Hot Mama! What an amazing birth.

so doula gigs have been sparse up here for me lately, but I lucked out yesterday and got to attend an EPIC birth this morning. What an experience!It kind of fell into my lap at the last minute, so I didn't even have time to get my paperwork together for certification. But I don't even care. :)

I left work at 2:00pm yesterday and got home at 7:00 this morning. Skipped dinner (all I had in my doula bag was an old protein bar that I choked down at about 1:00 in the morning. VILE.), never slept a wink, and drove 40 miles each way! Hooray Dr. Pepper! Miraculously made it home alive this morning, ate a real breakfast, took a LONG, HOT shower and a few Extra Strength Tylenol, and came into my lame 9-to-5 office job to play on AllDoulas. But don't tell them I said that. @_@ I'm a total zombie right now, but it was sooo worth it!

My friend and local doula mentor invited me to "shadow" a birth, but we both ended up being "primary" doulas for this mom, who really benefitted from having more than one doula!

Mom was a 38 week primi w/SROM. Doc "made" her come in for induction because her labor didn't start spontaneously. and since her membranes had ruptured, she was automatically on "the doc clock" (24 hours or else). As you know, this is VERY common so I felt pretty prepared, but this mama's body was NOT ready to go (thick, posterior cervix), so I knew we were in it for the long haul. My doula pal called to tell me that mom's ctx were 1 minute apart. Wow, that was fast. So I jetted out and made it there just in time to sit there like a bump on a log for a couple of hours. (LAME) Anyway, it turns out that mom had cervical biopsy scars that were impeding her dilation. She was induced at about 10:00am and labored pretty effortlessly until she became 100% effaced at 5:00pm. Ctx were 1-3 minutes apart almost the whole time. Occasionally they'd be one right on top of the other, but she stayed at 1cm for HOURS. Her dilation took a LOOOONG time and it was very very hard for her. She was dead-set against an epidural, and with a lot of guidance and support, she handled her Pit ctx beautifully until about 10:30p. The other doula was using HypnoBirthing scripts with her, but mom just couldn't manage her focus and stay above the ctx. She was starting to panic, in spite of our best efforts, and she didn't like feeling out of control. She asked for "something little, to take the edge off" and the nurse offered Nubain. It was all they had. (This was a teeny tiny little county hospital ...somewhere within a 40-mile radius of here. too bad I can't say where because you'd love it. (LOL) Anyway, the one and only L&D room was "refurbished" in 1991, if you can imagine the slate-blue and peach country flower wallpaper and walnut furniture. yeehaw.) Well, Mom didn't notice a lot of relief from the Nubain but her ctx slowed down a little, which gave her some rest time, and she did puke a lot (although it's hard to tell if it was a side effect or just normal labor progression). She was able to keep her focus for about 90 minutes, then she labored really hard some more. (She told me later that the Nubain made her feel really "loopy.") She was making remarkable progress as baby moved down, but her dilation just didn't want to budge. She was so discouraged, working so hard and not dilating. This required a lot of encouragement and reassurance. This poor mama was a real "tough chick" but she was sobbing and screaming through some of these ctx. It took three (and sometimes 4) of us to bring her back to earth.

She had an old nurse who was pretty territorial and set in her ways (I'm guessing she was at LEAST 70 years old); she kept threatening section and upping the pit without warning. She warned us that she's "okay with doulas as long as you don't do anything to harm the baby." (Well, duh!!) Dad was furious with that nurse but there was no real way to change nurses in such a small hossy. Miraculously, Nursey left us alone after doc paid a visit, and her shift ended at 11:30p. Doc was an okay OB, for the most part.

Mom was mostly left alone by the staff to labor all night and into the morning (her overnight nurse was awesome). She had maybe 4-5 VE's and 3 short little bouts of EFM over the course of 12 hours. This surprised me, considering she was the only laboring mom at that hospital, not to mention the condition of her cervix and the fact that she was on Pit (a questionable call by the OB, if you ask me). I was very impressed by Mom's assertiveness with the nurses, saying, "I'm going to ______ now," instead of asking permission or obeying arbitrary orders.) Mom would have alternate hours of breathing through ctx and resting in between, then an hour of HARD labor. She lived on that birth ball; nothing else would do. (Man, my back is killing me.) She asked for a 2nd shot of nubain @ about 2:30am. Ctx slowed down again, she caught a couple of mini-naps, and dilation was S-L-O-W and painful. (Pit + a scarred cervix. Such a trooper!) She got up to 6-7cm and had a lip of cervix that wouldn't budge for hours, likely from the scar tissue. Poor mama. She was screaming in pain, but between the ctx she continued to ask us to stay positive and coach her through it. Her mother had come in at about 1:00ish and helped a LOT. The other doula and I were exhausted. We were very hands-on and in her face (had to "take charge" a lot) for about 2/3 of the ctx. Dad never left her side. He refused to even go pee. He never wavered. He was AMAZING, supportive, patient, encouraging, you name it. So we had a big support team for this mama, but we were all part of her ritual and she relied heavily on each one of us. We were meant to be there.

It was slow going and hard work. By the time mom was just past 8cm, she requested an epidural. Doc advised her that it would take at least 30 minutes for the anethesiologist to complete it, and she'd probably be pushing by then. He actually encouraged her to keep up the good work and let her body have this baby soon (can you believe it). This boosted mom's resolve and she made it to transition within the hour. Stubborn cervical lip magically dissolved. Hallelujah! "Feeling pushy" to baby's birth took all of 30 minutes! Baby was crowned and out in 3 good pushes without so much as a skid mark. Good golly. Baby girl was born at 4:45am. Grandma got to witness, which was so wonderful and touching. I had my arms around her and she was shaking like a leaf. So blessed. I got a little bit choked up, myself. (how can you not?) Mom and Dad were over the moon and so relieved and so happy and SO grateful. Baby is beautiful, strong and perfect.

It's funny. About 2:00am I was so physically and emotionally worn out, I wondered if I'd made the right career choice. *blush* I'm sure I'm not the first to suffer mid-birth burnout. Anyway, after we all wrapped up and mom was in recovery, I went in to say goodbye and she thanked me profusely, praised our efforts, then told me how she can't understand why anyone would want to be a doula, getting puked on and screamed at and giving backrubs for 12 straight hours. "Why would anyone choose this as a hobby or a living?" In spite of my sleep-fogged brain, I proudly answered, "We get to witness miracles! What's better than that?" And I KNEW I had made the right choice. No more second-guessing myself. :)

Even though right now I feel like I could sleep for about 24 straight hours, I'm still on a high from this, just knowing I had a small part in helping this family through a very difficult labor and how happy they were after the fact. It makes it all worth it. I can't wait for my next birth!