Told and written by Dana Williams
Our wonderful Doula.
Born on July 23, 2010 at 2:02 pm
8 lbs, 11 oz. 22 inches long
Alex and Katie are the most wonderful, enchanting couple ever. Alex is always ever so protective, providing and loving to Katie; Katie adores every thing Alex is and does for her. This family is so special. Alex and Katie nick named the baby “the Bun,” first as the bun in the oven. Soon, the Bun was short for Bunny--a family character from Katieʼs grandmother in Hawaii. Sofie was born after a long, arduous wait and labor. Katie started having some prelabor contractions one week before she delivered. A visit to the midwife was planned. Katie and Bun had a non-stress test, which was normal. Katie was dilated at 1 cm and the exam started some pre-labor contractions that lasted all through the day on Friday, July 16th. Katie, being a week late, was excited that the Bun could be here soon.
However, Katie woke up Saturday to no contractions. It was a peaceful weekend.
Monday, Katie called me, her doula, to let me know that she was feeling a little crampy, had upset stomach all morning. Sounded like Katie was in pre-labor again. Katie lost her mucous plug after lunch sometime. Pre-labor was moving along. Tuesday Katie had another Midwife appointment. Katie had made little progress, was 2 cm dilated, 80% effaced, and was 41 weeks and 3 days along. Beth, the midwife, suggested a Foley catheter induction on Wednesday to help the cervix move along. Katie was ready to see the Bun and wanted the induction started Tuesday evening. Katie was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night for her induction. Wednesday morningʼs exam revealed that the catheter had done little to help. Katie was dilated to 3 cm and still 80% effaced and only having some mild contractions. Beth suggested a slow Pitocin drip to help move the contractions along. The Pitocin was started around 3 pm on Wednesday and ran until 10 pm that night. Katie still showed little progress in labor, still only dilated to a 3. More induction options were presented for Thursday. Katie slept Wednesday night.
Thursday morning the Pitocin drip was re-started at 5 am. By 8:30 am, no more progress was made and Beth suggested breaking Katieʼs water. Katie called me to give me an update and ask questions. At this point, Katie, understanding the baby was very late, knew she would be restricted by time if her water was broken. Katie decided to have her water broken around noon and wanted me present. I was on my way to be with her for the remainder of her birth.
I arrived at the hospital to greet a happy, alert, bright Katie on 12 mcu/min of Pitocin. Katieʼs mother and two sisters, as well as Alex were present. Katie was in good spirits and handling contractions very well, talking and joking through each one, stating, “This is fun.” Beth came in to do a vaginal exam at 12:40. Katie was dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced; her bag of waters was broken. The Pitocin drip was increased again at 3 pm, forcing Katie to become more serious and focused during contractions. Alex was amazingly committed, talking to and holding Katie through each contraction. The Pitocin was increased again to 20 mcu/min at 4:30, the highest rate allowed. By 6:30, and after all of Katieʼs hard work, Katie had made almost no progress and was still only dilated to 4 cm. Katie arduously labored on, trying to rest in between hard contractions.
Katie found some relief in the bath tub at 9:30 that night, however, the induction had started to take its toll on Katie, tiring her immensely. Katie postponed any more vaginal checks for a while. By 10:30, Katie showed signs that she may be in late active labor and possibly in transition. Contractions were long and hard, lasting over a minute each and giving Katie little rest. Her body was shaking, she wanted to give up, but labored on, wanting to know if she made progress, but scared that she would not have, she denied checks again. She asked that the Pitocin drip be lowered; it was. Katie got out of the tub around 11:30 pm in time for Beth to check her progress again. Katie was only dilated to 5 cm after all of her hard work, was 80% effaced, and her cervix had moved forward.
Katie labored on for 4 more hours. She walked the halls with Alex and Dana to help herself progress and some time standing in her room. Dana suggested that Katie take a bathroom break around 3:45. At that point, Katie was in so much pain and distress that she could not even use the bathroom any more. It was painful. Katie said she couldnʼt even sit down. Dana helped her to the bed and Beth was called into the room. Beth checked Katie again and reported no more progress. Katie was so exhausted and something was halting her progress. Beth suggested something for Katieʼs pain--either narcotics or an epidural, explaining that if her body was tired and tense, that an epidural would allow it to relax. The epidural would also allow Katie to get some rest as well. Katie was so mental exhausted that her brain needed to rest too. Katie needed to take a mental and physical break from the labor. Katie was very worried about what Alex would think of her if she got the epidural. She asked him if he would be disappointed. He said of course he would not. Then Katie asked Dana what she thought. Dana told Katie that she had worked so hard for so long, that she needed a break, and that if Katie did not rest, and continued as she were, that she would not have enough strength left to push when the baby was ready to come. Dana left the couple alone to discuss their options and to decide what they wanted to do. Katie decided to get the epidural and Beth was called into the room at 5 am. The nurses began preparing Katie for the epidural. They gave her intravenous fluids and lowered her Pitocin. Alex and Dana left the room when the anesthesiologist came to place Katieʼs epidural around 5:50 am. The process took 15-20 minutes and Alex and Dana returned to find Katie sitting in bed and her legs getting numb. Katie says, “This feels funny, itʼs like touching someone else, I never knew how my legs were.” She was feeling much better already. Half an hour later Katieʼs nurse, Holly, wanted to do another vaginal check. Katie had not progressed any, but the check was used as a gauge for her progress from then on. Holly wanted to do a bit of cervical manipulation to encourage it to dilate, but Katie refused because she was only half numb and the checks were hurting. Holly was wonderfully patient and informative, telling Katie that sometimes the epidural has to seep out and down the nerves of the spine and that turning Katie over to the un-numb side would help the epidural spread. Beth was concerned about Katieʼs lengthy labor and wanted to start IV antibiotics. Katie okayed the medication and she also had a urinary catheter placed. Katie was then turned on her side and then she fell asleep--a sleep that she really needed--both mentally and physically. Alex was asleep before she was, knowing that she was getting rest. Katie got a good two hours of sleep.
Holly came in to check her at 8:40 am before Beth would arrive for morning rounds to discover that Katie had made progress in her labor while she was sleeping. Dana and Katie talked for a little while about Katieʼs choice for the epidural. Katie said she was relieved now, and comfortable with her decision. Now she had hope that she could on with the labor. Katie said she was very scared of every vaginal check because she was afraid that she wouldnʼt have made any progression. She realized that her fears had lead her to self-fulfilling prophecy. What she was most afraid of had happened. She was relieved that the epidural was working to relax her body and let it do what it needed to do and that she could finally rest. Katie went back to sleep. Beth came back it to check on Katie at 10:30 am. Katie had made more progress and was dilated to 8 cm. Things were going well and Beth planned on checking Katie again by noon. Katie slept more.
At noon, Beth checked Katie again. She was dilated to 9 cm with an anterior lip. It was time to do some practice pushes to help Katieʼs cervix open the rest of the way. Katieʼs little pushes, along with a little more Pitocin moved her along the rest of the way. Katie said she was “having fun” again. Katie was pushing with all of her might by 1:15 pm. Alex was on her right, and Dana was on her left, lifting her shoulders as she breathed and pushed with every contraction. Katie worked so well with her body, moving the baby down and out. At one point, after Baby had crowned, Katie reached down and felt of the babyʼs head--covered with hair. The joke continued, “Sheʼs got hair!!!” Katie and the Bun were doing fabulous!! After pushing for only 47 minutes, Sofie Lilikoi was born at 2:02 pm--with lots of dark hair! Mom and Sofie were absolutely beautiful. As Katie successfully nursed Sofie, she looked up and said, “I did it!!” and Dana said, “Yes, you did!!”
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Thank you Dana, for being there and being our doula.
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