Makenzie’s Birthday
As this pregnancy drew to a close, I found myself living alone out of our family travel trailer with my husband and girls hundreds of miles away at home in Virginia. As a military family, we were able to manage our schedules and living arrangements to include weekend visits and LOTS of FaceTime’s and I was eager for this birth and the subsequent move home. In preparation for birth and with the intention of encouraging spontaneous labor, I tried every trick in the book. I saw the chiropractor, drank red raspberry leaf tea, tried dates, Mile Circuit and Spinning Babies, took supplements and I even tried out acupuncture. Anything my doula suggested, or I researched, I tried it! While I didn’t go into spontaneous labor, I do believe all my prep work paid off as this birth was the most calm, empowering, and quickest of my three experiences.
The day before Thanksgiving 2023, TJ was on his way from VA as I went to the Chiropractor, then the Acupuncturist before heading to my final OB appointment. At my appointment, I learned that there had been no progress in cervical changes since my last visit and baby girl was still high; my cervix remained posterior and 1cm dilated. I decided to schedule the induction for Saturday morning at 7am hoping that would be enough time as TJ had to be home on Monday and I would continue to try and encourage spontaneous labor in the meantime. Before I left the office, I was offered an induction time for 7am on 11-23-2023, Thanksgiving morning and after a quick deliberation, we agreed to take it! With the assumption that things would track similarly as my last two births, I assured my doula, Devin, that I did not expect her to come that early and wanted her to be able to enjoy her time with family for the holiday. We agree to stay in close contact and communication once the induction begins about how things were progressing.
Soon after we arrived at the Rex Holly Springs hospital around 6:30am, we were checked in to room 304 and my nurse, Terri, placed an IV. We settled into our room and waited for Dr. Summers to come in and discuss our game plan. By 8:50am, the Foley bulb had been placed and we started Pitocin. The Pit was upped every half an hour at first and I checked in with Devin every couple of hours until around 11am, I began to feel mild contractions. I stayed upright, moving, squatting, lunging, and giving the Foley a gentle tug periodically. It finally came out at 11:30am and I decided to rest and nap with the peanut ball.
After waking up close to 1:40pm, the Pitocin was running at 14 and my contractions were slowly getting stronger. I sat on the yoga ball and rocked my hips and leaned into the bed. By 2pm I was starting to worry that things would stall again, like with my last birth. I knew that once I got an epidural, my body would be able to relax and progress. Dr. Summer’s planned to come in at 4pm to check me again and break my water if Makenzie was engaged. My doula planned to leave her house at 4pm as things tend to pick up after AROM. At 4:20pm, I was 4cm dilated, 50% effaced and -2 station when my water was broken.
Devin arrived by 5pm and began to add to the relaxing ambiance of the room with artificial candles, setting out the gift basket for my nurses and encouraged position changes as I continued to labor. We watched some TV and talked until I was able to eat dinner after which, my contractions began to increase in intensity as we walked the halls again. As things continued to increase in frequency and intensity, I wanted to get checked again before deciding on an epidural. At 6:45pm I had progressed to 5cm dilated, 60% effaced and still -2 station. With such slow progress, I decided to go ahead and get the epidural before I stalled for hours. The contractions were beginning to take a lot of focus and intentional breathing to cope through and at 8:45pm, the epidural was successfully placed. My right leg was significantly number, and Devin continued to switch my position utilizing the peanut ball to help balance the epidural and encourage Makenzie to descend.
At 9:30pm, another cervical exam revealed that there had been no progress or cervical changes from the last check. Dr. Summer’s indicated that an intra-uterine pressure catheter would help her to decide how to move forward. Devin had already briefly mentioned this earlier, and I agreed so it was placed at 9:50pm and the Pitocin was halved to 15 and was set to be increased again on a 15-minute schedule. Shortly thereafter, I decided to rest and nap so we turned off the TV and lights and the room was quiet aside from the consistent thumping of the fetal monitor and the frequent nurse visits to up the Pitocin. I woke up around midnight feeling more pressure but still comfortable and my nurse, Charlie began to shift around the fetal monitor because Makenzie’s heart rate wasn’t tracking properly. After several minutes of not being able to keep a consistent track, Charlie decided to check my cervix and Devin agreed joking that you can’t find the heartrate easily if the baby is in the birth canal! And so, at 12:30am, Charlie quickly announced that I was complete! She began to bustle around and get things set up for delivery and said we could begin pushing before the whole team was in the room because sometimes it takes a little bit of time for the baby to get passed the pubic bone for birth. At 12:45am I gave my first push and then was instructed to wait until Dr. Summers arrived because Makenzie was already so close, we could see all of her hair!
When Dr. Summers arrived and everything was completely set up and ready for delivery, I began to push in a side-lying position. I only needed to push through 4-5 contractions and Makenzie was born at 1:03am on 11-24-2023 and placed straight on my chest. Devin was diligently snapping photos of the entire birth while verbally encouraging my efforts. We requested delayed cord clamping and Dr. Summers happily waited until I agreed it was time to cut around 1:06am. I was so eager to cut this cord myself since my mom cut Elizabeth’s and TJ cut Hazel’s. I held Makenzie as the bed was broken down and I was shifted into a better position for Dr. Summers to repair my minor 2nd degree tear. I was so happy I didn’t tear as bad as with the older two and felt so much better about delivering in that side-lying position! Delivering the placenta and my repair did not take long and my bleeding was normal. TJ immediately began fawning over his new little “turkey” taking more photos and videos and praising me for my hard work. Makenzie started cueing and I put her to breast and allowed her to nurse at 1:42am. The staff was extremely conscious and respectful of the golden hour and did not come back to weigh and measure Makenzie until after 2:15am. She was 7 pounds 2 ounces and 19 inches long; the exact same as her big sister! TJ couldn’t bear to see her get her first shots.
Once my epidural was removed and I just started to regain sensation and control of my legs, Charlie helped me to the toilet, and we began our transition to the postpartum room. Once we were settled there, I asked Devin if she would like to hold her a moment, knowing that she likely wouldn’t have the opportunity postpartum as we planned to pack up the trailer and drive home immediately after being discharged from the hospital. Devin held Makenzie and cooed over her precious little face and expressive lips. She was so content and only cried when being examined, but for now she was swaddled and cozy. Devin gave her warm wishes and said her goodbyes leaving us to bond and rest somewhere around 3:30am. This was the easiest postpartum recovery after such a smooth labor that I was cleared before lunch on Saturday and we patiently waited for the pediatrician to clear Makenzie. I was so surprised, this being my first delivery in a civilian hospital, with how many goodies and supplies they sent us home with! Once we were both discharged, we made the long trek home. It took us an astounding 7 hours after leaving the hospital. The most exciting part was that we had not told anyone back home about the induction and your arrival, choosing instead to surprise everyone when we showed up at home together! There was shock and excitement and griping from Grandma about “keeping secrets,” but everyone was ultimately overjoyed with Makenzie’s arrival and our long-awaited reunion as a family back home in Virginia.