Gideon James
Gideon’s birth was so completely different from Mia’s very (necessary) intervention filled one. With her, I had all of these grandiose and unrealistic plans, that ultimately didn’t matter because everything went south during her labor and all I really wanted was a healthy baby. So this time around, I decided for me, the best plan was to have no plan. I’m a doula and a Lamaze instructor, so that may sound absurd…but I just wanted to try as hard as I could to keep things positive and upbeat and to enjoy this birth no matter how it unfolded.
I had the same two midwives that I saw with Mia and I trusted them completely to honor my wishes. I had been having annoying prodromal labor for about 10 days and lots of signs that labor was imminent, I felt like my body was really trying to go into labor and maybe I just needed something that would kick it into gear. At my 39 week appt, Anne (one of the mw’s) offered to strip my membranes and I consented…it sent me into labor within an hour. I was scheduled to teach Lamaze that night and it was too late to call my back up, so I decided that since I needed an early labor project anyhow, I would go ahead and teach…so I did. I got home at about 9:30 and noticed that my contractions were 5 minutes apart. I was 98% sure this was the real thing, but I still didn’t want to alert Steve, just in case it wasn’t. I sat on the couch and fed my shameless addiction to The Secret Life of the American Teenager. By 11 pm my contractions were 3 minutes apart and I found myself needing to focus on them. I decided to go to bed, knowing that I needed to get some sleep. I layed there for about 15 minutes and just could not get comfortable, I felt very restless…I finally clued Steve into what was going on. I felt like doing something mindless and was reminded that my laundry room was spewing with two weeks worth of laundry that needed to be folded. So I grabbed my ipod and sat and folded laundry for an hour. Then I got in the shower and sat in there until I ran out of hot water…while I was in there I started sobbing with the reality of what was going on and started worrying about leaving Mia to go have this baby. My contractions were still about 3 minutes apart and becoming more intense, I found myself breathing through them. I tried to lay down and rest again, but I really needed to be upright, so I went to the living room and got on hands/knees and rested on the birth ball. I really didn’t want to go to the hospital, but felt like I should go soon. It was around 3 am when I called Anne to let her know what was going on, we decided I would just call her back in an hour. 15 minutes after I got off the phone my contractions ramped up to the next level and I thought it was probably time to head to the hospital. We met Anne there around 4 am. Thankfully, I was able to bypass triage, as it was obvious I was in active labor. I leaned over the bedside table and swayed during contractions as they got a 20 min Non Stress Test on baby…that was the last time I saw the Evternal Fetal Monitor for the rest of my labor (they just used a doppler). I really wanted to get in the tub and I also wanted to know where I was at, so Anne checked me and I was 7 cm and 100% effaced…I know they are just numbers, but what I heard made me happy because my #1 fear was getting to the hospital and having my labor stall. I got in the tub and stayed there for the next three hours…those three hours are probably my favorite part of my labor. The lights were off, my labor playlist was going, the world was still sleepy and dark and Steve and Anne sat right by my side and helped me through the contractions. Anne had to go to the office for a bit, so my other midwife Kim came in around 8, and I needed a change of scenery so I got out of the tub. Kim checked me and found that my cervix was swelling and I’d actually had reverse dilation/effacement and was now 5 cm and 80%…I started crying and freaking out that I was going to need a c-section. Kim was very reassuring and said that the combination of the position I used in the tub (kneeling on my knees), my bulging bag of waters and baby’s position (she suspected posterior) were the likely culprits and that if I got pressure off of my cervix things should even out quickly. I tried hands/knees but it was too uncomfortable so I rotated lying on my sides. Within an hour I was dilated to 8 cm and again 100%. Kim kept saying “as soon as your water breaks you are going to have this baby.” He rotated to Anterior, but every time I would get up to use the bathroom he would flip Posterior again, so I had to keep going back to that hellish side lying position (as a side note, I said this baby was positionally challenged throughout my pregnancy and wouldn’t settle into a position until I was pushing…turns out I was right). Kim didn’t want to break my water because she was worried it would cause further malposition issues and she reassured me as soon as it broke I could get into whatever position I wanted…she also vividly remembered my intervention filled birth with Mia and kept telling me she wanted to do absolutely nothing this time. The reason for him constantly changing position was that I had higher than normal levels of amniotic fluid. I stayed at 8 cm for 3 hours. I was absolutely miserable and told Steve that if this was going to go on for hours that I needed an epidural. Anne came back and I got up to go to the bathroom. I started shaking and throwing up and knew I was in transition. I felt out of control and was screaming and swearing with every contraction. I kept thinking to myself that it wasn’t impossible to push out an Posterior baby and that I needed to be done. Kim agreed to break my water and said my amniotic sac had three layers, which she had never seen before. As soon as it broke I felt such a relief of pressure and I got up on my knees and leaned over a squat bar. Anne, Kim and Steve were all right there providing amazing support. I started pushing with contractions and Anne checked me and I was only 9 cm and she told me to stop…I wanted to punch her in the face. She had to leave to go back to the office but thought she’d be back in time for the delivery. About 5 minutes after she left I told Kim my body was pushing and I had to push and there was no other option. She checked me and I had an anterior lip, which she pushed over his head during a contraction…even after I was complete Kim said she could still feel him rotating his head around. I was still on my knees leaning over a squat bar. 7 minutes and 3 pushes later Gideon was born into the waiting hands of his daddy. It was such a beautiful moment that I will treasure forever. Anne came back and had missed the birth by 10 minutes. It was less than an hour from the time Kim broke my water until I was holding my sweet baby. The whole experience was fantastic, though a little long at 17 hours (still shorter than #1 at 36 hours).
Gideon James
March 29, 2011
8lbs 5oz
21 inches long
I had the same two midwives that I saw with Mia and I trusted them completely to honor my wishes. I had been having annoying prodromal labor for about 10 days and lots of signs that labor was imminent, I felt like my body was really trying to go into labor and maybe I just needed something that would kick it into gear. At my 39 week appt, Anne (one of the mw’s) offered to strip my membranes and I consented…it sent me into labor within an hour. I was scheduled to teach Lamaze that night and it was too late to call my back up, so I decided that since I needed an early labor project anyhow, I would go ahead and teach…so I did. I got home at about 9:30 and noticed that my contractions were 5 minutes apart. I was 98% sure this was the real thing, but I still didn’t want to alert Steve, just in case it wasn’t. I sat on the couch and fed my shameless addiction to The Secret Life of the American Teenager. By 11 pm my contractions were 3 minutes apart and I found myself needing to focus on them. I decided to go to bed, knowing that I needed to get some sleep. I layed there for about 15 minutes and just could not get comfortable, I felt very restless…I finally clued Steve into what was going on. I felt like doing something mindless and was reminded that my laundry room was spewing with two weeks worth of laundry that needed to be folded. So I grabbed my ipod and sat and folded laundry for an hour. Then I got in the shower and sat in there until I ran out of hot water…while I was in there I started sobbing with the reality of what was going on and started worrying about leaving Mia to go have this baby. My contractions were still about 3 minutes apart and becoming more intense, I found myself breathing through them. I tried to lay down and rest again, but I really needed to be upright, so I went to the living room and got on hands/knees and rested on the birth ball. I really didn’t want to go to the hospital, but felt like I should go soon. It was around 3 am when I called Anne to let her know what was going on, we decided I would just call her back in an hour. 15 minutes after I got off the phone my contractions ramped up to the next level and I thought it was probably time to head to the hospital. We met Anne there around 4 am. Thankfully, I was able to bypass triage, as it was obvious I was in active labor. I leaned over the bedside table and swayed during contractions as they got a 20 min Non Stress Test on baby…that was the last time I saw the Evternal Fetal Monitor for the rest of my labor (they just used a doppler). I really wanted to get in the tub and I also wanted to know where I was at, so Anne checked me and I was 7 cm and 100% effaced…I know they are just numbers, but what I heard made me happy because my #1 fear was getting to the hospital and having my labor stall. I got in the tub and stayed there for the next three hours…those three hours are probably my favorite part of my labor. The lights were off, my labor playlist was going, the world was still sleepy and dark and Steve and Anne sat right by my side and helped me through the contractions. Anne had to go to the office for a bit, so my other midwife Kim came in around 8, and I needed a change of scenery so I got out of the tub. Kim checked me and found that my cervix was swelling and I’d actually had reverse dilation/effacement and was now 5 cm and 80%…I started crying and freaking out that I was going to need a c-section. Kim was very reassuring and said that the combination of the position I used in the tub (kneeling on my knees), my bulging bag of waters and baby’s position (she suspected posterior) were the likely culprits and that if I got pressure off of my cervix things should even out quickly. I tried hands/knees but it was too uncomfortable so I rotated lying on my sides. Within an hour I was dilated to 8 cm and again 100%. Kim kept saying “as soon as your water breaks you are going to have this baby.” He rotated to Anterior, but every time I would get up to use the bathroom he would flip Posterior again, so I had to keep going back to that hellish side lying position (as a side note, I said this baby was positionally challenged throughout my pregnancy and wouldn’t settle into a position until I was pushing…turns out I was right). Kim didn’t want to break my water because she was worried it would cause further malposition issues and she reassured me as soon as it broke I could get into whatever position I wanted…she also vividly remembered my intervention filled birth with Mia and kept telling me she wanted to do absolutely nothing this time. The reason for him constantly changing position was that I had higher than normal levels of amniotic fluid. I stayed at 8 cm for 3 hours. I was absolutely miserable and told Steve that if this was going to go on for hours that I needed an epidural. Anne came back and I got up to go to the bathroom. I started shaking and throwing up and knew I was in transition. I felt out of control and was screaming and swearing with every contraction. I kept thinking to myself that it wasn’t impossible to push out an Posterior baby and that I needed to be done. Kim agreed to break my water and said my amniotic sac had three layers, which she had never seen before. As soon as it broke I felt such a relief of pressure and I got up on my knees and leaned over a squat bar. Anne, Kim and Steve were all right there providing amazing support. I started pushing with contractions and Anne checked me and I was only 9 cm and she told me to stop…I wanted to punch her in the face. She had to leave to go back to the office but thought she’d be back in time for the delivery. About 5 minutes after she left I told Kim my body was pushing and I had to push and there was no other option. She checked me and I had an anterior lip, which she pushed over his head during a contraction…even after I was complete Kim said she could still feel him rotating his head around. I was still on my knees leaning over a squat bar. 7 minutes and 3 pushes later Gideon was born into the waiting hands of his daddy. It was such a beautiful moment that I will treasure forever. Anne came back and had missed the birth by 10 minutes. It was less than an hour from the time Kim broke my water until I was holding my sweet baby. The whole experience was fantastic, though a little long at 17 hours (still shorter than #1 at 36 hours).
Gideon James
March 29, 2011
8lbs 5oz
21 inches long
