9/22/2016 0 Comments The Birth of AugustusNatural Water Birth | Baby+ Co Birth Center | Cary, NC I had the privilege of attending Taylor’s birth. Taylor had a very long labor with her oldest son that included a transfer to the hospital from a birth center. This was due to him being in a less than ideal position. He was posterior. With this pregnancy she felt she could really use the extra support that a doula could provide. Taylor and Baxter were planning to have a natural birth at Baby+Co, a birth center in Cary, NC. On June 29th, 2016 at 6:40am, Taylor contacted me to let me know that she was having contractions. She said she’d been having them since 2:30am. She’d been trying to rest through them, but hadn’t been able to get much sleep. They were still far enough apart that she hadn’t called the midwife. Taylor also said she had an appointment with the midwife, Jewell, the day before. At that time, she was 1 cm dilated and not really thinned out, and the baby was posterior. Taylor felt like this could just be early labor trying to turn baby around. During our prenatal meetings, Taylor had discussed her concern over handling labor if this baby ended up being OP like her first was. I encouraged her that every baby and pregnancy is different. I also provided Taylor and Baxter with suggestions and handouts on things they could do to help get the baby in an ideal position, if he did end up being OP. One of these things was the miles circuit. Taylor said she had done a full miles circuit the night before, and she was wondering if maybe that triggered things. She said she planned to rest as much as possible until contractions got closer together. I told her it was definitely possible the circuit triggered things. I agreed that she should rest as much as possible until things picked up more. I suggested she get a good breakfast in and reminded her to stay hydrated. I also suggested maybe doing some hands and knees during some of the contractions. I asked her where she was feeling the contractions and about how long they were lasting. She was feeling them mostly down low in the front, and they were lasting about 30-45 seconds. She said she’d keep me updated and let me know if anything changed. Around 9:00am, Taylor sent me a text to let me know she had talked to Jewell around 8:00, but that contractions had slowed down and were irregular since then. She said she was about to go to her chiropractor appointment, and then she was going to try and take a nap. She also said she may go see the massage therapist that afternoon to help things move along. At 4:30pm, Taylor let me know that contractions were down to every 15 minutes apart, and they were less intense than that morning. She said she had just finished her massage. She was off to shower and go lay back down. She asked if I thought she should be doing anything to help baby turn, or if she should just continue trying to relax. I told her I thought relaxing at this point would be best, especially if she was able to sleep. At 9:30pm, I sent Taylor a text to check in before I headed to bed. She called me to let me know how things were going. She said things had been getting more intense, but she still felt like contractions were 8-10 minutes apart. She told me she had called the birth center, and they advised that she go ahead and come in. I asked her if she wanted me to go ahead and meet her there. She said no that she wanted to see how far along she was first. Then she stopped talking, because she was having a contraction. I heard her breathing and vocalizing through the contraction, and it lasted about a minute. She sounded like things were fairly intense. She also asked me if they changed their minds and decided to go to the hospital to get the epidural, would I still support her and help her get everything else she wanted on her birth plan. I said of course I would, but to let’s just see where she was at when they got to the birth center, before she made that decision. I also told her that I felt she was farther along than she thought. I asked her to time a few contractions in the car, and see how far apart they were. She agreed. At 10:15pm, Taylor let me know that contractions were definitely closer together in the car, but they seemed shorter. She said they would arrive at the birth center at 11:00pm, and that she felt awful. I encouraged her that the car ride is always awful during labor, but that she was doing amazing. I also let her know that I would go ahead and meet her there, since things seemed to be moving along fast. I arrived at the birth center at 11:10pm. Taylor was in the far left room. Beth and Jewell were both at the birth center. Beth had just checked her. She was 4 cm dilated. The bathtub was filling up. Taylor worked through a few contractions on the toilet, and then once the water was full enough, she got in the tub. Taylor felt a lot of relief with the warm water. She worked through several contractions on hands and knees, then Baxter got in the tub with her. He sat down and she leaned on him. She worked through each contraction beautifully. Around 12:10am, Taylor started making small involuntary pushes at the peak of contractions. Beth asked if she could check her again. Taylor said it was fine. She checked Taylor’s cervix, and she was 8 cm dilated already. It wasn’t quite time to push yet, but she was moving fast. Taylor continued to focus, breathe, and moan through each contraction. She would munch on Sonic ice in between contractions. Around 12:30am, Taylor’s contractions began to intensify quite a bit. She asked to try using the nitrous oxide gas at this point. The midwives brought it in and got it set up. She used this for about 10 minutes, and then her water broke. Once her water broke, she began to feel a lot more pressure. She began really pushing with each contraction. She was working so hard, and looked so amazing doing it. After about 30 minutes of pushing, Augustus finally arrived with his little hand next to his head. He was placed immediately on Taylor’s chest. Taylor and Baxter were so overjoyed to meet him! It was an honor to support Taylor and Baxter and witness their birth. Taylor rocked every second of her labor. There were moments she felt she couldn’t do it, but she kept persevering. She was a birthing rockstar! Baxter was incredible support to Taylor. He stayed in the moment and by her side through it all. Their love for each other was so evident throughout <3
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