When Jeremy and I found out that we were going to have a baby, we were extremely excited (and slightly overwhelmed!). We immediately began to discuss the very important decisions that lay ahead, beginning with where we would have the baby. My sister, Sacha, who is pregnant with her sixth child, had her first four children in hospitals, with doctors, and with medication. Her fifth child, however, was born naturally under the care of a midwife. When I told her I was pregnant, she advised me to do some research on midwifery, natural birth, and hospital births before making any decisions. Based on what I had seen from her pregnancies, I was already leaning toward using a midwife instead of a doctor, but I wasn’t completely prepared to make a decision.
Since this was my first pregnancy, and since we live in a small apartment with neighbors close by, I wasn’t quite ready for a home birth. At the same time, based on what I had seen, I didn’t want the highly technological, “medicized” hospital experience. As I was looking through our insurance options, I found the Labor of Love birth centers. Jeremy and I visited the website and were immediately struck by the welcoming, home-like atmosphere. We were even more impressed during our first visit. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, and Kristi was amazing! She answered our questions before we even knew what to ask! We knew right away that this was where we wanted to bring our baby into the world.
During our prenatal visits, we were able to establish a personal relationship with Ricci and Bea. They answered our questions competently, gave us sound advice on dealing with the ups and downs of pregnancy, and most importantly, gave us their complete attention. We never felt rushed during our visits.
Finally, it was the week of Avie’s due date. I was starting to get a little anxious, but nothing was happening. Two days before her due date, I spent the day with my mom and stepfather who were visiting from TN (waiting for the baby to arrive). We swam for most of the morning, and then went grocery shopping. By the time I went to bed that night I was exhausted. At 2:30 that morning, I woke up with back pain. My back had been hurting throughout the last part of the pregnancy, so I figured it was more of the same. Then I noticed that the pain seemed to be coming in waves – every five minutes or so. I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up, took a bath, ate some cereal, and tried to research back labor on the internet to see if that’s what I was feeling. I was too distracted by the pain to finish, so I went back to bed. Sometime around 4:30 I decided to start timing the contractions. I couldn’t find my watch, so I had to use my cell phone just to get an idea of how far apart they were. They came every five minutes until 5:15, when I finally tried to wake up Jeremy.
Having not gotten much sleep himself, he was a little confused when I tried to tell him I thought it was time to call my sister (who would be driving in from Jacksonville), and the midwife. He kept reminding me what we had heard at our childbirth classes – that most first-time moms come to the center much earlier than they need to, and many say they would have rather stayed home longer. I understood why he was stalling, but I was pretty sure this was “the real thing.” (He was also a little fuzzy on timing the contractions… “Aren’t they supposed to be five minutes long?” he asked…)
I finally convinced Jeremy to call Ricci. He talked to her for a minute, then handed the phone over to me. She reminded me to relax and breathe through the contractions. Just talking to her on the phone immediately calmed me down. The conversation was choppy because we kept getting interrupted by contractions (which were coming every three or four minutes by this time). She asked me to pick a time to meet, and suggested 8:00 (it was now about 5:45). By the time I hung up with her, we had changed the time from 8:00 to 7:30 to 7:00.
All of a sudden, Jeremy realized that this was for real. He (along with my mom and stepfather) started running around the apartment getting everything ready while I continued to deal with the contractions. I was more scared than anything – worried about how I would be able to handle the contractions during our 30-minute car ride. When everything was loaded up, I made it down to the parking lot and into the back seat. Jeremy managed to cut our drive time in half, and ignored the strange looks we got from neighboring drivers. He tried to help as best he could, but I was pretty difficult, going from “Stop talking to me!” to “Honey, I need you” in the space of a few seconds.
Since the drive didn’t take as long as normal, we were the first to arrive at the birth center. Glenda came soon after (it was almost 7:00 now) to let us in and get everything prepared. The room was quiet, and I felt a little more at ease now that we had arrived. Jeremy relaxed me by running a cool washcloth across my neck during and between contractions. I had a couple of contractions before Ricci arrived and said she needed to check me. I was so excited when she said I was 8-9 centimeters! I knew the baby would be here soon. Ricci suggested I get up and walk around and make a plan for the next contraction. I didn’t have much planning time, because the next one came as soon as she said that. I had just gotten on my knees, resting on the birthing ball, when my water broke. We moved back to the bed and all of a sudden it was time to push!
After my first couple of “pushes,” I told Ricci I didn’t feel like I was pushing anything. “You’re not,” she replied calmly, “you’re just making noise.” She and Glenda reminded me to relax and focus on pushing, not screeching. Even during the process, I was amazed at how calm and relaxed they both were, and that made me feel confident that everything was going well. They checked the baby’s heart rate several times, and assured me that she was fine. When I complained that I couldn’t do this, Ricci calmly reminded me that I already was doing it, and that we were almost done. Finally (although it didn’t take that long), the baby’s head was out (along with the hand that she brought out across her face), and the rest of her came soon after. I couldn’t believe I was finally holding my baby girl!
The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. Jeremy and I were able to hold our daughter, and spend time getting to know her. After a few hours, we were able to go home as a family and begin our new life together.
Later that week, my stepfather asked me what I thought about my experience at the birth center (he was intrigued by the way things were done there). I told him I don’t think I could ever have a baby at a hospital after my experience at Labor of Love. It was safe, natural, and relaxed – everything I wanted, and everything I think God intended birth to be. Jeremy, Avie, and I are moving out of state soon, and although I am excited to go, I told Jeremy we may need to move back next time I’m pregnant so our second child can be a Labor of Love baby too!
