Rachel's Birth Story

Better late than never, right? Here's Rachel's birth story, from back when I wrote it up for my Yoga Mama friends:

I've been meaning to write Rachel's birth story, as it was both a happy ending and a new beginning for our little family. Feel free to skip to Rachel's story if you don't have time to read the background on Natalie's birth (or already know the story).

Natalie's Birth Story

I have to start by backing up to Natalie's birth, back in July 2009. I wanted a natural childbirth and thought I would get one. My OB (Stephanie McNelis) at St David's NAMC was casual about this point, but said "yeah, you can pretty much have whatever birth you want." Not knowing much more than that, I took her at her word. Then I went overdue.

The pressure to induce started a few days before my due date, when my cervix still hadn't dilated at all. She encouraged me to set up an induction for 7/25, 3 days after my due date. I gave her a tentative "yes", then went home to read up on inductions a bit. I found a general consensus that inductions were a little risky and not recommended unless medically necessary. At my next appointment, I asked why induction would be necessary. My OB warned me that the longer I went overdue without going into labor, the greater my risk would be of ending up with a C-section, because the baby would have a meconium bowel movement in the womb. While this might have been true in an absolute sense, it completely omitted the fact that inductions themselves double a mother's C-section risk. My husband and I told her we wanted to push the induction date out anyway, to give Natalie a few more days to get here on her own. Irritated, the OB told us that she could schedule it for 7/28 but that it was the last day she would be available to deliver the baby (perhaps because she had a vacation planned or something--she didn't explain further.) We reluctantly agreed to 7/28.

The induction itself was rough, but not the end of the world as far as I was concerned. Labor lasted 14 hours, and 8 hours into it, on 16 units of Pitocin, having not slept in the past 30 hours or eaten in the past 18, I consented to the epidural. I got it an hour later, but it wore off four times. In the meantime, Natalie's heartrate dropped a few times, possibly because of the epidural. I was 9.5 cm dilated when the OB came in and told me I would have to have a C-section if there were any more decels in the next 20 minutes. For those 20 minutes, I breathed very deeply, concentrated intently on the heartrate monitor, and prayed constantly. Fortunately there were no more decels, and then I was ready to push. 30 minutes later, Natalie was born.

I could get over all that, but then Natalie was snatched from my arms right as I was trying to latch her on to breastfeed for the first time. What ensued was a week-long stay in the NICU, while my husband and I camped out at the hospital. One by one, fears about Natalie's well being were dispelled, only to be replaced by new fears or hurdles she/we had to clear before we could take her home. First it was the fast breathing, then a distended belly, which led to 48 hours of IV antibiotics and 4 x-rays. Then they had to see that her digestive system worked properly. I insisted on breastfeeding, which was monumentally difficult with the stress, the pressure of a critical audience watching, the parameters she and I were expected to meet on the hospital's schedule, and the constant pressure to give her formula. We finally had to give her formula because breastfeeding was going so badly she was starving, but I insisted on trying to breastfeed to start each feeding anyway. Most frustratingly, we couldn't get anyone to explain to us what risk(s) the hospital actually feared for Natalie's well-being and why she needed to be in the NICU, hooked up to tubes and monitors, unable to feed or bond normally.

So it took us a week to clear all the hurdles, and we were even told "your baby belongs to the NICU" by one of the NICU nurses, after we asked for the 100th time when they would let us take our baby home.

All this being said, a few of the nurses in both L&D and the NICU were wonderful, constructive and compassionate; unfortunately after their shifts ended, we met disgruntled nurses who, probably under plenty of stress caring for other (truly sick) NICU babies, didn't appreciate us and the demands we made on their time and patience.

After that first week, all of us were miserable and I felt I had failed Natalie as a mother in many different ways. It took a long time to get over this feeling, as we suffered through colic, reflux and breastfeeding issues. I think at around 6 months I was finally able to feel a little bit competent as a parent.

Of course, after this experience, I wanted the exact opposite for my next child. No hospital, no unnecessary interventions, ample bonding time, peace and just to be home with him/her as soon as possible. I started researching the possibilities as soon as I could after Natalie was born.

I toured Austin Area Birthing Center (North) with the owner, Jean, who listened to Natalie's birth story and took time and care in answering my questions about my options for natural childbirth there. I loved the facility and my husband was impressed with them, too. We considered home birth, but liked the fact that AABC is super close to where we live, they have several midwives so someone is always available, and all the "mess" of birth would be outside of our home, in a well-equipped, safe and beautiful place. We found out our insurance wouldn't cover it, but even with going self-pay, the total bill (assuming no complications) would be considerably less than what we paid out of pocket for Natalie's birth and hospital stay.

Rachel's Birth Story

I had found out I was Group B Strep positive at my 38-week appointment. The usual protocol for this is IV antibiotics during labor. Aside from the minor concern of this being a bummer for me during labor, I was concerned that antibiotics would wipe out all the beneficial bacteria in my birth canal and breastmilk that my baby would need to build her immune system after birth. I researched the risks of GBS to mom and baby (remote but possibly quite serious--menengitis or sepsis, even in some very rare cases, death), maternal risk factors and the risks of IV antibiotics. I talked to one of the midwives at AABC about alternative treatment, got a second GBS test, and found out that we could forgo the antibiotics in favor of doing a local (vaginal) Hibiclens rinse before any cervical checks, or immediately after the water broke or every 6 hours thereafter. This treatment is common in Europe, apparently. Joan Smith, CNM at AABC, approved this alternative treatment plan.

I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions on and off for a week. I would wake up at 2AM and have irregular contractions until 5AM. Or I would start having mild contractions at 11AM and it would fizzle out by 2PM. No one had checked my cervix yet, as it isn't AABC's policy to do so before 39 weeks unless there is a medical reason to.

So when contractions started up at 7AM, even though they were a little stronger than before and more regular--every 5 to 7 minutes--I hesitated to start making phone calls. I fed Natalie breakfast and gave her a bath, then started tidying up the house and packing the car, just in case this was the real thing. When a contraction would start, I stopped what I was doing to do Wall Dog, swaying my hips during contractions, or Cat/Cow. I did tell my husband, Rob, to stay home from work just in case this was the real thing. My husband had ordered some St. Augustine sod for the backyard, and the installer arrived at around 9AM.

Contractions continued at the same pace, same 5-7 minute intervals all morning. The grass guy finished up at around 10:30. At 11AM, wham! I had a REALLY hard contraction, followed by two more just as intense, so close together I didn't have a chance to time them. I yelled for Rob to call our doula, Melia Gordon, to meet us at the house, then called our parents to come pick up Natalie, then AABC.

When he got in touch with Joan at AABC, the contractions were 2-1/2 to 3 minutes apart, really really hard labor. She told us she would meet us at the birthing center in 30 minutes. Things were suddenly happening really fast. Melia arrived just in time and she drove me over to AABC. I live literally less than a mile from there, thank God! I had a contraction before walking out to the car, then one in the car, then one in the parking lot.

We got into the Santa Fe Room just in time for me to have another contraction. They couldn't have been more than a minute apart at this point. I tried to breathe and relax through them, which I could only do to a point. I howled and tensed up as each one peaked. "Try not to fight it," said Melia (our doula) and Joan. I tried and was only somewhat successful, but they reassured me this meant things were really far along. I did the Hibiclens rinse on the toilet, one more contraction. Then Joan managed to check me on the bed and said, "There's only a bag of waters holding your baby back, no cervix at all!" Talk about music to my ears!

Rob was waiting at our house with Natalie for my parents to arrive from Dripping Springs. He called Melia just as she was about to call him and tell him to hurry over with Natalie. I tried to hold off on pushing until he got there. Melia and Joan got me on my knees, head-down on the bed, to help slow labor just a bit.

"Can I get in the tub?" I managed to ask. They filled the tub for me and I got in. They used Hibiclens in the water, as an extra precaution against GBS. It was slippery in the tub, but the warm water was a very welcome sensation that was part of my slim grip on sanity while laboring so hard. I felt like I couldn't hold the baby back much longer, but I didn't know how much more I could take. Rob arrived and traded places with Melia while she went to the waiting room to help with Natalie. I had already started pushing in the tub. Joan suggested I use this ski rope-looking device--a handle on one end for me to hold with both hands, and another identical handle on the other end that the clinical assistant, Summer, held to counterbalance my pull.

With Joan's guidance, I tucked my chin to my chest and pushed with all my might and concentration. Quickly the baby crowned, still in the bag of waters. In the next push, I felt a little pop and saw a plume of what looked like grapeseed oil trickle under the tub water. "Your water just broke," Joan explained. A few more hard pushes and the head was out, but the shoulders were stuck. "Give me just a little grunty push with the next contraction," Joan advised. I did and it was a relief after the intense effort of the bigger ones. She eased a shoulder out, but we had one more to go. "More grunty pushes," Finally the next shoulder emerged, and the baby slid out. Shaking and euphoric, I leaned back to relax in the tub as Joan carefully laid the baby on my chest. "The cord won't go any further than this yet." I rubbed my new, purple baby with thick, black hair and they gave me receiving blankets and helped to rub and dry her. She was looking around and let out a few little cries, then coughed out some fluid and let out a holler.

We stayed in the tub as it drained and we waited for my placenta. I pushed it out easily and then studied it for a few seconds, as it sat on the floor of the tub. I hadn't seen my placenta when Natalie was born, and thought it looked big and impressive, with so many veins and dark jewel-like hues of red, purple and blue. They scooped it up carefully to take it off for encapsulation.

"So do we know the gender?" Joan asked. In the shock of new birth I had forgotten to check! I picked up a tiny leg and looked--a little vagina. "It's a girl!" I laughed. We hadn't known, but Rob and I had suspected all along that it was a girl.

They clamped the cord once it stopped pulsing and waited for Rob to cut it. They helped me back to the toilet and then to the bed, and handed my me sweet baby. Finally, as she and I were left alone for a brief moment while the tub was cleaned, I cried tears of long-awaited relief and joy. It was the birth I had longed and prayed for, and my baby and I would not be separated. She fussed a lot for about 30-45 minutes while I tried to latch her on to nurse. "She just has a lot to say about that birth," Melia assured me, helping as best she could to get us going. She really helped me stay calm about it and keep trying without overwhelming Rachel. Finally I did get Rachel latched on the right side and she calmed down immediately and suckled ambitiously for a long time.

We had to stay until 6PM to make sure my vitals and Rachel's were okay. We sat in bed and nursed and looked at each other. She spit up a little and dozed off on my shoulder. It was pure bliss.

My mom had gotten lost on the way to the birthing center, but did finally make it and popped in for a minute to meet her new granddaughter, Rachel. Then she scooped up Natalie and took her back to our house so she could meet her new sister before going to my parents' house in Dripping Springs for the night. While they waited for us to come home, my mom cooked us dinner.

We got home right after 6 when dinner was ready, and Natalie was waiting.

"Rachel!" she said. My mom had already taught Natalie her new sister's name.

"Baby!" she continued, reaching in gently to pat Rachel's hair. She offered her a blanket. So touching.

It still amazes me how beautifully things fell into place that day for us. It was a blessing to have such a fast labor, and I'll never forget birthing Rachel holding onto a ski rope in a jacuzzi. It was the exact opposite of Natalie's birth, in all the ways that mattered to us.

We are doing well and I almost feel human again. Rachel sleeps and eats well so far, just a little angel of a baby. Natalie is curious about her sister and is starting to realize she's here to stay. Sometimes she says "Mommy? Daddy?" in a distressed little voice, reminding us of the extra love and assurance she needs right now, and we hug her close. Our little family is growing, and growing up.