Laura's Birth of Meadow Rayne

Laura's Birth of Meadow Rayne

The Birth of Meadow Rayne ~ Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Written by Laura’s Doula, Jessica Koester

It was Laura’s first day of maternity leave and one of the hottest days of the year – the heat index soared above 100 degrees. The night before she hadn’t slept well, lots of tossing and turning which meant that Michael hadn’t slept either. So, on Thursday night, he decided to sleep in a separate room. It was around 11:30pm, Laura had just drifted off to sleep when she felt a POP. A quick trip to the bathroom confirmed it – her water had released. She woke Michael with, “I don’t think you’re going to work tomorrow.” So much for sleep.

He called and gave me the heads up. I asked him to call back when the contractions were timeable. In the meantime, I suggested Laura listen to a hypnobirth CD as they have a knack for putting people to sleep. At 1:49am, he text me again (glad I’m a light sleeper): “Laura is having contractions for over an hour. The last 4 have been stronger. Avg time apart is 5 ½ minutes. Her back is starting to hurt, too.”

It was 2:35am when I let myself into their room. Upstairs, Ivy and the dogs were fast asleep. It was silent. The only sound was of running water as Michael filled the labor tub. Laura was in bed, on her hands and knees (wearing the nightgown she purchased the day before just for this purpose). When the contraction ended, she rolled to her left side. Her lower back was bothering her, so I applied a hot pack.

Michael and I agreed that the bath water was way too hot, so he drained some of it and then dumped a ton of ice into the tub. Better. At 3:00am, I suggested Laura roll to her right side to help baby rotate into a good position. Baby was very much awake and squiggling around. At 3:15am, Laura climbed out of bed and sat on the birthball. She was rewarded with more intense contractions, coming every 3-4 minutes.

Finally at 3:37am, she entered the water. Just then, Dina (the midwife) called. She spoke with Laura who was still very much herself in between contractions – smiling and able to laugh. Reassured that there was still some time, Dina said she was going to take a shower and then head over. As soon as she hung up, Laura underwent “The Change” – she became serious and hot and needed to vocalize on her exhales. Contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. Mike stroked her back, while I encouraged her to sigh out her breaths, keeping her jaw relaxed. There was no ice (left) so we used an ice pack to keep the washcloths nice and cool as we wrapped them behind her neck.

At 4:06am, she was leaning forward over the edge of the pool when I heard a telltale catch in her breath. “Are you feeling pressure?” I asked. She nodded. I pulled Michael aside and asked him to call Dina and tell her to hurry. Second babies don’t like to wait. When Dina called back, I could hear her from the other end of the room, “Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph! We’ve waited so long…I’m on Rt. 22. I’ll be there in 18 minutes. Don’t have that baby without me!” We weren’t planning on it.

Laura blew through each contraction, fighting the urge to bear down. There were moments when Laura would grunt and Michael and I would exchange a worried glance – would Dina make it in time?

Thankfully, at 4:25am, Dina arrived. Phew! She felt the tub was still too hot, so we added cold water – which felt great to the overheated Laura. She continued to work through her contractions, gripping onto Mike’s hands and shoulders. Finally at 4:50am, she gave in to the urge and bore down (while chomping on Michael’s shoulder). With the next contraction, we gave her a wet washcloth to bite instead. She could intensely feel the baby rotating. She moved from kneeling, to squatting, to reclining on her back and finally back to kneeling again – listening to her body and baby to get into the ideal position. By 5:05am, baby was beginning to crown. Dina guided her through the contractions helping her to push when and where and with the appropriate force. At 5:14am, a beautiful baby slipped out and into the water. Baby was passed in front of Laura and swam up with one eye open as Laura scooped baby into her arms, against her chest. Moments later the happy parents discovered they’d been blessed with another precious daughter – Meadow Rayne.

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