Penelope's Birth Story

Throughout our labor Aaron and I took notes so as to not forget this incredible experience. Remembering the birth of our daughter is very important to us, even the not so fun parts. I want to share our natural birth experience with those interested in reading about it because I honestly feel more women should know they have choices when it comes to delivering their children. Living in the United States women tend to believe they are bound to a hospital setting with an abundance of drugs and doctors, and this just isn’t the case.

On Thursday July 12, 2012 I woke up at 3:20am to contractions. Before really experiencing them I was worried I wouldn’t know what they felt like and that I wouldn’t know labor had started. I was wrong, I knew right away what they were. I laid in bed for an hour before nudging Aaron to tell him I thought this was it. At this point I was cautious about getting too excited since I knew that many women experience false labor for hours only for the contractions to stop completely. Of course Aaron, with his amazing sleeping abilities, fell right back asleep until 5:00am when he woke from hearing me deep breathing through the contractions. We laid in bed for an hour before Aaron decided he better go to the grocery store to get us food and other essentials we would be needing for labor. Our midwives stressed the importance of eating during early labor as well as having a large meal after delivery since the whole process can be compared to running a marathon.  Yes I said marathon, and yes that is 26 miles.  The birth center was equipped with a full kitchen for our use.  When Aaron returned from the store an hour later (he gets a little lost in grocery stores without me) he made me French toast and we tried to pass time by watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air reruns.  At this time I was having pretty strong contractions but I was still able to talk through them (kind of), a sign that I was still in early labor. I called my parents to let them know I thought I might be in early labor, still not wanting to jinx anything.  At 9:30am Aaron and I drove the dogs to the park and went on a forty-five minute walk.  Walking is supposed to make labor proceed at a quicker pace.  As I experienced contractions we would stop walking, I would rock my hips back and forth while Aaron coached me on deep breathing. At this point contractions were coming roughly every five minutes.  When we returned home I got in the shower and worked through the contractions while Aaron got some things around the apartment taken care of.  At noon we decided we better start timing the contractions to get a better gauge on how things were progressing.  While doing this we watched American Pie Reunion.  Every time I felt a contraction come on I would pace around the living and dining room trying to only concentrate on my breathing.  The pain was becoming more intense.  After an hour, Aaron averaged out my contractions, which ended up being 3 minutes apart.  At 2:40pm Aaron called the birth center and spoke with the midwife on-call, Roswitha, who suggested we wait it out a little while longer at home.  I was a little discouraged because the contractions were getting closer and closer but I was also glad to do as much of my labor as possible at home.  I tried lying in bed, thinking it might relax me more but it did the exact opposite. It seemed to make the pain a million times worse. So I was stuck pacing around the apartment for hours.  The hard part hadn’t even begun yet and I was already beginning to feel tired.  

Around 6:30pm we got to the birth center after talking to Roswitha again who was certain things had sufficiently progressed.  Upon arrival Roswitha asked which room I preferred, and of course, I requested Barcelona the largest of the 3 birthing suites.  She quickly got the room ready for me and then confirmed that I was 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced.  I was hoping I would have been a little bit more dilated but I was glad to know I was definitely in labor.  There was no turning back now.  I spent a good portion of time sitting on one of those exercise balls, rocking my hips as the contractions came and went. 

Doula Aaron was prepared to use counter pressure on my back for the entire labor yet when it came down to it I preferred not to be touched.  When things got more intense I got in the birthing tub, the glorious birthing tub.  Between the warm water and the buoyancy I felt so much better.  With Doula Aaron’s coaching I was able to maintain my deep breathing and let my body be as loose as possible. 

At 9:25pm I felt and heard a popping sound, my water had broken.  Roswitha confirmed it and informed me that the pressure was going to get really intense now.  The bag of water is what was cushioning Penelope’s head from my pelvis bones.  Without that bag of water it was bone pushing on bone.  I could feel a difference immediately. I was now in the “Transition Stage,” the stage when dilation progresses from 7 cm to 10 cm, complete dilation.  During our birthing class we learned that the uterus exerts over 60 pounds of force per square inch during labor.  This was the point at which I felt that immense power.  I was in the birthing tub the entire “Transition Stage” so I don’t know how it would have felt outside of the tub but it wouldn’t have been pretty.  After only 35 minutes I felt the urge to push.  Before doing so I let Roswitha know, she then confirmed that I was completely dilated and gave me the okay to push.  Pushing too early can cause swelling of the cervix, therefore delaying the labor process until the swelling subsides.  It was then that Kat and Megan, the two birth assistants came to Roswitha’s aid.  It takes a team to birth a baby.  So I pushed and I pushed. And pushed some more.  I wasn’t making much progress and Roswitha could tell I was holding out on pushing as hard as I could.  The truth is I honestly felt like I was going to have a bowel movement in the tub.  I wasn’t necessarily scared of pooping in front of Roswitha or the two birth assistants but I just really didn’t want to get out of that tub.  After an hour and a half of being in there I had found comfort and was scared of how things would feel outside of the beloved birthing tub.  But alas Roswitha could tell things weren’t progressing as they should so she recommended I get out and try the birthing stool.  What an awkward contraption that turned out to be. 

(I found this picture on the internet to show you what the stool looked like)

I was instructed to sit on it and lean back on Aaron while he was sitting on the bed.  I probably didn’t position myself correctly because it hurt my back immensely.  After a few pushes I asked to try something else.  It was then that we got on the bed and switched back and forth from the typical lying with my back propped up with pillows to the left and right sides.  It felt like an eternity of pushing. One of the best “props” the midwife brought out was a long rope with handles on either end.  I was to pull as hard as I could while the birth assistant, Kat, pulled the other end as hard as she could.  It really helped the extent of the push.  I reached down and felt little Penelope’s fuzzy head.  Nothing gave me more motivation than when Doula Aaron, with a giant grin on his face said, “I can see her head, and it’s so hairy!”  After 3 ½ hours of pushing (that had to have been some sort of record) Penelope Juanita was born and placed immediately on my chest at 1:43am on Friday July 13, 2012.  It was the greatest moment of my life, not only did we finally get to meet our giant Penelope but our 22 hour labor had finally come to an end.  She immediately melted our hearts as she was greeted with cheers and lots of happy tears.  

As Roswitha quickly checked out our new baby she noticed a good amount of vernix, a white substance that babies are covered in until full gestation.  Because of this she predicted that Penelope was not 41 weeks like we had originally thought but only 39 weeks.  

Our predictions were correct our giant Penelope really was giant. At birth she weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce, and was 20 1/2 inches in length.  Thats one giant Penelope!