- Last year I had what I thought would be my fastest birth, which involved me running red lights as I drove mom and dad to the hospital, because their car had been towed!
- The year before that I did attend a birth where I met mom and dad at the hospital and baby was born 24 minutes after I got there.
Well this year Shelly had her 2nd baby and outdid both the stories above! I attended Shelly’s first birth and was so excited when she called to say she was pregnant again and asked if I could be her doula! I had an open spot in my next Hypnobabies Class, so she came to class and it was just such a joy to go to pre-natal appointments and see her cute boy and how big he was!
We all were hoping that this birth would go much quicker for her. Well, we got what we hoped for!
Fast Birth
Shelly called me around 5:30 PM on Saturday, while I was out to dinner for my hubby’s birthday, to say she had seen Lindsey (her midwife) that day and was about 2cm. She was having pressure waves about every 30 minutes. Maybe it would be in the next day or so.
Shelly texted me around 12:30 am. She said she was having pressure waves every 5-7 minutes. I asked if she needed me to come. She said yes, “they were getting a little unmanageable”
Her hubby was still in bed at this point. She had been having pressure waves closer and closer since 10:30, had spent 110:30-12:30 in the shower and finally realized this was it! She got Chris up a little after she texted me so he could start getting the tub ready.
I hopped up and took a fast shower. E-mailed my other client and my back up doulas and then headed out. I was hoping that she would have a faster birth than last time. Her first birth (I was her doula then) was fairly long and she was exhausted by the time it was over. So I prayed on the way over, “Please bless that she will have her baby by sunrise today the 16th!” (I was very specific, I didn’t want it to be sunrise the next day!)
I got to her house around 1:30 am and decided to park a little up the street leaving room for the midwife when she got there.
I went in and Chris said she was having trouble focusing. I peaked in the bathroom and said “Hi”, I told her I would run my bags up (their bedroom downstairs was FILLED with the tub and no extra room). So I ran up, got out my notebook to write notes and headed back down. (I did not have any time to write any notes!)
Shelly was leaning on the sink and I helped her through a pressure wave. She said it was really intense in her back. She asked for some juice. So after that wave I ran up to get some and hurried back down.
When I got down she was sitting on the toilet. When she had her next pressure wave she made a little pushy noise.
“Are you feeling pushy?”
“NO!”
“Have you called the midwife?”
“Yes!”
I breathe a sigh of relief.
However with the next pressure wave she makes more pushy noises. I wonder, “Am I going to end up catching this baby?”
Lindsey got there about 5 minutes later, much to my joy, around 1:45. Shelly had had another sounding pushy to me pressure wave and had another right when Lindsey got there.
Lindsey asked, “Is she pushing?”
I responded “Shelly doesn’t think so, but it sounds like it to me!”
Lindsey checked the baby’s heartrate and then hurried to get things set up. Chris was trying to fill the birth pool. I was wondering if there would be time for that. I could see in the bedroom, her Mom was also working frantically to cover the bed with the plastic sheet and a blanket.
I just focused on Shelly and supporting her through each pressure wave. After a few more she said she felt burning in her birth canal. I said, “Great!” I relayed the news to Lindsey.
With the next one I took a peek and thought I saw a bit of baby head!
I yelled to the other room, “Lindsey I see the baby’s head!”
Lindsey yelled back, “Is the head OUT?”
“No but it is right there, or maybe it is the amniotic sac.”
So Chris and I helped get Shelly into her bedroom. I am thinking it was around 1:53 or so?
Shelly asked, “Is the baby almost here?” I assured her yes!
We helped her get on her hands and knees, but it was hard for Lindsey to hear the baby, so she asked her to get on her side. Shelly quickly moved to her side and I held her leg up, because the head was right there.
We heard the baby’s heartbeat and the head was practically crowning at this point. On the next pressure wave she pushed the head out… right as the other midwife called. Lindsey said, “The head is out. It is the house with the Christmas Lights.” I was glad I had parked up the street so there was room. Another pressure wave and Shelly pushed the baby out. It was 1:59!
As she pushed either the body or the head I can’t remember which, a gush of amniotic fluid came out and flooded the bed, Lindsey and my leg got soaked! 🙂
Shelly was a bit shocked once the baby was out. I think we all were. So Shelly didn’t get her water birth, but it was certainly a very wet birth. Because the bed was soaked and Shelly was all wet, she was really cold after. She enjoyed the baby and after awhile Chris got on the bed and I changed my pants.
After the placenta was delivered, Shelly went to the bathroom and got cleaned up and settled on the bed. The baby was weighed and measured. 8 pounds 15 ounces and 19 inches. The birth photographer was there by then and was taking pictures.
After awhile I realized it was time to go.
I was home and back in bed by 5 AM.
It was certainly one of my fastest births and I am so glad I got to be there. Had I known it was going to be that fast I would have skipped the shower! So I could have given Shelly more support. That hour after she texted me was a challenge because she was all on her own while Chris was getting the tub set up.
She is very happy how it all ended up though!
