MUSIC BIRTH STORIES: June 2020

My latest client had her first baby a little over 3 months early. So I missed that birth! When she told me she was expecting again, neither of us knew what to expect this time around. As her pregnancy progressed, her cervix looked great and there were no warning signs of another premature birth. We moved forward with plans of having a full term, natural, music birth, delivery.

But this pregnancy had other plans! Gestational hypertension had her in and out of the hospital for the last several weeks. Yesterday it was decided that it was time to get off the roller coaster, and have the baby. Even though she was over 4 weeks away from her due date, her cervix was already 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. A great place to start for an induction!

Pitocin was started shortly after 4:00 pm, but the baby didn't love that. So the water was broken at 5:30 and the pitocin was turned off. Mom was contracting, but not really feeling any pain. Contractions were anywhere from 2 to 6 minutes apart. By 7:00 pm things were getting intense and I was asked to join them.

I arrived shortly before 8:00 pm. Thankfully they were delivering at the only hospital in the area that is allowing doulas! Covid-19 sure has made things difficult for doula support. When I arrived, mom was laying in the bed and breathing deeply through her contractions. Her husband was holding her hand and encouraging her through each breath. At 8:30 pm, she was 5 cm dilated, but baby was still high in the pelvis at -2 station. I suggested getting out of bed for a while to encourage the baby to drop into the pelvis.

Mom said that it was more comfortable out of bed. I got the music going and started rubbing moms back during each contraction. She continued with her deep breathing.

We worked with two great nurses, one who even braided my client's hair. :)

The other nurse made me chuckle when she said she thought this birth might go from "zero to hero". She was right!

After standing for about an hour, mom was tired, so we switched to the birth ball. Mom was starving, so she snacked a little bit. She started to really moan during her contractions, and an exam at 9:45 pm showed that mom was now 8 cm dilated, 100% effaced, and baby had moved to -1 station.

As all moms do at this point, mom really began to doubt herself. She told me to tell her it was too late for an epidural. :) I could tell things were progressing very quickly. The urge to push was building with each contraction, and before we knew it mom was complete and baby was +2 station! The nurses called the OB and told her to not to stop at stop signs, ha! We changed moms position and had her pant through each contraction. This gave mom a few minutes to find her focal point again after the intensity of going from active labor to pushing in about 20 minutes!

The OB arrived and it was go time! Mom said "This really better be it and not just a poop!" We assured her this was the real deal!

And at 10:14, this beautiful girl slipped into the world.

Even though she was more than 4 weeks away from her due date, this sweet baby cried and pinked up right away.

After the chaos and stress of having their first baby at 25 1/2 weeks, and being hospitalized for the last few weeks with this pregnancy, I was thrilled that this mama was able to have such a perfect birth. Just a few hours of hard labor, an un-medicated delivery, and an hour to breastfeed right after the baby was born. It couldn't have gone better, and this mama really deserved such a wonderful experience!

We all guessed this babe would weigh less than 5 pounds, but she was just a little over 5!

This proud papa is a nurse at the hospital we were at, and was able to take his daughter to the NICU for some premie monitoring for the night. Thankfully, she did great and was back with her mom before morning!