Laelia Hall Pappenfus: A Birth Story

Laelia was born November 2, 2010 at 3:20am. Here is her story.
At 6:00am Monday November 1, 2010 my water broke. I leaped out of bed as gracefully as a 40-week pregnant lady can, and woke up Jeremy. This was it! Our time had come, and we would finally meet "Mini P" and discover if we had a son or a daughter. I wasn't having any contractions right then, so we figured out our plan for the day. Jeremy was going to go check in at work and tie things up for the week that he was taking off, and I would hang at home and labor. Only I wasn't laboring! I went to the grocery story, did some shopping, and came back home. Still no consistent contractions. Jeremy came home a little after lunch time, and after talking to our midwife again, we went into the Kalispell office to get me checked out. We got down there about 3:30pm, at which time my contractions were about 7-10 minutes apart, and starting to feel stronger than all the Braxton Hicks I'd had, but not crazy strong. Linda (our midwife) confirmed that my water had broken (I had no doubt) and monitored my contractions for a little while. I was dilated 2 cm and effaced 70%. Laelia's heartbeat was strong and everything looked good, so she told us to head home and try and eat and rest. She did give me the ultimatum of 6:00am the next morning to be in hard labor or else she'd want to start pitocin to get things going as there is a rick of infection once the water has broken. Well, I was NOT interested in that, so I just told the little babe to come on out!

We went home via the grocery store (again!) for some food and a movie. Jeremy cooked me a delicious steak dinner, which I ate while watching the movie in between contractions which were now getting stronger; I had to focus to relax through them. I was having nerve pain in my legs below my hips, and this continued throughout my labor, and was probably the most painful part of the whole thing. After a while I threw up my yummy dinner (rats!) and that's when we decided to head to the hospital. We called Linda, got things packed in Desdemona, and took off.

We arrived at the hospital at 10:00pm, and I had a few contractions while we were walking into the Birth Center. I remember having one as we checked in at the nurses station, and getting down onto my hands and knees. When it passed, they asked me if I needed anything, and I said, "Water would be nice," and then a nurse said, "Yeah, cause you're working hard!" I remember feeling validated upon hearing that comment. We got settled into room 127 and they put the fetal monitor on for 20 minutes. Everything was great and I didn't want to keep it on, so all the rest of the fetal checks were done with the Doppler wand, which was really nice. Our nurse was Ina, this wonderful and enormous lady from the Netherlands. She encouraged me by telling me that she gave birth to a 14lbs baby! She drew a bath for me, and I alternated between the tub and the bed. I was dilated about 4cm when we checked in. We wanted to do a water birth, but they don't set that tub up until you are 8cm to make sure the water is warm enough for you. When I was getting close to 8cm, I remember Ina coming in and telling me that I might start to feel the urge to push. I told her that I had already, during the last two contractions. It was the most amazing thing; I wasn't actively pushing, but there was nothing I could do to stop my body from this process of labor! Jeremy was an amazing coach, reminding me to relax and breath, and just be a steady force for me to lean on. When the tub was set up I got in and it felt so great.

Here is the 'AquaDoula' tub, and Ina is in the background. She's so tall her head didn't make it into the picture.

Jeremy coaching me through every step of the way. He got major praise from the nurses for being so great!

Linda arrived before I got in the tub, and after she checked me again I was at 10cm and could start pushing in earnest. I was having camel-hump contractions, which is when there is a strong one immediately followed by a weaker one before I got a break. I was pushing in the strong part, but not the weak part. Most of the pushing I did was in a kneeling position, facing the side of the tub like the picture above. When I was getting really close, I flipped over onto my back and with the assistance of Ina and another nurse holding my legs, pushed while totally floating in the tub. It was great to be pressure-free while pushing. Linda coached me through while Laelia's head came out, and I was focused so much that I didn't even realize that the rest of her was out too! Linda had to tell me to look at what I just did, and when I opened my eyes and looked down, I saw Laelia under the water with her eyes wide open and blinking and her mouth open. I think I said, "Oh my goodness, it's a baby!" They pulled her out of the water and put her on my chest, but we didn't yet know it was Laelia. The cord was going tight between her legs, around her ankle and back to me, and we couldn't see if we had a boy or girl! Once the cord was out of the way, we saw she was a girl, and Jeremy said, "Hello, Laelia!" She was kind of blue, so after Jeremy cut the cord they took her to the warmed and gave her some oxygen. Jeremy and Ina helped me out of the tub to the bed so Linda could deliver the placenta and stitch me up where I had torn.

Jeremy cutting the cord. Laelia was doing great after a couple of minutes, so she was placed back in Jeremy's arms while Linda finished with me.

Laelia made it back into my arms after she was weighed (6lbs 9.6oz) and measured (19in), where I marveled over how tiny and amazing and wonderful she was! She was so alert, looking all around with her big eyes for about 2 hours after she was born. She did a great job nursing right away, and we were humbled by God's goodness to us with a safe delivery and a healthy girl.

Giving birth was one of the most amazing experiences I have every had. Yes, it was very hard work. It's not called labor for nothing. But it was truly incredible to feel Laelia moving through me as she came into the world. God made my body able to give birth, and I wouldn't change my experience of it for anything.