William Geoffrey's Birth Story

Introduction

For a good source of information on doulas and how to find one in your area, check out the Doulas Of North America (DONA) website.
We found our doula, Pattie Lamb, by using the DONA site to locate a certified doula near us.

Pattie was wonderful, and we would recommend her very strongly. Her email address is: lambweaves @ comcast.net (remove the spaces around the @)

Birth Story written by our doula, Pattie Lamb

• He was born on March 12, 2004 at St. Peters University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ.
• Linda and Andrew were ready for the birth of their son. They had attended Bradley childbirth education classes and they had prepared a birth plan outlining their “ideal” birth. They hoped that the birth would be as natural as possible with minimal interventions.
• Linda began experiencing leaking of fluid in the afternoon of March 11. She visited her doctors’ office where they confirmed that the amniotic sac was leaking. They asked her to go to the hospital that evening. Hooray! The “psychotic” doctor was not on call.
• She and Andrew went home, went for a long walk and rested until that evening. The weather was incredible – an unusually beautiful March day with clean, crisp air and temperatures in the upper 50s.
• Linda was admitted to St. Peters around 8:30 pm. By 11 pm they had administered Cervidil to prepare Linda’s cervix for labor. The plan was to induce labor early the next morning.
• By 2:30 am Linda began having contractions. By 3:30 am the contractions were quite strong and regular. Andrew called their doula (Pattie Lamb) who arrived at the hospital at 4:30 am. The lights in the room were very dim and Linda and Andrew were already hard at work.
• Dr. Pineda was on call until 7 am. By morning, Dr. Milletta took over and was in the hospital until the baby was born.
• The nurses included Amy who was on throughout the night and Theresa who came on at 7 a.m. Theresa was an especially calm, quiet, supportive nurse. She was present for William’s birth.
• Throughout the night, Linda coped well with her contractions. They were definitely requiring more of her attention by now. She tried a variety of positions – including standing, slow dancing with Andrew and sitting on the birth ball which she felt was fairly comfortable. She found that any extraneous activity in the room was distracting, but she was able to refocus her attention as soon as the distraction was over.
• By 6:30 am she was examined and her cervix had dilated to 5 cm. She and Andrew were thrilled that she had made so much progress. She was officially in active labor, and no induction would be necessary.
• Before she left the hospital, Dr. Pineda came in and told Linda that epidurals were really good and would make her feel much better – something that Linda did NOT want to hear. But she resisted the temptation and forged on without medication.
• Linda’s contractions were intensifying and she was feeling the most discomfort in her lower and mid back. Andrew and Pattie both worked to apply pressure to her back during contractions. The thing that seemed to help the most was pushing tennis balls into her back. Andrew worked from her left and Pattie was on her right.
• Linda used heat packs and rice packs on her lower belly and back during most of the morning. When she was having difficulty focusing, Andrew was “head-to-head” with her, encouraging her to focus and assuring her that she was doing a fabulous job. (The word “great” grew old and was banned from conversation.)
• During her contractions, Linda chanted and moaned – “one more contraction”, “just one more” or “onnnnnnnne”.
• During one particularly difficult contraction, Linda yelled. A nurse we did not know bounded in from the hall and excitedly asked “What’s wrong?” Linda cracked, “Oh, I scared the nurse”. Everyone had a good laugh and it seemed to break the tension.
• Linda and Andrew maintained their composure and sense of humor throughout labor. They remained committed to getting through labor without taking narcotics. At no time, did Linda even hint that she might want medication or an epidural. She was tough and strong.
• By 10 a.m., Dr. Milletta examined Linda and found her cervix was almost completely dilated.
• Within 45 minutes, she was beginning to have the urge to push. So now the next stage began. Linda’s mother and father popped in to say “hi”. It was good to know they had arrived but not a good time to visit. Linda pushed hard for about 2 hours. She worked well in a squatting position and on her knees, facing the back of the bed.
• Dr. Milletta arrived as the baby’s head was crowning.
• A few more pushes and the baby was born at 1:04 p.m. Because the cord was short, it was clamped and cut, and the baby was placed on Linda’s belly.
• The baby weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces, was 19 ¾ inches long, and was very beautiful. He was quite pink and alert right from the start. His Apgar scores were 9 and 9.
• William stayed on Linda’s belly for about 20 minutes, went briefly to the warming table to be checked, and was carried back to Linda by his proud papa. The baby lay on her belly and nuzzled her breast. No real sucking yet, but he was alert and active and paying very close attention to his mother.
• A few pictures were taken.
• The baby went to the nursery accompanied by Andrew. Pattie kept Linda company.
• Around 3:30 p.m., Linda was moved to her postpartum room and visited with Pattie until Andrew returned and her parents came in to visit.
• Linda and Andrew met their goal of getting through labor without medication. Andrew was by her side and great support to Linda throughout the labor and birth. As a result their goal of a beautiful, healthy baby and mother was achieved. Hopefully the cats will approve of the new addition to the family.