Birth story of Amalie Emmy Cairns
Born June 22nd, 2009 at 8:58 am via natural waterbirth
7 pounds 5 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long
We were overjoyed to find out we were pregnant last fall. We worked very hard to be prepared, including reading many books and taking Bradley Method classes. We hired a birth doula, Lis aUpham. We initially were seeing an OB in Naperville where we live. However, we were not happy with the type of care we were receiving. A natural, drug free waterbirth was very important to us, and the OB was not supportive of this plan, we heavily researched our options, and decided to switch to West Suburban Midwives on advice of our doula, who said that they were the people she would want to deliver her next baby! We knew it would be a bit inconvenient for us, becayse Oak Park is quite far from our house, but the most important thing was to have the right team for our birth.
We were so impressed with Gayle, julie and Hillary fro the get go (and later with Amy when she joined the practice). They were exactly what were looking for: knowledgable, caring, reassuring and viewed birth as a natural process. We had a bit of scare toward the end of our pregnancy, becayse our daughter was breech, Knowing that this would mean a C-section, we were very proactive about trying to turn her to a head down position. The West Sub midwives were all very supportive and highly encouraged techniques to turn her. Gayle helped Kelly relax when she cried thinking how much she did NOT want a C-section. Sure enough, at 38 weeks, Emmy turned head down!! Now the waiting began for labor!
Kelly began having night labor for about a week straight starting at 30 weeks (June 15th). On Saturday night, June 20th, she had contractions all night long, and we thought for sure that we would be going to the hospital on Sunday, June 21st (father's day and the summer of solstice!). But, no such luck! The contractions stopped in the morning, and we spent the day walking downtown and eating ice cream! At bedtime on Sunday, the contractions started again. Kelly kind of ignored them, because we'd been down this road before and she didn't think they would amount to much. But, she woke up around midnight with strong contractions. Initially, Kelly was very scared, because there was a lot of disorganized pain and pressure contunuously, especially when standing or walking. The contractions were every 4-5 minutes apart. Interestingly, they would stay that far the entire labor, just getting stronger as labore progressed but no more frequent. John woke up to find Kelly leaning against the bed rocking her hips back and forth and seeming distressed. Kelly was starting to panic because the pain was so intense and seemed to be constant even in between contractions. She suddenly just knew that she HAD to get in the bathtub. John drew a bath, and Kelly got in. Right awat the water was amazing! It tool all the pain away in between contractions, and Kelly's whole body just melted into the warm water. John put on some jazz music and Kelly spent the whole night in the tub. The contractions got more intense, and by 3am Kelly was vocalizing and humminh through them. At this time, Kelly told John she really thought that they should call the midwife on call Amy, and our doula Lisa. Initially, John thought it was too soon. First time labors were usually very long, and this had only been three hours. The last thing we wanted to do is to arrive at the birth center too soon and have to go home. But Kelly just had to believe she was in really active labor, because the contractions were so intense that she couldn't talk or do anything during them excerpt breathe and moan. She remembered what she learned in Bradley class... always go with the intensity of the contractions, not the clock. John called Amy, who said to continue at home for a bit and call her back with an update. Lisa, our doula, said she'd come over in a while. Meanwhile, it was rainy, thunderstorming early Monday morning now. john breaks and general support and love. He also fed the cats and got the car packed for the upcoming drive.
Lisa arrived around 5am. She watched Kelly labor through a contraction, and told John she thought we were near transition based upon the intensity. The whole night, Kelly had been lying in the tub in a half sleep and half meditation state between contractions. This had always been how she dealt with intense "pain", and it really helped relax. During contractions, she focused on imagery, thinking of her cervix opening and viewing the sensations as positive work, not pain. Lisa thought we should go to the birthing center, because if we waited much longer we would hit rush hour traffic into Chicago and this would not be good. Kelly was scared to get out of the tub and get into the car, because with John and Lisa's support. At this time, Sarah, the assistant doula, arrive to help Lisa. We all got into the car, after some prodding from Lisa ("Kelly....you HAVE to get in the car or you will give birth in the garage!") The car ride was challenging, but Kelly focused on breathing and listening to jazz on the radio.
We arrived at the birth center around 6am. We sat in a waiting room for a bit, then into triage for 20 minutes for monitorng. The nurse did an internal exam, and Kelly was 60 cm dilated and 80% effaced at a -1 to 0 station. Kelly really liked keeping her eyes closed and sleeping/meditating between contractionts and breathing during them. She really wanted to get back into the tub! Sometime around 7am., we moved to the alternative birth center room. Kelly got on the bed on her side and continued her breathing. We were waiting for AMy the midwife to arrive as she was finishing up another birth. Around this time, the contractions began to change a bit. They were still 4 minutes apart, but were more intense and Kelly was starting to want to push. It seemed that the were too intense and it was hard to breathe through them. The bath was beign drawn. Initially, there was a bit of scare, as the bath water was cold and rusty, but this resolved and all was ready! Amy arrived and did another internal exam. To her surprise, Kelly was completely dilated and effaced at a +1 station. Amy asked if Kelly wanted to get into the tub and push, and Kelly said "YES"... please!
Kelly started pushing kneeling onher hands and knees. Lisa helped her breathe to organize her pushing, and John poured warm water on her back. After a bit of pushing this way, Lisa suggested that Kelly turn around on her back in a lying squat. John and Lisa held Kelly's legs and she pusshed this way for a bit. Pushing seemed really quick to Kelly, and she continued to keep her eyes closed and meditating/sleeping between contractions Kelly's water still had not broken, as we discovered when the bag was inadvertently broken when Amy was checking for it! After Emm's head crowned, Kelly continued to get rapid contractions and quickly pushed out her shoulders and body. Emmy was here, and she was perfect!! Shw was place on Kelly's chest, and we all shared a family moment.
Emmy had some meconium on her and was a bit cold. After the cord stopped pulsing it was cut and she was place in the incubator to be checked. She was breathing a bit fast with a slightly low oxygen reading and the nurse was concerned she could have aspirated. She received flow by oxygen while holding daddy's hand as Kelly was delivering the placenta and having a trear repaired on the bed. Emmy did fine and soon was given to mommy so we could all spend time together. The nurse was very respectful of our birth plan and made sure to not take Emmy out of our sight. We know she would have been taken to the NICU at another hospital and definitelhy appreciated the philosophy of the alternative birth center staff.
We could not be happier with our birth experience. It was exactl what we had hoped for, and we really feel that we had the perfect birth team. Thank you West Suburban Midwives!!
kelly, John and Emmy Cairns
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