Makayla’s “due date” was October 12, 2008. As that day came and went, I quickly realized that she was not ready to make her way into this world yet. We continued about our normal routines at home, adding in a lot of walking to encourage my body to begin labor. In the back of our minds was the concern of my rising blood-pressure. I was monitoring it 3-4 times a day and all was well until Saturday. That afternoon, my blood-pressure rose to 160/100 no matter what position I was in. After delivering a birthday present, we came home and I called the doctor. He was very concerned and said that we needed to head to the hospital to have a BP check and some bloodwork. I called our doula and off we went.
They very quickly got us through to triage and got me hooked up to a BP monitor. No change, so they did a lot of labwork to make sure everything internally was ok and hooked me up to a labor monitor, which showed nothing because I was having very sporadic, minimal surges. All this time, Makayla was doing just fine. The doctor then decided based on the elevated blood-pressure that it was time to have a baby. He knew our intentions of having a natural delivery with hypnobirthing and was very accepting of working with us through the process. I knew at this time that induction was likely going to happen, however, I also knew that right now neither I or Makayla were in any immediate danger and we may have some time to stimulate labor without meds.
After getting settled into the labor room, I asked the nurse if it would be possible to speak with the doctor on the phone. She got him for me and I asked if I could have my membranes stripped to try to encourage my body to start surging and progressing into labor. Also, it was about 10 at night and I really thought that getting a good night sleep would be of great benefit for me and Makayla and Kenny too. He was ok with that so the nurse stripped my membranes and we settled in for the night. My mom, dad, and sister arrived about midnight and after about 2 hours of being real uncomfortable they decided to go home until the morning, it was very obvious that I wasn’t having this baby overnight. Kenny and I both got a good night sleep with the exception of the 20 minute period of the girl in the next room over screaming that “she couldn’t do it anymore”. I pulled the pillow over my ears very tightly to block it out, that was the last thing I needed to hear as I mentally prepared myself for my calm, natural hypnobirth.
Sunday morning we woke up and our new nurse, Teresa came in to introduce herself and talk with us. She was very accepting of our birthplan and let us decide how things were going to go for the day. We decided to break my water in the morning and then to get up and walk around for a few hours. Mom, Dad and Jennifer came back in the morning and took turns walking with me around the hospital. Vicky and Amber arrived later in the morning. Rich, Kelly and Jarrhett visited also.& nbsp; Kenny’s dad and Liz also came for a little while. Our doula arrived in the morning to provide support to me and Kenny.
After hours of walking around with no change in progression, Teresa said to me that it was probably time to start the Pitocin and I agreed. It was obvious that labor was not going to progress on it’s own and with no change in my blood-pressure, it was definitely time to have this baby to eliminate and possible risks to me or Makayla. At 12:30pm my Pitocin drip was started. Surges began almost immediately. With the help of my hypnobirthing breathing and relaxation techniques, I was able to go within myself, relax and move quickly into active labor. I spent a lot of time on the birthing ball early on. As the surges became stronger and I became more relaxed and in my own world, I moved to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. It was a very comfortable position and I had a pillow propped on the wall to lean on. The lights were off and my relaxation music was playing. At one point, I sent everyone out of the room because they were all talking loud and it was becoming a distraction to me keeping my focus off of my labor.
With each surge getting stronger, I would tell myself and Makayla that we were getting closer and closer. I was encouraging my body to open up and encouraging Makayla to move down the birth canal. I could actually feel as she got lower and lower. After about 3 ½ hours, I decided that I wanted to get into the tub. At this point, I had not had any exams to see how I was progressing. Teresa suggested that she check me before getting in the tub because it would be difficult to do once I was in (this was just a standard bath tub, not a nice big birthing tub). She checked and said that I was at 9cm and 100% effaced, it was time to call the doctor. As I stood up to get into the tub, I realized that it was time to have a baby, there was no time to get in the tub, Makayla was ready to make her entrance into the world. The pressure was intense and with each surge I could feel myself bearing/breathing down. I never really felt like I had to push, my body was just naturally focusing down with every surge. Kenny was supporting me with his arms as we walked back into the birthing room. With each continual surge, my legs would give out and he was holding me up with his forearms. He turned to Jamilla and said “I can’t hold her up anymore”. She got him a chair to sit in and I squatted in front of him resting my arms over his legs. This was a very comfortable natural position for me.
Teresa and our doula got everything set up to deliver in this position on the floor. As the surges progressed, Makayla began crowning, with no doctor in sight. Teresa called the nurses station to get his ETA and send in a resident because we were crowning. At this point, there was no stopping us, Makayla was ready and my body was doing it’s job to deliver her. Within a few seconds and 2 surges, Makayla was born at 4:58pm. I reached down and pulled her to my chest and there we sat staring into each others eyes, experiencing those first moment as mother and daughter. She was absolutely perfect. When the resident finally made it into the room, he took one look at the situation, realized that Makayla was already born and turned around and walked back out. Once her umbilical cord stopped pulsating, the cord was cut and Makayla, Kenny, and I were allowed to enjoy our first moments as a family together. Then I had to get up off the floor into the bed so the doctor, who arrived about 5 minutes after she was born, could examine me.
The day was abolutely perfect. Even with a few minor changes because of my blood-pressure, we had the beautiful, peaceful, natural birth that we wanted and in the end, we had the most perfect gift ever, our beautiful daughter, Makayla.
Makayla was born October 19th at 4:58 pm and weighed 6lbs, 12 1/2 oz.
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