Setting up the delivery room
Once in the delivery room and still hooked up to the IV (pitocin not yet started), my amazing husband went about setting up the hospital room to achieve a chill and relaxing vibe. Setting up the room to relax all five senses was a tip I learned from the Positive Birthing Company’s digital pack, which I highly recommend (definitely worth the $50).
I unfortunately didn’t get a picture of the room, but here’s how we set it up:
SIGHT: dimmed the lights, set up tea candle lights throughout the room (so it felt like a spa);
SMELL: we sprayed essential oils diffused with water around the room, but would recommend setting up a diffuser (we weren’t allowed to at Cedars);
SOUND: we had created two playlists ahead of time: a hospital drive and a hospital hospital list ahead of time, full of hypnobirthing tracks and a personalized track prerecorded by my doula! also brought my noise cancelling headphones to drown out any distraction while trying to get into the breathing. didn’t end up using these!
TASTE: I brought my toothbrush, toothpaste & mouth wash so I could feel clean and relax. I also brought some FOOD since many hospitals do not allow you to eat once you are in active labor. I brought: coconut water, honey sticks, RxBars, banana, peanut butter, and dates.
TOUCH: I brought a nursing nightgown and fuzzy socks, but ended up wearing the hospital gown. This was a good call since my water bags ended up breaking all over the gown I was wearing, and I changed a few times. I changed into the hospital gown once I had been moved from labor & delivery to post-partum. Bottom line is: feel comfy!
Pitocin to get this labor started!
As I mentioned in part I of Amafi’s birth story, there is a ton of research on the negative side effects of Pitocin, primarily that it increases the likelihood of needing a C-Section. Pitocin is essentially a synthetic hormone that mimics oxytocin, causing the uterus to contract thus inducing labor.
They started me on the Pitocin at a level 2, the minimum amount, at nearly 10pm. My husband and I cuddled up on the hospital bed for an hour, listening to music and relaxing in the dimmed lights. I was still having light, period-like cramps but nothing major at this point. With the lights dimmed and music playing, I could feel my nerves starting to relax from the day’s surprise at needing to be induced.
About an hour later, I suddenly heard two ‘pops’ and felt like a balloon inside me had popped! That was followed by a gush of warm water. It literally felt like I peed my pants and I jumped up, off the bed and called the nurse in. As the water flowed, I noticed it was tinged with a brownish yellow color. The nurse saw it as well and explained it was meconium in the amniotic fluid, which happens in more than 10% of normal pregnancies (higher for those that are post-term). However, since there was meconium present, another team would need to be called in to make sure baby didn’t breathe (aspirate) it into the lungs during birth. She also warned me that things would start to get more intense now my waters had broken. Here we go! I thought. I was in disbelief and so excited this was finally happening!
Active labor and steady breathing
My doula arrived around midnight, soon after my waters had broken and just after I had finished the two gown changes (there was a lot of fluid…). She brought a yoga ball for me to rock on and I remember feeling the first “real” surge (contraction) while sitting on the ball, kneeling over and putting my elbows on the hospital bed.
From here, the surges started to increase in both frequency and intensity. I started my breathing: in, 2-3-4, and out-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, trying to relax my body during each surge. At this point, the contractions reminded me of heavy period cramps, and I had flashbacks back to 7th and 8th grades when I would go to the nurse’s office to lie down with a hot pack (sometimes just to get out of PE…). I actually did make sure to pack a hot pack, which I gripped during the surges. My doula, Malaena, also massaged my back which felt AMAZING and, during the more intense surges, my husband applied counter-pressure to open my hips. I highly, highly recommend training your partner/husband/birth assist to perform hip squeezes throughout labor!
Despite being hooked up to the fetal monitor (since OB was worried about baby’s heart rate) and the IV rack, I was able to try multiple positions throughout labor. I felt most comfortable on my left side, when bearing down, on all fours (gravity!), and least comfortable on my back.
Down breathing, crowning and Amafi’s birthday party!
After a few back-to-back contractions (with no break in between), I started to feel a lot of pressure on my lower back. This was a new sensation as everything had been happening in my uterus/frontal regions and I knew this was a sign I was entering a more intense phase. It was around 2:30am at this point, and I had been riding the waves for nearly 3 hours with just my doula, husband (and baby!) in the room. So after a few particularly intense contractions (now I realize this was “transition”), I asked my doula to call the nurse so we could turn off the pitocin (still at the minimum level 2).
Our nurse Jennifer was out on break, so the Resident OB came in to check my cervix and see what was going on. She checked me quickly, using her gloved fingers to see how wide my cervix was open and a few seconds later, happily announced I was 10 cm dilated (the max!) and at a +2 (two more “stations” until crowning)! I was so relieved to hear those numbers and glad I had waited as long as I could to ask about progress.
The energy in the room changed at this point. I could see my doula and husband were excited and remember the nurses running around exclaiming we were about to have a birthday party! I let this boost in energy carry me through the last stage of labor: pushing. My OB was called (poor OB had been through another labor earlier that day and now it was 3am) and I remember wondering if she’d even be able to make it to the hospital in time for baby to be born (spoiler alert: she made it).
I tried “down breathing” that we had learned in hypno, but it didn’t seem to be doing much so after 30 minutes of pretty intense contractions, nurse Jennifer suggested a new position. She brought out a bar, and tied a sheet around the bar so I could hold on to each end, like little handles. I was on my back at this point, and during each contraction or wave, she told me to push. I got into a rhythm with her, breathing in-2-3-4 and then out-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 and pushing while I breathed out. This worked extremely well and within 30 minutes, the nurses urged me to put a hand down and feel Amafi’s head starting to crown! They also brought out a mirror so I could see the progress, and at that point I knew I was in the final lap. After a few more pushes, I felt his entire head slip through, and remember thinking “oh this is the ring of fire!” It didn’t feel like fire, thankfully, but it was intense enough that I remember quickly pushing so baby’s shoulders came out. At that point, all of the pressure immediately released and I felt Amafi glide out, so I reached down to pull baby up onto my chest. It was 4:03 am, roughly 4 hours after active labor began and our baby was here.
Final thoughts
Within half an hour after Amafi was out, and with some prodding by my OB, the placenta slid out. This was – obviously – much easier than pushing out a 7 lb 13 oz baby, and I barely noticed amidst the excitement of weighing, cleaning and having skin-to-skin with Amafi (so important!). His cord blood was collected, and we delayed cord clamping slightly as per AAP recommendations.
I was relieved to find out I didn’t have any tears – apparently rare for a first time mom, and I attribute this to using the EpiNo device from weeks 36 on (inflating the balloon each night for ~10 minutes). I wish the device were available in the U.S., but unfortunately it has not received FDA clearance and is only available in the UK and Germany.
Though I had not received an epidural, other than intense pressure and some burning sensation during crowning, I honestly did not find birth to be overwhelming or even too difficult. The four hours I spent in active labor was an inward exploration, and felt like a psychedelic trip with a physical transformative twist. The image of a spider weaving a web kept coming up for me as I would rotate my hips in circles during the intense waves. I also kept picturing one of my dogs, Kuro, and the way she squats to pee, and I adopted this position as I was trying to push the baby down.
Overall, it was a magically empowering experience, and one that was so uniquely feminine. I couldn’t have done it without my husband and doula, who literally predicted my every need throughout labor. When I needed something to drink, my doula handed me a straw. When my lips were dry, my moisturizer appeared. She literally read my mind! My husband provided much needed mental stability and did a wonderful job creating an environment of trust. I just knew that no matter what happened, he would be there for me and with that thought, I knew I would be ok. A final shoutout to my mom, who had told me “if I can do it, you can too!” She gave birth twice – naturally, with no drugs or anesthesia – and carrying that knowledge with me provided additional motivation and comfort during the more visceral parts of labor.