Penelope Mae's Birth Story

On Thursday, October 7, 2010, at 4:30 a.m., I began to have contractions. They started slowly, at about 10 minutes apart, and weren’t bad at all, just noticeable. I tried to sleep some more because I figured they were just Braxton Hicks contractions. When they didn’t let up, I got excited and couldn’t sleep. I thought, “Maybe today’s the day!” I laid in bed until about 5:30 a.m. when I couldn’t sit still any longer.

I got up, tried to walk around a little bit, see if they got more intense. I decided to bake some pumpkin bread for my midwives as a little thank you in case today was the day. Jim got up and asked if I was ok, and I told him that I was having contractions that were kind of regular. He went back to sleep for a bit. I couldn’t sleep so I played around on the internet and tried to relax as much as I could. I kept timing the contractions for the next few hours and called my midwife, Janet, at around 8am. She said to keep track of them, try to rest, drink lots of water, and eat something if I can.

I ate some breakfast, relaxed some more, and decided to take a shower at about 9:45am. The shower stalled my contractions completely. I was very upset by this. I was hoping that today was the day! I decided to go back to bed to sleep since they were gone, and I slept from about 10am until about 1:30 p.m. After I got up, the contractions slowly started to come back.

From 2pm-3pm, they got gradually more intense. I ate some more food and called my midwife again. She said to keep an eye on things and let her know if my water broke or if I lost my mucous plug. Right around 3pm, I did lose my mucous plug, and then my contractions got more intense. I had to really focus on breathing through them. I knew things were really moving now, so I told Jim to work on getting the car packed up and ready to go. By 4pm, I called Janet and told her we were coming in.

The car ride to Reunion Birthing Center is about 45 minutes. It was really hard being in the car through the contractions, which were now about 3 minutes apart and lasting for a minute-minute and a half. I was used to being able to move through them, using my hips to sway, so being confined in the car was difficult. But we eventually made it there.

Janet was there waiting for us, and had the room set up. We got in and I changed into my gown I got to labor in. She had me lay down on the bed to check my dilation. I was shocked when she told me I was already at 8-9 centimeters! I couldn’t believe I had already made it that far!

Things progressively got more intense and I used the bed to lean against during contractions while Jim massaged my back with oil. He really helped me get through those contractions. I was beginning to be in a lot of pain so Janet had me sit down on the toilet to work on moving Penny down the birth canal. While I was on the toilet, Polly, the other midwife and Sarah, the nurse assistant, both arrived and Polly seemed to take over.

Polly helped me breathe through the contractions, helping to keep me focused and coherent. I was really fighting the contractions, which I couldn’t seem to help, and I was hyperventilating a little bit. Jim kept me calm by rubbing my back, holding my hand through the contractions, and keeping a cool cloth on my face at all times. I wouldn’t have made it through it without him.

Polly decided to check me for dilation and let me know that she thought things would happen even faster if I let her break my bag of waters. So we moved over to the bed briefly and she broke my bag of waters. The pressure to push started almost immediately. They suggested that I try a birthing chair or a birthing ball to work on getting Penny down even more, and I couldn’t sit on them for a second. Jim and I “danced” for a few minutes, with him supporting me through the contractions. The urge to push overtook me, and it hurt so badly that I was shaking and wanted to cry.

We moved me back over to the toilet since I seemed to be the most comfortable there. I pushed there for a few contractions and Polly checked me once more, and insisted that I move back to the bed because it was almost time to meet Penelope.

I got back in bed, and pushed as hard as I could through each contraction. It was more pain than I’ve ever felt in my life, but I knew that each contraction was bringing Penny closer to us.

Once Penny started crowning, I began to understand just how intense the “ring of fire” truly is. Forcing myself to push through that pain was the hardest part of all of it. Jim got to feel her head and helped to catch her as she came out. He helped Polly place her on my chest and she started crying immediately. She also peed all over me and on Polly’s hands; which I thought was really funny because I did the same thing when I was born.

Jim and I were so overwhelmed with emotion and love; we couldn’t believe our baby girl was here! She was perfect and had no complications at all. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 inches long. She arrived at 7:19 p.m., just two short hours after arriving at the birthing center.

It was such an amazing experience overall. I’m so glad that I opted to go with two nurse midwives at a free-standing birthing center, and completed my birth with no medications whatsoever. I’ve never been more proud of myself. I think that because of my frame of mind, and all the mental preparation I did prior to the birth itself, that it made my labor/delivery that much easier. Just trusting my body to do what it’s meant to do. I’m so grateful to the ladies at Reunion Birthing Center, Polly Logan and Janet Little, and to my husband, Jim, for helping me get through one of the most painful but amazing days of my life.