1 Fast Labor + 1 Awesome Birth Center = 1 Amazing Baby

Throughout this pregnancy, as I read more and more about natural, unmedicated childbirth, I knew that I wanted to write my birth story for others to read. Two of the most influential texts I read in preparation for my first birth experience were "Spiritual Midwifery" and "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" both by Ina May Gaskin. Both works contain collections of birth stories that I found to be both inspiring and insightful. Its these stories, combined with the inspirational accounts of my mother's and sister's births and topped off with witnessing a dear friend birth her first child that gave me the strength to believe in myself and my body to perform the miracle of childbirth.

Fast forward to the early morning hours of Thursday, June 30th. I woke up sometime around 2:30am with, you guessed it, the urge to go to the bathroom. Since I had just gone no more than 45-minutes ago, I was trying to convince myself to hold it a little longer so I could go back to sleep. While in the process of trying to go back to sleep, I remembered that I needed to bring a few things to work the following day. So, I decided to get up, let out the 15 drops of pee that woke me up, and get out the things I would need for work the next day while it was fresh on my mind. I quickly did my business on the toilet then went into the closet to search for those items.

While standing in the closet, I felt a tiny bit of warm liquid trickle into my panties. I stood there confused for a minute, trying to figure out if I had done anything that would cause more urine to come out. I was pretty sure that I had been just standing there, not laughing, coughing, or jumping, so then I thought how strange it was how suddenly it seemed I lost all bladder control. Hmmmm...  Back to the toilet I went, to finish off the job that I clearly didn't get done the first time around. I noticed that this time around, when I sat down on the toilet, my "pee" came out again without any effort...and kept coming and coming and coming. I finally became suspicious of the volume of liquid that I thought was coming from my bladder and decided to take a closer look. That's when I realized that it wasn't urine but amniotic fluid. 

I immediately became panicked and called out to Dameone to see if he was awake. Uttering the words "I think my water is leaking" made the situation feel very real and even more frightening. I became acutely aware that very moment that I was exactly 35 weeks and 3 days pregnant and that if this "leak" of my amniotic fluid was severe enough that our baby was going to be born 5 weeks prematurely. While I continued to sit on the toilet, fluid slowly but steadily leaking, Dameone got up to use the other bathroom. I decided to join him in the other room and as soon as I stopped moving around the rest of my amniotic fluid came gushing out. It was literally like someone was standing behind me with a pitcher of water pouring it down between my legs. Now that we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that my membranes had ruptured, we knew it was time to call Mary, our midwife.

Once we got Mary on the phone, she was just as surprised as we were that my membranes had ruptured. She reconfirmed how far along in my pregnancy I was and uttered the words no birthing center couple wants to hear..."You're going to need to go to the hospital."  She had this recommendation for several reasons: 1) I was about to be in pre-term labor; 2) the baby's position was unknown (breech, transverse, or vertex); 3) the approximate size/weight of the baby was unknown; and 4) the results from my Group B Strep test were not back yet. Mary informed us that the hospital would monitor me and the baby, perform a vaginal exam to determine if my cervix was dilating and effacing, and perform some tests to determine the maturity of the baby's lungs. She told us that we didn't need to rush to the hospital, but at the same time we didn't have all night. Mary told me to grab something to eat and drink as much water as I could get into my body because the hospital would forbid both of these actions. By the end of our conversation, I had begun to experience very mild contractions lasting about 20 seconds. They were so mild that I wasn't even sure that they were contractions!

I decided that I wanted to take a shower, do my hair, and put on some make up. There was NO WAY I was about to let the strangers at the hospital see me looking like a hot mess! I had several mild contractions while I was in the shower and I remembered my Brio Birth teacher, Angie, telling me that real labor contractions will not stop when you take a shower. This further concerned me. I was not ready for my baby to come, I was certain that my baby wasn't ready to come, and I was no where near ready to accept any part of what was happening.

When I got out of the shower I knew I needed to call my parents. I first tried my mother's cell phone. Straight to voice mail. I left a message but decided to give the house phone a call. You see, when I was living there, it was standard practice to turn the ringer off overnight so I was quite surprised when my father picked up the phone. I gave him the brief low-down and hung up so I could finish my middle-of-the-night beauty routine while simultaneously trying to help Dameone pack our overnight bag. A few minutes later my mother called back to get the details. 

By now it was around 3:30am and I was still in no hurry to get out the door, despite how frantic Dameone was slowly becoming. I chatted Mom up for about 10 minutes, casually mentioning when I was having a contraction. It wasn't until my mom got very serious with me that I really understood just how quickly things were moving. In our short 10 minute conversation I had at least 3 contractions, maybe as many as 5, making them between 2 and 3 minutes apart. I knew that they were coming fairly quickly but they were still extremely mild so it didn't really occur to me to hurry up. I hung up with Mom, blow dried and flat ironed my hair, and we were out the door. I was none too pleased that I didn't have time for makeup. 

We left the house at 4:00am, stopped at McDonald's (the only thing open in Laveen at that hour), and made our way to St. Joseph's Hospital. My contractions were steady at 2 to 3 minutes apart and only mildly increasing in intensity. The roads were totally empty at that hour so we made the 13-mile drive in great time.

Arrival and check in at St. Joseph's was easy-peasy. I was brought into Labor & Delivery pre-admittance (or whatever they call it) to be monitored. I opted not to change into the hospital provided gown, a choice that would later benefit me tremendously. Our nurse, Molly, was just awesome. She was super friendly and was very calming. I think she could sense our worry about the pre-term labor. She hooked me up to the fetal monitors and asked us for a copy of our birth plan. We didn't have a written birth plan! As "birth center clients", we didn't exactly need to have our hopes and dreams prepared in outline form. Our midwives, by virtue of their model of care, were on the same page as we were. Many of the things that get included in a traditional hospital birth plan are unnecessary in a birth center environment because those interventions aren't even available. We told Molly that it never occurred to us to create a hospital birth plan, so we didn't have one. When she asked us what we wanted, the answer was easy: we did not want a single intervention unless it was to directly save my life or the life of our baby. Molly smiled at us and said "You got it!"

Molly was required to perform a vaginal exam to verify that my membranes had ruptured and to check for cervical dilation/effacement. Much to everyone's surprise, at 4:45am, I was dilated to 4cm and 100% effaced! My contractions were still coming quickly and by now had become intense enough that I was no longer able to hide the fact that they were coming. When Molly left to page our doctor, Dr. Nichelle Whitehead, she said to me with an abundance of confidence, "You're going to have a great labor and birth!"

I called Mary (midwife) back to give her the very brief summary of events and it was then, with a heavy heart, that she informed us that we would need to remain at the hospital until our baby was born. After speaking with Dr. Whitehead, Molly returned to advise us that Nichelle would like to speak to us directly. Dameone dialed Nichelle up on her cell phone and spoke to her for a brief moment before handing the phone off to me. This telephone conversation was about to completely change the course of my birth experience.

I really don't remember much of what Nichelle and I talked about on the phone, but this is what I do remember. I remember her telling me that she had spoken to Molly who reported that both me and the baby were tolerating labor very well. Nichelle said that it had been a pleasure for her to support our family through the prenatal period and she believed that she would be able to successfully continue that support if we wanted to transfer to Blossom Birth Center. At this point in the conversation I was in the middle of an uncomfortable contraction and was adamantly opposed to getting back in the car. I distinctly remember this next part of the conversation, maybe because it was the only part of the conversation that I wasn't having a contraction. Nichelle said to me "Jessica, Blossom is just a couple of miles down the road. You are not going to go from 4cm to complete (10cm) in a couple of miles. You can get in the car now and be in the birthing tub in a few short minutes." Man, the thought of getting in the tub hit just the right note with me and I was convinced that we needed to leave the hospital.

I can only assume that Nichelle had previously advised Molly that we would be requesting to leave because when I hung up the phone, Molly came right in. I told her that we were going to go to Blossom and needed to be discharged immediately. It felt like she returned a fraction of a second later with the discharge paperwork all ready for us to sign. Molly unhooked me from all of the monitors, gave the obligatory "you're leaving against medical advice" speech, then looked me dead in the eyes and said "You go have your baby!" I signed the paperwork and helped Dameone gather our things as quickly as possible before another contraction came. This was where it proved so beneficial that I had opted to remain in my own clothing. I only needed to put on my panties, shorts, and slippers, and we were OUTTA THERE!

We rushed out of the pre-admittance area and back through check-in to wait for the elevator to take us down the 5 floors to the lobby. While we were waiting, I experienced the most intense contraction of my entire labor. I have no idea how long it lasted, but it felt like an eternity. In all actuality, it was probably several contractions, one on top of another. I remember, as this contraction was building up, that one of the elevators opened up with a woman inside carting several trollies of patient charts that occupied all of the space. I remember thinking that we were on the top floor of the building and wondering where she was coming from and why wasn't she getting out? She just stood there, watching me work through this contraction (that had dropped me to the floor at this point). I was totally thinking "WTF lady?! Let the elevator close so we can call the other one!" She finally let the doors close and Dameone hit the button again. The other elevator showed up like a nano-second later. Of course. Murphy's Law. The door was being held open for us, but since this was the never ending contraction, the "open door" alarm on the elevator started wailing. Okay, it probably wasn't wailing, but it sure sounded that way to me! I couldn't take another second of that annoying noise, so when my gestures to let the door close failed to communicate my wishes, I was left with no other choice but to YELL them out..."LET THE DOOR CLOSE...PLEASE!!" (I'm sure there was some sort of expletive in that little outburst but I conveniently don't remember that part.)

The contraction from hell finally ended, an empty and quiet elevator showed up, and we ran as fast as we could to the car. The time was approximately 5:45am. Nichelle was absolutely right, Blossom Birth Center was just a couple of miles down the road and we got there very quickly. I was actually afraid that we were going to get there before Nichelle did, but she was there with open arms when we drove up. I had a couple of short, fairly intense contractions on the drive over. 

We were whisked away into the Peach Blossom Suite where the tub was filling up. I got undressed and tried to get in the tub, but the water was a bit too hot for me at that point in my labor. I asked Nichelle to cool the water way down but she reminded me that we didn't have any idea how big the baby was going to be and, if she was born in the water, it needed to be at a nice warm temperature to keep her safe. She agreed to cool it down a little bit, so I waited in a half-squat position just outside of the tub while the cold water was being added. At that moment, my labor took turn that I was absolutely not expecting.

So there I was, naked and half squatting on the bathroom floor, waiting for the water in the tub to cool off to a temperature that was comfortable for me to get into. Nichelle was busy, scurrying around the birth center, gathering the items she would need to attend this birth. When the next contraction came (which was the first contraction I had at Blossom), I suddenly felt the urge to push! I was instantly in a frenzy of panic. I flashed back to my telephone conversation with Nichelle, repeating her words in my mind like a mantra: "You're not going to go from 4 to complete in a couple of miles. You're not going to go from 4 to complete in a couple of miles.". Surely Nichelle was right. She had to be, she's a DOCTOR! I then flashed to our Brio Birth class and recalled every bit of technical knowledge we had received. I knew that pushing against a cervix that was not completely dilated was a very, very bad thing. I yelled out to Dameone who was just in the bedroom area of the suite: "I NEED TO PUSH!" He was much calmer than I was and I heard him relay the info to Nichelle. My panic caused that and the next couple of contractions to be extremely painful. 

Nichelle returned to the bathroom and coaxed me into the tub. Ahhh...liquid bliss. The water was the perfect temperature and it was doing its job of interrupting the pain receptors in my brain. The magic of the water combined with Nichelle's amazing calming demeanor helped me to relax back into the rhythm of my labor. Nichelle encouraged me to continue following the signs my body was giving me, reminding me that they wouldn't steer me wrong. My contractions were spaced a few minutes apart now and I was actively pushing my baby into the world. I distinctly remember having the feeling that I was being torn in half...starting at the vagina. I remember thinking that I had heard many women use that phrase to describe the sensation of the pushing stage and also thinking that I didn't expect it to feel the way that it did. To prevent the ripping apart of my body (okay, I'm exaggerating), I kept trying to suppress the urge to push while my train of thought picked up speed. I recalled a conversation I had with my mother where she told me that when it came to pushing for her, that it actually felt good to push. With that memory now fresh in my mind, I was able to push harder and more effectively. I reached down at one point and could feel the top of my baby's head coming out of me! Before I knew it, I heard Nichelle tell me that my baby's head was out. I couldn't believe it! Then, just like that, her body followed! At 6:42am, MY BABY WAS BORN! 

I didn't quite know what to do with her when she came out. I had thought that handling your own baby was something that was instinctual to a mother, yet there I was completely unsure of how and where to touch her. Once I got a good grip on her, I brought her up to my chest and held her tight. She was so beautiful. So perfect. 

Under ordinary circumstances, we would be allowed to relax in the water to get to know each other for a while. Dameone would have been allowed to undress and join us. But, since this was not ordinary circumstances, we had to get right out and dried off to help regulate the baby's body temperature in the best way possible...chest to chest...skin to skin...mother and baby together. It was really amazing. Not only had the discomfort of labor immediately subsided, but it was like I couldn't even remember feeling it! I had read and been told a thousand times about the high one gets after birthing a baby the way nature intended and its TRUE! I felt high! Not a medicated kind of high, but a euphoria that was lead with clarity. I have never been more awake and alert in my life. It was such a good feeling.

While Dameone and I were busy enjoying the first moments of our baby's life, Nichelle was busy helping me control my bleeding. While a certain amount of blood loss is to be expected in a normal birth, it seemed that my uterus was a little tuckered out from sprinting the equivalent of a marathon and after the placenta was born, my uterus decided it was time for a break. Wrong time for a break Little Miss Uterus! Nichelle was amazing. When subtle attempts to "wake up" my uterus didn't work, she knew it was time to take the necessary measures to prevent me from entering hemorrhage territory. Two shots of Pitocin in the thigh and five pills of Cytotec up my butt later, and I was good to go! Yeah, yeah, yeah...TMI...whatever. The thing is, Nichelle was so careful of how she presented this potential crisis to me and I was never once scared. Quite honestly, she was moving around "down there" so carefully that I was hardly aware that she was there.

Once my bleeding was under control and Aerielle had successfully latched on to my breast, we were left alone to get some rest. Our post-partum assistant, Pam, moved in and out of our room without ever disturbing us. She came in regularly to check Aerielle's temperature, but more importantly, to check my blood pressure. We needed my blood pressure to stabilize in order for us to be able to go home, but again, both Pam and Nichelle never bothered me with worrying about it. I never once felt the severity of the situation which was a blessing to me. The staff at Blossom Birth Center made a point to preserve this experience for me, knowing that every moment of that day would be forever indelible in my mind.

As the hours passed, we got some rest, ate some food, and continued to process everything that had happened. Nichelle had not performed the official newborn exam on Aerielle yet, so we still didn't know just how little our little peanut was...but boy did she look, and feel, teenie tiny. The good news was that she was living and breathing just like her full-term counterparts! We couldn't have been happier. Considering how early she was, we were all expecting some troubles with her breathing or at least ability to regulate her body temperature, but Aerielle continued to prove to us all just how awesome she was. 

At around 6:00pm, my blood pressure was at a place where Nichelle felt like it was safe for us to head home, so she completed the newborn exam, showed Dameone how to put a diaper on such a small baby, and helped put the first clothes on our beautiful daughter. (Up until this point, Aerielle had been completely naked...no clothes, no diaper...so that as much of her skin could touch mine and keep her body temperature right where it should be.) Nichelle took all kinds of measurements, but the ones we wanted most are the only ones I paid any attention to...weight and length. Much to our surprise, Aerielle weighed in at a healthy 5lbs 1oz and was 17" long! Just two more things to add to the list of amazing accomplishments that this baby has already amassed.

 

Driving home was surreal. As I sat in the backseat with Aerielle, I looked at her in disbelief. Disbelief that she was sitting to my left in the car seat instead of being comfortably tucked up inside my belly. Disbelief that she came into the world as quickly as she had. Disbelief that I had actually been able to set my fears aside which resulted in the water birth that I had been dreaming about. Disbelief that less than 15-hours prior I just was half of a married couple yet now I was the mother of a family...

The White Family with our doctor with the heart of a midwife, Nichelle.