Ashley’s Birth 3/21/12

About a month before Ashley’s edd her blood pressure started spiking. She called concerned her caregivers would induce her. We talked about the different ways she could be induced, also that she could ask to think about it overnight. We also discussed things she could do to try to bring on labor and bring baby down.

At her next appointment she was given another week. I started researching blood pressure in late pregnancy and found some herbal remedies. I sent them to her. In the following week it lowered her BP considerably. At her next appt they did a NST, weren’t happy with the results so the scheduled a biophysical for the next day, the 20^th. The biophysical turned out fine so they kept their induction date for the next day.

She went in the night of the 20^th and had a cervical ripenor put in. We made plans for me to come the next morning about 8:30 when the Dr. was supposed to start the induction.

When I arrived they had just put a more aggressive ripenor in, cytotec. This one is also known to start contractions. Baby was still high, she was not dilated. They told her she could eat breakfast.

At about 9:44 she had a contraction strong enough she stopped eating.

About 11:30 she is sitting on the ball, we do some acupressure to try to bring on contractions again. They were steady for awhile after the cytotec was first put in, but then tapered off. The acupressure helped, but the cx weren’t strong enough.

At 1 they started pitocin. They checked her, she was 40% effaced, baby was still high and her cervix was still closed.

About this time Ashley’s birth photographer, Jennifer showed up. She took great pictures and was really sweet.

1:30 they increased the pit, her cx were about 40 seconds in duration. Still talking and calm.

3:00 pit on 9, nurse put Ashley on her side because the cx were so close together. She was getting a little sleep. At 3:27 her water broke, there was a little blood with it. This was a good sign and encouraging to all of us. This was the first real sign that anything was happening:)

About 4 I got her out of bed and on the ball. After this we changed positions about every half hour, she was happy to be up and out of the bed at this point. She danced with daddy, we did some hip squeezing, we adjusted the bed and she got on her knees and leaned on it, still swaying her hips. Always doing everything she could to try to bring her baby down. During this time, she was having some cluster cx. (5:04, they are about 2 min apart.)

5:25 she is having some pain, being pretty quiet.

6:00 they decreased the pitocin, she is still contracting, her body has taken over doing it on it’s own now.

7:17 she is very uncomfortable now. Showing signs of transition, shaky legs, her cx are regular. They check her, she is now at 4 centimeters. We are all very encouraged by this. She stays in bed, laying on her side, the baby is decelling with her contractions. Baby seems to do better with mom on her left side. Dad is encouraging her at her head, I am rubbing her back through contractions. Dad is doing a great job keeping her spirits up. Her cx are about 1 minutes apart, lasting about 1 to 1.5 minutes.

8:12 they check her again, she is now dilated to 6, 80% effaced. The nurse has called the Dr. a couple of times. She made a comment about Ashley being one of those women who could just go fast. She tells Ashley to tell us if she feels like something has changed or feels a lot of pressure. A few minutes later Ashley says she feels like shes right between her legs.

8:25 they check her again, she is dilated to 9, at a +1 station. The Dr comes in, they get Ashley in position. By 8:34 she had pushed baby out, with maybe, four pushes. They gave her some oxygen during pushing. The cord had been wrapped around her neck twice, which could explain why her heart rate was dropping with the contractions. There had been some concern about meconium in the amniotic fluid, but she gave clear cries when she came out, so they gave her right to Ashley. The Dr. also delayed cutting the cord till it stopped pulsating.

The staff let them alone and they called some family. Her mom, dad and daughter came up. They were all so excited:)

By 9:16 they were breastfeeding. I left a little after this.

Ashley and Josh worked so hard for this birth. I was proud of both them. They had no intentions of being induced, but they handled it all really well and just went with the flow of things. They made good choices along the way for themselves and their little one. I’m thankful to have been a part of this birth.

~Kris

Welcome Keziah-May!

On the 14th of November I woke up at bout 5am. I knew I had to head into the RBWH (Royal Brisbane & Woman’s Hospital In Australia) from my cousins house at some point that day for clinic. Rang the hospital, they said to come in at about 1pm. We jumped on the train and headed in. I’d had a bit of an achy stomach and back since the night before, but didn’t think anything of it as I had SPD and baby had dropped.

We got into see the doctor at 1:30pm, he checked my blood pressure, it was all over the place. He didn’t seem overly bothered though. I told him I’d been having some cramping and he told me that it was probably just Braxton Hicks and not to worry too much about it. We left the clinic and headed home; the train ride is about half an hour. Me being a smart ass turned to Michael and told him how funny it would be if I went into labour once we were back on the other side of town.

I’ve learnt that I jinx myself all the time…

We got into Woodridge (where we were staying) and i had the overwhelming need to go to the toilet, I honestly thought I had to have a bowel movement. Well nothing was budging on that toilet, so I gave up on that idea and just assumed I had constipation (which I did). Went back out to Michael and told him that the cramps were getting worse and that I was pretty sure I was in labour. This was about 2:30pm. We rang the midwives at the hospital and they told us only to come in if the contractions were 2-3minutes apart or if I couldn’t talk through them. So that was alright, we started counting contractions. They were already 2minutes apart but they felt like an eternity apart! I didn’t want it to be false labour again so we decided to walk the 2km to the shopping centre. Rang the family on the way, figured this would be it. Got about half way and was only just able to finish the conversation on the phone with my sister. Finally got to the supermarket and Michael got me a cup of water from Donut King (of all the places to get water). I’m sitting there looking absolutely hilarious, puffing and panting and I think I was going red in the face.

We rang my cousin and she came to pick me up from work, we had to stop back at her place (where we were staying) to pack my hospital bag and get to the hospital. She was terrified my waters were going to break in the 20 mins it took to drive to the hospital. They didn’t though.

We got there about 3:30 and they put me in an assessment room whilst they found a birthing suite. After about 10 minutes of being very tired and emotionally drained (complications about bub had arisen a week prior) I started crying and asked Michael to see if they could get me an epidural. they said yes, and whilst I was on my way to birthing suite (walking no less) they went to find an anaesthetist. I got to the birthing suite and got into something a bit more comfy. They set me up with some wireless baby heart rate monitors and got me in the shower. It was amazing! However the monitors glitched so I ended up back on the bed. I was 3cm when I got to the hospital. I went 4hrs of established labour without pain relief, just moaning and breathing.

At sometime between 8pm and 10pm I got started on the gas and air. Brilliant stuff. Vomited everywhere but it felt good. At about 1am I had the urge to push (they were thinking of breaking my waters as i was 5cm dilated), so I pushed and broke my waters, I started apologizing thinking I’d done the wrong thing.

After that they gave me a shot of morphine in the leg. Ouchies! That was about 1:15am.

Then after watching ponies running around the room (oh yes gas and air is good stuff), I needed to push again (I’d gone from 5cm to 10cm the moment my waters broke). So I started pushing. another midwife came in and pushed my leg into my hip (I was labouring on my side with a back2back baby) and told me to push. I just wanted to sleep.

She started to crown and I’d sleep in-between the 3 pushes (it felt like sleep but it was barely a minute lol!) The midwife that hurt my leg told me to put my hand down and help my daughter into the world (my normal midwife was brilliant, this other lady was an old bat) and I screamed at her, in no uncertain terms ‘NO!’.

3 minutes after starting to push Keziah-May Danielle was born screaming her lungs out (which was good because there had been meconium in the waters), we didn’t get delayed cord cutting like we wanted, because of the meconium, but Michael cut the cord and they cleaned her up and checked her over and brought her back to be.

First attempt at breastfeeding went miserably. Michael dressed her whilst I went to the toilet. Came back out cuddled her for a bit more then she had to be taken to the special care nursery. Had a shower, went down for a smoke (after that I needed one!) and went back up to the SCN and gave breastfeeding another go.

Kim Through The Looking GlassKim is an online

Kim is an online friend of mine and the story below is her 2nd child’s birth story. 🙂

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Here follows the birth story of our son, Gil. If you don’t enjoy reading the more graphic details of birth, I’d suggest not reading it 🙂

Birth Story of William Farrell Schellingerhoudt

I woke up on Friday, February 19, 2010 with mild contractions that were beginning to move around into my back. I’d been having strong Braxton-Hicks quite frequently for a week and was wondering if, since I was feeling these in my back, this was finally it. I timed them for an hour (7AM – 8AM) laying in bed (Brad was getting ready for work and had Gwen with him), and they were around 4 – 5 minutes apart.

I got up to chat with Brad and suggested that it might be baby day. Once I was standing up, they increased in frequency to every 2 – 3 minutes, although they were not very painful and were quite short – around 30 seconds each. I was needing to either walk, bounce, or circle my hips through them. Since they were so close together, we decided to call my mom to come take care of Gwen and page my midwife.

B, my secondary midwife, arrived at around 8:30, took my blood pressure, listened to Love Bug, and did a urine dip. Everything was going well – except that she had another mom in labour! My primary, A, was scheduled to be off that day but with two moms in labour, decided to cone be with me with her student, O. They arrived shortly after my mom at around 9:30AM.

At this point, the contractions were still short and close together and I was still able to talk through most of them. Spirits were high and we were having a baby! A suggested checking me, just so we could get a baseline for where I was and I reluctantly agreed. Sadly, my cervix was only 3 cm dilated and still 1 cm thick and it was VERY posterior. In fact, Love Bug’s head was significantly below my cervix, which was tucked way up in rear of the head! A was concerned that since the head was not applying good pressure, it might take a while for me to progress, but that once my cervix was forward, things were going to go FAST. We discussed options – breaking my water, a stretch-and-sweep and doing nothing. I agreed to a stretch-and-sweep and to another vaginal exam after an hour to see if there was any change.

I began to get more crampy and the contractions picked up a little bit and became stronger for a while, and then began to space out again. They went to every 5 minutes, then 7, then O timed some at 10 minutes apart. I walked the stairs (17 steps!) and my mom took Gwen out for a walk and then to the mall. We gave it 2 hours before re-checking my cervix and there was no change – other than that my cervix was now only 0.5 cm thick. Baby’s heartrate was great., so we decided to not label it as labour, since that definition would require cervical change. A decided to stay close by at thhe clinic – which is just a ten minute walk from my house – and to check in on us at 4PM. It was noon.

After they left, I felt so defeated! I cried and told Brad that were never going to have this baby and that I didn’t want to deal with these contractions forever! I consulted a doula friend who happened to be online about what I could do to get baby’s head well applied to the cervix. She suggested that ineffective contractions likely meant malpositioning and that I should have a bath and a rest – alternating which side I was laying on every so often. She also suggested nursing lots (but Gwen was gone) and having an orgasm (um, no).

I headed up to have a bath, purposefully ignoring the clock and not timing contractions. I had several while in the bath and they were getting increasingly more difficult to deal with while laying down mostly on my back. Brad got me a snack – cheese and crackers and an apple – and I got out of the bath around 1PM. We decided to try for a nap, but I definitely couldn’t sleep through the contractions, which Brad was beginning to help me through by applying counterpressure. I was breathing heavily through them, rocking my hips and was definitely not able to talk anymore! We got up around 2PM to time the contractions and call people. It took a while to get downstairs because when I stood up the contractions were so close together! Once downstairs, Brad opened the laptop and began timing the contractions with an online tool, then paged A and called my mom – putting her on stand-by to come home. A called back and spoke to Brad, heard us work through a contraction (I was moaning through them at this point), then talked to me. I was afraid to have them come in case my contractions spaced out again, but she said she thought I was working hard and that she’d finish up and be at our place by 3PM.

Brad wanted to get the pool ready, but with hard contractions lasting at least a minute each, 2-3 minutes apart, I needed his help more than I needed the pool! With each contraction, I woulud moan for Brad, he would apply counterpressure and I would rock my hips and, breathing in and moaning out in low, guttural tones. Brad called my mom again and told her to come home and take Gwen upstairs, that we were definitely having this baby soon.

A arrived at 3PM, readied a few things, listened to baby’s heartrate – still wonderful! – and did a vaginal exam. “Good news!” She said, “You’re at a seven, my friend! With lots of bloody show!” Just then, I felt another wave about to hit and I cried that I couldn’t do it on my back. I rolled to the side and cried my way through the contraction, rocking my hips as best I could, moaning in a high frequency, with Brad pressing on my back as best he could. I laid on the floor recovering for a moment before draping myself over the couch again. It was 3:05PM.

During the next few contractions, I remember clearly joking – “I can’t believe this morning I wanted this to happen!” before another wave gripped me.

Another few contractions later, I moaned that the pressure was constant and almost overwhelming. With the next contraction, I felt my body bearing down and I yelled, “I’m pushing!” A calmly asked if I felt that I could pant through them for a bit until the secondary, E, arrived and I said no. She then moved in to support me while I pushed – saying that baby had moved right down and we would have a baby within five minutes. With the next contraction, my water broke as I pushed, E arrived and dove right in. Brad stood over me and next to me until he had to get the hot water bottle to warm the baby’s pack.

I don’t remember much of pushing, but it was literally only a few minutes and a few contractions – and what felt like a LOT of screaming! Brad at one point directed me to use deep sounds and I remember snapping “I don’t want to use deep sounds!” I remember many of the sensations of him coming out of me in rather vivid detail, although I can’t quite put those sensations into words.

I was dreading the sensation of the ring of fire, but my body was pushing without much help from me. Love Bug’s head was soon out and A told me I could reach down and feel the head. It was amazing to feel it outside my body – all warm and wet and alive. “There’s a head!” I cried, “My baby’s head!” Just afterward, A and E both began coaching me to get the body out quickly – they hadn’t said, but the cord was wrapped tightly around the neck and they’d had to clamp and cut it right away. Love Bug’s body slid out after a few big pushes and E whisked him/her away to suction out its mouth – my water had broken a second time while baby descended quickly and they were concerned about all the amniotic fluid in its mouth. “I got a glimpse! It’s definitely a boy!” Brad announced. “A boy!” I rejoiced, after which I just kept repeating, “I want my baby. Give me my baby.” A called out the time of birth – 3:23PM.

E brought him over to me and placed him on my chest, covering us with a blanket. Just then, my mom came in the house with Gwen – they’d literally missed the birth by a minute! I gazed down at my newborn son and kissed him, welcoming him to the world.

He was taken again, quickly, to give him a bit of oxygen while I pushed out the placenta and A examined it, Gwen sitting on Brad’s lap beside me. A good, healthy placenta, which actually had some calcifications – he was maybe a bit overdue! I had a few internal ’skid marks’ and one external cut, but no lacerations and no need for stittches – an intact perineum afer such a quick birth! I nursed him about 20 minutes after the birth when he was awake and alert, and he latched on like a champ (drat those little fists and arms!) and nursed beautifully.

A stayed until around 6PM to monitor Gil and I and then said her farewells – she would be back around 9AM the next morning.

My dad arrived about an hour after the birth and a few hours later, we were all eating Swiss Chalet for dinner! Homebirth is such fun 🙂

What an experience! While we were expecting a quick labour after my first had gone relatively quickly and by the book, we were NOT anticipating the ‘pause’ in labour that I experienced, nor were we anticipating me progressing from 3cm to baby in less than 3 hours – or 7cm to baby in 17 minutes! I felt like with my labour with Gwen, I was able to get into a rhythm and change my strategy as the contractions got longer, stronger, and closer together. With this labour, I felt very out of control. I suppose that’s because it was very fast and I still needed to move through each stage – but each change in contractions, each emotional signpost was that much more heightened because of how quickly it happened – I never had a chance to get into a rhythm. Brad says I was amazing and that I didn’t act significantly differently than I did with Gwen – he said some of my vocalizations were louder and higher pitched, but that with the intensity, it didn’t seem inappropriate!

I really felt mostly shell-shocked after the birth. After the disappointment of the morning, I’d honestly expected to not have a baby until that evening or even overnight, so having him come so quickly was … I don’t even have a word for it. I didn’t feel ready for it – even though I’d felt ready that morning. Obviously, when it comes down to it, I’d rather not deal with labour for longer than absolutely necessary, but 2.5 hours was just CRAZY!

Although I’m glad that my mom and Gwen weren’t in the room for the birth – I really think the intensity would have scared BOTH of them! – I’m sad that they missed it.

Voila! Welcome to the world, William Farrell Schellingerhoudt – all 6lbs 12oz and 20 inches of you!