, perfect daughter being placed on my chest.  I looked at her face and of course was immediately in love. I looked at Mike and knew God had blessed us with another perfect child!

I heard Donnellyn say “Amy, I think you’ve broken a record for the birthing center, for the biggest baby ever born here!” I was amazed to hear that! Donnellyn said she guessed the baby was at least 12lbs and I was in awe. I knew then that God truly had given us a supernatural childbirth! If anyone had told me prior to Ellyson’s arrival that I would give birth, with absolutely no drugs or anything, to an 11 lb 15 oz baby, and that it honestly wouldn’t be ultra painful, there’s no way I would have believed it.  No way. But as the scripture says, “Through Christ I can do all things” – God definitely got me through that labor. Sure it was very, very hard work, and yes, there were a few times that it was painful – but it wasn’t excruciating. There was no screaming at the top of my lungs, no thinking I was going to die from labor pains – it was, overall, an exceptionally beautiful experience that I am eternally grateful for!!

The rest of the process was just as wonderful – truly, Tonya and Donnellyn, and the assistant midwife Sherry, were all sweet angels through the whole thing. They let me hold Ellyson on my chest for a very, very long time. I took off my top to have skin-to-skin contact, which helps solidify the bonding process with the baby immediately. Mike and I reveled in counting her perfect 10 fingers and toes. We noticed that she had a beautiful rosebud mouth, lovely long fingernail beds, and exceptionally long toes! My mom, and Mike’s mom Terrie, & his sister Kristan came in right after I delivered the baby, and got to see Ellyson within minutes of her birth.  It was wonderful for them to see her right away!  Terrie read the verse we’d chosen for Ellyson’s birth over her – Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” (NKJV).  It was a lovely way to start Ellyson’s life!

A towel was brought in and laid on top of Ellyson to keep her warm, and we just relaxed and stared and loved on God’s perfect creation. Mike eventually cut the umbilical cord – but only after it had stopped pulsating. There’s lots of good stuff in the cord, even once the baby is born (lots of nutrients, etc) & so it’s routine practice in midwifery to keep it attached for a while.  It was wonderful that there was no rushing around. Everything was quite calm, and peaceful, and so very, very happy. There was definitely a sense of joy and elation in the room!

Eventually it was decided that Mike would get out of the tub and hold Ellyson, and I stayed in the tub until I delivered the placenta. Thankfully that didn’t take long, and I was able to climb into a nice big fluffy comfy bed and watch Donnellyn do the newborn check.  Ellyson passed everything with flying colors! That’s when they revealed to me that they had been a little worried during labor because they saw some meconium during the delivery, but Ellyson was fine, it didn’t look like she had ingested any. By this time we were all anxiously waiting to hear what Ellyson’s measurements would be but had to wait because they wanted Mike there, and he was busy cooking me a wonderful meal – pancakes, bacon and eggs! Once he brought me my gourmet “breakfast in bed” they finished with checking Ellyson out.

In the meantime, everyone took turns holding out sweet baby girl. And Christy was such an amazing birth photographer – capturing every special moment along the way.  Somehow she knew just where she needed to be when each important moment was happening. What a blessing to have all these cherished memories not only in our hearts, but in pictures as well! I am eternally grateful to her for documenting it all for us.

 

Once Donnellyn started the measurements, we were amazed to see that her head was 15 ½ inches (average is 13) and that her chest was 16 ½ inches (average is 15).  When she measured 23 1/5 inches long, we realized she was taller than Zane was at birth (21 ¾ inches!)  And then the moment we were all waiting for….they put Ellyson in the special netting for the hanging scale, and we all held our breath as Mike picked her up…and Donnellyn read out “Eleven pounds, 15 ounces. Yep, a new All About Babies record!!”   Once again, I realized how truly God had answered my prayers – such a big baby, and He’d made it so that I could deliver her naturally and so happily.

After the check, they were able to immediately able to give Ellyson back to me so she could nurse right away. It was wonderful to start that important process so early!  Tonya, after being the most amazing doula I could have ever prayed for, then stayed on to help me get settled in and ensured a good latch.  I was thanking God for her the whole time…I just knew that He had led me to her, to help my dream of a “supernatural birth” come to fruition.

After nursing awhile, Donnellyn informed me that I did tear and they would have to do some stiches. Considering how big Ellyson was though, it wasn’t bad at all! They let me keep Ellyson on my chest while they did the stiches, and honestly I think that even through the numbing shots, getting the shots and stiches was the most painful part of the whole process – yes, more painful than labor itself! They also had to give me some Pitocin to stop the bleeding – that shot was super painful as well. Give me a contraction anyday over having to do either of those again!

Thankfully after all that, I was in for a special treat – an herbal bath!  The midwives filled up the bathtub with wonderfully soothing warm water, and then added in a fragrant concoction of herbs that smelled fresh and comforting. They told me it was a special blend that they cooked on the stove while I labored – specific herbs were chosen for their known healing properties. And as I stepped in the water, I could feel the aches leftover from labor melting away. It was such a welcome surprise to me…as I lowered myself deeper into the water, I could literally feel the soreness just dissolve out of me. Again, it was a little piece of heaven. I felt fantastic in the water!

After I had relaxed on my own for a bit, they brought Ellyson in to join me. She immediately loved it – she stretched out her arms and just relaxed into my hands. I loved holding her in the water, admiring how beautifully God had created our daughter. I was able to marvel at her long eyelashes, adore her cute little ears, kiss her sweet button nose – and just truly enjoy her, this gorgeous little baby that I’d prayed about for so long. It was definitely one of my favorite parts of the whole day.

After a while though I did start feeling really woozy, and they told me that I had lost a lot of blood during the delivery. They kept checking my vitals and everything was perfect each time, so thankfully they weren’t worried about me. Donnellyn & Sherry did decide to give me an IV though, because they knew the fluids would make me feel better.  I was a little freaked out because I was extremely pale….my skin had no color to it and I just didn’t feel 100%. Under normal circumstances, we would have gone home within 4-5 hours of the birth, but since I wasn’t feeling that well, they of course told me to stay as long as I needed to. At one point, the birth center staff came in and mentioned that a birthing class was scheduled that evening at 6 or so, and they wanted to know if they should reschedule or not. I saw no reason to cancel it – in fact, I wanted the teacher to be able to say how wonderful the labor & birth had gone! I felt it was really sweet and thoughtful of them to ask me though.  And once the class arrived, Mike had the wonderful joy of being a proud daddy, and took Ellyson out to show her off to the class – which I know was fun for him, but great for the expectant parents to see her as well. During the pregnancy I’d been at the center for a “Dancing for Birth” class (it was awesome!) and while we were there a baby was born, and it was so great to see that dad walk out with his little one then too!

To help me feel better, Mike warmed up some home-made chicken soup for me, and after that, along with a second bag of IV fluids, I finally started to feel better.  The whole time I was resting in bed, everyone was taking such good care of me and of Ellyson! Everyone was so very, very patient with me and catered to my every single need. I was never alone, and they always kept Ellyson close by!  I was feeling so blessed that God led us to the birthing center – for me, it was a million times better than delivering in the hospital. Even when I wasn’t feeling that great, it was still such a wonderful experience – to be laying in a comfy bed (in my experience, hospital beds are so not comfortable) – in a homey, beautifully decorated room (no hospital room is very pretty) – surrounded by caretakers who I had come to know & trust extremely well after months of prenatal care (instead of random nurses and hospital staff that rotated on shifts) – with my daughter always in my sight (instead of being whisked off to a nursery).  Nothing was rushed, and everyone was focused solely on baby & mama’s needs.

Finally, around 8pm, I was feeling much better and we decided I was ready to go home. Before we left though, the birthing team gathered all around us, and said a very special, sweet, meaningful prayer over us. It was such a beautiful way to end our day at the birthing center – we left with such happy hearts, feeling ready and confident to take care of our second miracle blessing from God.  I feel so incredibly blessed to have had Donnellyn as my midwife, and to labor & deliver at the birthing center. The entire experience exceeded my hopes and dreams for Ellyson’s birth, and it’s definitely one of the best days I’ve ever had in my entire life.