Birth Stories

 

Willow Gray's birth at the Wenatchee Birth Center

by Lyndsay

You were born to us on this day and this is what I remember:

The night before I was very restless as my uterus began to contract mildly, keeping me awake and uncomfortable.  Because of my lack of sleep, I slept in until 8:30 am and decided it would be best to do some dishes and then go for a walk.  I had two thank-you notes to write:  one for Auntie Linda, Uncle Sidney, Brian and Holly, another for Susan Steppe, a friend from church who gave you a baby blanket and a wrist rattle.  I wanted to mail them off and check our mail at the post office so I decided to take a walk and see if my contractions would get stronger.  They seemed to stop me in my tracks, but I kept on walking.  I called Linda, Tina, Wendy, Lisa and Dyson.  I only was able to speak to Tina and Wendy about my contractions at that time and they were pretty sure you were going to arrive soon.  I was slightly nervous about that.  Grandma Judy called and I told her I was having some contractions and she asked if I was at the hospital so I had to remind her again that we were not going to the hospital and that I wasn’t going anywhere until I knew for sure that this was the day.  She let me talk to Auntie Kellie and she said, “Hey, I am going shopping for that baby, how am I supposed to know what to get if I don’t know the sex?”  I told her not to worry about that right now. 

I was anxious to keep the contractions going so I walked down to the Methow River by a neighbor’s house who has a small bench near the river.  The neighbor had never been home during my previous visits to that spot, but today he was and he was listening to some good music, waved to me as I began to do squats by the river, holding onto his bench for support.  That really opened me up and felt great.  I walked back up the small hill to our house deciding that labor might begin today and I should lay down for a nap.  When I did, my contractions started up again and 3 of them were 6 minutes apart, the next 2 were 10 minutes apart.  The intensity varied.  I wanted to call the midwife here in Twisp and did not know her name or phone number.  I was hoping she would be able to come over and check my dilation before I called Charles to come home and take me to Wenatchee. 

Laurie, the Wenatchee midwife, called me soon after I sat outside with the dogs and she gave me the midwife’s name:  Shira.  I gave her a call.  She called back when I was having more intense contractions, around 2 pm.  I was telling her about my day and how I felt when I had the strongest contraction ever, and I felt a popping sensation in my pubic bone area.  I had to put the phone down and breathe heavy through it.  When I got back on the phone she told me that it sounded like my body was doing some really good work.  She asked me if the popping sensation caused a gush of water, and I told her it did not.  She then advised me to call Charles to have him come home and said that she would be on her way.  I went through some strong contractions that were close together and I stayed on my hands and knees in the living room, sometimes leaning my upper body on the red couch.  I really wanted someone to be there soon.  I put the dogs outside in between the contractions and called Charles, he answered and I asked, “can you come home now?”  he replied, “yes, we are just leaving Wells Dam and are on our way”  I told him that I was having close, strong contractions, and he sounded very calm and soothing.  I couldn’t wait for him to get here!  I remember saying out loud as my uterus continued to contract intensely, “someone please get here!” 

That is when I called Auntie Linda and when she answered I said, “Linda, please pray for me and baby because I am having really strong contractions and they are very painful and close together” She said, “I am praying for you Lyndsay so much, I know you can do it, you’re going to have the baby today, the same day as Susan” I stayed on my hands and knees and while propped up on the red couch I kept looking out the window for someone to arrive.

When Shira arrived I told her how relieved I was to have her there.  She was beautiful, and she began breathing with me right away (the gum in her mouth smelled wonderful and minty fresh!)  Her breathing was similar to a great big sigh and reminded me to relax.  She sat on the floor next to me and asked if I would like her to examine my cervix.  I definitely wanted that.  I was only at 2-3 cm, but very soft and she said your head was pressing hard down there.  I was a little discouraged, but she said that we were working very well together.  I asked her to bring me a bowl because I felt sick to my stomach.  She brought it just in time.  I hadn’t done that in years!  Wow! 

We talked about how I had just moved here and she knew my midwife, Lisa Lehrer from Corvallis and she told me that we moved to a great little town.  Her voice was soothing and her words were distracting and kind. I thought about staying at home and having her deliver you, and she did too, but she said that we would be able to make it to Wenatchee and that Laurie and Dzhan were looking forward to being with us for your birth. (she also had another mama having contractions today). 

When Charles arrived I heard him speaking to another person telling him to wait at the door for a minute as he saw me half naked and moaning on the floor.  He said, “hey babe, how are you doin’?”  Shira answered for me saying that I was doing very well and my body was working hard.  She said, “today is your baby’s birthday” and Charles kept moving around the foyer and the bedroom packing up things and loading the truck, never really coming to me to touch or comfort, but just being there felt like a million bucks to me.  I think we were all relieved to have Papa there.  There is just something about him being “there” that feels so wonderful and comforting.  We love you Papa! 

Papa scrambled around the house gathering items for your big arrival:  pillows, food, clothes, toothbrush/paste, diapers, your first outfit, towels, water bottle, blankets for the back seat…when Shira and Charles walked me out to the truck I looked in the back seat and it was a “pillow haven” as Shira called it.  I climbed in, moaning through another contraction, laid down and realized that I may end up peeing all over back there very soon. So they helped me climb out again to go to the bathroom one more time before we left.  I was convinced the drive was going to suck really bad, but I knew that we had to go.  You were pressing on me very hard down there and I knew then that you would be born soon.  I tried to lie down for the most part, but felt better to go through each contraction on my hands and knees.  I would only lay down on my side to rest my arms and even then I would sometimes put one hand on Papa’s shoulder and he would put his hand on mine.  If the contraction was strong enough to nearly make me scream, I couldn’t help but nearly kick the window out!  If I did scream, Papa would remind me to keep my moaning low and to breath and he would say, “you’re doing great baby”.  I heard him whistling at one point and thought, “I am glad that he is so relaxed through this drive”  Then I heard him talking to someone and asked who it was and he said “Randy just called”  I thought, well, now Randy knows that I am in labor. 

We couldn’t get there fast enough, but Papa would say, “we’re gettin’ there”.  I noticed heavy rain as we got close to Wenatchee and I remember saying, “uh oh”.  Papa was cold because I had the window down with my face catching the refreshing, cool, moist air so he turned the heat on.  When I noticed the heat from the front, I said, “Baby, I am too hot for the heat” and he replied, “I’m freezing!”  I don’t remember how we settled that one, but I just kept my face near the open window.  I started to tell Papa that he should take the south bridge over to Wenatchee, but I couldn’t remember the directions after that (I had only been there once before).  He called Laurie when we were closer and we made it there just in time for me to have a really strong, wet contraction.  

When we pulled into the parking lot, I remember feeling so relieved, still on my hands and knees and seeing Dzhan and Laurie and one other young lady waiting for me.  Charles came around and helped me slowly step out of the truck and Dzhan was standing right there and I had another strong one and had to hold Charles right there in the rain and let it pass.  Dzhan said to me as the contraction began to cease a bit, “Do you wanna get out of the rain?”  “okay” I said. I remember feeling so disabled when we walked into the room.  I immediately took off my clothes and got on the bed, on my hands and knees of course.  My CooKoo for Cocoa Puffs shirt was wet from sweating, and my beige/pink pajama pants were wet and bloody. Wow!   

Dzhan said, “Lyndsay, I am going to examine your cervix okay?”  I agreed that would be great because I was certain that I should be fully dilated.  After checking she said something quiet to Laurie, I couldn’t hear but then to me she said, “Lyndsay, you are fully dilated to a 10”  ( I cry now just remembering the joy I felt)  I was so proud of myself, Willow!  We worked so hard on that drive, together, you and me, and now you were going to be born real soon.  Papa was in the bathroom at that time and I was very excited for him to come out and I remember asking where he was a couple of times.  It seemed like he was in there forever!  I wanted him to know that I was fully dilated! 

I gave my first push on my hands and knees and it almost happened involuntary.  I grunted like I was dry heaving, it was an incredible sensation mostly because it was very uncontrollable.  I felt a lot of fluids gushing on that push, but it wasn’t my bag of waters.  I think I stayed in that position for a couple of pushes when both Laurie and Dzhan decided that I should try another position.  The birthing stool.  This was a bit awkward for me and Papa because I was to lean on him while he sat on the edge of the bed and I was on the stool.  Contractions did not feel good in this position.  So Laurie suggested I lay back on a lot of pillows with my legs spread open (as you would expect for childbirth)  I did this and my first push went very well so they thought I should stay put.  I was so very hot and I remember Papa putting a cool washcloth on my forehead and serving me water through a straw.  It was so wonderful to have him do that for me.  The speed of my contractions were controlling how fast I was going to birth you sweet Willow and they were certainly coming along very fast.  I pushed with all my might during each one and Laurie helped out tremendously by asking me to hold my pushes longer with a quick breath in the middle.  So when I pushed, she would count, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, “quick breath” 1,2,3,4,5… as far as I could go.  That second count would wear me out pretty fast, but I knew you were moving down fast because Papa would look me in the eyes and say, “good job, honey, you’re doin’ it”  I kept saying I didn’t think I could do it, but everyone would say, “honey, you’re doin’ it”  Wow! It felt great to hear those words.  Thanks guys! 

I could feel your head moving farther and farther and it felt like it was crowning and Papa would look at me with tears in his eyes and say, “it’s coming out baby, I can see the head.”  I could tell that he felt a lot of pain in his heart for what I was going through, but we both knew that it would be over soon.  You and I were working so well together and the folds of your head were moving through my vagina with each push.  It was amazing!  One lady was holding my right leg in place and Papa was holding my left leg.  Laurie gave me her hand to squeeze, she was on my left and they all kept telling me to spread my legs and when I pushed to keep my chin down toward my chest.  Papa would tell me this again and again.  He really wanted it to be over with soon.  When I did as they told me, your head seemed to move down the birth canal even faster.  The advice was working!  Great! 

Soon your head was out and everyone including me was very excited.  Dzhan had to work the cord around head because it had wrapped itself during the birth.  I was breathing faster now while they suctioned your nose and mouth.  I remember feeling a huge relief when they told me to give it a couple more pushes so the rest of your body would come out.  I did and before I knew it you were on my chest looking up at me with big eyes and you whimpered a little bit, but you were pretty happy to see me.  I was thrilled!  My whole body was shaking and continued to do so for quite some time.  Papa cut your umbilical cord as soon as it stopped pulsing and you were free of the placenta.  I delivered the placenta shortly after and Dzhan and Laurie both were amazed at how healthy it looked!  You were so beautiful; I couldn’t take my eyes off of you and didn’t really notice what was going on around me.  Papa was so proud of us, Willow.  We did it!  You were finally here! 

 

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