By Anonymous
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In
birth story
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7:10 PM
Milton Leon Silicki IV “Milo” * Due Date July 3, 2011
The entire pregnancy lil milo was measuring a few weeks ahead, a lil big.. so I wasn’t sure we would hit the due date. But it came and it passed.
July 4, 2011. A really great day. We went to the Palisades Parade and thanks to our friends Jen and Glen who hosted us at their house with drinks, food and a potty! Saylor loved the parade. She waved the red , white and blue! We had a nice time at the Palisades Park after and then went home to nap. it was delish. We headed back out to Aunt Chry’s BBQ and enjoyed friends for the afternoon and evening.. heading home to watch fireworks in bed.. I had some cramps at this point, but nothing too unusual. I went to bed early and slept well.
July 5th, 2011 I woke up with cramps and felt a bit tired and out of it. I thought it was from all the energy and activity that had happened on the 4th. Saylor was a little over a week late, so I was prepared to be late with lil Milo too.. I dropped Saylor at camp and ran errands. Went to the container store for something for the studio.. went to the studio to drop something off.. went home to check some emails. I noticed that I could read the emails but was having trouble responding. I was tired, felt out of it. really out of it. I called my best friend ( meredith ) and asked her to come over and play with Saylor when she got home from camp, so I could sleep. I was thinking.. if I wake up and am still cramping then I am in labor. If I sleep and they go away, then it’s false labor OR I ‘m just SO tired from the 4th! A 3 hour long nap.. and I woke up.. still cramping. Called Mel and told him what was going on, and prepared Meredith to go home and get her stuff. ( she was our on call person for Saylor). Mel came home and grilled hot dogs for Saylor and I had a bite of one.. little did I know that would be my last food for a long time.
7-8pm - Meredith was home, showering and packing up. Mel and I put Saylor to bed regularly. My “cramps” were intensifying. Saylor went to bed so easily this night.. which was not like her! By 8pm things had intensified. Called Ursula ( the doula) and I told her I wasn’t sure if I was in labor or it was just cramps... was hard for me to tell the difference. She told me to get in the bath, see if they went away and call her back. I texted Whit ( the midwife) to let her know what was going on and give her a heads up. saylor continued to sleep.. the bath took some intensity away for about 10 minutes. The contractions/cramps in the tub were not as intense but then I needed to get out and move around a bit more, things were happening fast.. We called my dad in Boston and told him so he could make his way here from Boston. ( to help with Say)
Ursula arrived and I was in the living room, laboring on the ball in a squat, moving around the house. Meredith arrived. Everyone was really quiet, whispering, the house was pretty dark and calm. Ursula started timing contractions, helped with my bags and let Whitney know we were on our way!
10:00ish- We arrived at GW. I had a contraction in the driveway to ER.. an ambulance was coming in.. got up to the room and was greeted by Whitney and Laura. I was 5 cms when we arrived and Whitney did some Fabulous midwife technique “ manual cervical realignment “ and I was 7 cm’s. THey put me in the shower! It felt great, and was a nice break for a bit. ( 20 mins or so) . I couldn’t get enough Tea Tree oil .. I was inhaling it on a washcloth ( don’t ask.. been addicted to this scent the WHOLE pregnancy) , had some rescue remedy and did some laboring on toilet. My water broke on the toilet which was very convenient.
Things were not really progressing. I could tell that he wasn’t moving. I was OVERWHELMED with nausea .. this had been going on most of the pregnancy and since earlier in the evening.. but it got SO bad..
I remember at some point during this time, looking up at Ursula and saying” please help me” .. I think this was when I “hit the wall” I remember storming around the room, saying I could’t do it.. and just kind of getting frustration out of my system.
Shortly after, Whitney and I had some alone time in the bathroom. Lights off, quiet room, Laura brought me an icy cold coke ( when was the last time I drank soda??) which gave me the energy to move/progress forward. Things get a bit foggy here..
July 6, 2011
There was some time on all 4’s.. some time on my side, some figure eights with my hips, some squats.. lots of breathing and yoga postures. Eventually lil buddy moved his head, and we were good to go.. shortly after Milo was born. He was born “sunny side up” ( What does it mean when a baby is in the "posterior position"? When a baby is head-down but facing your abdomen, he's said to be in the occiput posterior (OP) position — or posterior position, for short. The term refers to the fact that the back of your baby's skull (the occipital bone) is in the back (or posterior) of your pelvis.- baby center) and asynclitic. ( Asynclitism is a term to describe a tilt of the baby's head. The asynclitic baby has their head tilted as if listening? Instead of the crown coming first, the parietal bone aims first. The diameter of the head is bigger this way. The vertebrae in the neck aren't lined up well with the head and the baby can't help to get born as well as the asynclitic baby- found this online!!!)
Then while still connected, Milo was with me. He laid on me.. covered in our own fluids, but there he was.. all 8.5 pounds of him was breathing and opening his eyes and being so perfect.. ( sort of .. look at pics!! ) . We were still connected. There was the cord, on my belly, shortly after, I cut the cord myself. ( Saylor’s cord had disconnected from placenta in her birth and so we did not share this experience).
All I can say about my birth team is wow.. these woman are amazing. So patient, so confident, so loving. they are the ones who helped support my natural birth- with no interventions. They were fantastic.. so professional and safe and supportive.. I can’t say enough about this team...Ursula, Whitney, Laura, and Megan ( Nurse at GW).
It was the hardest thing I have ever physically done in my life. Glad to get it off my "bucket list" and so glad to feel our family is complete. I do feel so strong, so empowered. Recovery has been so fabulous, easy, NATURAL... The Yoga postures were really helpful, the breathing got me in and out of mental blocks that surfaced. I have had 2 VASTLY different experiences and feel SO blessed to have these 2 healthy, happy babies. I’ll write more about the differences between OB birth and Midwifery birth in the future..to be continued!
By Anonymous
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In
birth story
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community events
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5:48 PM
This past week I have told a number of students and friends what my thoughts/experience on OB/GYN care vs. Midwifery care has bee...
a little background.. Saylor was born with an OB/GYN ( who was fabulous, Dr. Deena Kleinerman) at Sibley. It was a medicated birth and pretty typical as far as first labor and delivery goes. As for my prenatal care, I would say, it was good. We had our appointments, she knew my name and we had a somewhat personal relationship. She answered questions that I had and was a pro in the delivery room. Giving me lots of time( 3 hours!) to push lil Saylor out.
When I was pregnant with my 2nd, the first person I told was Whitney Pinger, midfwife extraordinaire. I was 2 weeks pregnant, and knew she probably already had a wait list for my due date! I was introduced to Whitney first by my prenatal students in Gtown. I had many students who chose Whitney to deliver their babies. As time passed, Whitney joined forces when we started the Holistic Moms Network DC Chapter, and became a supporter of lil omm, just as I became a supporter of her newly formed WISDOM midwifery community/outreach group . A fabulous community of moms who had delivered with her and her midwives , promoting midwifery care. When Whitney moved to GW a year ago, I seriously considered delivering with her and as soon as I confirmed that I was pregnant , that's when I placed the call. It's pretty amazing to be in the hands of such a birthing power house in DC, and to learn from her. She has so much knowledge, confidence and experience as a mother of 5 herself. Her spirit and energy is all her own, and I adore her.
In my experience thus far, I'll write more ( birth story) once Milo is actually on the outside of me.. but regardless, a midwife is more like a family member, an auntie, that experienced elder who guides you through tough times. This pregnancy, I have had my fair share of ups and downs and the whole time she will hold my hand, rub my baby, talk to him, look at me in the eyes and ask how I am. She talks to me about what I am eating, ask how I am being supported, and engages with me as a WHOLE person, and not just as a short term patient. This model works well for me, as this pregnancy has seen ups and down in my personal and professional and pregnancy life, all things I have wanted to share with my midwife.
For those who don't know- this group of midwives at GW see women in DC for well visits - so if you are interested in this type of care for all your womanly needs.. you can see them without being pregnant. It's also my tip to any of my friends who WANT to have children.. is to get in with them now when you are not pregnant, and that can give you a better chance of delivering with them once you are pregnant. ( Current patients get priority ) I know that Whitney and this practice generally have a 9-10 month "wait list" meaning they are full as soon as people know they are pregnant. So I suggest you go to a meet the midwife at the hospital if you are considering having children and see if this feels right to you!
More to come on this topic after he arrives..
By Mama Bear
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In
birth story
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8:59 AM
Meet Louella Katherine
Born 4/6/11 at 9:10 AM at Sibley Hospital
8 lbs 10.5 oz, 20 inches
Lulu took her time in coming. I celebrated my due date by keeping our two year-old, Hazel, home from daycare and tiring us out at the park. I engaged in several weeks of wishful nesting, not so much responding to an urge to ready our apartment for the delivery but hoping that frantic, elbow greased scrubbing might bring on labor. No such luck. All the old wives failed us: we saw no results from spicy food, walking, jumping jacks and other unmentionables… I practiced prenatal yoga and even went to a couple of Adult Yoga classes at Lil Omm at 41-plus weeks.
My OB was supportive of my decision to wait for labor to start naturally, but at my 42nd week appointment, we had to set an induction date for that Thursday, exactly two weeks past my estimated date of delivery. I asked Dr. Footer what he thought about acupuncture; I had never tried much complementary medicine. He said his wife had back trouble and swore by her acupuncturist, so my husband and I headed out in rush hour traffic to Rockville to see Eun Hoffman, a doctor of Eastern Medicine, the nearest practitioner who took our insurance.
Dr. Hoffman gave us some tea and asked me several questions about my health and pregnancy. She understood my desire to rely on my own body and the baby to bring about labor. She mentioned that there were no acupuncture treatments that “induce” labor. In the eastern paradigm, she explained, the time and date of one’s birth play a major role in deciding a person’s destiny. Thus, if a baby was waiting to be born, it was because s/he had a special, fated role to fulfill in life. The treatment she gave me, setting several needles gently in my feet, ankles, hands and forearms, was meant to move energy down. I imagine a similar treatment is used for people whose digestive tract is stopped up.
Following the appointment, we returned home to DC, ate a simple dinner that my mother-in-law had prepared with Hazel. I headed to bed early. We had trained in Hypnobirthing when preparing for Hazel’s birth. This method includes self-hypnosis, breathing, and visualization. I tried picturing myself laboring that next day and thought positively about birthing the baby in the thirty-six hours before we were set to induce. My natural skepticism makes me wonder which, if any, of the alternative methods work, but I take an “it can’t hurt, and it might help” approach to alternative medicine.
Sure enough, I woke up contracting at 1:30 AM. I had downloaded a contraction timer on my iPhone and started timing. The waves were between seven and eight minutes apart. I laid on my side in bed and listened to the Hypnobirthing relaxation I had practiced with. After about an hour, contractions were about six minutes apart and getting more intense. I got up to grab the last few items we would need at the hospital—my bag had been packed and in the car for over a month already!—then I woke up Zach. He showered and called his mom to let her know she would need to watch Hazel. When she arrived, I wished her a happy birthday—apparently, the baby was waiting to share Gran’s birthdate.
We set off for the hospital just after three AM. By the time we were settled in the Labor and Delivery Suite at Sibley, it was four. The nurse checked my dilation and I was at 4 cm, already two more centimeters more than I had been around 2:30 PM the day before at the doctor’s. I was group B strep positive, so they started an IV and gave me the first dose of penicillin; I would need the second one at eight. My labor with Hazel had taken about nine hours, so I was visualizing a shorter labor but knew I needed two doses of antibiotics to avoid the slim risk of infection for the baby.
Around 5:30 AM, Zach and I both got really tired. He was resting with me on the bed and whereas the contractions had been growing in intensity from about 1:30-4:00, now they were lighter and shorter and didn’t seem to require much of my focus. I started to feel discouraged and rang for the nurse. When we had arrived, she had asked me what we needed from her and I had told her that, largely, we wanted to be left alone. Now, she came in and told me how different from each other her four deliveries of her own daughters had been. The most recent had been at home and had happened very fast. She reassured me that, if I was tired and labor was slowing, this was a sign that my body needed rest. She got Zach a pillow and blanket and he stretched out on the couch and slept for about half an hour while I relaxed on the bed and listened to the birthing playlist Zach had made for me.
Around 6:30, the contractions started picking up a bit, moving closer together and getting longer and stronger. At 7:00, Dr. Footer stopped by on his way to the office. He checked my dilation and found that I was at 6 cm. I remembered laboring with Hazel and, when I had finally let the nurse check my cervix, I was at 7 cm. Those last three centimeters sounded like miles; this time, though, I knew that 6 to 10 could be a matter of mere moments and welcomed the intensity of the contractions knowing that each was a distinct, one-time experience and that each was bringing me closer to meeting the new baby.
I labored in the shower from about 7:00 until 8:00. This felt GREAT! I found a productive and strong stance that allowed me to breathe through contractions effectively. At this point, I was using my favorite pain management breath that I had learned during labor with Hazel and relearned in Janice Clarfield’s prenatal yoga teacher training that Lil Omm hosted: vocal toning. This involves lowing with open vowel tones and a mindfully open throat. It’s almost like “ohmming” through contractions. From a yogic perspective, the open throat invites expansion at the top of the shushumna nadee, the central channel, encouraging a similar opening through this major energy channel, especially at the bottom where the baby will emerge. In Hynobirthing terms, vocal toning helps break the Fear-Tension-Pain chain. Rather than mentally backing out of contractions because of a worry that they will be painful, tensing muscles and increasing pain and resistance, instead a woman in labor opens to the experience, welcoming strong sensations and meeting them with calm breath. “Ows!” are usually high-pitched and closed, coming through clenched jaws and hunched shoulders. The lower, ommmm-like sounds are relaxed and relaxing.
I had also “set an anchor” for myself, asking Zach to make sure my shoulders were relaxed through labor. Just assigning him this job helped remind me at the beginning of each contraction to relax my upper body, especially shoulders, throat and jaw, as fully as I could.
I made my way out of the shower with Zach’s help. While he was helping me dry off, I got short and snappish with him over some minor nothing that I can’t even remember; I turned on Zach for a contraction or two during the birth of our first daughter, too, and took it as a good sign. My favorite natural childbirth books are Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth and Spiritual Midwifery. (If you pick up these classics, be ready for a shift in thinking; they describe home births at a commune called “the Farm” in Tennessee. In my experience, they are great preparation for natural births in more conventional, western medical settings, too, if you can accept the majorly hippy vibe.) In many of the birth stories written by Ina May’s moms and dads, the birthing women get impatient with themselves or their birth partners right around transition. To me, my momentary snarkiness symbolized that I was likely nearing the finale.
I moved back toward the bed around 8:00 to get the second dose of penicillin and told the nurse that I was noticing a lot more downward pressure. I raised the head of the bed up so I could lean my forearms on it while kneeling on the mattress and taking advantage of gravity to help the baby make its way down. In another few contractions, I felt an urge to push, so the nurse called my doctor who had made it to his office a few miles away. I didn’t feel like waiting and told the nurse to grab another doctor, but I think I was unofficially holding off for Dr. Footer to fight his way through rush hour traffic; he joined us just after 9:00. Not finding my knee-down position as productive as it had been during my first birth, I flipped onto my back and Dr. Footer broke my bag of waters, still intact after 7 ½ hours of labor. Two contractions later, Lulu came shooting out! We were glad to see her and thrilled to learn that she was a girl, and a healthy one at that.
We were lucky that labor was relatively short, that the baby was in good position, and that there were no needs for medical interventions. Before both births, I had spent time considering our birth plan and also making peace with the idea that a healthy baby arriving by any method or delivery style was the ultimate goal. That way, I could avoid feeling disappointed if we weren’t able to realize our ideal birth experience. All in all, the second go-round at childbirth was somewhat quicker and less tense. I knew what to expect and how to face the strong sensations of labor. I also knew that labor wouldn’t last forever, that it would be an empowering experience, and that we would meet the new love of our life at the end of the journey.
By Mama Bear
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In
birth story
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8:59 AM
River King Walter’s Birth Story
Born March 31, 2011 8lbs 8 ounces, 20 ½ inches
I have been surrounded by many powerful women who have pursued all-natural
childbirths – from my sisters in-law to the many wonderful mamas I met through
the Lil Omm community - so when I became pregnant – even before – I knew this
was the path I wanted to take in welcoming our baby into this world. In order to
prepare ourselves for this, when we moved to San Francisco we found a midwifery
practice we really liked based out of hospital nearby our house in Bernal Heights. We
also decided after hearing many other birth stories that a doula would be absolutely
essential for us hire and we worked on finding her next – a wonderful woman
named Alexis Cohen. Additionally, in preparation for my birth my Gareth and I took
a Hypnobirthing childbirth education class. Hypnobirthing really resonated with me
because many of the tools we learned for working through surges and the whole
process of birthing utilized various breathing and visualization/relaxation techniques I was quite familiar with from my yoga practices and teaching.
Only 1 day past my due date, things happened very quickly! After a day of feeling a
bit unwell I went and had a prenatal massage and some cranial sacral work done and
2 hours later just after a nice walk and as Gareth finished making dinner my surges
began. We called our birth doula Alexis to let her know and she instructed us to call
back if we needed anything or when the surges became rhythmic and closer. We
called her back 45 minutes later as they immediately came on hard and fast, every 4
minutes lasting 1 minute (Gareth timed them without me really being aware). My
waters released at home shortly after and they were dark brown, indicating the
presence of meconium, and I started to feel a lot of pushing-like pressure so I chose
to head over to St. Luke’s at this point. Because of the quickness of my labor I had a hard time at first getting onto 'the zone' with our Hypnobirthing techniques but once Alexis arrived and we all settled in a bit more I was totally able to focus on my breathing and resting between surges.
After 2 hours of laboring at St Luke’s with
surges coming even more frequently, I really felt like pushing so asked the midwife
to check me (my birth plan indicated I only wanted exams on my request) and I was
about 9cm so they moved me into a delivery room where I shortly thereafter began
pushing and did for about the next 4 or 5 hours. The lip of the cervix kept popping
back so it got inflamed, they tried moving it but it kept going back. About this time I became aware that River's heart rate was dropping and the midwife Brooke and OB on call Dr. Norrell were concerned. Dr. Norrell stepped in at this point and helped me push for awhile while she moved the cervix. I had a hard time getting into the push breathing we learned in Hypnobirthing because of the intensity of how quickly things were happening. River’s heart rate was still a concern and Dr. Norrell was worried about having to do a caesarian. Dr. Norrell is known for her low cesearian rate (4%) so we consulted and shared her concern and then headed into the OR and we pushed for another 25 minutes. Rivers heart rate dropped to 70 and it was clear he needed to come out so Dr. Norrell used a vacuum - first go at it the vacuum
popped off and struck her in the sternum knocking the wind out of her the second
time was a success an he came out as I pushed and the vacuum pulled. River was
placed on my chest and then whisked him away immediately because he swallowed
a lot of meconium and wasn't breathing. Gareth went with him while the pediatric
team spent the next 4 minutes reviving him. I was still in the OR as I needed an
episiotomy to deliver him so quickly. We were separated for about 2 hours, luckily
Dad was continuously by his side advocating the whole time. By the time I got to the
NICU River was snuggled on Dad’s chest finally peaceful after a dramatic entry.
We are so thankful everything turned out okay, and I think the Hypnobirthing
techniques and my ongoing yoga practice really kept me calm in what could have
been a very stressful situation. Gareth was not only an awesome birthing partner
(supporting the breathing and visualization, taking vitals when I wouldn't let nurses
touch me) but also an amazing advocate for River in the NICU avoiding many
unnecessary interventions (prolonged Tylenol administration, sugar water, formula)
by using the questions, ‘Is he okay right now?’, and, ‘Can we wait an hour and see
how things are then?’ Which are techniques we learned in our Hypnobirthing class
for avoiding unnecessary medical interventions.
We ended up hiring a post-partum doula, Melitta Hoder and she has been so great
in helping us find our bearings after a difficult birthing experience. Our birth doula Alexis was an absolute miracle to have with us, she was so fabulous! We also had a cranial sacral therapist come over and do some cranial sacral work with River which totally helped out his latch - we were having a few difficulties with breastfeeding to start off with.
River, Mom and Dad have been at home for almost 2 weeks now and just enjoying
our wonderful, healthy and strong bundle of joy!
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