Ava Winter Duffey was born at 12:44 am on January 20. I was actually due on January 8th, so this was a long-anticipated day. I should mention that being so overdue was really getting to me--I was pretty uncomfortable and ready to try anything to get labor started. We spent a day buying a breast pump for nipple stimulation, castor oil, a visit to the chiropractor, and I drank several cups of double-does red raspberry leaf tea. I never used the pump or castor oil though. I had contractions starting at about 2 am, but by 10 am they had stopped and I thought it was a false alarm. Tom went to work for a few hours, and we even did an interview with a census worker in our home, which was annoying but they had been pestering us and he happened to stop by when we were both home so we just thought we should get it over with. As soon as he left, my contractions started back up, at around 2 in the afternoon.
We had hired a doula--LaNette McQuitty. We called her to let he know things were getting started. We were going to have a hospital birth, but wanted to labor at home as long as possible. We had a birthing tub set up in our bedroom, and after a few hours of contractions, tom started getting it filled. The contractions were much more intense than I had anticipated, and I have to admit that I started wishing for drugs fairly early in the process.
LaNette came to our home at around 7 pm, and I spent the next 2 hours in the tub. Our bedroom has a skylight, and the tub was beneath it, so I could see the bright full moon and that may have been the only period during the 11 hours when I opened my eyes.
At 9 pm, I felt it was time to head to the hospital. I really wished that we could just deliver at home, but St. Mary's is only a few blocks away so the transport wasn't that bad. We arrived at the hospital and since it was after hours, we had to enter through an entrance that was simply staffed with two security guards at a small desk. This was pretty comical because I was in full transition, howling like an animal, and these two big dudes were scrambling with worry over how to help me. One said to the other "What, is this your first baby?"
I opted to walk to the delivery room, eyes closed, guided by Tom, stopping every few feet for a contraction. Once in the room, things seemed to come together quickly. A nurse did an exam, which broke my water and revealed meconium. This wasn't a huge concern--after all, my baby was almost two weeks overdue so she was able to poop! Our doula reassured us that it wasn't enough to be worried over and if we were having a home birth, they wouldn't do anything differently. But since we were in the hospital, the nurses kept me on a monitor for the duration of the labor.
I found it really difficult to change positions or to move around much anyway, and I even did some pushing on my back. I honestly did not feel that any position was more comfortable than another, but squatting seemed to give the baby a better angle to move out.
I pushed for over three hours. Our doctor came in for the last hour, and once we hit the three hour mark, he said I was reaching a point of danger for the baby and I needed to get her out. This is something that can be debated00I was rushed through the end of the delivery and there are some things that happened that were disappointing, mainly that because there was a sudden urgency, the baby was not allowed to turn her body and shoulders after her head was out. Things were rushed, and unfortunately I had 4th degree tearing as a result. I don't want to frighten any of you--this level of trauma is very rare and chances are that none of you will experience this!!! The good news is that after 12 days of healing I am feeling much better and have been told that I will heal well and shouldn't have complications in the future. The bad news is that this could have been avoided if I had a little more time to let Ava turn herself naturally.
Ava came out all at once, eyes open and looking right at daddy. Tom was there to catch her, but she came out so fast at that moment that she kind of landed on the bed. Since we were completely drug-free, she was super alert right away.
Overall, I had a great labor and delivery, and the staff at St. Mary's was wonderful to us. LaNette was an excellent doula and is actually a midwife so she was amazing to have as support--so much experience and knowledge made me really comfortable with how things were going at every stage.
Amy & Tom, Milwaukee
