Magnolia Jayne

It was about 1:30 a.m. on October 22, 2008. My parents had taken the girls up north to visit my brothers earlier that day and Christian worked till 11:30 p.m. I relaxed on the couch, took a couple naps, and waited. It was weird. After trying pretty much everything in the book to get my labor started, nothing was working. For three days I would get some pretty nice contractions for a few hours then I'd go lay down and they would fizzle out. When I had my cervix checked on Monday I was between a 1 & 2 and the baby's head was down & low. I guess I finally decided I was just going to have to wait until the baby was ready.
Well, back to the time. It was around 1:30 a.m. and Christian & I spent some time talking when he got home from work then we decided we had better get to bed in case I went into labor. We laid down and Christian immediately fell asleep. I wish I could have. As soon as my head hit the pillow the contractions really started. Then about 10 minutes later I felt/heard the "pop". I touched Christian and said, "hunny, my water just broke." He sat up and said, "OK! Now what?" So we got up and I called our Doula, Angela who said to call her in a half hour and let her know if the contractions are steady or not. We put in our favorite movie, The Big Labowski, and made sure all our stuff was together. I sat down on the ball and tried to let in as much oxygen as I could through breathing. Half hour later I called our doula back and she said she'd meet us at the hospital.
Off we went.
Amazingly enough I dilated a little more. I was a three and 75% effaced. We were totally relaxed and calm. We got settled into our labor & delivery room and the contractions were getting increasingly intense. My team was on it though! That was about 3 a.m. that we got into the room and got into a groove. Not much else happened the rest of the morning. We just took once contraction at a time and changed positions as often as possible. It was good.
Then around 12:30 my doctor came in and was disappointed that I still was only a 4 but was 100% effaced. I had been having some really intense contractions and had just gotten out of the most amazing shower of my life!














The contractions were manageable, for the most part, but I was getting really tired and discouraged myself. It had been 9 hours.
Then we started talking about time. My doctor wasn't on call that night and she had family obligations after 5 that she needed to honor so one of her partners was going to have to take over if I went past 5. The partner that was going to be on was the male doctor at the practice. I wasn't prepared for my reaction that came but I became very anxious and asked her what my options were so I wouldn't have to have him deliver my baby.
The male doctor is a really nice guy, but I just couldn't have him deliver my baby. I was having visceral reactions to the thought of an older man...
anyway, it got pretty scary for me and I started to cry. My doula kept telling me to let it go, I had bigger things to be focused on right now...I tried as I may, I did, but I couldn't.
We discussed my options: Epadural or possibly having one of the midwives deliver with the doctor standing by. They called on the midwife while Christian and I talked alone.
He centered me once again. And I was able to return to the present and focus on the beautiful life we were about to bring into the world. When Angela returned she had wonderful news, Gail (the midwife) had agreed to do the delivery!
One more obstacle to overcome.
Baby was transverse so he/she had to turn either 45 degrees or 280 degrees. Doc had tried the 45 degree angle and no go, baby just popped right back. So onto my left side I went. The incredible blood flow on my left side made my contractions sent me through the roof! I couldn't believe how difficult that next one was. It was the longest one yet, the most painful yet, and I hardly took my breath and another one came on.
I got up because I couldn't take it. I went to the bathroom and cried. When I came back I said to my doula and husband. "I'm done...I'm physically and emotionally spent and I still need to open 6 cm and push this baby out. Not to mention I need to take care of myself, new baby, and my other two children...I need to keep things in perspective and get some relief so I can finish what's a head of me." The thoughts about: 1. the time limit I was on having ruptured membranes for 12 hours now and may have to have a c/s anyway if I go 12 more hours and no baby; 2. the extreme pain I was in with every contraction; and 3. The frazzlement I experienced with the thought of having a man I barely new delivering my baby all made me think I needed to stand up for myself and do what I felt was best.
They both said, "This is your show, Jodi." I said, "Let's try an epidural." They paged the anesthesiologist and within a minute they were in prepping me for the big one. I only had to muster through two more contractions (one of which was happening during the placement...ouch!) before it started taking effect. When I laid down on my back to let it "soak" in, Angela looked at me and asked me, "Did you feel those?" I said, "Feel what?" (I was still catching my breath, it had only been maybe two minutes) She said, "You just had like 4 contractions on top of each other." I said, "where's the anesthesiologist, I want to thank him." I started laughing and the whole atmosphere changed. I looked over at the little bassinet that I had completely ignored up until that point and said, "Oh look at the little hat, we're gonna have a bay-bee!"
A few minutes later the nurse checked me and said I was an 8! Ok, so that was the right move, obviously...
I moved onto my right side to see if the baby would turn that way and stayed there for about an hour. When they checked me again, I was stalled at an 8. Back onto my left side I went since it seemed to produce the most productive contractions.
I was able to feel the next ones and we new it must be getting close.






About a half hour later (it was now about 3:30) I told Angela and Christian that I felt something between my legs. Angela went out in the hall to grab Doctor Andersson and she came in to check me and looked under the sheet. She yelled out, "Oh my gosh. Baby's head is right there, get the bed ready, you're having a baby!"
Three pushes later I delivered my baby girl with hardly any effort. I had three tiny stitches. My placenta even delivered like a breeze. I was amazed.































And here she is...Magnolia Jayne Baron.
3:34 p.m. * 7# 7.5 oz. * 21 inches long * Beautiful
A peaceful experience from start to finish.
A totally satisfying birth experience.
A huge amount of gratitude to all our friends and family who supported us with prayer through the whole time.
A huge thank you to our doula, Angela, our doctor, Lisa, and the other doctors and midwives at the practice who were sensitive and empathetic to my situation and history and willing to accommodate and sacrifice for my mental and spiritual safety.
Happy Birthday Baby Girl.
We truly are complete with you here.