Talia’s birth story

I finished editing our home video into a little montage. During the birth Myles and our doula Megan took some great little clips and I have edited them into a single movie. This is the way that I want to remember the birth, with music instead of all the whining and yelling that were the reality : )

Talia’s birth from Emily Weaver Brown on Vimeo.

The video is pretty dark and I am much looking forward to getting the photos that our birth photographer took as I know they will be much better than home video, but I am also really happy to have these moments caught on film. Jessica our birth photographer did post some photos of Talia immediately post birth and you can view them on her blog. I will make sure and update when she posts more.

As with Simon’s birth we are super happy with our birth team and cannot say enough good things about them. The quality of care that we received was and is exceptional. I wish that every mother could experience birth this way. If you are interested make sure and check out the Puget Sound Birth Center.

I also took some time today and wrote out the entire birth story as I recall it. I didn’t do this for Simon’s birth and now I regret it. But it’s long and it’s really just for me and for Talia if she is interested when she is older. It’s really long so you are forgiven if you don’t read it in it’s entirety…

Talia’s birth story,
My perspective…

At about 2:30 am on November first I was awoken with a moderate contraction. This had been happening for weeks so I really didn’t think much of it and I just fell back asleep, only I was then woken up with another one and the pattern continued to repeat itself… until I realized – that they were coming about every 10 minuets.  I  started the contraction timer app on my phone and began timing them. I kept thinking about waking Myles but I was afraid that the contractions would die out (as they had done at 39 weeks) so I kept putting it off thinking that I would wait and make sure there really was a pattern… At around 4am I woke Myles up to help me time them. I kept missing the start and once I was mid contraction I couldn’t push the button on my phone to start the app timing. Myles started helping me time them and the contractions were about 8min apart by then.  We got up and  Myles started filling  the birth tub and we called our doula and photographer just to give them a heads up. I wanted to wait until the contractions were about 5 minuets apart before calling the midwives. Myles lit all my candles, put on some music and, made me some oatmeal and tea. I labored in the family room on the floor between bites of oatmeal. Simon work up at about 5 am and came out into the family room but we told him it was to early to wake up and to go lay on mommy’s and daddy’s bed. To our surprise he did without complaint.

The contractions were getting closer together but they were really not unmanageable or all that painful. I was afraid that if I got into the tub too soon that the contractions would slow or die out completely so I stayed on the floor until the contractions were about 5 minuets apart. Myles paged our midwives and told them my contractions were about 5 minuets apart but not that intense. Heike asked if we were ready for her to come then and Myles relayed the question to me. I just wasn’t sure… So Heike listed to me have a contraction over the phone and decided that she would come right away. Then I hopped into the pool. It felt really really good, I remembered the same sense of relief when I was in labor with Simon. There is just something about being almost weightless in the warm water. This part of the birth was actually really enjoyable. I relaxed in the tub and had sips of tea between contractions and Myles took some video with our video camera, updated facebook, and we laughed and joked around. Soon Jessica Peterson our birth photographer arrived and started taking some photos we continued to talk and laugh. The contractions started to get a lot more intense and Myles brought a bowl of ice water and washcloths to me and would put a cold washcloth on my head during contractions.

At this point the contraction timer app that Myles was using told him that I was in transition and we all had a good laugh over that. Jessica said “who needs a midwife.. there’s an app for that!”  and Myles  updated facebook with that. It was pretty clear that I was not in transition as I was laughing and joking around between contractions. Soon Megan Miles, our doula arrived and she took over washcloth duty. She walked in mid contraction and as soon as the contraction finished I think the first thing I said to her was, (while handing her a washcloth) was “this is not cold” she laughed and said “did you want it to be?” It progressed on like this for awhile Heike called and said that she was stuck in traffic but would be there soon. She and the student midwife Carla arrived shortly thereafter. She listed to the baby and said the heart rate was great and the baby was doing really well. For some reason I really wanted to know how far along I was so I asked Heike to check me. She said “we don’t have to do that, your pretty far along…” but I insisted which in retrospect was not a great idea since I was only 7cm and was rather disappointed by that number. I only stayed in the tub a short while longer I was just getting to hot and I thought it was slowing things down too much. So I climbed out and had a few more contractions on the floor leaning on the ottoman. Carla took my blood pressure and temperature.  At this point I started throwing up which I did a lot when I was in labor with Simon but I was hoping to avoid this time. However, it’s said that for every time you throw up really hard you dilate 1 cm. I think I quickly got through the next 2 or so cm… And the labor started getting really hard. I decided that I wanted to move to the bedroom but of course Simon was still asleep on my bed so Myles had to move him for me to go in there.  I was a little worried that he would be freaked out at the sight of me coping with contractions but really he did fine and seemed non-pulsed. He would wonder into the bedroom and check on me and then wonder back out. Myles got out the Brio trains for him and he built a railroad system in the living room.

When I was in labor with Simon it was hard and painful but I always felt in control and on top of the contractions. This labor caught me off guard that beginning was easy in comparison to my labor with Simon but during this transition I could not find anything that worked for me. I tried many positions but the back pain was intense. Mostly I just labored on the bed Megan and Heike pressed on and rubbed my lower back and that seemed to help. I am sure it was just my perspective but the contractions seemed to last a longer than 1 minuet, they had been at one minuet for awhile and just were getting closer together but these seemed to last an eternity. In our birth class when I was pregnant with Simon and in our refresher class, Liz (the instructor) told us just to remember that contractions at their peak are only one minuet long and you can do anything for one minuet. I remember Heike repeating this while I was having a hard time coping “remember you can do anything for one minute” and I responded that I was pretty sure that this was WAY long than one minuet. I was very whiny and yelling a lot during the contractions.  Simon came in to check on me and when I started yelling I remember him saying “I want to get out of here!” and then quickly exited the room. We had the windows wide open in the bedroom because I was really hot and I could hear it poring rain outside. Heike checked me again and said that there was just a little lip left and she wanted to hold it back during the next contraction which I consented to. It was awful! It felt so out of control and the baby moved down a lot and I screamed so loud! I didn’t even know I could scream like that. Our across the street neighbor is moving and they had their garage door open and were packing and Heike could see her look over at our house and walk to the edge of her drive way. She told Myles that he better go talk to her and tell her that we were having a home birth or that she would likely call the police. Even at the time the thought of the police showing up to a suspected murder/torture scene was really amusing to me. (She didn’t call).

Heike then suggested that I try the birth stool and use gravity to help get the baby down. The first attempt at that was a fail as it was just set up against the wall and there was nothing for me to hold on to or grasp during the contraction so I just fell to my hands and knees. After that I asked if they could set it up by the couch or something so that Myles could sit behind that and me worked a lot better. Each contraction made me feel like I was going to shoot through the roof and I had Myles hold me very tight and that helped a lot.  At this point Andrea walked though the door and I was so happy to see her. Andrea caught Simon and though she is on maternity leave I really wanted her to be at this birth too.  And there she was. I worked through what seemed like an eternity of contractions on the birth stool and then Andrea asked if she could hold that last little bit of cervix back while I pushed really hard. And that’s what we did, and it was insanely painful. When I was in labor with Simon the pushing phase was a wonderful relief. And I kept telling myself that If I just got though this transition that the pushing would be next. And then I was there and it was not at all a relief  and I felt myself holding back, but it only took 3 or so pushes like this and she was out and in my arms.  Her little fist came out right by her head. It was the source of all that back pain. Andrea helped me lift her up and put her right to my chest. After all that work if feels SO good to hold your baby and I love watching that part of the video. Myles was ecstatic.  I held her for a few moments just soaking her in while they rubbed her with receiving blankets and she started crying. Then I remembered to check and see if she was a boy or girl.  It was a girl! I couldn’t believe it we had a daughter! And nothing in the world beats the feeling of having done all that work and getting that prize. The endorphins after natural birth are amazing and I feel like I am still riding that high 6 days later. I have such sweet memories of how Talia joined our family.

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