The Birth of Baby Stephen - A Mother's Story

At our midwife appointment on April 14th, the day before my "guess date", my blood pressure was still high, so our midwife was concerned that pre-eclampsia was on the horizon. She didn't want to send us to the hospital for the 4th non-stress test in 2 weeks, so she suggested that we go to the hospital that night to start Cervadil to get my cervix to dilate since I was still at a 0, and then plan to start Pitocin the next morning to get things moving.

We went to the hospital at 7pm and by 7:30 they put in the Cervadil---it's like a suppository, but they have to put it behind the cervix to dilate it---NOT fun when your cervix is completely closed and high. Anyway, then Josh and I just played games and hung out til we got tired and went to sleep. As I'm sure most of you know, hospital beds are like ROCKS. I couldn't hardly sleep, so I listened to my "Come OUT Baby" Hypnobabies CD (our instructor suggested it as a way to avoid induction----it's like anything else used to induce---it won't work unless your body is ready for it). Well, I guess it was, because at 3am I woke Josh up because I was having pressure waves. I have no idea what stage I was in,

because the pressure waves were coming so close together I'd have like 5 in a row and Josh thought I was only having one. He was SO great supporting me and using Hypnotic suggestions and techniques to get me to relax. It was fabulous.

We really realized how important it is that birth partners get involved and how vital it is to practice together diligently. I didn't want to listen to any CDs (I thought the I-pod headphones would irritate me, so we put the relaxation music on on Josh's laptop), so Josh had to use scripts that he made up from what he could remember and what instinctively seemed to work from my body cues to get me to focus and relax. IT WORKED GREAT!

He called our doula, Cherylyn, and she came over, totally surprised to see me so relaxed and having so many pressure waves...it was nuts. The nurse came in and checked me and I was at a 2 and totally effaced. By 7:30am when they came to take out the cervadil and start the pitocin, I was at a 5, so they decided to just forget the pitocin because I was obviously progressing quickly on my own. By 8:30 am when the midwife came, I was at a 9, and by 9:57am Stephen was born. So total time was 7 hours. It was crazy and happened SO FAST. Josh was totally my hero, and Cherylyn was totally amazing.

Everyone kept saying that I was just glowing and so happy and were surprised that I could smile between pushes---the nurses were fabulous help too, and very encouraging. They never once offered me an epidural. Near the end I did get some Fetanol just so I could breathe in between a few contractions and they gave me oxygen to make sure that the baby and I were both getting enough. At one point they also had me stop pushing so I could let the last lip of my cervix finish dilating, which was SO hard, but when my midwife got there, she held back the cervix edge and let me push---it's amazing how your body just does it---it doesn't take any effort from you at all...you just have to go with it.

They also had to put an internal monitor on him shortly before he crowned because the pressure waves were so intense and close together that his heart rate was dropping and not going back up after each wave (he was also pinching off the cord- it was once around his neck, and one of his arms was tangled in it too), but he did just great and had a beautiful cry when he came out. I can't describe how I felt when his body came out---which is a totally amazing feeling too---I cried and laughed and was just...WOW....jeesh, I'm starting to cry now just thinking about it. :)

He weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. at birth and was 20 inches long, so a perfect size. We love his fluffy brown hair and love looking into his eyes. He's so alert and just loves taking in everything he can hear and see. It's so amazing to have this new little life in our family.