birth #003

This story is written with permission and consent from the birthing momma.

The mom I worked with is a close friend of mine. This was her second birth. She had had long term problems with some things from her first birth (painful epidural site for months following, 3rd degree episiotomy with residual pain, and an uncomfortable relationship with her OB). This time, she wanted to go au natural, avoid an episiotomy, and switched to care under a midwife. At 40 weeks and 3 days, she went to her regular appointment, and decided to have her midwife get things started by stripping her membranes. That evening, she called me saying she was having contractions, but they were irregular, and the midwife told her she may have contractions after the procedure that may or may not be early labor. I suggested she get some rest for the night. She called me at 5:45 am, saying, "I think I'm in labor," in a panicky voice. I was prepared for anything to happen, and to be assertive and remind her of her plan. I stayed calm, and let her know I would be over soon. She told me she had been having regular contractions that woke her up since about 5am. She got off the phone saying she was going to get in the shower. When I arrived, she was laying on the couch, and her husband had all of their bags ready to go. I asked them if she had started timing her contractions yet. She had not. I reminded her that she had wanted to 

stay home as long as possible, and also told her that it was her choice and completely up to her about when she wanted to go in. I also told her that I could help her try different things that may help her deal with the pain. I had watched her through one contraction, so I knew she was very tense and not handling well. For her next contraction, we got out the birth ball. I invited her husband to come closer to her, and showed him how he could press on her back to alleviate back labor. I helped her to breathe, and reminded her to stay soft. She labored like that for a while, and they tried to eat  breakfast and drank some water between contractions-- about 1 minute long and 4 minutes apart at this point. I reminded her that she could go to the hospital at any time. She decided to rest in bed for a while on her side. I got her warm compresses for her back and belly. She was there for about 40 minutes and decided she wanted to go to the hospital. She went to the bathroom while I called the midwife. At this point, she called to me from the bathroom saying she felt a little urge to push. I knew we needed to hurry, but stayed calm. We headed out the door, she did not have any more urges to push as we drove there, but I made some low sounds with her to help her breathe through each contraction. When we got to the emergency room entrance at about 8:40am, they called up to L&D to get a nurse to come down right away. The (male) receptionist told them over the phone,  "Yes! I don't see ladies come in with this much pain ever!" They wheeled her up, the nurse hooked her up to the monitor to get a strip. The midwife arrived within minutes, checked her-- she was a 7. They had the tub filled, and moved her into the tub. She seemed to really relax now. I poured water over her back, and continued helping her breathe and make low sounds. 
At one point during pushing, she said-- "I can't do this! I don't think I can do this!!" Her husband, her midwife, and I all said in unison, very firmly, "Yes, you can!" I reminded her that the baby was almost here. She pushed for about 10-15 minutes more and baby arrived!! She got the natural birth she had wanted. She had a 2nd degree tear, but the midwife said this was because of her past episiotomy, and went right along her scar line. She did a beautiful job. I was so proud of her. It was very cool to be a part of a waterbirth also. It was really incredible.