Part 2: I Guess since we are only doing it once, we may as well do it all!

Pre-Ramble

This is a different type of birth story. This is the midwife side of my brain story, the one with a time line and some facts and events. It actually took me a while after the birth to figure this version out. Which, actually, I’m totally proud of, because that means that for most of my labor I was in Laborland-working hard, focused, giving up as much control as I could and not concentrating (too much) on the clock. One of my fears about labor, was that I wouldn’t be able to enter that place. I was concerned I would hyper-focus on time. At some junctures I did need to pull my attention into time passing, especially as things slowed and eventually stalled. But when I asked how much time had passed or what time it was, I was always very surprised. One of the most salient ideas I had during pregnancy was amusingly from my Prenatal Yoga Video, “Where there is no mind, there is no time.”

However, after the birth it was important to me to put the timetable together, to see what the journey had looked like from the outside. I treasure the internal world I had for labor and will not replace those hazy memories with a "then this and then that” version, but I do like to know how the series of events unfolded. My doula, Jesse, was invaluable in this process. Throughout labor she kept a record of time and events and at her postpartum visit we were able to talk and process what had happened. She was also amazing in providing the most awesome photos.

So let us begin….

Maybe not exactly at the beginning, but a few days before. As my due date came and went the possibility of going to 42 weeks and the ultimate thing I resisted, hospital induction, (to me much more terrifying than a cesarean delivery because a csec would come if absolutely necessary, a hospital induction would be like a flogging to me). I had been getting acupuncture (at Blossom Clinic, Liz Richards was my acupuncurist though I saw Kine Fiscler on the day labor started because Liz wasn’t in the clinic) regularly and as I went past my due date I was going twice a week. On Monday, I had my midwife friend Chris check me and was 1 cm/70% effaced and “low, low, oh my gosh the baby’s head is right there” low. She also swept as best she could and then I went off for major acupuncture followed by a major labor stimulation massage from Lori Reising (again of Blossom Clinic). They really worked their mojo on me and by the time I was leaving I was starting to have some good contractions. I was so sure things were happening, I even called Markus from the table in between acupuncture and massage to come home and take the dogs to the their respective labor refuges.

When I got home I gave my doula a call and she said to be in touch. We talked about how the full moon was rising so it had to be soon! Ten minutes later, Jesse called back, here other client was in labor, it had to be the fault of the full moon! She gave me the number of her back up just in case. I took the news well but felt really disappointed. We had spent a lot of time with Jesse during the pregnancy and it would be hard to switch gears to someone I didn’t know. That evening the contractions spaced out and we went to bed and slept all night.

I woke up in the morning feeling disappointed. I had an apt with Catherine and was looking forward to seeing her and checking in and getting checked. Markus stayed home from work and we headed over there. When we got there, as the first patient of the morning, the receptionist was surprised…we’d been misscheduled! No one was going to be in the office that day. I talked to Catherine and we arranged for an ultrasound to check fetal well-being (as I was one week past my due date I needed to be reassured). Catherine also gave me the name of Kine to see if she could work me in for some last minute acupuncture. I also called my friend Chris. Within ½ hour I had a time for Chris to check me, an acupuncture apt (Kine went out of her way, juggling day care and starting her day early), and an ultrasound apt. At some point early in the morning I checked in with Jesse, my doula, and she knew that things were wrapping up with her other client and she had gotten ‘some’ good sleep.

Chris checked me and I was 2cm and she swept again. An hour later I was in the middle of acupuncture and getting some good whopping contractions. By the time we were in the car driving home, I knew that these things had done what they were meant to and I was canceling the ultrasound as I was in labor!

We got home and Markus made what was to be my real last meal for 36 hours-grilled cheese! Thank goodness we picked something substantial. The contractions were coming regularly and I was coping well. Around 3pm Jesse called to say she could come over now or in a couple of hours. Initially, I thought it would be fine to wait a couple of hours, but I had a whopper of a contraction that nearly sent me to my knees and I immediately had Markus call Jesse back and ask her to come. She said she’d heard the last contraction and wasn’t surprised. She promptly turned the car around and headed our way. She got here at 4pm and that is when I officially start the clock on my labor.