Angela was her doula, but she asked me to come (with Wendy’s approval) as Angela was 9 months pregnant herself. We both were wondering if she would have the baby before the midwife came and how we would handle that. This was weeks ago we discussed it. I said that we would just have to pray before hand and follow the spirit. If it happened and we didn’t feel good about it we would call 911.
Last night we had a little birthday party for Angela and Wendy was there. After Angela and Wendy floated in Tracine’s hot tub for 2 hours. Then she went home to go to bed.
Our plans changed from a Ricki Lake talk show about The Business of Being Born to the Actual Business of Being Born!
Wendy didn’t want us right away, so that gave us time to get things together.
While waiting for Dr. Jen, Craig called and said Wendy’s water broke. Dr. Jen did super fast adjustment for Angela and adjusted my ears and got me a supplement (in under 5 minutes) and we were out of there!
And off we went. Angela was sure the baby was going to born ASAP. I thought maybe, but maybe not.
We got to her house around 11:50 and as Angela got to the door she said, “I think I heard a baby cry.”
But we walked in and Craig came into the house and said they were in the backyard. So we headed out.
There was Wendy in the tub relaxing. So I went back in the house to get some oils.
I came to her shoulder and said, “your body knows just what to do”
She pushed again, leaned back and there was the head. Craig supported it.I knew it was OK to wait for the next pressure wave to push the body out. But remembering the craziness of hospital births and how they get all anxious made me almost want to jump in and say, “push the body out now.”But I held back I said, “When you have your next pressure wave your baby is going to slide right out.”
She had another pressure wave about a minute later and her baby slid right out. The cord was like a sash and I helped Craig unwrap the baby a bit and get the baby onto Wendy’s chest. Then I just thought – keep the baby warm. The water wasn’t really high, so I was worried he would get cold. So we got a towel and covered the baby. Then they just enjoyed.Wendy asked and Craig, what is it? Craig said He’s a boy.
They just loved on him. I took some pictures and then found a hat for the baby and checked to see if he was warm. He cried just a tiny bit, but he was breathing good and looking around. I got another towel and covered him more.
Then Craig did some skin to skin with the baby, while Angela Wendy and I tried to figure out the placenta.Wendy tried just pushing and that didn’t work, she tried pulling gently on cord while pushing and that didn’t work either. We prayed and then checked our essential oil book. (Wendy had asked us to bring our oils in case she didn’t have the ones we needed) It suggested Whisper for releasing the placenta. That is an oil I don’t have, but Wendy did. So we put that on her. That didn’t seem to help so we called the midwife who talked me through guiding the placenta out. She told me to wrap the cord around my hand and pull while Wendy bore down. I was a bit nervous, but the midwife said as long as it wasn’t hurting Wendy at all it was fine. It came out pretty easily with that tip. I did get birthing tub water all over me, but we did it! It was pretty crazy.
Then we got Wendy out of the tub and rinsed off and onto the bed. She happily nursed the baby while I rinsed off and changed (luckily I have a change of clothes in my doula bag.)
Then we just sat together on Wendy’s bed and were amazed at the day and the birth and how amazing it all was. The baby was so mellow and happy. Wendy was glowing and Craig was so proud of Wendy and himself. It was just what she had visualized and it worked just great.
I was a bit nervous about the placenta thing, but the midwife was still an hour out at that point and Wendy was game so I can now say I helped a friend birth her placenta. I think if I was just her doula I would have been more hesitant to do it, but I felt like I was doing it as her friend. Because that is what friends do – help their placenta come out if they need help. 🙂
Wendy asked Angela to put oils on her baby, so we made up the blends the book suggested and Angela put the oils on the babies head and I put them on his feet. Then I gave Wendy a foot massage while Angela fed her yogurt and cashews.
The midwife got there about 2 hours after the baby was born!It was a magical birth, I think because it was Angela, Wendy, Craig and I together with this magical experience. 2 weeks before we had been in that same location at her blessing way and she had shared how she imagined her birth and that was how it happened.
I just wish we had gotten some of it on film. But it was just perfect. I am so honored I could be there and share that miracle!
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