Happy Birthday Baby Girl

I once read “The days are long but the years are short.” Talk about TRUTH! In just 2 short days, my baby girl will be 2 years old! I honor of my little monster princess. I thought I’d share her birth story. 

Her story begins at one of the follow up visits I had at the Midwife Center with her brother. To be clear, X’s birth was not bad. It wasn’t what I had planned exactly, but it was a good experience and I’m happy with it. At one of the follow up visits, one of the nurses suggested that since he was such a big baby (9lbs 9oz) I might want to consider scheduling a csection with my next child. I brushed if off at the time since I was in not intending to become in the foreseeable future. Fast forward 4 years, minus 9 months and I’m playing phone tag with the Midwife Center financial office when I remember that conversation, and it provides final reassurance to me, that I cannot have this baby through the Midwife Center. It’s not that I had a bad experience with X. Their service was great in my experience. It just isn’t what I wanted for A.

So I turned to my wonderful doula and asked her opinion of home midwives and on her recommendation, I picked my midwife and began planning my daughter’s home birth.

To make the story more fun, some time in late August my husband and I went to a Pirates game with friends of ours. Of course we talked about the birth and the name of our baby. Since we didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl we needed both names picked out. We knew what we wanted for a girl, but we couldn’t agree on a boy’s name. We had named X after a Pirates player, so if we had another boy we thought we might like the keep that trend. The problem was that the team was extremely…ethnic. Interestingly, Pedro Alverez had some number changes, and since his former number was 17, my baby’s due date, I made a bet that if a son was born on the 24, his new number, I’d name him Pedro. (To be CLEAR, there is nothing wrong with Pedro as a person, or with his name. My husband and I are just clearly not Spanish.) At the time I had no intention of participating in birth on the 24th, just to be safe.

Well OF COURSE, on the 23rd stuff starts to happen. I’m at work and periodically phoning the midwife to let her know what’s happening. I finish up the day assuring my boss that I would not be in the office the following day. That night, we did some final preparations and then watched the Pirates clinch the playoffs for the first time in 22 years and then I went to bed. My mom couldn’t believe it. I had been having contractions all evening and then I say I’m going to bed. Well, I was tired and I was going to be having a baby soon, I figured I ought to get some sleep.

At three am, I could no longer sleep through contractions, so I got up and giggled away with my mom as the contractions steadily grew stronger and closer together. At 6am, during a contraction I decided it was time to call the midwife. Then after, I thought that perhaps I wouldn’t. I didn’t want her to be sitting around my house all day waiting for me to have a baby. But, I listened to my mom and called and GOOD THING. I swear, as soon as my body realized help was on the way, the contractions immediately went from about 7 minutes to 5 minutes.

I text my doula, forgetting that I was definitely suppose to call. Fortunately, she got the message and was at my house by 7. We sat on the couch chatting. At this point I still expected to have hours to go. Like, I’d be lucky to have a baby by dinner time. X’s birth was ALL day, so I expected this one to be just a little shorter.

At one point the contractions were so intense that I told my doula that I could NOT do this all day. I still didn’t believe I’d be having a baby soon, so rather than head to the bedroom, I decided to continue laboring in the living room.

By 8 am, I was laboring on my hands and knees over the exercise ball. Unknown to me, my doula was a bit worried about the whereabouts of the midwife. My mom was calling her and getting voicemail. Apparently, she got lost on my street because she had another client, but she arrived shortly after. I was likely just as relieved as my doula, except my excitement was the blast of cool air she brought with her as she opened the door. I instructed that the door be left open, but since it was garbage pick up morning and my bottom was completely exposed, my husband veto’d and won.

At 8:20, our baby was delivered. Yep, check that time in the previous paragraph again. Midwife arrived at 8, baby born at 8:20. My first words? “Is it a Pedro?” And much to my relief, my hubby announced it was a girl. To which I looked to my mom and said “We get the diamonds!” lol!

 

Now, the second part of the story.

Just before she was delivered, my midwife told me that rather than go directly to my chest, she would need to observe A first because there was some meconium. What she noticed was that A’s breath was quite shallow and a bit rapid. We observed this for some time and then discussed what steps we should take next: pediatrician, ER or children’s hospital. I didn’t want to do any of it. Then it stinking hit me! She hadn’t been adjusted yet! I had envisioned, giving birth and then adjusting my baby almost immediately following…completely underestimating my exhaustion. So I exclaimed “Doula*, adjust her!” (*Name has been changed) My doula is super amazing in that not only does she know how to appropriately coach women through childbirth, but she’s also a chiropractor. INVALUABLE! So, she adjusted A, and almost immediately, A took a deep breath and her rate evened out. We continued to monitor her and eventually the midwife left, satisfied with A’s stability and after making sure I knew what to listen for in A’s breathing with my own stethoscope.

So once I again, I had had an incredible birth experience that resulted in the birth of a child that could have easily gone down a road I didn’t want. But because I knew the importance of a clearly connected nervous system and was able to restore that clear connection, both of my children were able to avoid what would have been otherwise necessary medical intervention. In some ways I consider myself lucky. In other ways, I know it’s just the natural result of my education and the dedicated application of that education.

I can’t help but wonder how many children are born into this world who could have had very different early experiences if they only had the opportunity to be adjusted. All the children who continue to suffer in various ways, all because no one knew or knows how significant a chiropractic adjustment could be to them. This is why I do what I do. Why I share my story. My hope is that it inspires someone to seek other options for themselves and their family. Options that can add years to their life and LIFE to their years.