Maisie Sue's Story - Part Three: Birth Day

A note on birth: Although I sort of acknowledged it before, Maisie's birth taught me even more just how individual each birth experience is; just as unique as the new person it brings. It is one family's personal story. And every story, every birth is a miraculous one.

This is Maisie's story. I preempted it with a few other posts that lead into this one, in order to keep it a bit shorter. They contribute to the understanding of the whole story, but all of this record is mostly for the benefit of me and my posterity.

WEDNESDAY MORNING (August 17, 2011) contractions woke me at about 4:30. I stayed in bed, patiently waiting to see if they would remain consistent. They didn't seem to be stopping and were happening about every 10 minutes or so. When I got up and walked around they stayed pretty constant. This was promising. Ben started timing them for me and they seemed close enough and strong enough for us to call the midwife and head over to the birth center, BellaNatal.

The midwife on call for the week, Jeanetta, had been up all night at a birth in Salt Lake and was just getting home at about 8am. She said we needed to call and meet up with Trinette who was her back-up. We left Dinah with grandma and grandpa and left for the birth center at about 9am as they were opening up for the day. Trinette did a cervical exam and said I was dilated to 5 cm and she could easily stretch me to 6. Good news. She asked if I'd eaten and how much sleep I'd had and though she was impressed by my having had a big breakfast of cereal, a banana and peanut butter toast, she said she thought I should go home and try to rest until my contractions got stronger (they seemed to be slowing down). We agreed that would be a good idea. And I still wanted to try to get my prenatal massage if there was any way I could.

As it happened, shortly after we got home the massage therapist, Kim, called to confirm our appointment for 1:00. I told her I was in labor but it was manageable, resting labor and I still wanted to have the massage. I think she had another client at 11:00 but said she would call and check up on my status after that and she was willing to meet me at the birth center or come to my house if I needed her to. I managed to get in one or two 20 minute naps that morning as the contractions seemed to slow some when my body was horizontal.

When 1:00 rolled around I was feeling up to just going to Kim's house (which was in Provo) so Ben dropped me off and took Dinah to the park while I got an hour long massage. It was such a relaxing experience! Just heavenly. Highly recommend one (or more) to any pregnant mama especially if you are close to or past your due date. Also, she did some acupressure on my feet that literally caused the strongest contraction I had while there. I told her and she said those were the points corresponding with the ovaries and uterus. I'll say they were! So cool.

After the massage we came home and I tried resting some more but sleep proved futile. Whenever my contractions slowed all I needed to get them moving was to stand up (or sit up...or move) and they'd start up again immediately. But it didn't feel great so I wasn't too keen on walking around. I wanted to go back to the birth center but Ben wasn't convinced my contractions were close enough together. So I made him time them. This was around 5:00. He was taking a good log and though they weren't consistent (sometimes 3 minutes apart, other times 5 or 7) he agreed to go back to BellaNatal. I was anxious to go before Dinah woke from her nap, so we left the monitor with my mom and dad, grabbed our stuff and headed over there.

When we got there we were able to meet with Suzanne, the head midwife, as she had been there conducting prenatal/postnatal appointments. By this time it was about 6:00. She did a cervical exam and told me I was 7 cm dilated. She also confirmed what I had suspected; that the bag of waters was sort of bulging which was causing all that pressure when I sat or stood up. I told Suzanne that my water breaking during slow labor with Dinah is what finally kicked it into gear and really got the labor moving. She said it sounded like having Jeanetta break it for me might be a good idea given my history. I love Suzanne because, like many midwives, she gives wise and experienced advice but allows her clients to ultimately make these kinds of decisions for themselves. It's an empowering thing to feel like you have a say in your birthing experience.

We called Jeanetta and told her the situation and she wondered if I wasn't too tired and thought maybe I could take Tylenol PM and sleep the night and come back in the morning. When I think back on it I realize how bad of an idea that was! I thought so at the time too, but felt guilty inconveniencing her as I knew she'd have to drive down from Salt Lake in rush hour traffic. I told her I'd rather her come tonight (I think she must have thought she'd be up all night again). So she suggested we go and get something to eat and meet her back there at 7:00 since it would take her that long to drive down.

Before we left, Suzanne (who was also leaving for the evening) gave me some homeopathics to put under my tongue to help labor along. We decided to go eat at the Cafe at the Good Earth down the street. I didn't want to leave since walking and getting in and out of cars was pretty uncomfortable at this point but went anyway. As soon as I got up out of the car a contraction started and I hobbled across the parking lot into the store and immediately leaned over the nearest grocery cart, breathing heavily, probably moaning and ordering Ben to put pressure on my back and hips. What a sight we must have been.

Ben ordered a salad and a cup of fruit for me but I didn't have much of an appetite. Plus I was wary of throwing up as I had done on one unlucky nurse who was checking us into the hospital when Dinah was born. I told Ben if I did feel like throwing up I would try to do it on Jeanetta since she was the one making us eat and wait. While we were eating the contractions had become consistently 3 minutes apart or less. I decided to blame it on Suzanne's homeopathic sugar pills. I found myself moaning through some of them (though I did try to tone it down so as not to freak out the other cafe patrons) and thinking, "I don't remember doing this with Dinah".

We were done eating and back at the birth center by 6:30 so we waited in the car. The contractions continued increasing in strength and I was getting a little paranoid being in the car and not in a tub like I'd planned. At about 6:55 I convinced Ben to check if the doors to the building were open. They were and I gratefully hobbled in and sat down on a couch just as Jeanetta arrived. She checked my cervix and said it was at about 7 cm still. I laid down on the bed as she broke my water. It was such a relief to sit up and not feel that pressure for the first time since labor started! By this time I think it was about 7:30.

I asked them to start a bath and was soon enjoying the familiar weightlessness of water. Such a fabulous feeling for a laboring woman! I immersed myself in the water and tried to relax the way I had been able to do during Dinah's birth. But I was realizing more and more that this was not Dinah's birth and I couldn't make it be. This was Maisie's birth and she had her own story.

When Jeanetta had checked me before she broke my water she said the baby's head felt posterior. Her body was anterior but her head was turned in an odd way. Interestingly enough, I had read and heard quite a few stories about unmedicated posterior births recently and they were not exactly positive and uplifting. The back pain resulting in a posterior baby was often described as excruciating. This did explain why I had felt the contractions in my back significantly more than I did with Dinah. I also felt quite a bit of pain in my thighs.

So, as it happened, shortly after entering the tub and greeting the comfort of the swirling water I experienced some extremely sharp contractions in my back. They only lasted a minute or so and I got a few minutes break in between. But it would be dishonest if I were to say they didn't feel excruciatingly painful. And I was having a heck of a time trying to stay on top of the pain. Trying to control my breathing and relax my muscles seemed almost impossible.

At this point my mom had (finally) arrived and my sister, Sarah, who was my doula was just making her way back from Payson, in traffic. I was pretty upset that it took them so long to come. But it was sort of a boy-who-cried-wolf situation since I'd been 'in labor' all day and pregnant for what seemed like a millennium; I don't know that anyone (except maybe Ben and I) knew just how close we were to having this baby.

After about half a dozen or so of those really tough contractions I told Ben to ask the midwife and her assistant to come in the room and check my dilation. At this point I had broken many of my own personal unspoken rules. I'd been sent home for not being advanced enough (almost twice in one day). I'd asked for a cervical exam in an attempt to determine just how long I was going to have to do this. And in the last 30 minutes I'd said things like: "I hate this!" and "I can't do this!" and "I see why people get an epidural". I also told Ben more than once that I loved him (something I'd read about women doing a lot) though that wasn't something I felt ashamed of. It was all the other stuff. I mean, second births were supposed to be easier. They were supposed to be shorter. What the heck was going on here?!

Anyway, so Jeanetta did come in the room and check me and she said I was still at about 7 cm. This is exactly why they tell you not to get checked often: the risk of serious disappointment if you're not progressing as fast as you'd like to be. And I was mad.

The thing was, pretty much as soon as Jeanetta left the room again, I felt like pushing (yet another thing that was different from Dinah's birth). With Dinah I had done about thirty minutes of what HypnoBirthing calls 'breathing the baby down and out' and there she was. I don't remember really having an urge to push. Not so this time. It felt like something had literally possessed my being and was forcing this baby out. So, I told Ben I felt like pushing. And he (wonderful husband that he is) took me seriously and immediately relayed this information to those talking just outside the door (the midwives, my mom and sister). It kind of started to feel like Ben and I were going to have this baby without any witnesses. I can only assume that they really didn't know how close I was. Which made sense when I later read that they had marked my pushing time down as 2.5 minutes.

So Ben says, "she says she feels like she needs to push" and miraculously people start materializing. I'm pushing (or rather, the being that has taken control of my body is pushing) and I hear Sarah saying "don't push" and "just breathe"! Ha! And I'm asking if the baby's head has crowned yet and they're saying "no" and then they're saying "yes". And I reach down and feel her little head and a moment later she's there and floating up to me! And I'm terribly relieved and a little worried that I'd torn a lot. But there she was! Finally in my arms.

It was about 8:20pm. We'd been at the birth center less than an hour and a half. Fortunately I didn't tear. Jeanetta said I had a scratch: no stitches required.

Maisie latched on immediately and nurses beautifully.
Disclaimer: I wasn't aware Ben was taking these photos. I had wanted him to take some during labor but he was my main support person right up until the end which was much more important to me. So this is what you get.

Ben cutting the cord (his locks are kind of in the way).

Grandma and dad giving Maisie her first bath.