My husband, Matt, and I took Bradley Method Natural Childbirth classes, based on a recommendation from a friend of mine. At first, Matt was pretty shocked that I wanted to attend a 12-week class that cost $275, but the class, and our teacher, Jenny Zaner, gave us so much information, and more importantly, a new perspective on medical care for pregnancy and delivery. As we began to explore our options, we figured out what we did (and more importantly did not) want our birth experience to be. Much thanks to the ABC for being open to and encouraging of our birth plan and helping us bring our little girl into the world in the most natural and healthy way.
I began having contractions on Tuesday, July 6th 2010 at 1:30am, three days before my due date. The contractions were short cramps in my back, so I was unsure if they were really contractions. Matt woke up around 2:45am and saw that I was having contractions 6-7 minutes apart, and took over keeping track of timing. The contractions grew quicker and longer, but never reached a minute in length, which is what we were waiting for before going to the hospital. We called my midwife around 5:30am, and she wanted me to get in the tub to slow contractions down. I got in the tub while Matt tried to keep me eating and drinking, but on the second contraction, my water broke, and we realized that we needed to get to the ABC. Matt called the ABC, but was told that he had the wrong number – he called Mary, my midwife, back and she said that we had the number right, but that she would call them and let them know we were on our way. We grabbed our (somewhat) packed bag and got in the car. It was very hot and humid outside, and in the car I started having very intense contractions that were difficult to manage while Matt called my work and told them I wouldn’t be in, and called our parents to let them know we were going to the hospital. It took about 20 minutes to get to the ABC, and upon getting me out of the car, my contractions were so intense that I couldn’t walk and had to be wheeled in. A couple of NICU nurses wheeled me up while Matt took care of the car, and when I got to triage, the nurse seemed slightly dismissive of my contractions. She asked me to go to the bathroom and put on a gown and told Matt that he needed to go to register me. I was unable to do any more than sit on the toilet and have contractions, and once Matt got back, I showed the nurse how much I was bleeding and she quickly got me on a bed to do an exam and told me that I was fully dilated. Because there had been no births at the ABC the previous night, there wasn’t a nurse there, she was on call and was on her way, they took me instead to the regular labor and delivery wing of the hospital. Once in the room, they hooked me up to electronic fetal monitoring, had me lay flat on the bed, and had numerous staff scrubbed in with masks and full protective gear. One of the nurses was very much in my face telling me to calm down and stop wasting my energy. I looked at Matt, who was holding my hand, knowing that this was exactly the birth experience I was trying to avoid by delivering at the ABC. Within several minutes, Dee, the nurse from the ABC (to whom our family will always be so grateful) came in, kicked the labor and delivery staff out, turned the lights down, took the monitor off, and asked me how I wanted to push. I told her that I couldn’t push the way I was lying, and we agreed to have me push on my hands and knees. Dee did intermittent monitoring of Elsie’s heart, and used compresses to keep my perineum from tearing while Matt fanned me and spoke reassuring words about the progress we were making. Mary arrived about a 7:45a.m. With every push I could feel Elsie moving down the birth canal, and then back up when I stopped pushing. I started to feel frustrated, but Dee and Mary reminded me that that is exactly what my body was supposed to be doing so that I didn’t tear, and Mary had me reach down to feel Elsie’s head, which was so motivating. I pushed when I felt the urge to push, and Elsie Leigh was born at 8:21a.m., Matt caught her. They brought her up between my legs (umbilical cord still attached) so that both Matt and I could hold her and touch her, and rub the vernex into her skin. I couldn’t believe that she was real, it was the most amazing feeling I could ever imagine! After a few minutes, I turned over onto my back so that Matt could cut the umbilical cord and I could deliver the placenta. After pushing out the placenta, I lost a bit of blood, and felt light-headed and dizzy, and had to spend the rest of the day lying down. I had to have an injection of pitocin and an IV, but I was so happy to have had a healthy baby, and no interventions during delivery that I didn’t care at that point. After delivery, they wheeled the bed over to the ABC, and Matt and I held Elsie for the next few hours before the nurses even took her to weigh her (7lbs, 11oz; 20in) or do any tests. She breastfed right away and slept on us. So aside from a little scare in the beginning, we had the birth experience that we were hoping for, and are so grateful for our beautiful, healthy girl!
Tessa Benziger
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