Gwendolyn's Birth
3/25/07 12:00 AM
8# 1oz. 20 3/4”
Late afternoon on 3/24 I made (gluten free) chocolate chip blondies
with Aidan (5) while Ken took Natalie (almost 3) and my mother out to
do some shopping. I figured they would be good birthing-day snacking
for the midwives and our family… or they’d be good snacking for the
family if the baby didn’t decide to come before they were gone! By
early evening I began to notice occasional mild cramps and knew my urge
to bake had been right and by dinnertime I knew for sure I’d be
birthing that night. I found it impossible to time the waves at all,
I’d look at the clock but the numbers would immediately leave my mind
so that when I looked again at the beginning of the next wave I’d have
no idea how much time had passed. While Ken went put the kids to bed
around 7:30 , I called one of my midwives, Evelyn, to let her know that
this was the night but I told her that the waves were still 10-15
minutes apart which was a total guess based on how many waves I
remembered getting during dinner. I think I was way off in that guess
and waves were closer to 5-7 minutes apart at that time! I’d asked Ken
to bring my iPod down with him after he put the kids to bed and when he
did I put on my Easy First Stage recording and listened to it and the
birth affirmations once through, without paying very much attention to
them. My mom had been there for a week and I know she was anxious for
the baby to arrive so I think she was very glad to notice me “checking
out” mid-conversation for waves that evening.
After the kids had settled and before I restarted my Hypnobabies
tracks, Ken asked if I wanted to go upstairs and I agreed. I used an
enema because of my past history of pooping throughout pushing and
having long pushing stages… I just didn’t want that this time and now I
wish I’d used one every time! After the enema I stayed in the bedroom
because while the waves were still comfortable, I wanted the quiet and
to know I was where I was going to be birthing. I had planned on
getting in the shower, but I never did as I was so comfortable laying
in the bed right then. We put on the first birthing tracks and I know
we went through them at least twice before I shut them off. I
eventually moved to the birth ball and felt chilly so Ken wrapped the
baby’s blanket my Aunt Jennifer had sent around my shoulders. The
waves had become more intense and required my concentration soon and my
recitation of “peace peace peace ooooo-pen” reflected that. Between
waves I asked Ken to call Evelyn again, I knew from the chills and
nausea that I was almost ready to birth, and I didn’t want the midwives
not to be there on time. I didn’t speak to her that time, but Ken told
her that the waves were less than 3 minutes apart. I still had no
concept of time so whether or not that guess was right meant nothing to
me.
At some point my mother checked in and I sent her right back out,
telling her to go watch for the midwives. She told me later that she
didn’t mind, as I’d kicked her out when I hit transition during my
first birth as well, she said she enjoyed listening to my three
distinct intonations as I progressed through the stages of birth. Ken
helped me keep a low tone and recited cues with me while he rubbed my
back and legs. I tried to sit in the rocker, when I thought I needed
to move from the ball after transformation, but I was sitting on the
baby’s head and it was incredibly uncomfortable so I got right back up
and moved onto the bed. I was ready to push but resisted and just let
the baby move herself as low as she could on her own.
When the Evelyn and Lora finally arrived (almost 2 hours later, sorry
mom!), Ken had to leave me for a moment to help Evelyn get the
equipment out of her car and I laid back an gave a few practice pushes
while mom and Lora rubbed my legs like Ken had been doing. Lora
checked me (at my request) and told me that I was more than open so I
switched to “peace” and “out” (though “ouch!” snuck in there sometimes
too!) I could tell I was in a bad position, flat on my back from
rolling over to be checked and said I needed to move up, but I also
wanted my older kids to be there before their sister arrived. I had
what seemed like a long break between waves while I moved and Mom woke
up Aidan and Natalie… “long” being maybe a minute or just 30 seconds of
peace, but it felt like a good break at the time!
Once I got repositioned in a semi-reclined posture, I could tell that
the pushes were working. Almost immediately I felt the “ring of fire”
and asked if her head was out. I hadn’t felt my water break yet, but
since Natalie’s water never broke I wasn’t sure. I didn’t get a clear
answer and pushed again, thinking that the shoulders were what was
burning so much. Her water broke with that push and I heard her
squeaking while Lora moved her cord around before I pushed again. I
found out afterwards that my daughter had her cord around her neck, her
hand up by her face, and the cord wrapped a second time around her neck
and arm so her head arm and elbow were all in the birth passage at the
same time, no wonder it burned! Her water broke when her she crowned
and Lora was able to loosen the cord so she was born through her cord,
my instinct not to push before the midwives arrived was a good one!
Our baby was born precisely at midnight on March 25 and was placed on
my stomach and I talked to her and patted her purplish back while she
sqeaked at us but I didn’t look at her face right away because we were
waiting for her to pink up and for the cord to stop pulsing. Aidan
then cut the cord with my mom’s help. Once the cord was cut Ken and I
were able to really look at our new daughter and while the cord blood
was collected the kids got to look at and hold their new sister and
eventually I nursed both of my daughters together for the first time.
Mom served the blondies, coffee, and tea, and the kids sang “Happy
Birthday Baby Sister” to our unimpressed new family member.
A bit later we put a plastic chair in the shower and I loved sitting
and let the water run over me. Evelyn joked that I didn’t really need
a shower since I hadn’t even broken a sweat, but it sure felt good!
When I came back into the bedroom the other kids were back in their
beds and I saw Lora, looking exhausted, holding the baby and sitting in
the rocking chair. I wish we had a picture of that moment as Lora was
killed in an accident just a few weeks later and I’d have liked to pass
that moment on to her own children as a reminder of how much she
impacted others.
“Baby Sisser” (as Natalie had dubbed her) didn’t have a name for a few
hours, though Ken had spoken up that he really like Alyce (pronounced
uh-leese) while I sat on the birth ball earlier that night. We sent
out the cord blood under the name “Baby Girl” and when Evelyn and Lora
left night she was yet unnamed. Her name was decided before we fell
asleep that night though!
Gwendolyn’s cord fell off in les than 48 hours so her first bath was an
actual tub bath and she loved the water immediately, fussing only when
she was taken out! She is a very calm baby, to the point that she
slept through her PKU test at her 2 week doctor’s appointment… an
unheard of feat!
My recovery from Gwendolyn’s birth was speedy and easy. The afterpains
lasted for just 3 days and were easily handled with Wish Garden’s
AfterEase tincture which I drank in iced red raspberry leaf tea as
needed, really just 2-3 times a day. I had been dreading that part of
recovery as I’d had strong persistent afterpains for almost 2 weeks
following my second birth (though none after my first!) I’m now even
more convinced that the bad experience following Natalie’s birth was a
result of receiving pitocin to help my uterus tighten up since she was
sleepy and didn’t want to nurse, whereas both Aidan and Gwendolyn were
avid nursers from the start.