Angels Round About: The Birth Story of Adelai Rose

The look in the midwife's eyes gave me the strength I needed to push my baby out into the world. By this point I had been in labor for ~35 hours and I had lost nearly all of my energy and belief in myself. But her eyes.  I knew she believed in me, so I held onto that belief and I pushed harder than I thought possible. My beautiful baby was born after only 22 minutes of pushing. 

"I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

I have always desired a natural birth. I hired a doula to help me through the process of labor and delivery and I kept myself healthy and active during pregnancy. I knew deep down that even after all of my preparation, there would still be things beyond my control and I knew I needed to be at peace with whatever the outcome. It wasn't until my due date of February 27th came and went that I finally felt peace inside regarding my labor and delivery. I finally knew in my core that I had done everything in my power to have a natural and healthy birth for my daughter, but God was in charge and I had to leave the rest to Him. 

Early labor began for me early in the morning on Saturday March 4th. I'm guessing I only got 5-6 hours of sleep that night, and at 7 AM I couldn't sleep any longer because the contractions were pretty consistent. When I woke up I didn't have much of an appetite but asked my mom to make me a passion fruit smoothie to get me some hydration and vitamins. I was hopeful and pretty confident that I was in labor, but I knew it would be a while until it was time to go to the hospital. I went on a walk with Marshall first thing after getting up, and when we returned home, I called my doula's labor line to get in touch with her. She advised me to move when I wanted, rest when I could, and eat lots of protein. (In hindsight, I should have eaten more protein.) Things stayed this way the rest of Saturday and I tried to distract myself by shopping at Sprouts, eating out for lunch with my mom and husband, going on two more walks, taking two naps, and vacuuming the house. My contractions were becoming slightly more intense, but they were still only ~45-60 seconds long and 3-5 minutes apart. Normally people tell you to go to the hospital when they are this close together, but I knew I didn't need to go yet. What I didn't know what that it would be 24 more hours before we would meet our baby. Just before dinner I took a shower because the water sounded really calming. As I was getting into the shower I called Marshall in because I was feeling emotional and scared. I knew labor was just going to get more intense and the unknown was too much for me at that moment. He held me close. I had no idea how progressed I was, or if I had at all. I didn't know how long I stayed in the shower, but it felt like it had only been 15-20 minutes. It ended up being close to an hour and the only reason I got out was because the hot water ran out. I was amazed at how good the water felt on my laboring body!

When I got out of the shower, my mom had made chicken pot pie for dinner so I sat on the floor while lying across my birthing ball--one of the only positions that felt good-- and ate small amounts in between contractions. Looking back, I would have eaten more throughout this early labor phase because I nearly ran out of energy by the time I got to transition.

After our dinner, I went into the bedroom to try and relax, but I just couldn't. I called Marshall into the room and told him it was time to call Elizabeth, my doula. I couldn't do this labor thing anymore on my own. We had Elizabeth on call throughout the day, but it was finally time for her to join us. She arrived by 8 PM. I was nervous about her arriving because again, I had no idea what to expect. I had never really talked or worked with her but my original doula was out of town for the weekend and Elizabeth was who was on call. I prayed she would be everything we needed, and she was. She may have only been 25 years old, but she was a competent doula and perfect for my personality.

Elizabeth arrived at around 8 PM and during the first little while that we were together, we did hands and knees, went on a long walk up and down the stairs around the apartment complex, and I used a hot rice sock on my lower abdomen to ease the discomfort. We also used one of my long scarves to do rebozo sifting on my abdomen. Part of me wishes I had gone to bed when it was 9 or 10 or 11 PM, but the truth was that I couldn't. I tried lying down on the bed but I just couldn't relax, and breathing through the contractions while horizontal seemed impossible. I don't know how women labor on their backs.

At 10:30 PM Elizabeth suggested a bath to help me get some rest and relax because I was getting so tired and everyone needed some rest as well. I was able to get pretty comfortable in the tub and fell asleep for an hour or two, which is exactly what I needed. At around 12:30 AM I got out because the water started to get cold and my body needed a change of position. I walked around the apartment a little and tried some supported squats, but all of that really made my legs tired because I am not a night owl and I had already moved so much that day. I tried getting comfortable in a pillow nest with Marshall right beside me, and while I did get some rest, the intensity of the contractions picked up and I couldn't rest anymore unless I was in water. I wanted to go to the hospital at this point but Elizabeth advised me to get back in the tub and we would discuss options afterwards. At 1 AM I took my second bath, and I stayed in for 3 solid hours getting a little more sleep in. When I got out at 4:15 AM, I knew I was ready to go to the hospital. I needed to know how far along I was and I needed a change of scenery.  Elizabeth agreed.

On the 5 minute drive to the hospital Marshall said to me, "can you believe we are going to the hospital to have our baby?" All I remember thinking was, I hope they don't send me home because I am only dilated to a 3 or 4. After refusing the wheelchair and walking up to the labor room on my own, I changed clothes and the nurse took my vitals, checked me, and announced that I was 5 cm dilated and 90% effaced. There was a tangible sense of relief in the room after this good news, and I was excited to get into the tub with the jets to keep laboring in a way that felt good. The time was 5:10 AM. At 6:30 while I was in the tub, the nurse monitored the baby's heartbeat for 2 minutes, all was well, so things got quiet again. I didn't love the fetal checks every 30 minutes, but I was grateful for the wireless monitors that allowed me to be in whatever position that felt good. At 7 AM I got out of the tub and was hooked up to the intermittent wireless monitors so that I could walk the halls while the nurses monitored baby's heart rate. By this point Elizabeth had called a backup doula, Ashley, to come over since it had been a long night. I really liked having such a strong team by my side. (Elizabeth actually never went home until after baby was born).

I remember feeling disappointed that my regular OB was not in the office that day since it was the weekend, and the on-call OB was not my favorite doctor. I knew I had to focus on the knowledge I had that God was looking out for me and I would not be forgotten about.

After my little walk in the halls, I returned to our room and they took off the monitors. The doctor came in and told me that he felt like I was still in latent labor because my water hadn't broken yet and I was not at a 6. It was approximately 8:30 AM and my spirits dropped so low when I heard this news. How did he know I wasn't at a 6 yet? I was at a 5 at 5:10 AM. He didn't even check to see if I had progressed before dashing my confidence and hope in myself. He gave me the option of breaking my water so that things could progress more rapidly but I had really desired my water to break on its own. Honestly, this is where things started to get hard. I got back into the tub as soon as he left and the nurse came in to tell me I was doing amazing and that I needed to keep doing what I had been doing. After lots of tears and receiving consolation from Marshall while in the tub, I got out and asked nurse Natalie to check me because I needed to know if the doctor was right. At 9:20 AM I was 8-9 cm dilated and the baby was at 0 station. I had already entered transition and the doctor had just said he thought I was in latent labor!

Immediately after I was checked, the nurses began prepping for the birth of our baby girl, and I wondered how long I would take to progress to a 10 and start pushing. I decided to try the birth ball and Marshall and my doulas were still by my side. I loved having my support team around me as I went through contractions because they kept the conversation light and focused on our baby girl. The nurse put the monitors back on my abdomen while I was laying over the ball, and at around 9:50 AM I was feeling some stronger urges to push so I moved to the bed. The contractions were getting so much more intense and my breathing was getting more deep and focused. Marshall was still by my side and he continued to encourage me and tell me how proud he was of me being so strong. I was so hungry at this point but kept feeling like I would throw up, so I ate some lemon sorbet to try and get some energy back. I had been drinking coconut water the entire labor which had been helping with hydration. At 10:20 AM I knew I was waning low on energy so I told my doulas that I wanted the doctor to break my water. I knew that if I ran out of energy, I would need an epidural or a cesarean, so I figured them breaking my water was the best option at this point.

When the doctor broke my water, he announced that the baby had already passed some meconium, which made me nervous and I prayed out loud that she would be protected. Once my water was broken, the contractions became stronger and the nurses asked that I get hooked onto some fluids through the IV. I was still able to change positions and was very active in moving from side lying, to hands and knees, and to kneeling and laying back on Marshall between contractions to rest. I remember falling asleep in his arms during those brief moments between contractions.  Being in his embrace during this time felt so safe and his strength strengthen me. 

The doctor came back into the room shortly after and told me that the baby's heart rate had dropped in the last 5 minutes and he needed me to lie on my side to see if that would help her not be in distress. In a later discussion with my doulas, we felt that the baby was probably in an asynclitic position which caused her head to be a little cocked and not lined up directly with the birth canal. This caused my cervix to have a difficult time dilating completely and is possibly why I was taking so long to get from a 9 to a 10. The urge to push at this stage was so strong. They handed me the oxygen mask when my breathing had become more shallow and labored. I kept looking at her heart rate on the computer screen and each time I did, Marshall told me very directly, "look and focus on me, not the screen." That was so very hard, and actually impossible for me. When her heart rate stayed below 100 BPM for too long and the position changes weren't helping, the doctor came in again and said we needed to do an emergency cesarean. 

The air in the room was one of concern at this point, but all hands were on deck to make sure baby and I were safe. I wasn't talking at this point, only responding by hand signals and nods of the head. I was nervous but my heart was at peace because I knew I was being watched out for. I was so exhausted and kept trying to push; the urge was too strong. When they rolled me into the OR, Marshall had to stay out until they got him scrubs, but he was soon by my side again. This was the first time I saw real emotion in his eyes all day, but he was still my rock and my strength. 

The big operating lights came on, the nurses were still monitoring the baby, and there was suddenly a whole host of people in the room all scurrying around getting prepared. I was impressed at how quickly they all gathered and all I remember thinking was, when are they going to give me the anesthesia so that I could be out of my discomfort and meet my baby? It seemed as if I had just thought those words when the doctor told me, "we're going to try and get this baby out vaginally. You have five pushes to make progress and get her out or we will have to resort a cesarean." This surprised me greatly because he had already given me the speech about the magnitude of operation a cesarean is, so I thought that was what would happen. Would I be able to push strong enough to get her out? I wasn't sure.  

Out of what seemed like nowhere, a lady appeared next to me in her scrubs and she said, "I'm Pam Pray, one of the midwives. We are going to do this together. You are going to push like you've never pushed before." My heart regained a little courage when she said this. Pam was my midwife before they had me switch to an OB and I had full confidence in her. While my doctor was all business at the foot of the bed and told me that he would use the vacuum if necessary, Pam was right there on my right side, fire and confidence in her eyes, guiding me towards my baby. My first push was ineffective and she guided me to how to push more efficiently. "Go somewhere else in your mind," she told me. I followed her advice and I nearly blacked out during each push, only coming back to reality and having to remind myself that I was in labor and having a baby. I literally went someplace else consciously as I pushed like I had never pushed before. 22 minutes after I was rolled into the OR and started pushing, our baby girl was born at 12:02 PM. 

The moment I felt her slide out of me I looked down and said out loud, "She looks funny!" Our baby was covered in green meconium and the umbilical cord was so alien looking. The doctor immediately tossed some scissors at Marshall and said directly, "Marshall, here, cut!" It made me happy that he remembered that we wanted Marshall to cut the cord and that he allowed him to, even in a not-so-ideal situation. 

Our baby Adelai was immediately placed on the warmer next to me and two pediatricians attended to her. They stuck a tube down into her stomach and pulled out 5ml of meconium and amniotic fluid. She was screaming loudly this entire time, a great sign! I couldn't keep my eyes off of her and it felt like only two minutes later when they placed her on my chest. My dream came true when immediately she began rooting around and latched on so perfectly. She was an alert little thing, of which I was so grateful. As I was holding her, the doctor said to me, "If you can't handle this while holding the baby, we'll have to take the baby away until I get you stitched up." How would I NOT be able to handle it WITHOUT holding her? She was the perfect distraction, the perfect ending to a very long labor. 

Marshall carried Adelai in his arms next to me as I was rolled back into the labor room for my two hour recovery and much needed skin-to-skin time. It wasn't until after the first hour of her being on my chest that Nurse Cora took her and cleaned her all up, took her vitals, and got her footprints. I loved seeing the relief and joy on my mom's face as she came in to meet her first grandbaby. 

The birth of Adelai was the most difficult thing I have ever done, but I felt so fulfilled and so strong after it was all over and she was in my arms. Having my husband by my side to give me his strength and support was so important. My doulas were amazing and my nurses offered compassionate and loving care. Having a vaginal delivery in the OR was nothing I had ever dreamed possible. I had an excellent doctor who, despite his strong bedside manner, was extremely competent and careful to ensure the best outcome for me and baby. My entire team had read and followed the birth plan I had given them to the best they could considering the circumstances.  I know Midwife Pam was one of the angels I had prayed for and gave me the strength at the most crucial time. I do not know what the outcome would have been if she had not been there. 

There are no regrets, only wonder and awe. 

Adelai Rose

March 5, 2017

6 lbs 10 oz

20.5 inches long