The Birth Story of Iris Ilea
This
is the story of how our second
daughter, Iris Ilea, came into our hearts. I hope this birth story
shows empowers you to choose natural childbirth!
To
preface, we had moved to a new town and so were seeing a new doctor at
a different hospital. I had actually switched to my family doctor at 28
weeks after realizing my new obstetrician and I weren't on the same
page. It was the best decision I could have made, despite
some of the headaches with insurance and paperwork it caused.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
If you're
wondering why I didn't have a homebirth, it's because there are no
midwives in my extremely rural area. We just weren't quite
comfortable with an unassisted birth. There's always next
time...
But I digress...with this
pregnancy, the
baby had dropped at 34 weeks. I was already 4 centimeters
dilated and 60% effaced. Both my doctor and I were afraid
that she would fall out at any minute. We were both surprised
that I hadn't delivered prematurely.
This
story starts at 1 am on December 13, 2004. Again, I was 38
weeks exactly. I woke at 1 am to contractions. This
had been the theme for the past two weeks-hours of contractions 3
minutes apart that faded to nothing. I expected the same this
night.
I got up and went to the
bathroom. When I came back to bed, my husband woke and asked
if I was having contractions. I replied that they were the
same as usual, and got back into bed.
I
tried to
get comfortable, but I was restless in bed, so I got back up.
My husband got up with me and asked if I had timed the contractions
yet. Since I hadn't, I timed them...2 minutes apart.
He
asked if we should call my mother to drive over to watch our oldest
daughter (a 40 minute drive). I told him we should wait.
About
five minutes later, I changed my mind. The contractions were
right on top of each other. He called my mother and asked how
much time I thought we had. I replied that we could wait
until she arrived.
Five minutes later, I
told
him we needed to leave NOW!
I could actually feel the baby's
head as I walked!
We woke a neighbor who
had
offered to be on stand-by. She and her husband arrived about
two minutes later.
I was standing by the door praying for them to arrive. At this point, I didn't know if we should go or stay.
I climbed into the van
and realized
I'd left my relaxation tape inside. Despite the urgency I
felt, I asked my husband to get it for me. After what seemed
an eternity, he returned. (I later found out that he had also
shown our friend's husband how to operate the tv remote!)
It
was the windiest night of the year. Our van was all over the
road. I just kept trying to keep the baby in!
We
lived only 15 minutes from this hospital. My husband had
called ahead to tell them we were on our way and didn't know if we'd
make it.
We pulled up to the emergency entrance
at 2 am exactly. My doctor was waiting at the door.
He helped me into a wheelchair as my husband parked the van.
My
doctor took me all the way up to my room where he had already told the
nurses that I wouldn't take long to deliver. My husband
arrived and helped me into a gown.
The
nurse
helped me onto the bed while my husband and doctor put on
gloves. Yes, my husband put on gloves.
Our doctor allowed my husband to catch the baby so long as he was there
to "spot" him.
The nurse checked me and
said, as
I already knew, that I was complete with a bulging bag of waters.
I
turned on my side and told them I needed to push. My doctor
said to go ahead.
In one push, the baby's
head
was out. I heard the doctor tell my husband to pull up and to
the left, then down to the right to ease out the shoulders.
The baby then slid right out, completely encased in her amniotic
sac. She was "born in the caul", a rare occurrence
these days as most women's bag of waters ruptures on its own or is
broken by a caregiver.
I heard my husband
proclaim, "It's a girl!". He then asked what time it was. In
all the excitement, no one had even thought to look at the clock!
The
nurse looked at her watch and told us, "It's 2:09". She was
born exactly 9 minutes after we arrived at the hospital, a perfect 8
pounds, 7 ounces and 21 inches long.
She
was a
natural at breastfeeding and latched on perfectly! It made me
reflect how with our first, I felt as if I needed three
hands. This time, I couldn't figure out what I thought was so
difficult the first time!
I knew her
birth would
be easy, but it really was a piece of cake! The first thing I
said after she was born was, "That's it? I'm
done?". I was shocked at just how easy a birth could be when
you left your body do its job!
