Clara’s Birth
It’s taken me some time to a) get my website and blog launched and b) feel ready to share my birth story for Clara. When pondering what to lead with as my first blog post, I felt this would be a good one to start with. Sharing birth stories is something we mothers do. I’ve told this one many times in person, but it does feel a bit intimidating to publish it online. But some of my why’s for what I do is to spread awareness, educate, and help the world become a place where my daughters can look forward to having their own babies. To reduce the fear that surrounds this topic. I hope my story can help with that.
After weeks of prodromal labor we welcomed our 7th baby- 6th girl. At 40 weeks plus a day.
I started the day relaxing with my 19 month old and 3 ½ year old at home while my husband took our 4 oldest kids to church. My dad offered to take a couple kids home with him, Jeff said we would come pick them up later on. So it was a quiet lunch and relaxing nap time with the toddlers. At around 2:00 we headed to my dad’s to join the rest of the crew. They’d all been having fun making fresh apple cider. I had a huge glass, joking that maybe it would be like a gentle form of castor oil. Around 2:30 Jeff and I went for a (barely) half mile walk, during which my belly felt tight the entire time. With waves of ache around my back. I remember stopping 3-4 times to sway as it was too uncomfortable to keep walking.
We got back to the house and continued visiting with my family. I remember I had mentioned to my sister in law around 5:00pm that I was thinking the baby would be over 10 pounds. And after a few contractions that I felt the need to go into a quieter spot and sway (between which I was still able to visit and laugh) my husband and I decided to pack up the kids and bring them to his mom’s for the night. To see what would happen. Would it stop like it had so many times before? Would we have a baby to hold soon? We were just gonna roll with it and see!
As we dropped off the 6 big kids and continued the 3 miles home, I could feel the contractions shift towards active labor. This is the same thing that happened for our sixth! Getting home, the contractions picked up intensity. Within an hour or so at home we made the decision to call the midwife, Amanda. I felt the need to have her here soon. [My last labor she just made it for the last 45 minutes and I was fine with that. I like privacy and hands off support.] But this time, my intuition told me I would need the extra support and knowledge she brings. She came by 8:00pm.
I continued laboring in my bath. But got out when I started feeling pushy. I could tell I needed gravity. This is my usual. Labor in the tub, but get out to push.
Amanda was awesome and kept suggesting position changes to get me through it all. I had a cervical lip that showed around 9:30pm that was making it very intense. Amanda is not one to perform cervical checks, unless I ask. When I did, I think it was because I could tell something was different. So she coached me to NOT PUSH as I was feeling an urge- and as hard as that was to do, I worked to relax as much as possible because I knew I did not want to risk swelling. What helped the most during this stage was getting back into my bathtub, laying on my back with my balled up hands under each side of my tailbone applying pressure.
As a birth worker sometimes we can get in our heads about the logistics and statistics of it all. The what-if's, what could happen. What to do. This is where I was at. Just when I thought I couldn't do it anymore, she told me to be the mom. Follow my instincts. Turn off my doula brain, all the research and statistics running through it. All the other birth stories I’ve heard and read are not mine. This was my transition.
I got out of the bath. During the next contraction, she and my husband did what she called a "hip flare.” Like a key in a lock, I felt the baby move down. The urge to push was there, but my body was having a tough time getting her down. Enter my midwife's expertise. I remember Jeff asking Amanda, “are we good?” She nodded, and had me get on the birth stool. During the next contraction/push she said she saw the baby, while crowning, turn from posterior all the way around (the long way) to Left Occiput Anterior. The baby turning at this point is how it goes, but the way Clara did it was something Amanda hadn’t seen quite like this. I remember her looking up at the baby crowning and saying “NO WAY!” in amazement. I was mostly standing at this point, leaning on my windowsill. This is the point when Clara stopped coming. Amanda saw this... So she reached in to check for a cord. No cord, Clara’s shoulder was what was holding her up. So Amanda reached a bit further to get her shoulder and assisted her out as I pushed with all my strength. It was intense but satisfying. At 10:45pm she was born.
I walked away with a very small tear right where Amanda had unhooked Clara’s shoulder. A threatened bleed was stopped by an herbal tincture under my tongue. Clara took a few minutes to pink up, as that had been a tough one for her, too! During those first few minutes she was breathing, her heart sounded good, she was making small sounds, and we could feel the cord pulsing wonderfully- which meant she was getting enough oxygen through her blood. My midwife said it was an adrenaline rush of a birth, both Clara and I showed no negative effects as the shoulder dystocia had been quickly handled. My blood pressure was good, bleeding stayed normal, and I was tired but feeling well.
Oh: and I had been right. She WAS over ten pounds. 2 pounds and 4 ounces over ten, to be exact!
Jeff had grabbed our digital kitchen scale with my biggest bowl to put her in. And the screen said “OVERLOAD.” It tops out at 11 pounds! So Amanda pulled out her scale and we were all pretty surprised to see 12 pounds 4 ounces!
Both Clara and I were very sore the next morning, and were grateful when Dr. Mariah made a house call the next afternoon to adjust us both. I’m so lucky to have such a good friend! With Clara’s shoulder getting stuck for a bit, we wanted to make sure she didn’t have any lasting nerve issues. We continued seeing Dr. Mariah regularly, and we are happy to report no problems whatsoever!
I feel my regular chiropractic adjustments throughout my pregnancy, as well as seeing Nikki at Encompass Therapeutic Massage monthly, had a big part in my being able to vaginally deliver such a big baby. Staying active (lots of swimming and even some good hikes), eating healthy, and making sure I got my rest when I needed it were good too. Though I do think of the Ina May Gaskin line, “fat squishes.” It’s very true. I’d had no blood sugar issues, or any red flags of any sort. She’s just a big girl! And had been all along, my fundal height had been a few centimeters over normal the whole pregnancy. We’d even gotten an ultrasound expecting twins and were shocked when there was just one. Then she was born and it all made sense! When I called my grandma the next day, she said she’d been waiting to hear about a surprise twin Then she heard how big Clara was, and said that made sense too!
I’m thankful I was at home with the care provider I chose. Amanda had caught big babies before. She even taught the maneuver she used on me to one of the local OBs a few years ago! What a wealth of knowledge and a skillful midwife she is. An advocate for active birth and upright mother-led pushing positions, she empowered me to birth Clara safely with her assistance.
Fast forward 17 months and Clara is a very busy, super healthy kiddo! She loves keeping up with the big kids. I had always said I’d love to have a curly, chubby, dark haired baby. And God answered those prayers. What a wonderful blessing to our family!