Wheat Ridge Area Doula: November 2014

I first met C and her husband J when C was about 36 weeks pregnant. She was very excited about having a vbac and was looking for a doula with vbac experience. Our meeting went well and she called me the next day to hire me. We meet again about and week later and two weeks after that she went into labor...

I woke up to my phone ringing and something in my brain said that my alarm was also going off so when I saw C's name on the caller ID I thought how great it was that I got a good night's sleep and answered with a chipper "Good morning!" I walked into the other room to talk so I wouldn't disturb my husband and realized it was only 2:45. C told me she had been having regular contractions since about midnight and wanted to have me meet her at the hospital. She had one contraction on the phone and it appeared she was handling them fine. I wondered if I had time for a quick shower, but then she had another, more intense, contraction and I felt it was best to just head over. We were only on the phone for 6 minutes!

I gathered my things and headed out the door. The hospital she delivered at is about 30 miles away, but I didn't have to deal with traffic or weather so I got there about 3:30. In fact I beat them to the hospital. I was told to wait in the waiting room and anxiously watched the elevators for a laboring couple to appear. After about 20 minutes a woman appeared, went into L&D and was sent back out to the waiting room. Turns out she was C's mom (aka Grandma)! We talked and tried not to be nervous that C&J still hadn't arrived. Grandma called C but didn't get an answer. We were really hoping that she didn't have the baby in the car (her first labor was really fast), but if she did at least she got her vbac! ;)

Finally about 4:20 Grandma got a call from J. They had just been triaged (used a different elevator) and C was 10 cm with a bulging bag! We burst through the L&D doors and could barely stand to sign in before almost running down the hall.

We were met by two OB nurses, an OB, two newborn nurses, a smiling J, and C on her hands and knees with her face buried in the pillows. The room was tiny, but we managed to dance around each other. C was AMAZING! I immediately got some coconut oil and started rubbing her back. The OB said she was +3 station, so this baby was well on his way! Nurse #2 wanted to start an iv, and it was almost all C could do to stick her hand out.

Not too much later Nurse #2 left and the birth photographer showed up. Yay! Julie Miller was great to work with! She was friendly and encouraging, but also professional and "in the background" (which was hard to do in this tiny room!) I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a birth photog because while I bring my camera, my first responsibility is doula! Julie provided all the black and white photos in the post! :)

There was no time for any of the tricks in my bag. I offered a hand to hold, words of encouragement and cold wash clothes. After pushing on her hands and knees for a while, we got C to change positions. We were going for a squat, but lying on her side felt good, so she pushed for a while like that. There were times that C became fearful and I did my best to remind her that this was NOT the same as her first birth. This baby was coming out vaginally, we could already see him! Baby hung out on the perineum and didn't even try to slide back in. C pushed and pushed, moved onto her back a little, and then pushed some more. Strained pushing turned into screams and we encouraged her because she pushed her best when she was screaming! Between contractions she begged her sweet Baby to come out.

After just a little over an hour pushing, C gave that final push and B's head was out followed quickly by his body. Oh, the tears of joy from everyone involved! He gave a mighty cry and was quickly placed in his mother's waiting arms. He cried for just a brief time and then fell asleep skin-to-skin with his momma. ♥

The OB had to deliver the placenta and all that fun stuff (NOT!) but we were very excited to hear that C hadn't torn at all! She got her all natural vbac baby with no tears and she was just giddy about it (so was I!)!

The room was getting full with 2 grandmas, a doula, and a photog, so I turned on my "mean doula" hat and kicked everyone out so that C&J could bond a little with their sweet boy. When we came back in he was nursing like a champ! Baby's temperature was quite low (no wonder - that room was freezing!) so they had to take him to the nursery to warm him up. Julie and I stayed with C so that J could be with the baby.

They brought him back after 30 minutes or so but the nurses wanted C to get up to go potty and she asked if I wanted to hold the baby - like I would ever say no to that!

Best.job.ever!

I like to make sure that "my moms" are settled in their recovery rooms before I go home, and Julie wanted to get pictures of Big Brother meeting the baby, so we hung around and made sure C had everything she needed. When her room was ready we gathered up all the bags and went up a floor. C was able to take a shower and then they took the baby to get his first bath. After that Big Brother arrived (love those moments!)