A Birthing Story

It's hard to believe that she's here after all this anticipation!

Last Thursday, June 9th, Adam and I went to my routine OB appointment for our usual NST session.  We found out that I was having (mild) contractions every 20 minutes or so during the fetal monitoring.  Our doctor felt that I would probably deliver the upcoming weekend.  We were excited, though the reality didn't really sink in.  I just felt like I was going to be pregnant forever, rocking the bump til I was old and gray.

Thursday night we went to bed at around 10 pm since Adam had an early morning the next day.  I joked that perhaps he wouldn't make it into his 5 am work day if I went into labor.  At around 12:30 am I woke up with some intense contractions.  I knew it the moment I felt it that this was the beginning of labor.  How long the process would be, I wasn't certain.  I tried to sleep it off (knowing I needed all the rest I could get), but it got intense enough for me to whimper and writhe around in bed, waking Adam up.  We decided to see if I would be getting the contractions regularly before jumping to any conclusions about our baby's delivery.  Then, about 10 minutes later I had another contraction.  Then another 7 minutes later, I had another one.  Followed by another one 12 minutes later.  We called our doula. Juli, just to give her a head's up, and she suggested we try to sleep or for me to take a bath, since this pattern could continue for a while and I was still only in early labor.  Then they came more frequently; as we timed my contractions we realized they were coming in 4-6 minute intervals.  I didn't expect to starting getting them so close together so soon.  So we called Juli back (who said she actually couldn't go back to sleep either because she sensed she'd be needed sooner than later), and as we waited for her to come over, I did what every laboring woman does: throw on comfy clothes, finish packing the hospital bags, pay bills, and straighten my hair.

I have to be honest the contractions took me by surprise and I didn't really know how to deal with them.  Adam and I looked at each other and just knew this was going to be a tough road.  Maybe I wasn't as strong as I thought I'd be.  But the minute Juli arrived and placed her hands on my hips to ease the pain, we felt a lot more confident that we were going to do this.  We labored at home for about 11 hours.  Adam made us breakfast (oatmeal and cappuccinos, of course!) and switched off with Juli to help me through each contraction.  By 11:30 the contractions were getting stronger and we felt like I was dilated enough to head to the hospital.  Adam called the doctor and we headed out.

My calm and empowering labor at home was definitely interrupted by the hospital's many formal procedures.  Getting constantly poked, prodded and hooked up (four tries and an anesthesiologist later for the IV) made bearing through the contractions pretty challenging.  But Juli and Adam were amazing coaches and we persevered for another few hours.  By 3 pm, my OB broke my bags of water, intensifying the contractions.  I have to say, the next two hours were by far the most challenged.  At 6 cm dilated, I was about to go into transition and I was exhausted and scared that I wouldn't be able to actually push the baby out.  Through tears and feelings of defeat, I asked for the epidural.  When the pain medication set in, we were all given a brief reprieve and some rest.  My progress stalled and pitocin was administered to keep things going.  Transition hit and by 11:30 I was ready to push.  Adam made the comment that perhaps our baby would make her arrival on the 10th after all.  Juli and the L&D nurse both looked at him incredulously since first time moms usually push for at least 1-2 hours.  So I braced myself for the long haul, and started the pushing process.  Twenty-one minutes later at 11:51 pm, Ella Seraphina Holliday was born.  We were all amazed, overwhelmed and completely overcome by the experience.  She was placed on my chest, lifted her head and said hello to her new mommy and daddy.  And my heart was now eternally outside my body.

Adam and I are so completely overjoyed to welcome our little girl into this world.  After everything our family has been through we definitely welcome the celebration of a new life.  The day Ella was born was the day we fell in love with our daughter and even more with each other.  Thanks for sharing in our journey!  We look forward to what parenting holds for us.