It was a hot summer night, the full moon was out, and I was anxiously awaiting “the call” from my first birth client. I had just turned off the lights to head to bed when my client called to tell me it was time for me to meet them at the hospital. Her contractions were 4 minutes apart consistently, lasting 60-90 seconds, and had been that way for an hour. This was her second baby and since we had already had a false alarm a week prior, we both knew this was the real deal. This particular client was scheduled to be induced on Monday morning due to her being 41 weeks and 3 days along and she had her baby on Monday morning a few minutes after 12am, barely beating out her induction time which is what we were all rooting for. On Sunday, I had her doing the Miles circuit to make sure that baby wasn’t just in a bad position. Sure enough, soon after she started the circuit, her contractions started consistently and stayed that way until their baby girl arrived.
We both pulled into the hospital at the same time and headed up to get my client checked in to triage. In triage, her contractions continued to be very intense and close together. I had her squeeze a stress ball to help in diverting some of her pain, while me and her husband took turns providing counter-pressure and hip squeezes. I stepped out to find a nurse to help my client and as I stood by the nurses station, two mothers were wheeled in, one by the fire department and one by paramedics, crowning. Needless to say, it was a very busy night to be a doula at my first birth! Shortly after, we were very quickly checked back into a birthing room as it was quite evident that this was indeed labor and when checked, she was at 6 cm. Once we had settled her into her room, she got into the tub to labor. She remained in the tub for about 30 minutes before saying she needed to get out because the pressure was so intense. When checked, she was at 9 centimeters dilated, 100% effaced and the only reason their baby girl had not yet arrived was because her bag of waters was intact and keeping the baby in place. My client decided she wanted to push on all fours so while holding on to one of my hands and one of her partners hands, she was given the green light by her doctor and began to push. Not more than 5 minutes later, she gave one final push. At her last push, her bag of waters broke with a loud pop and their baby girl came sliding out as if on a water slide.
It is also fun to note that I was also photographing this birth while supporting as her doula, so A LOT happened in 4.5 hours! I now have countless births under my belt, and can easily say that while this was my fastest labor support experience to date, this momma had the highest pain tolerance and level of focus I have yet witnessed in my work as a birth doula. While she attributed her focus and beautiful laboring to all of the coping and breathing tips I taught her, I remain in awe of how well she applied everything. It truly was the perfect first birth and I walked out of the hospital 6 hours later, feeling like I was walking on a cloud. Since that first birth, each one after has taught me something new and I will always feel an immense amount of honor at being allowed into each one of these birth spaces.