Mary's VBAC Story.....Laughing through contractions!

Well I had my baby on Feb 18th, 12 days before my due date and it was
my birthday! I am very happy to report that I had a great labor and
delivery experience.

On Feb 17th I went to the doctor and she told me that I was 2-2.5cm
and 80-90 percent effaced. I was really surprised and started to
prepare for an early arrival. At 3am that night I started to have
contractions. I tried to sleep between them for the next two hours and
then finally got out of bed at 5am to watch some TV and use my
vocalizing and squating skills to help get through the contractions.
At 7am I told my husband that I was definitely in labor and should
prepare to take our son to daycare so we could go to the hospital. We
had breakfast and my son was a little alarmed by my vocalizing so I
started to laugh through the contractions. He thought it was a fun
game because I would laugh every 2-3 minutes. It did work though. When
we finally arrived at the hospital I was 6cm. The doctor said
everything looked good for a VBAC. Once I got into a room I got an
epidural at around 10am and then they broke my water at Noon. Soon
after I progressed quickly and at 2:15p I started pushing. Though I
really wanted a VBAC I was uncertain if my body was capable. My doctor
and husband were fantastic!!!! They motivated me and encouraged me the
whole way and at 3:02pm my son was born :) He weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and
was 20 inches long. We named him Edward Robert, but we call him Eddie.

I am so proud of myself for having fulfilled my goal of a VBAC. I feel
great and am so thankful for the positive experience. My new son gave
me such a wonderful gift. I hope more woman will try for a VBAC and
not be persuaded to go the c-section route just because you had to
have one once. It is great to know that I am part of a club of
birthing warriors.

Thanks Shelley for all your guidance and invaluable skills. I could
not have done this without the training you put me through all those
Saturday mornings.

Baby Brendon's Amazing Birth!

BRENDON’S BIRTH: October 12, 2010


I loved being pregnant. I loved feeling my baby move and being connected to him. I loved it when he got the hiccups after I ate, that he was tasting what I had eaten. I loved thinking about meeting him and what he’d be like. But I had a hard pregnancy. As much as I didn’t want to believe I was as sick as I was in the end, I was not tolerating pregnancy too well.

Right at the start when I thought I was 8 weeks along I had terrible cramps and went in for an early ultrasound. I was told then that based on the size of the embryo, either I was not as far along as I’d thought, or the pregnancy didn’t work out and my body was miscarrying. My husband James and I were devastated. We’d just gotten used to the idea of having a baby, and it was possible it wasn’t going to happen. But blood test showed my HCG levels rising and then at another ultrasound the next week we saw a little worm moving – our baby’s heartbeat!! My due date was put back two weeks, to October 28.

I thought that would be the last of it. My first trimester was easy – no morning sickness, just incredible tiredness. But with plenty of time to sleep (this was my first baby), that was no problem at all!

Then I had my genetic screening tests and I was found to have elevated anolytes (proteins put out by the placenta) and a velamentous cord insertion (the umbilical cord doesn’t go straight into the placenta, but goes into the uterus wall beside it) which the doctors told me meant my baby was at risk for intrauterine growth restriction and I was at risk for developing pre-eclampsia. I had second stage ultrasounds at 25 and 30 weeks where they checked the baby’s growth and blood flow through the umbilical cord, and the risk of growth restriction was blown out of the water when my baby was estimated to be a whopping 6 pounds at 30 weeks! A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. Now I could finally enjoy the pregnancy!

However, as time went on, my blood pressure kept on rising. I thought it was white coat syndrome and wasn’t too worried. I was having non-stress tests twice a week (from 34 weeks), and I thought perhaps all this attention was making my blood pressure go up. My midwife Beth (at UCSD), ordered blood tests at 35 weeks to see if I was developing pre-eclampsia. Nothing. No protein in my urine either, which is the first sign of pre-eclampsia. However, based on the elevated anolytes and high blood pressure, I was now no longer eligible to give birth at the Birth Center at UCSD Medical Center. That was a real bummer to hear, but I was confident that with the midwives, even at the regular Labor and Delivery ward, I could still have a natural non-interventionist birth that I wanted.

Shelley’s prenatal yoga was a saving grace. Each week I could almost feel my blood pressure rising, and my hormones making me into a crazy person, but after Shelley’s Saturday class I would always walk out balanced and at peace and more and more in touch with my baby.

By 37 weeks, every time I went in for my non-stress test, my blood pressure was higher so that on the Friday before Brendon was born, I had to go into Labor and Delivery for monitoring. They diagnosed me with gestational hypertension and the midwife on call checked me, saying that if I was at all dialated, they’d induce me. I freaked out. I wasn’t ready. That day was meant to be my last day of work before maternity leave and I had a huge list of things to do before the baby came. However, I was 50% effaced and not at all dialated. We left the hospital and went home to pack my hospital bag!

They had me come back on the Sunday for more monitoring since pre-eclampsia can develop quickly and get serious very quickly. The baby and I checked out ok on the Sunday and they sent me home to do a 24 hour urine test where I peed into a jar for 24 hours so they could really determine if any protein was being put out by my kidneys.

On Monday October 11, I was sick of being in the house and thinking about pre-eclampsia so I rode along while my husband played golf. It was great to get out and about, even with my pee jar! But I had a midwife appointment that afternoon, and this time my blood pressure was so high she said I should be in the hospital and was surprised I was allowed to go home the day before. I negotiated my way into going back home first, to collect my bag and have James drive me to the hospital. Once we got there, I was put back on the monitors. At this stage I was having Braxon-Hicks contractions every 2-5 minutes and was in a very nice labor pattern, but it was all painless. The baby was moving around nicely and not under any stress either, as he’d been through all my non-stress tests. Sure enough, my 24 hour urine test came back with enough protein to diagnose me with pre-eclampsia. Rita, the midwife on that night, came by to tell us we were having a baby in the next 24 hours! I had a bit of a cry, worrying that I wasn’t ready and I wouldn’t be a good mother, but James put those thoughts at rest saying I would be the best mum ever.

At 7pm Rita checked me and I was 1-1.5cm dialated and 70% effaced. She stripped my membranes to move things along. I was given cervadil about 10pm, which is a suppository drug to ripen and soften the cervix. We turned out the lights and tried to get some sleep – as much sleep as possible with fetal monitors and an IV! I started feeling my contractions at about 10.30pm, coming every 5 minutes or so. They weren’t too bad, but they were strong enough to stop me from sleeping. At 12.30pm my water broke. I got myself to the bathroom and sat on the toilet as it all gushed out. We called the nurse and she helped clean everything up, and called Rita. When Rita came, she asked if the cervadil was still in. I had no idea; Rita checked and it was gone. We even looked around for it. I was thinking, no worries, we’ll just get another one. But Rita almost started swearing – apparently cervadil is very, very expensive and she couldn’t justify ordering another one as I was already having regular contractions. Then she dropped the bomb – my labor had to progress; I’d have to go on pitocin.

I was dreading this. I’d already had much more of an interventionist pregnancy and labor than I’d wanted. Plus I’d read up on all the bad things about pitocin. I was more of an Ina May gal (anyone wanting a natural, unmedicated childbirth HAS to read Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth – it is an absolute MUST to read at least twice). But I was at the hospital and knew that it would be hard to go against their protocols. So I was hooked up to pitocin at 1am and called my doula Dawnell Jensen, knowing I’d need her shortly once the pitocin kicked in. Dawnell arrived at 1.30am, when the contractions were starting to get more painful. By this time James and I were moving around together, doing some slow dancing and a few of the things we’d learnt at Shelley’s couples class, and joking around a bit to keep things light. The jokes stopped pretty quickly as the contractions started coming in every 2-5 minutes and I started needing my full concentration to get through them. Dawnell suggested a few different positions for James and I to try, which helped a lot. I was having back labor, so James spent a lot of time putting counter-pressure on my lower back through each contraction. I sucked on some lollipops and sat on the toilet for a while. I was hooked up to the IV so had to cart that around with me everywhere. The IV line often got pinched as I moved my arm and set off all kinds of alarms, and the stupid fetal monitors (I was lucky enough to know that L&D had one set of cordless ones so I requested those which made it a bit easier) kept on popping off my belly which set off more alarms. But the nurses were great; they came in and put them right back on and didn’t freak out at the alarms. I was also on magnesium to prevent seizures (for pre-eclampsia) and was on strict liquid intake restrictions since it causes fluid retention. I could only have 150ml (a mouthful!!) every hour or equivalent in ice chips, and I longed for a good, long, drink.

I ended up finding a position that I liked where I was laying with my lower back on a birthing ball with my top half on James’ lap holding onto his forearms as he sat on a chair behind me and my legs up against the bed so I could rock back and forth and massage my lower back on the ball. I spent a few hours like that - not very conventional or safe. Later James told me he and Dawnell were worried I was going to fall off the whole time. The contractions were painful, but manageable if I really concentrated. In fact, some of them were not at all bad if I really, really concentrated. I kept ‘ahhh-ing’ and ‘mmmmm-ing’ and keeping my voice nice and low. Every time I started letting my voice rise up into a more tense ‘agggghhh’, James and Dawnell would tell me to keep it low and deep and relaxed. James did a lot of ‘horselips’ with me (blowing raspberries), which Ina May says relaxes your lady parts. I also kept visualizing opening up with each contraction. James told me many times that I was a birth warrior and while I had giggled at that in class, I really took it seriously in labor!

By 5am or so I started getting really, really tired. I was handling the pain, but it was the relentlessness of it that was getting to me. I just wanted a break. I started saying I thought I might need something. James kept telling me to just get through the next one then we’d talk about my options, then encouraged me to try to make it to 6am when the sun came up, knowing that everything gets better in the light of day. It definitely helped to see each individual contraction as something to get through rather than as a long, relentless line of pain for who knows how much longer. The sight of the sun coming up worked wonders for me as well.

Once I’d made it to 6am, I had Rita come and check my progress, which she hadn’t done since before I was induced. I was really ready for a break from the crazy pitocin contractions and knew I’d ask for an epidural if I was only 2 or 3cm along. At 6.30am she was surprised to find I was 5-6cm already! That didn’t sound like a lot to me, but Dawnell told me the second half goes by a lot more quickly. I decided against the epidural – I could do this! The other heartening thing was that the nurses brought in the warming bassinet for when Brendon was born. Things were happening! The other thing that crossed my mind was that I knew Rita’s shift would end at 7am. I really liked her and her style, and in the back of my mind I think there was the thought that I wanted her to deliver my baby. I had to speed things up!

After about 45 minutes I started to feel some pressure. I told the nurse I felt the need to push. No one really believed I could have dialated that quickly (although they didn’t tell me that) and Dawnell told me to cough when I felt the urge to push to alleviate the feeling so as not to wear myself out by pushing before I was ready. I did a bit of that, but after a few contractions I told them no, I really did feel the need to push. Rita came right back and checked me. I was fully dialated and she could see the baby’s head!

Pushing was a great relief – to be actually doing something rather than concentrating on staying relaxed and opening up was fantastic. I tried a few positions and ended up pushing while squatting with a birthing bar across the bed in front of me while I held onto a sheet wrapped around the bar. Brendon was born at 8:13am after an hour or so of pushing. He had a big head, so he was born all at once in a big gush! He came onto my chest and started yelling straight away. It was so amazing to have him in my arms and to meet him! He settled down and started saying ‘a-huh’. He also lifted his head and squinted around every time James spoke. He was trying to put a face to that voice he’d heard all pregnancy! Brendon weighed 7lbs 15 oz (he was 2.5 weeks early, but was definitely ‘done’!) and scored 9 and 9 on his APGAR score – what a little champ!

My placenta wasn’t born until an hour later. Rita waited as long as she could and massaged my tummy to help it detach, but then finally had to intervene. It was meant to be the easy part! It was painful, but I wasn’t paying much attention as I had my baby Bren in my arms. When the placenta finally did come out, we had a good look at it. Rita said it was a sick placenta – all calcified and not red and healthy-looking. It was very cathartic for me to see the source of all my pregnancy problems. While the placenta hadn’t done me any favors, it had done it’s job and had grown a healthy baby boy.

Shelley’s prenatal yoga class was one of the best things about my pregnancy. I really miss it now! It kept me balanced and helped me connect with my baby. But most of all it helped me believe in the strength in myself, that I could give birth naturally and unmedicated. With all the drugs I was hooked up to for the induction and pre-eclampsia, this strength was so important and I was able to keep my baby from one less drug in his life. Thank you Shelley!

Amelia's Birth Story

I had my first baby three years ago with the UCSD midwives. I had a good experience with them, but I knew I wanted something a little different with my second pregnancy, so I switched to Dr. Biter before getting pregnant with my second baby. I liked knowing who would be there when I had my baby, and I loved that Dr. Biter saw each patient as an individual. I had a natural birth with my son and wanted a natural birth the second time as well, and I knew that with Dr. Biter if he suggested an intervention, it would be because he’d tried everything else. Amelia took us by surprise and came almost 3 weeks early, but it turned out to be a wonderful birth experience, and I’m happy that I switched to Dr. Biter.

This pregnancy was pretty uneventful, except that I had started to have contractions pretty early on. I had read that was common with second pregnancies, so I was not too worried. And I didn’t think anything of it when I woke up on Friday, April 30, with contractions. These contractions did feel more uncomfortable than the ones I’d been feeling during the rest of my pregnancy, so I told my husband to keep his phone on. He looked at his wife, who was 37 weeks pregnant, and asked, “Why?”

My son was in preschool that morning, so I had a list of errands to do and a chiropractor appointment. On the way to the chiropractor, I timed my contractions, and they were about 10 minutes apart. Surely, that wasn’t “the real thing.” After the chiropractor’s appointment, I went to Pannikin’s for a pumpkin muffin. I noticed that I was still having contractions, and they’d been going on for about 3 hours now. So, I decided to cut my errands short and head home.

When I got home, I timed my contractions on the computer, and they were 5 minutes apart and lasted 1 minute 20 seconds. They were at the point where I had to stop and breath deeply every time a contraction came on. So, I called my husband and asked him to pick up our son from preschool. I called Dr. Biter’s office, and his nurse told me to come into the office, so I was at least close to the hospital if I needed to go. It was about 11am, and the nurse said Dr. Biter was due into the office at 12:40pm. We had my brother come over to watch my son, and we started throwing things together that we wanted to take with us, because we did not have anything packed for the hospital yet. We had not even installed the baby’s car seat in my car yet, so my husband threw the car seat and the base in the trunk.

On the way over to Dr. Biter’s office, my husband timed the contractions, and they were about 3-4 minutes apart at that point. We got to the doctor’s office at about 12:15pm. His nurse came out and talked to me, and when I told her my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart, she told me I should head over to the hospital and that she would let Dr. Biter know I was on my way. Looking back, I’m sure she knew I was in labor, but she was so calm about it.

When we got to the hospital, Dr. Biter met us at the door. (How’s that for a reception?) I had to check in with the nurses and get a nurse assigned to me, and then I had to change into my hospital gown. Dr. Biter then asked if I’d like him to check me, and I said yes. At this point, I’m still thinking: 1) that this is some sort of false alarm, and he will send me home after checking me; or 2) if things were happening, there was still some time. He checked me and said, “You have a little bit of a lip left, but you should be ready to push soon.” It took a minute to process what he was saying. I think that meant I was almost fully dilated! Dr. Biter told the nurse the baby was at station 0. This was probably 12:30pm or so. I was still kind of in shock at this point. I think part of it was because my contractions did not feel as strong as they did with my son. Maybe because my water broke last time, by the time I got to the hospital, my contractions were pretty intense, and I had pressure everywhere, and by the time I had gotten to 8 cm, I had a strong need to push. But this time, my water still had not broken yet, and I thought the contractions were pretty manageable, so I was really surprised to be almost fully dilated. I was still able to chat with everyone in between contractions.

My doula got there shortly after Dr. Biter checked me, and I think we all hung out for about an hour. My doula put on some soothing music and put out some lavender oil. I really did not think I would want the music or the oils, but it actually made for a really nice, calm setting. That’s still how I remember my labor this time, the soothing music and lavender. My doula was also really good about talking me through the contractions. Just being talked through them, I think it helped to know that they would end. Each time I had a contraction, she would let me know it was almost over.

After about an hour, Dr. Biter checked me again and said that I could push whenever I felt like it. I started pushing lying on my left side. The thing about the contractions not being that intense is I think it makes the pushing more work. With my son, the urge to push was so strong, and the contractions probably did most of the work to get him down. This time, I had to concentrate more on when a contraction was coming and when to push. Dr. Biter used mineral oil to stretch me and put pressure on the spot where I should push. After I’d push, he’d tell me, “Go beyond that point.” Of course, I’m thinking that I’m already giving it all I have. I started getting thoughts that maybe I couldn’t do this, but I had to push them away. After a while, I asked to rest my leg, because it was getting kind of sore holding it up. I’m not sure how long I’d been pushing, maybe half an hour. I rested my leg for a bit and tried to regroup, telling myself that I could do this.

I decided I’d switched sides and lie on my right side. This was the same side that I delivered my son on. That seemed to do the trick, because the first push after switching sides, I could hear and feel my water break. Then, Dr. Biter told me that the next push, he wanted me to hold onto both my legs and curl up like I was hugging the baby. I did that and pushed again, and that’s when I felt her crowning. Oh my goodness, it burned! Now I know what they mean by “the ring of fire.” For some reason, I had not felt it with my son, so when other people talked about the ring of fire, I had no idea what they were talking about. Up until then, I had not really said anything, and things were very calm and peaceful, and then I screamed, “That hurts!” Seriously, I think we prepare a lot for contractions and I had done the prenatal yoga and knew how to do the deep yoga breathing to get through the contractions, but the “ring of fire” really took me off guard.

After I screamed, “That hurts!” Dr. Biter kind of took charge and said, “Look at me. Stop pushing. Breathe. Let the baby come out slowly.” So, I started breathing deeply again. Dr. Biter then told me to push again, and I could feel that I was pushing her torso out. After a couple of pushes, Dr. Biter put her on my chest, and of course, I stared at her in disbelief. I think no matter how many times you give birth, it is still surreal that a little person can come from your body. The minute she got on my chest, she started crying. Again, totally different from my son. He did not cry when he first came out. He had opened his eyes and just stared at me. With Amelia, it was like she had to announce to the world that she was here. I’ll be curious to see if this is a reflection of their personalities at all.

I had a second degree tear with my son, and I was surprised when Dr. Biter said I had no tearing this time. I totally credit him for that, because he spent a lot of time stretching me with mineral oil when I first started pushing. And all the squats we did in prenatal yoga probably didn’t hurt either.

Amelia was born about 2 hours after I got to the hospital, and she weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. It was such a wonderful, uneventful birth. I had kind of a high afterwards, because it all just came together so perfectly. We got to the hospital just in time, Dr. Biter was there waiting for us, and Amelia was healthy and nursed right away. It was such a calm and peaceful birth, and what better way is there to enter the world?

Tammy's Birth Story

I had just left Pomerado Hospital where I had been at fetal monitering because I was 6 days past due. I went home to have a quick lunch and go to my next client when I stood up at 2:30 at my table to bring my plate into the kitchen and my water broke! I was stunned, I thought I had possibly wet myself but soon realized what it really was as I soaked my pants all the way past my knees. :) I called my husband to come home and then walked around in a daze, I was stunned that this was it and had no idea what to do. So I did the obvoius important items like brush my teeth, change clothes, wash my face, drink a protein shake, pretty much everything but get ready to leave for the hospital. :)

When my husband got home I started to get it together and we packed the car to go. It was about 3:20 and I still had not started contractions so we decided to go for a walk around our neighborhood. My husband brought his stopwatch and out we went. About a block later I had my first contraction!
, mild and about 20 seconds. We kept walking and they continued to come about every 6-7 minutes and about 30 seconds each. Then they started to come every 4-5 minutes and that is when Brian decided we needed to head back home. I soaked through another pair of pants on the walk and needed to change. We left and got to the hospital around 5:00. I soaked through another pair of pants walking into the hospital. I had no idea how much fluid comes out!! After I got settled in my room, Brian brought up my physioball from the car and I started using it on my hands and knees to do cat/cow. I also continued to walk up and down the halls still able to just breathe through the contractions. By about 7:00 I was 6cm dilated and the contractions were taking much more of my attention. I liked cat/cow with and without the ball, Brian using the hand held massager on my low back, hip rotations sitting on the ball and standing to get through contractions. I also visualized "riding the wave" like I was body surfing. When I got to 7-8cm dilated those techniques were no longer working and so Brian would use the heating pad on my low back and push down on my sacrum during the contractions while I tried to keep my breathing steady. This worked pretty well but then the baby started getting overheated so we had to stop. At that point I got sick to my stomach and started shaking pretty badly. From 10:30pm to 12:00am I was pretty much a wreck. I was shaking, feeling really defeated, and not remembering about the tools I had learned. The nurse had said I was dehydrated and put an IV in so I couldn't get out of bed and do my stretches or use my ball. At 12am I was 10cm dilated and ready to push. I started in a squat position but my legs kept shaking so I laid back and had the nurse and Brian assist my knees back as far as they could go. The baby was so low that I only had to push 15-20 times and out he came! I had a mirror there so was able to see his head and that really motivated me to push with all I had to meet him. What a relief once his head came out and then his shoulders and rest of his body just followed. He was born at 12:38am. He was immediately placed on me, he didn't cry, just looked up at me with eyes wide open. So sweet! I held him and couldn't believe how smooth and clear his skin tone was and how wide and alert his eyes were. He only let out one little squeak while they weighed him and wiped him off. 7lbs 1 ounce, 20 inches.

I was fortunate and did not tear at all and have had a tremendous recovery. I was up and moving around right away. The entire experience was a positive one and I am a very happy, proud mom.

Thank you for all the tools your prenatal yoga class taught me. It was extremely beneficial.

Julie's VBAC Homebirth

Jordan Travis’s VBAC at Home
9-21-09 – my 2nd child
By Julie Yaeger

Coming to the decision to have a homebirth was a lengthy process filled with research, questions, and then isolation and fear. But finally, there was acceptance, excitement, and joy. I saw a doctor for concurrent care with the midwives so I could get ultrasounds, lab tests, etc. covered by my insurance.
I was induced and had a C-section with my first child, so I was running around asking everyone I knew, “How do you know when it’s labor?” Their answer? “You just do.” I will pass that valuable advice on to any expectant mother who is wondering, because it is true, you just do!

I didn’t realize it, but my early labor began in week 39 or so. I was having evenings every couple of days where I would start contractions around 8pm and they’d get closer, last through until about 3am, and then die off. This happened on at least three occasions, getting my hopes up, and then creating lots of frustration since I kept thinking it was labor. I only called Vickii, my midwife, once at about 4am and she talked me down. She told me to get some rest and call her in the morning. Somehow she knew it wasn’t the real deal.

At my 41 week prenatal, Vickii stripped my membranes at my request, after doing acupuncture at week 40. She checked me, also at my request, and I was shocked to find that I was already at 4cm. Apparently, my body was giving me “installments” and practice for what the big day would look and feel like. My body had already done the hard work of opening my cervix to 4cm, which usually takes people the longest (early labor). I had also taken 2 or 3 courses of caulophyllum and cimicifugus homeopathics to try to get things started. Baby J just wasn’t ripe yet and I had a lot more waiting to do.
Vickii left for a big trip to New Zealand, and now I was solely in the care of Darynee. We knew Vickii might miss the birth, but certainly didn’t expect to go 2 weeks postdates! This was the first birth she had ever missed, and she was so bummed! At my last OB visit, the doctor said, “Well, you know we only let you go to 42 weeks, so why don’t you schedule the C?” I was mortified, so this just made me anxious...

By 42 weeks exactly, I had a strange intuition that Jordan needed to be born. I was getting antsy worrying about another possible C-section, and just wanted to be sure he was ok. Darynee advised that I get a biophysical profile and NST done to make sure my placenta was still working well, there was enough amniotic fluid, etc. The appointment was for 3pm on Sept. 21st. I didn’t end up needing to go! Michelle Freund would be the assistant at the birth, and my doula, Kayti Ricker was the final member of my amazing birth team.

Before she left, Vickii advised that the best way to “naturally” induce labor would be to take castor oil. Since I had taken it with Camille and it did absolutely nothing, I didn’t have much hope for it that day. But, I was desperate and really wanted to get things moving. I made a grape castor oil smoothie with a whole 4oz. bottle of oil. It was tolerable, but kind of oily and disgusting. Within a couple of hours the effects kicked in and I was sitting on the toilet for the next couple of hours. The castor oil did exactly what it was supposed to! By the time my labor started, I was seriously depleted of water and food. I didn’t have time to replenish because when labor came, it didn’t let up at all until Jordan was born.

I cancelled the appointment for the biophysical profile when I realized I couldn’t be in the car away from a bathroom. By 3pm, the time when I was supposed to have gone to the appointment, my labor started, and it came with a bang! My contractions started around 3-4 minutes apart, but they were strong. I only was able to deal with a few before I jumped in the shower and needed the warm water to ease my back pain and help me relax. I began chanting “ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” and “maaaaaaaaaaaaaa maaaaaaaaaaaaaa” and just about anything I could think of. I remembered my yoga teacher recommended using vocal toning on consonant sounds (mama, vava, etc) so I tried until something worked. Later I realized that “Shhhhhhhh” worked really well, too for me. (Dan later asked me why I was asking for my “mama” which made me laugh.) It all felt so primal and I truly felt like a birth warrior! I was swaying and dancing and trying to move myself into a comfortable position in the shower. About 5-10 minutes into my shower, I yelled to Dan to call everyone. When he called our doula, she wanted to make sure I was really in labor after all of the false alarms. She told him to “hold the phone up” and could hear my primal moans. “That sounds great, I’ll be right over!” she said, and got in her car! I will never forget that hilarious part of the story.
Dan hopped in the shower at some point, helped rub my back, and just kept me calm as the contractions came in intense waves. At this point, there was definitely pain, but not like I have ever known. The contractions just took over my body and I surrendered to each one, while trying to keep myself comfortable by chanting, breathing, and still dancing around. In fact, even as I write this story, I can’t remember what the contractions felt like, exactly. It is strange how the mind works, and miraculous how you forget just how bad it was, so that you are willing to do it all over again. I guess I was in the shower for about 30 minutes or so, and then Darynee arrived and started preparing our bedroom for the birth. Dan and Darynee worked quickly to get the room ready, since we really weren’t prepared for everything to happen so fast. We had all of our birth supplies set up at week 36 and I got tired of looking at them, so they were all packed in a box next to my bed.

It was around 4:30pm, and Daryne`e suggested I get out of the shower and see how far I had progressed. My body had worked fast! I was already getting to transition and I was COMPLETE! I couldn’t believe it. Daryne`e didn’t seem that excited about it, since the baby was pretty far up, and she knew I’d have a while before he came down; about 5 hours or so. I spent the next hours contracting in labor land, moving my son down the birth canal. Dan and I got in the birthing pool for a while- I had hoped I could have a water birth, but it wasn’t meant to be. I was totally fine with that, but bummed that I only got an hour or less out of my $50 kiddie pool! I found myself getting into various positions in my room, leaning on different things and people. I was very hot and sweaty, and remember asking repeatedly for cold washcloths on my forehead. I was naked as the day I was born from the moment I stepped out of the shower, and it didn’t matter at all. My modesty went completely out the window.
It started to get dark, and it was only at that point that I realized how long I had been in intense labor with few breaks between contractions. Amazingly, I had the energy to make it through. The midwives and doula tried to get me to eat and drink between contractions so I could replenish myself, but it was difficult. It didn’t seem like I had many breaks.

I never once questioned my ability to birth the baby, nor did I question my body’s ability to do exactly what it needed to do. I continued to surrender to my uterus and the baby and received positive affirmations from my birth team as I did so.

When I finally began to feel the urge to push, it was around 8:30pm and that was the craziest thing I’ve ever felt. I literally felt I had to pass a bowling ball from my colon,

and grunted so loudly with each push that my throat actually felt sore for a couple of days afterwards! Everyone kept saying “Keep it low, Julie. Keep it in your bottom.” I really tried, but the shrieks and groans were what made it feel better. I remember that each time the midwives had me change position, I argued with them. When I found a position that was comfortable, it felt like nothing in the world could move me. At one point they had me sit on a birthing stool that had magically appeared in my bedroom. Daryne`e sat with my make-up mirror under me and watched the progression of the baby’s head. It was close, but then there was a lot of blood, and she wasn’t sure why. She had me move to the bed as quickly as I could and lay on my side with a leg up. When the bleeding stopped in that position, this eliminated the possibility of it being a uterine rupture, and she concluded that it was probably a laceration on the inside. After laboring in this position for a little while, I guess the midwives were a bit concerned that his head started to “turtle” back in, which is not a good sign. Michelle, who had been so soft-spoken and gentle the whole day, yelled “You need to get on all fours, NOW!” Of course, I summoned all energy and adrenaline, and moved as fast as I could!
The next hour was a blur- we could see his head, his ears were outside of my body, but he was not coming out. Daryne`e had to literally reach inside and manipulate his body because his shoulder was stuck under my pubic bone. I remember pushing so hard and he finally came out. I could feel burning, ripping, and all of the things that make childbirth the most painful experience in the world. I won’t soon forget those last moments of my son exiting my body, because it was nothing I could have imagined. When he came out, I didn’t hear any crying. I heard Kayti tell Dan to “Talk to your baby, he needs to hear your voice.” Someone placed the baby on my back, and Daryne`e said, “Be careful of the cord!” In moments, I heard something about him not breathing, saw Daryne`e give him a couple of resuscitative breaths, and I was just wondering why he wasn’t crying yet. I was later told that, due to the birth trauma, he was not breathing right away. At some point, their attention turned to me. I had lost a lot of blood and needed a stack of pillows under my legs to help with my blood pressure. Once everything was fine with Jordan, it was time to suture me. I had 2nd degree tearing and it took them 2.5 hours to stitch me up. The tearing was deep and jagged. He was born at 9:58pm on Monday, and they were still there at 5am on Tuesday. I was so exhausted, and felt like I had been hit by a truck. All of my muscles were tensed up but I felt exhilarated that I had done the unimaginable- a successful VBAC at home. No drugs, just a peaceful, wonderful but definitely painful experience. Jordan Travis was 8lbs, 3oz. and 21.75” long. He has been a great nurser, and is growing fast. I believe in the strength of the human body to do whatever is necessary to have a birth the way nature intended it, and Jordan’s birth was proof of that for me, and hopefully for women I can inspire in the future.

Baby London's QUICK Birth!

October 17th, 2009

This day began as any normal Saturday would contemplating where we should go to eat. We wanted to stay close as being SUPER pregnant doesn’t allow for much comfort anywhere, especially walking around a lot. So we called Benihana since it is about 3 minutes from our house but they were completely booked for the night. So all of a sudden I had a great idea, how about a Brazilian Steakhouse, downtown!!! For those of you who know me you are thinking that I am lying and that Wes was actually the one who came up with that stupid idea, because 1) I HARDLY eat meat and 2) If I am eating meat I surely do NOT want to drive 45 minutes from home to do it….but yep it was me and off we went. We got to dinner and we had a great meal and great conversation. Then, as if this idea weren’t silly enough I decided I wanted to eat dessert somewhere else….somewhere where you have to stand in line outside to get your dessert…SO not me. We get to the front of the line and order our DELICIOUSLY beautiful desserts and my mouth is watering…..I even took pictures of other people’s dessert I was so excited and then all of a sudden I peed all over myself….so I thought. Then a lightbulb went off – was this my water breaking?? On comes the panic and I mumble as fast as I can to Wes that I think my water may have broke, I shove through the line of people behind us and luckily the bathroom was free as I went inside to determine if it was pee or my water. I am franticly turning my iphone into an encyclopedia of information for me to determine if I am peeing or if it is my water….then I realize I am quite silly because now both legs of my jeans are soaked and I am continuing to “pee” in gushes of water. I go outside and manage to tell Wes we need to go. Lucky for me he was smart and got our desserts to go.

We call our Birthing Center and get the midwife on call. We explain that we are pretty sure the water broke but also pretty sure we aren’t in labor because it feels like nothing is going on in the uterus except silence and sleeping. They tell us to come in about an hour and they will check me out. (this is where I will explain why the downtown visit to the meatery is important) LUCKY for us we are downtown because that is where our Birthing Center is!! I am positive that my 6th sense of womanly intuition drug me there happily to be in the right spot at the right time. Also lucky for us we had asked our friends Kevin and Ore if we could crash their home in case of just such an event. I called them and somehow they had chosen to stay home on a Saturday night and their home was 2 minutes from my Niagara Falls. We arrive around 830pm at their place and I am in dire need of a change of clothes. Funny enough one of the guys had a pair of maternity pants he used for yoga….no this is not a joke, and he let me borrow them!! I am not sure why I thought I would be able to keep a pair of new pants dry because by the time I left their place I was in another man’s maternity pants, his flip flops and one of his towels wrapped around me like a makeshift adult diaper. It was not my best or prettiest moment.


930pm – Birthing Center Visit

We arrive at the center and after examination get the Good and Bad news. Good news = the water had broke and in the next 24 hrs we would have a baby, Bad news = 1cm dilation and basically 0 effacement and still not in any form of labor to speak of. They suggested we go home, get some sleep (hahahahahahaha) and when we go into labor call them and probably in the next 15 – 24 hours we would be in labor. We went home and packed our bag up with everything we would need for labor….olive oil to help not have to tear or be cut, extra panties and clothes, incense, cds and other calming items, Crossword puzzles for when we would be waiting in between contractions at the center, charger for the camera, etc…..

Wes passes out and sleeps like a baby and I wake up every 30 minutes to an hour to check and see if I am in labor. (I know most moms are laughing now, because there is no “checking” for labor) Around 3am I am still in no labor but when I go to the bathroom I see faint remnants of blood and I am sent into another panic. A quick check on my husband and yep, still SOUND asleep. I panic, call the midwive on call and she tells me it is normal, something called a “bloody show” and that I will probably go into the early stages of labor soon. 4am, 5am, 6am……..9am I am up and still nothing at all that is anything remotely like labor is happening. I call the midwife again and she suggests that I try using some castor oil. A quick google search of this and I know I want nothing to do with the “loose bowel movements” that entails post castor oil use so I decide that I will do a few more lighter tactics prior to listening to my midwife. So Wes and I suit up for a little walk around the block. We go for a walk and I am desperately wanting to feel some contractions because I am getting nervous that we will end up at the hospital instead of the natural birth at the birthing center. So I keep having some braxton hicks that I have had many times of the last several weeks with zero pain whatsoever. I am patiently waiting for the contractions that are at least 5 minutes apart, 1 minute long for an hour. This is the basis for when you go into the center/hospital so you dont go to early and possibly get sent home. An hour after our walk we come home and still nothing. I look at the bottle of castor oil and decide that I will instead lay on the couch and nap for just 15 minutes and then I would use the castor oil.

1045am – 2nd Water Breaks

All of a sudden I feel like I am punched from the inside and I jolt off the couch. I am scared that something inside me has broken and my baby is in danger and I am freaking out. Wes is sitting on the couch watching tv, calm, collected….sigh…I get up and call the midwife AGAIN and she tells me that we actually have 2 waters and the second one has probably broken and that I will probably start early signs of labor soon, I should go ahead and listen to her now and use the castor oil and to expect to be coming to the center in the early evening and to call when we are at the 5 minutes etc mark. So I hang up again and look at the castor oil and decide that I will still wait another few minutes before I decide to use it.

1100am – Labor

So I sit on the couch and feel the first contraction of my labor. WOW – no amount of classes can prepare you for this kind of pain. It was worse than any gut wrenching 2-a-days we did in high school; worse than the time I pulled 4 teeth that werent loose as a kid to get more money from the tooth fairy; worse even than hitting a softball while your finger is broken…and many other painful things you might have personally encountered. It was B-A-D. It lasted a full minute of pain while I writhed around trying to find a semi-comfortable position. When it was finally over I tried to thumb through the rolodex of techniques to use during labor to relieve the tension and not focus on the pain. Wes and I also quickly discussed when we should call the Doula to come over and assist with the labor. We knew that we would probably not have the baby until the evening so we called her and told her we had begun labor and that we would want her to come closer to 10 minutes between contractions. She said ok and we went back to sitting on the couch. Then literally less than 3 minutes later another contraction straight from Hades came on again. Another minute of writhing, digging my hands into the cushions of the couch and Wes now trying to figure out how the hip compressions were supposed to work because it was impossible to talk to him through it. Then another break. We still thought nothing of it because we had learned that the first contractions could be erratic (1 minute apart, 10 minutes apart, 7 minutes etc.) So we then decided that maybe we would watch a movie. Then 2 minutes later another gut wrenching contraction. HOW could this be. Where was the lead up to crazy contractions we learned about in class?

1130am – This is serious

We have now spent the last 30 minutes having contractions every 3 to 4 minutes for a minute to minute and a half in length and it is IMPOSSIBLE to speak to anyone and I have writhed in pain all over the couch, against the wall, on the tile and on the bed and I am finding it very difficult to remember why I made such a STUPID decision to have a baby naturally when there were perfectly wonderful drugs to make me feel so wonderful instead of awful. So Wes decides he needs to call the midwife this time. He tells her that I am having contractions and we might need to come in. Now, she is remembering that we talked 30 minutes ago and I was walking around the back yard not in any labor, so she is assuming we are new parents freaking out for no reason.
So she tells Wes that she wants to talk to me through a contraction to assess where we really are with things. So he hands me the phone and I am crying to this woman and on comes the fury and I throw the phone on the ground as I dig my nails into my wooden dresser and wonder if it is possible to pass out and just not be aware of the labor pains and if so how do I do it. So Wes picks up the phone and the midwife thinks that it is possible that we need to get there…NOW. So we rush to the car and I get in the back seat and Wes begins driving. After the first contraction in the car, digging into the back of the seat, kicking the opposite door and feeling as though I may pass out Wes decides that the current speed limit just will not cut it and he drives as carefully as he can pushing the pedal as deep into the floor mat as possible. I am peering out during my measly 60 break at the buildings to decide how close we are to the birthing center where I will hopefully find some relief. I am also screaming for any kind of pain relief and throwing our entire birth plan out the window. This is when having a supportive and sane husband is key. He spent the drive reminding me of all the wonderful reasons that having a natural birth will be the best thing for our impending bean and that I can do it because I am a strong woman…..so sweet and thank God for him through this whole thing.

1228pm – I make my first push – IN THE CAR!!!!

Seriously – are we going to have to call 911 and have a fireman deliver my baby on the side of the road downtown in front of the homeless guy laying in front of the building we are at?

1230pm – Arrival at Best Start Birthing Center

I am wearing a tank top, swim shorts and barefoot. I am drenched in sweat, can hardly focus enough to see the door and am looking at the stairs I now have to climb to the birth room. And on comes another contraction mid flight of stairs. I hear voices talking to me but I am unable to focus on anything other than staying alive because I am now convinced that if I do not have a baby soon I am going to literally die and Wes will be a single dad. I make it to the bed and am trying to listen to the voices because they might know what to say to help the pain but it is impossible.

1235pm – Checkup

I manage to lay on my back long enough for the midwife to check to see how dilated I am and she gasps and tells the other midwife that she can see the head and that I probably will need to push. She asks me if we were planning a water birth, which we were absolutely not, but I remembered reading that water helps with pain so I tell her to fill ‘er up and I imagine myself swan diving into pain free waters like a mermaid…and on came another…BUT this time someone was telling me to push. I was scared to death to push because I knew it must be 500 times worse than labor but NO, it was fabulous. I was actually getting relief from the pushing and I wanted to push more. I was feeling a new burst of energy now. So I pushed and was able to gain some relief from the contraction. I pushed one more time through another contraction and the tub was ready.

1245pm – Tub Time

For those of you who know me, I do not like to be naked around anyone, much less strangers. Even wearing skirts sometimes freak me out from all the leg showing. But for all you moms out there, you will understand, I was more than eager to peel anything off that would lend itself to more comfort, if that word even existed anymore. And in the tub I went. This time the voices were a little clearer and I could try and adjust my position to what they were telling me. I tried to focus on my husbands arms while he held me and coached me to breath, it was so nice to have someone there supporting, not freaking out and sending out love like I have never felt before. It was truly a falling in love again moment throughout the process. I pushed 3 more times and little London was out. This entire moment was a blur but I remember the moment I held the little guy in my arms. Wes was a champ and cut the umbilical cord and we all smiled. The doula unfortunately only made it for the end of the birth but her teaching to Wes was invaluable because he remembered every word and did a perfect job.

1:06pm – Time of birth

I know most moms may say that they were so happy and in love the first moment but I wasn’t. I wasn’t NOT in love but it was such a taxing 2 hours that it was impossible for me to feel anything but tired and relieved that I wasn’t going to have another contraction. He was beautiful but my first love moment came after I had dried off and laid in bed with the Bean. I handed him off to Wes as I got out of the tub and I went to the bedroom to get my checkup. Luckily I hadn’t torn anything too valuable and I only needed one stitch on the inside to a small baby tear which I never really felt. Wes and I laid with our baby for another couple of hours before we were both antsy to go home. We went and got the midwife and had her do the baby’s APGAR and whatever other weighing and measuring they do. He came in at a 9/10 his first go round of the APGAR and weighed 7lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long. He didn’t cry and he just cuddled with us, everything we had dreamed of.

7pm – Time to go home!

Yes, believe it or not, when you do not get hooked up to an IV or get an epidural there is very little to “recover” from in the hospital or birthing center and you are pretty much ready to go home. We loaded up our little Bean into the car and went home to live happily ever after!

Well…this is our birth day story and I can hear the little guy grunting for mom in the bedroom as I type this so I will fill in the details of the last 7 weeks as the next several weeks, months…years?? go on and hopefully our beautiful story will provide some smiles to those who read it.

Planting My Placenta, Planting My Dreams

I finally did it! I lovingly planted my placenta after storing it in the freezer for almost exactly 4 years! The timing proved to be just right, as only in this time in my life would I be able to fully appreciate the symbolism that imbued this experience.

While I was pregnant with Miran in the summer of 2005, I planted a baby Magnolia tree for him in our side yard. I contemplated the cyclic beauty of nourishing the earth with a tree, just as my own body was providing for the nourishment of my baby. For me, it was small way to give back to Mother Earth and to serve as a reminder of my sacred connection to the her.

Miran's birth was as natural and graceful as the nourishing Magnolia tree growing in my yard. I birthed the life-giving placenta, and once the cord was no longer pulsing, it was cut by my midwife and put in a safe place for me to take home and eventually give back to the earth. Little did I know it would remain encased in a styrofoam cup for four years in the back of my freezer.

January 10, 2010 I felt a calling to finally plant my placenta! The new year was so full of promising new hope for me, for my family and for the planet, I knew this would be a beautiful right of passage for the coming year. For the past five months I've been volunteering my time working on some green initiatives for the school district where my daughter attends school, here in Poway. One of the goals I have been working on is to eliminate the use of styrofoam trays in the elementary school lunchrooms. Currently, Poway Unified Students consume 8,000 styrofoam trays per day. Over the course of one school year, that amounts to 1,550,00 styrofoam trays! I have helped set change in motion and my goal is to get the district to switch to 100% recycled paper trays which can be composted or recycled in return. Great strides have been made, but there is a lot of red-tape to cut and awareness raising to do!

So, when I took my placenta from the freezer and realized it has been, ironically, encased in styrofoam all these years, I instantly thought of my campaign! As I pealed away the styrofoam I couldn't help but feel that it was sucking the life from the placenta. I could almost feel the placenta breathe as I freed it from it's captivity. Broken pieces of styrofoam, tossed into the garbage, never to be decomposed, or even baled (compressed)revealing this super-human membrane that was an integral part of the creation of life. To me, this moment foreshadowed the the passing of the old, destructive practices of our school district, and represents the birth of my dreams for a sustainable school district, and for a generation of children that will not allow their food to be served on a styrofoam tray.
I dug the hole under the tree and tossed some home-grown compost into it. I could almost feel the anticipation of the Magnolia tree roots as I placed the rich dark compost, overflowing with worms and grubs into it's foundation. I laid the placenta down with a prayer of gratitude and hope. As I covered up the cord with compost, I felt it was still connected to my body. Somehow, I know that this dream of environmental freedom is now deeply rooted and supported by the very thing that nourished and sustained us all as fetuses in our mother's womb. The cycle continues, the healing has begun, change is inevitable!