Cecily's Birth

   
"When I asked my husband if he would recommend getting a doula to other expectant families, he said “without a doubt.” When I asked him “why?” he said that having Anna there made him more confident about the decisions that we were making during our daughter’s birth. It was good to have another, more experienced person there, on your side, helping you to evaluate what the nurses and midwives were telling you. Anna was incredibly positive and professional during our entire experience with her. She shared her opinions and knowledge without making us feel that if we made a different choice, that it would necessarily be the wrong choice. That’s a difficult balance to strike, and Anna does it well.

Anna supported me during contractions with rebozo and with coaching on breathing, as well as helping me to remember other strategies that were available. She encouraged me to use the bath, take walks, and stay with standing or sitting on the birthing ball when that felt right. She was observant and helpful without seeming to intrude. We are very grateful to Anna for partnering with us as we endured an extremely long induction process, and celebrating with us at the final birth of our beautiful daughter. We would recommend Anna to other couples looking for a doula."


                                                                                                   ~Kirsten and Chris

   
    Kirsten and Chris hired me a few months before their guess date. They had two adopted children, and thought they could never have a biological child. To their surprise it happened! This was their miracle baby. They are such amazing people, and I loved their story. I was so excited to work with them.
   
    Kirsten and Chris changed care providers near the end of pregnancy to a team of midwives who they felt would be more supportive of their birth choices. They wanted to have a natural birth, and avoid any unnecessary interventions. Due to Kirsten’s age and her history of high blood pressure the midwives suggested inducing labor on her due date, if she had not gone on her own before then. Kirsten had a few false alarms in the few weeks before her due date, but things always slowed back down. Kirsten and Chris did a lot of research and were very well informed on the benefits and risks of inducing at 40 weeks. They felt comfortable asking to delay induction for a few days, provided all tests came back showing baby was healthy at the 40 week appointment. At the 40 week appointment all the tests came back showing baby was happy and healthy. Unfortunately, Kirsten’s blood pressure was  150/100. They sent her to the hospital for monitoring and to discuss a possible induction.  Kirsten was monitored for a few hours. Her blood pressure remained high. For the health of both Kirsten and the baby they decided to induce.

      Around 7:00pm that night they gave Kirsten cytotec. At that time Kirsten’s cervix was 1cm dilated and 70% effaced. They continued giving her a dose of cytotec every three to four hours. Around 4:30am, Kirsten sent me a text to let me know that she was near the end of her third dose, and that her contractions were three minutes apart and one to two minutes long. She was hopeful that maybe her body was taking over on its own. About 6:30am, they administered the fourth dose of cytotec. They also checked Kirsten’s cervix at this time. She had progressed to 2-3 cm and was 80% effaced and baby was still very high. The midwife on call at that time wanted to start pitocin at 10:00am. Kirsten really wanted to avoid pitocin. She asked that I go ahead and come in so that I would be there to discuss different options.

      I arrived shortly after 9:00am. Kirsten was sitting on the birth ball when I walked in. She was still having consistent contractions, but they weren’t extremely intense yet. The midwives changed shifts at 7:00am, so there was a new midwife on call. Also the labor and delivery floor suddenly got extremely busy. A lot of women were in labor, and the midwife had her hands full. The nurse came in to let us know what was going on, and to say that it might be a while before the midwife would be able to come in. I suggested at this point that Kirsten and Chris get some snacks before labor really started to pick up. Kirsten was really craving coconut cream pie. Chris ran to the store to pick some things up. He returned with coconut crème pie, crackers, cheese, Gatorade, and some other snacks.

      Kirsten and Chris enjoyed some snacks and then decided they’d walk around the hospital for a little while to try to get contractions to pick up. It seemed to do the trick. The more Kirsten walked the more intense things got. Around 11:00am, the midwife came in and checked Kirsten. She was at 3cm and 70%, and baby was at a -2 station. The midwife suggested that instead of starting pitocin that Kirsten remain active, and that maybe later in the day she could try breaking her water in order to move things along. Kirsten continued to stay upright. She’d walk and sway through contractions. She was doing an awesome job, and her contractions really started to intensify and go into a beautiful pattern. She kept at this for several hours, and then the contractions started to slow down again. Kirsten was understandably exhausted at this point. The midwife came in around 7:00pm and did another check. Kirsten was now 4cm dilated. The midwife again suggested breaking her water, but Kirsten and Chris didn’t feel like that was the best thing to do. Instead, Kirsten really wanted to try and get some sleep. Things had slowed down enough that we decided to give it a trial run. I left the room for 30 minutes to see if she could sleep through the contractions. If she could, then we agreed that I would go home so Kirsten could get a good night’s sleep, and return whenever they felt they needed me. Chris laid down next to Kirsten on the hospital bed, and she was able to get into a deep sleep right away. This was such a relief, because I knew she needed the energy to continue handling the labor.

      The next morning , around 8:00am, I texted Kirsten to see how things were going and if they were able to get some sleep. She said that they were able to get some good sleep, and that she hadn’t had any big contractions yet that morning. She said that baby was very active, and that she was feeling more energized and positive. She told me who the midwife on call that day was, and said as soon as they had a plan that she would let me know. Around 9:00am, the midwife came in and thought that starting with the cytotec again was a good idea. They gave Kirsten three more doses of cytotec. After the third dose, around 3:00pm, Kirsten felt like her contractions were getting stronger. I was planning on coming by between 5:00 and 6:00 anyway to check in, and Kirsten still felt that would be a good time.

      I arrived around 6:00pm that night, and Kirsten’s contractions had definitely picked up. They were much more intense and very consistent. Around 7:00pm, Cheryl came in to check Kirsten’s cervix. She was 5cm dilated, 70% effaced, and baby had come down to a -1 station. All of this was very good news! They had decided that they would start some pitocin around 9:00pm to speed things up a little. Shortly before 9:00, your mom’s contractions really started to pick up. The midwife was okay with holding off on starting the pitocin since things seemed to be progressing on their own. They were getting a little bit harder to handle, so I suggested that she try the bath for a little while to help with the intensity. That seemed to help a lot. We put the diffuser in the bathroom, played some music, and Chris sat next to Kirsten in the bathroom. She was really able to get into a great labor zone during this time. She was handling everything perfectly.

     The nurse came in to listen to your baby’s heartbeat and make sure baby was handling labor well. After she did that Kirsten’s contractions began to space out more, and things started to slow down again. Kirsten decided to get out of the bathtub. When she got out and sat on the bed she made the decision that she wanted to go ahead and start the pitocin. The nurse brought the pitocin in. The minute she put the IV in your Kirsten’s arm, her water broke. The pitocin didn’t have a chance to get in her system to work yet.  Kirsten’s labor was progressing on its own! They still kept the IV in, but after her water broke things really started to get intense. Kirsten wanted to try to get in the tub again. The nurse didn’t want Kirsten to get in the bathtub, while on the IV, so she promptly told the nurse to take the IV out, because she didn’t need it anymore. The nurse did. Things moved very fast after that. Kirsten was in the tub for a little while. She was handling each contraction beautifully. She did begin to get a little overwhelmed by the intensity at the end, as all women do, but she was able to work through it all perfectly.

    Around 1:00am, I noticed she seemed to be grunting and pushing some with each contraction. I asked her if she was feeling the urge to push, and she felt like she might be. I had her get out of the tub and sit on the toilet for a little while. We called the midwife in, and she checked her cervix while Kirsten was sitting and pushing some on the toilet, and she was fully dilated!!! The midwife talked her through several pushes on the toilet. Then she had her move over to the bed. She had her lean on the bead while Kirsten  semi squatted next to the bed. This was the perfect position for her. She only pushed for about four contractions in this position, and then Cecily’s head came out. The midwife caught baby and handed her off to Kirsten. She held baby close to her chest while we helped get her on the bed. Both Kirsten and Chris were just so in love with their baby girl, and so excited to finally see her!

    Kirsten was an absolute rockstar during the entire labor. She had a lot of difficult decisions to make, but she made so many great choices. She worked hard to make sure to do everything that was best for baby. She’s such a strong woman, and she completely rocked her birth!


***All birth stories shared have received prior permission from client***