I am going to type out my account of Vivian's birth and the doula's version will be at the end. I had been having fake labor for almost two weeks. I was a couple days past my due date and really ready to meet Baby V. I had heard at the chiropractor's office that Cleary Sage Oil can bring on contractions. I had bought some a couple weeks before just in case. So, after Stella had gone to bed, around 8:30 I got some and mixed a few drops with some olive oil and rubbed it on my belly. Then I took a bath and put a tiny bit in there. I had an off feeling all day, and around 10:30 I had a serious contraction. The first thing I thought was, "Holy crap, if they are all like this there is no way I'm making it 12 hours with no meds." My active labor with Stella was 12 hours. It was totally textbook as far as progression. That is what I was expecting this time also. After that first hard contraction they just kept coming, around 6 minutes apart but they weren't lasting very long. I was really unsure if it was time to go to the hospital. I called Nicole (my doula) and told her what was going on. I stayed on the phone through a few contractions, which were about 3 minutes apart now. I was on the birth ball and she told me to try and walk around to see if they would space out. So I stood up through one contraction and it was AWFUL! So much more painful than when I was on the ball. So, we decided it was time to go to the hospital. Jeff called his mom and asked her to come stay with Stella. I went back to her room and tearfully gave her a kiss. Last one as my only baby. It was freezing outside and I was really cold. We got across the bridge and made it to the hospital. Of course, they made us stop and register. The nurse did get me a wheelchair though. He also asked us what the birth ball was for. I had at least 2 contrations while we signed in. It was getting really hard to breathe and get through them. Finally they wheeled me back to the lobby and then I had to wait forever for a nurse from L&D to come get me. They wheeled me up to my room, the same one I was in with Stella. When I got up there the nurse, Sarah, told me she needed a urine sample. I did feel pressure, but I couldn't for the life of me get any pee out. She said it was ok I could do it later. I put the stupid hospital gown on and sat on the bed so she could hook the monitor up. Once I got in the bed I realized how much worse my contractions were when I was in it. So horrible. As she was trying to get the monitor reading I said, "Can I change my mind about the hep-loc?" I was hurting so bad the last thing I wanted was to get stuck with a needle. She said no. Then she checked my cervix and said something about me being an 8/9 on one side and I could turn on my side to open it up. I was so uncomfortable on my back I immediately flipped to my right side. Sarah went to get the charge nurse to check me because I guess she wasn't comfortable with her estimate. As the nurse was going to check me I started feeling a strong urge to push. She said I was complete with bulging waters. I went straight up on hands and knees. They tried to tell me not to push that Beth (my midwife) was coming. Yea right! So, I had one strong push and my waters just exploded everywhere. There was meconium in the water which really freaked me out. I don't know exactly how many but one or two pushes later Vivian Marie Westenhofer was born. At 1:40 am we were in the lobby and at 2:04 she was here. It was so insane. I was so much easier than Stella's labor, but the speed was a little traumatizing. She was perfect and beautiful. They bathed her in the room and I got to keep her with me for a long time before they did the bath and eyedrops and all that. It was so fast, but so wonderful! Oh, and I got my wish about the hep-lock! :)
Vivian Marie Westenhofer
March 21, 2013
2:04 a.m.
6 lbs. 14.7 oz.
20 inches
(3/20)9:25 p.m. Carrie sent the following text to her doula, Nicole: “Have a weird feeling today. Back hurting a
lot, some contractions. I’m sure it’s all in my head again. But just in case it’s not, heads up.”
10:00 p.m. Carrie started having some regular contractions.
11:31 p.m. Another text to the doula: “I think this is real. They hurt quite a lot.”
(3/21)
12:00 a.m. Carrie’s contractions were 3 minutes apart, lasting 50-60 seconds each. She was having to
breathe deeply to get through them.
12:30 a.m. Carrie called Nicole. Nicole suggested they arrange childcare for Stella and head to the hospital.
1:20 a.m. Carrie and Jeff arrived at Clark Memorial Hospital and registered.
1:30 a.m. Nicole arrived and met Carrie and Jeff in the ER. They were waiting for a nurse from Labor &
Delivery to come escort them upstairs. Carrie’s contractions were close and strong. She was
having trouble keeping her face and shoulders relaxed but was doing a great job breathing
through the contractions.
1:40 a.m. They were taken to Labor & Delivery Room #5411. Carrie’s nurse was Sara and Beth was the
midwife on call for the night.
Carrie tried unsuccessfully to produce a urine sample for the nurse. She was very uncomfortable
on the toilet and her contractions were coming every few minutes. She said she felt like she
needed to go but couldn’t. Nicole told her she was probably feeling the baby’s head.
1:50 a.m. Carrie was hot and shaky. The nurse hooked her up to the fetal monitor to check on the baby.1:57 a.m. Nurse Sara checked Carrie’s cervix. She said Carrie was 7-8 cm dilated/90-100% effaced and the
baby was at a -1 station. She also said she could only feel cervix on the right side and a bulging
bag of water.
After the exam, Carrie turned onto her right side to try to get that last bit of cervix to open up.
2:00 a.m. Sara asked the charge nurse to recheck Carrie and make sure her assessment was correct.
Before the nurse could check, Carrie announced, “I need to push!”
The nurse said Carrie was completely dilated.
2:02 a.m. Carrie turned over onto her hands and knees and her water broke immediately. There was some
meconium present.
Carrie began pushing with the next contraction. The nurses encouraged her to try to wait for
Beth but there was no stopping her!
2:04 a.m. Carrie pushed her baby girl out into the world. Nurse Sara caught the baby, asked Carrie to turn
over and then handed Carrie her brand new daughter. She and Jeff were thrilled to meet their
new baby and a little stunned at how quickly she came.
2:05 a.m. Beth arrived.
Carrie said, “Holy crap, that was fast!”
2:10 a.m. The placenta was delivered.
2:40 a.m. Baby Vivian latched on for her very first feeding.
Carrie and Jeff admired their new baby for almost two hours before the newborn exam was
performed.
3:50 a.m. The nursery nurse came in to weigh, measure, examine and bathe Vivan in the room with Carrie
and Jeff looking on. She was absolutely perfect!
Vivian was born in the wee hours of the morning on the second day of spring. She was healthy and alert with
APGARs of 8 and 9. Carrie was so strong and focused throughout her labor and did an amazing job staying relaxed even though her labor was super fast and intense. Jeff was a loving and supportive labor partner and never left Carrie’s side. It was a beautiful and amazing birth.
