Celebrate Birth!—Chloe's Birth

Abstract

Leigh Anne shares the story not only of Chloe's birth but of the birth of her first daughter, Phoebe, and the loss of her second baby. She describes waiting for labor to start, and her frustration when arriving at the hospital to find, to her surprise, that she was not ready to push. With the support of her midwife, her husband, and her friend, Leigh Anne manages a hard labor, made long and difficult because of a compound presentation, and gives birth to her sweet baby girl.

It is hard to tell the story of Chloe's birth without talking about Phoebe's birth.

When I went into labor with Phoebe, my first born, I was scared. We had taken a birth class at my obstetrician's office. My best friend had twins a few months before Phoebe was born and she had warned me: if you get Pitocin you absolutely need an epidural.

When we arrived at the hospital my labor stalled. I was given Pitocin to speed things up so, of course, I requested an epidural. The anesthesia only took on one side. This scared me further. I was stressed and briefly they put an oxygen mask on my face. When they said her head was crowning I felt the urge to push. I pushed for 2 hours and 46 minutes. My sweet beautiful baby was born. Rob was ecstatic. She was a whopping eight pounds twelve ounces and twenty two inches long. When we left the hospital a couple of days later, I weighed more than when I walked in. I was full of intravenous fluids. I felt at once thrilled and groggy from the mask of anesthesia.

In the weeks, months, and years that followed I learned a great deal about parenting. I fell in love with nursing Phoebe and found La Leche League. I heard other peoples' birth experiences. When I became pregnant again 4 years later I decided to give birth in the free standing birth center that was affiliated with St. Vincent's Hospital. I was thrilled to be pregnant again. When I went for a checkup with the midwives when I was eighteen weeks they had trouble finding my baby's heartbeat. Phoebe was with me. They explained that sometimes this happens and they sent me over to St. Vincent's for a sonogram. There was no heartbeat. I was devastated. I had to go home and wait for an appointment to have a D & C. A hurricane was heading toward New York and things were hectic. A couple of days later I went back to St. Vincent's for the D & C. I walked in pregnant and left with no baby.

Chloe showed up in my belly about a year later. I was cautiously thrilled. Because of the previous miscarriage I decided to go back to the obstetric practice I used with Phoebe. The practice had a mix of obstetricians and midwives. In my seventh month I fell in a pothole and landed on my belly. Chloe was fine; my ankle, sprained. This led to a sonogram that found a potential kidney problem. This led to many more sonograms and increased my stress. The truth is we were both healthy but they needed to be cautious.

Chloe's due date was December 29. I recall walking Phoebe to school on December 22, the last day before the holiday break. I waved to all my friends and said, “Seeya next year with this baby in my arms!” Well, on January 3, I walked Phoebe into school and everyone's eyes popped as they gazed at my ever expanding belly. Each day that week I walked Phoebe to school I was met with the same look of pity.

My obstetrician was getting concerned and on Friday the 5th she said that if I did not go into labor over the weekend, they wanted to induce on Monday.

My dear friend, co La Leche League Leader and doula, Allison, came over on the weekend after I had a session of acupuncture. Allison had Rob and me do a ceremony where we wrote down our fears about the birth and burned them. Sunday night my obstetrician called to see how I was doing. Nothing was happening. She said I should come into St. Vincent's in the morning. I asked for one more day so that I could attend my prenatal yoga class and go for another session of acupuncture. She hesitated, then agreed we could wait.

Monday morning I went across town to my prenatal yoga class. My classmates all gave me the look of awe with a touch of pity.

I then headed for acupuncture. Jill was quite aggressive with the needles as we wanted to avoid medical induction. Later I started getting contractions.

Allison came over and hung out with Rob and me. My mother-in-law was also with us as she was to watch Phoebe. I took a bath. I sat on a birthing ball. I wanted to labor at home as long as possible as I did not want to have Pitocin or an epidural. I had a birth plan.

The contractions were becoming more intense and closer together. I called it. “It's time to go.” Off to St. Vincents we went. I walked in with my husband, Allison, and my birthing ball. I knew I was ready to push soon. I thought I was at least 8 or 9 centimeters dilated.

Maureen the midwife checked me. “OK, you are at 5 centimeters.” My heart sank. I was in so much pain. I wanted to have my baby now. The contractions were very intense. I did not recall them being so fierce when I labored with Phoebe. I was put on a monitor and it showed the contractions piggybacking one on top of another. There was no break, no rest in between. And still I was not progressing.

This frustrated me as I was certain I would be further along. This is why it can be confusing to know when to go to the hospital or birthing center. This was my second baby. I thought I knew when the time to push was near.

I was stuck. Chloe and I were both stuck. In retrospect, it occurred to me that the last time I walked into that very hospital with a baby I left with empty arms. The fear of the same scenario cast a shadow over me.

Chloe seemed very stuck and I had back labor. For those of you who do not know what back labor is, it is typically when the baby is in a posterior position and the head is bumping into your tail bone with each contraction. If feels like a sledge hammer knocking your back over and over again. When Maureen checked me again and I was still at 5 centimeters, I was so defeated.

“I need an epidural,” I declared. Rob and Allison gave each other a look. “But you don't want one.” I think they sang in unison. “I need an epidural or I will die.” And I do not think I was being overly dramatic. That is exactly how I felt. The anesthesiologist came in, inserted the epidural and I waited; I waited for the pain to subside. It lightened up but the sledge hammer kept banging on my coccyx. “I thought the epidural was supposed to make the pain go away,” I cried. “When you have back labor it doesn't always receive all of the pain,” someone said.

I rocked on the birthing ball. My water broke, Maureen checked and there she was. Chloe was ready to be born and Maureen, Rob, and Allison saw Chloe's little hand up by her face. She had been in a posterior position and had her hand up by her face.

The pushing was not too long. When she came out and was placed on my chest, all of that pain evaporated. There was my sweet, beautiful baby girl. She looked so peaceful and confident. How can a baby look confident? She just did. I gazed at her, studied her and brought her to my chest. She bobbed her head a bit and found my breast. I am told it was freezing cold outside on January 9 but we got nice and cozy. We nursed off and on through the night. In the morning Phoebe came to meet her new sister and to go home.

Biography

LEIGH ANNE O'CONNOR is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and a La Leche League Leader. Leigh Anne lives in New York City with her family.

DISCLOSURE

The authors have no relevant financial interest or affiliations with any commercial interests related to the subjects discussed within this article.