Warning: This is my longest birth ever (what I missed and follow up)

First off – Thank Goodness for Back Up Doulas!  I love my GAL Doula group.  It is so great to be able to have each other.

Friday Night/Saturday Morning

The details of what I missed.

• Their baby turned posterior late Friday night.
• Lisa had back labor until she started pushing.
• Alison spent most of the night hip squeezing. I don’t know if I would have had the energy for that after already being with them for 30 hours with 3 hours of sleep.
• Lisa would get checked every other hour and with each check she had made a little progress. So they kept on doing what they were doing.

This brings me back to the idea of everything works out the way it is supposed to!   They had just who they needed there.

Saturday AM 7:45

Lisa starts to have urge to push. She started with breathing the baby down, helping move the baby further down in her pelvis.  After a few hours of that the OB came in and suggested some more active pushing.   So Lisa spent about an hour doing that.   Lisa finds pushing to be one of her favorite parts of her birth.

Saturday 11:35 AM

Baby was born!  Straight onto mom for some skin to skin.

My thoughts

Lisa and Ryan’s birth reminded me again of why I love Saddleback.  I can guarantee she would not have had this outcome at the other 2 hospitals in my area.  The pitocin would have been pushed a lot sooner and turned up more quickly.  I highly doubt she would have made it un-medicated and very likely would have ended up with a cesarean.

Cesarean was NEVER mentioned in all of her birthing time.

• She had 4 different OBs and 5 nurses and they were all great.
• Each one read her birth plan and said it was great.
• 2 OBs made comments on how vaginal births were easier for mom and baby and that was “everyones” goal.
• Each one gave them information and let Lisa and Ryan choose what they thought was best.
• 1 OB did make a comment about the potential big size of the baby.  “This might be a big baby.”  That was it.  No hidden threats underneath.  However I was quick to reassure Lisa her baby was perfect size for her.
• Her baby ended up being under 7 pounds.

It helped of course that baby’s heart rate was great the whole time (probably because they did turn the pitocin up slowly) and that mom was healthy.  Once Lisa started having stronger pressure waves she was making progress, though it was very SLOW progress, she was making changes.  Lisa’s blood pressure did go up a few times, but they just kept a close eye on it and it stayed under control.

We had a great post partum visit, the 5 of us.  I got to meet their beautiful baby girl and we talked about everything that happened.

So, How does Lisa feel about her birth?

AWESOME! She feels so empowered and amazed that she could do such an amazing thing.  It was a very positive birth experience for both Lisa and Ryan.  They were very appreciative for having Alison and I there.  They were so glad they took Hypnobabies and said the tools really helped them manage throughout their long birth.  I am hoping to go to their house to video tape them talking about their experience in the next few weeks.

Wait a minute – 52 hour birth with no medication and it was a positive experience?

I will admit, I was wondering what Lisa was going to think.  But thanks to being

well supported every step of the way with

• awesome care providers
• a great birth partner
• the “continuous care” of 2 doulas

paired with amazing Hypnobabies tools that helped her to

• rest
• stay calm
• stay comfortable for the first 40 hours
• stay calm and in control and still rest even when she wasn’t comfortable

YES, she and Ryan agreed, not only was it positive, it was life changing!  She is amazed at how wonderful and empowering her birth was.

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