Hello Friends, Family, and the Birthing Classmates!

Piper is here, and she is beautiful.

She was born at 01:23 on Monday, 09/01/08 which was about 7 days early based on the “wheel”, but 4 days early based on our calculations (we were tracking ovulation).

The weekend was pretty uncomfortable with pre-labor cramps for most of the two days leading up to her birth and some “bloody show” on Sunday.  On Saturday it felt like light menstrual cramps and on Sunday it got stronger but nothing like the defined contractions that I thought would occur.

Until…  the water broke (at 7:45 PM)..

OUCH!!  I was very surprised at how abrupt and painful it was.  Nothing that I read or learned prepared me for that.  We called Roswitha, the mid-wife, immediately and she said to try to get some sleep.  This seemed impossible so we timed the contractions, which were now very well-defined and INTENSE at about every 3-4 minutes apart.  We called her again and she told us to come to the birthing center immediately.

The 20 minute drive was almost intolerable.  There were NO comfortable positions and I was literally crawling up and down the front seat which was laid all the way back.  I’m sure I was a sight for anyone on the road who happened to be looking at us.  Ironically, “Slow Ride” was playing on the radio as we darted through the traffic.  Then when we got there a train had the traffic backed up past the birthing center entrance but we managed to squeeze our way between the cars to get to the center.  I can’t imagine being in this state, stuck on the other side of the tracks waiting for the train to pass.

Roswitha met us at the door and immediately examined me.  It was about 9:00 PM now and I was 3-4 cm dilated with the head down and in good position.  There were no other births going on so we got the choice of rooms and chose the Santa Fe.  I asked to have the tub filled and for some pain medication and was told I should have neither because it could act to slow down the labor which was going at a great pace.

Since I couldn’t soak in a tub I opted for sitting in the shower, water running over me, with Richard holding me.  Because I was so distraught and anxious my focus became just trying to stay calm between contractions.  For me contractions feel like having a dozen charley horses in my lower abs without any way of relieving them.  Sitting was impossible, laying was difficult…  Let’s face it, there was just no pleasing me in that state.

I went to the bed and changed positions between each contraction hoping something would help.  I started to feel a great desire to vomit, which I did.  Roswitha called this “positive puking” and saw it as a good sign of labor progression.

After a second examination at 11 PM Roswitha determined I was 5-6 cm dilated and was confident the labor had progressed to the point where I could soak in the bath without danger of slowing things down.  She filled the tub up and I got to soak.  What a great relief the water was… at least until transition started.  The water was really great because between contractions I could reposition in the buoyancy of the water with a lot less pain.  It was easier to go into “the zone” between contractions.

Transition was excruciating.  On more than one occasion I remarked that this was a BAD idea and that we wouldn’t be doing “natural childbirth” again.  I asked for pain medication and was told that I was moving so fast that it wouldn’t help at this point, and I didn’t believe her.  Roswitha stayed very calm and that helped a LOT.  She would answer my primal screams and cusses and cries with a gentle and understated, “yes, uh-huh, that’s right” as if to give the impression that everything was exactly as it should be.

Transition took longer than it should because my cervix on the right side had a lip that would not retract.  This affected the use of my right leg for several contractions (as in, my right leg would not work).  But even then it moved very quickly.  During transition there was a time when things seemed to stall and then I remembered the technique we learned in the birthing class where I squatted in front of Richard and held on to his forearms while he stood clutching my forearms.  In this way I was able to hang from him and enter a deep squat and really feel things move.  This is when I felt like I was about to crown and I reached down and felt Piper’s head.  This was very motivating and gave me the strength to keep things moving.

I laid back down in the tub and quickly felt the “ring-of-fire” burn, and man did it.  I begged Roswitha to pull her out.  It seemed she was taking her time, but in hindsight I had no tears or abrasions to speak of so it must have been at the right pace.

As soon as the head crowned Roswitha used her skill to get the head through and once the head cleared Richard took it from there and stepped into the tub with me.  On the next contraction Piper came out fully, and he placed her on my chest.  It was AWESOME!

What’s really surprising at this point was that when presented with my breast (less than 2 minutes after birth), she immediately latched on.  She’s been a voracious eater ever since.

The midwife’s assistant, Kat, clipped the umbilical cord and then Richard cut it.

We are so lucky that we’ve got a healthy happy first baby with just 5 1/2 hours of labor (7 lbs, 20 1/2 inches).  It was totally worth it, and I wouldn’t do it any other way even though at its worst it was the most painful and difficult thing I’d ever experienced.

That’s not so say it was completely free from complications.  At about 4 AM I took my first trip to the bathroom and had a severe fainting spell and required oxygen and quite some time before I could be walked back to the bed.  Because of this we were asked to stay a little longer and instead of leaving the center at 7 AM we didn’t get out of there until 11 AM.

We’re happy to be home and getting to get to know our new baby girl.

Leanne, Richard, and Piper Stovall