Birth
Dynamics Childbirth
A
Birth Story
Annabelle Elisabeth
Vaughn was born at home on January 15th, 2006: a beautiful
baby girl with a head full of dark curly hair, dark blue
eyes and the pinkest skin that has the 5 year old wondering
why we have a red baby.
This labor was unique, strange and totally unexpected and
I have to say, had me baffled to no end. It goes to prove
that labor can be unpredictable and go against all textbook
rules and expectations.
I had been progressing and having some labor signs over
the last week. At one of the prenatal visits my dilation
was 5 cm, 80% effaced with a bulging bag of water and a
very low baby. Several days had gone by with continued braxton
hicks type contractions and other increasing labor signs.
After talking with the midwife on Saturday night, she thought
with some herbs and other midwife tricks maybe some of my
sporadic braxton hicks contractions would become regular
and strong enough to put me into labor, especially since
every night this last week had me up walking with some light
contractions making me wonder if they were going to get
stronger or not?
We went out with some friends for Mexican food Saturday
night. I ordered extra hot salsa. We had a nice evening.
On Sunday, Susie Meeks, our midwife came over to check
me out. I was progressing in dilation and effacement so
she decided to stay and give me some herbs. I had continued
dilation and progress all afternoon. I felt completely normal
and was beginning to wonder why in the world I was not having
that "labor" feeling or labor contractions. I
could not tell when I was having a contraction except if
I put my hand on my belly and felt it harden. Later on that
afternoon, the midwife checked me and said, "You are
8 cm. and I can stretch you to 9 cm. easy." I had been
talking on the phone to my mom and then sister-in-law a
little while after that still not convinced that I was in
labor. How could it be without regular strong contractions?
How can you be almost 9 cm and not feel labor contractions?
It was not my normal labor pattern. The midwife told me
to turn off my brain and stop analyzing everything and just
surrender to the fact that you are going to have a baby
today no matter if I felt like it or not! That was very
difficult being that I felt absolutely no pain.
I tried everything to bring it on...walking around the house,
walking up and down the stairs, hot showers and a hot bath
and a host of other labor stimulating things like the breast
pump. If I could get contractions, I would have a handful
of light braxton hicks type contractions that would soon
stop and not come back for an hour. So I figured it was
just a blessing to have a labor that was painless until
transition. Real labor hit around 8:10 pm and I finally
started having contractions: regular contractions that quickly
built in intensity with each one. I could feel these! Soon
I was squatting and had to use a low moaning voice to get
through them. My husband and the midwife notice that I was
no longer my chipper talkative self and all the sudden tuned
in to some strong contractions. I ended up in the warm bath
which is an amazing pain reliever to take the pressure off
your body. For 2 hours, the baby dropped lower, yet the
water did not break until I begged her to "just break
it so we could get this over with". She said to give
it a few more contractions. We did and she broke the water
at about 10 cm, 100% effaced when the bulging bag was at
a +2 station---lots of water. It took several contractions
to dilate me completely around as I had a little bit of
a lip in front that was slightly swollen and needed to go
down before I applied any pressure from pushing. I rotated
to a hands and knees position to allow the contraction to
work on the front cervical lip and breathed though some
contractions with a slight urge to push. The midwife pushed
back the cervical lip over the baby's head and the very
next contraction the baby came down and I was able to have
her pushed out with a very quick controlled push. That overwhelming
stretching of the head being born had me believing that
she was completely out... a spit second later here comes
that overwhelming feeling again...the shoulders cork screwed
out and she was born in a matter of seconds. After the shoulders
were out the rest of her body slide out like a wet slippery
fish. Relief. It was amazing and unbelievable. She is beautiful
and perfectly formed and I am so grateful to have her in
my arms.
Overall, the birth was easier than any of my other births.
I was mentally prepared and able to handle the contractions
when they did get strong. I felt like I was able to sense
what position I needed to be in and know what to do at what
time to aid in a smoother faster delivery. I used lots of
different laboring positions. I squatted, frog squatted,
hands and knees, side lay position and even the big no-no
position of a laying on my back with a slight incline which
actually turned out to be comfortable. I said, "I know
I am not supposed to use this position in labor, but it
is more comfortable than the others right now." There
were only a few times I felt like I was loosing my focus
but I was able to bring it back around with prayer and making
myself think about what I was supposed to be doing. My husband
was an incredible help emotionally and physically. He gave
some good counter pressure to my back when needed. He offered
encouragement at the right times. I held on to him and hung
on him. He would make eye contact with me and tell me I
was doing great. He was my strong support. The midwife has
an incredible ability to keep me focused and encouraged.
One piece of information that I read out of The Birth Book
by Dr. Sears was a comment from Martha Sears where she said
that what helped her during labor was to allow the contraction
to come while she let herself open up by letter her belly
relax like she was 11 months pregnant. She meant that she
didn't hold in anything or tighten up she remained loose
and let her belly hang. I found that relaxing like I was
11 months pregnant was a huge help to me during this labor
and very doable in water. The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy
by Shonda Parker has a chapter on dealing with pain in labor
that is excellent and was very helpful to me during this
birth.
Afterpains are another story. These are more painful than
labor however, with Tylenol and After Ease herbs it is bearable.
I took Arnica the first day as well.
Breastfeeding has been very rewarding. I love looking at
her tiny face and seeing her relax in my arms. She knows
exactly what to do and has no problem nursing a full hour
at times. During her 2nd night she nursed all night long
taking short breaks only to awake again to nurse another
45 minutes to an hour. Gradually she brought the milk in
and has decreased her nursing slightly but still is a frequent
long nurser.
After birthing my usual vitamin regimen is similar to what
I do prenatally. I continue to take my prenatal
vitamins with continued intake of Chlorophyll and fresh
juice for blood rebuilding. I add Raspberry leaf tea and
a breastfeeding herbal tea as well.
This time I kept a postpartum tracker sheet with nursing
times and length, medicine and herb taking times. This helps
keep everything straight and prevents me from forgetting
when the last time I nursed was or when was the last time
I took my vitamins or herbs.
Afterwards, I kept thinking that I could not believe all
that happened on January 15, 2006. I woke up that morning
and baked an new recipe with my children, "Southern
Milk Cake", for breakfast having no idea that night
I would be holding my newborn baby girl.
A full day of incredible happenings and blessings from
God.
