A Crazy Country Song Birth Story: An Accidental Doula



At 5:00am yesterday I got a text from my friend Sara telling me that her water had broken and her contractions were 3 minutes apart.  This is the third time in almost six years I have gotten the "water broke" text, but never the 3 minutes apart text.  I got up, got in the shower, grabbed my smoothie and Focus, and headed 45 minutes away to the designated hospital to meet her for the birth of her last child.  I was excited for it, having been a part of the other two.  

I arrived at the hospital about 20 minutes before Sara, and hung out in the delivery room.  She arrived and got hooked up to the monitor, which baby boy most decidedly did not like and therefore kicked at in and launched himself into a transverse position.   Getting Sara on a pitocin drip while he was in that position was impossible, so we waited for several hours watching 'House Hunters' on HGTV until the OB could come and turn him back to head down.  By this time it was about 12:30pm and we were ready to get the show on the road.

She got hooked up to the pitocin and her contractions started to become more regular.  We went through all of our usual techniques of handling the pain, but several hours later she hadn't progressed and was feeling extreme pain from a pelvic injury she had sustained during a car accident when she was about 18 weeks along in this pregnancy.  Finally, I asked her if she wanted an epidural (she had wanted the least invasive delivery possible, and her second child was an unmedicated natural birth) and she said yes.  

The anesthesiologist came in and after a while the epidural took so we all settled in to watch more HGTV.  At some point I decided that if we were there for the long haul I needed to find a snack.  The hospital cafeteria was closed so I went to the parking lot to run to Trader Joe's for something.  I started the car just fine and it wouldn't go into gear.  Turned it off, tried again.  Nothing.  Sara's husband came out to the parking lot because he was going to find food as well.  I figured I couldn't do anything right then, so I got in the car with him and we went to Trader Joe's.  Closed.  Paradise Bakery.  Closed.  

Since he was originally going to go get Thai food, we decided to go get takeout.  In the meantime I was on the phone with my husband telling him what was going on with the jeep.  As we were sitting there waiting for the takeout, a mouse ran across the floor of the restaurant.  We looked at each other and commented that the night couldn't get weirder.  Little did we know!

We got back to the hospital and took the food up to the delivery room.  I said, "Do you think this baby is going to come in the next 10-15 minutes?"  The midwife said no, so I headed back to the parking lot, phone in hand, talking to a friend who is a mechanic.  When I got to the car, Sara texted me and said, "I'm at a ten."  I got off the phone and ran back to the doors, only to find they had locked at 8:30 and I needed to go around and down to the E.R. and then wind my way back up to Labor & Delivery.  Seriously?!

I knew I had to get there quickly, because her last baby came out in 3 pushes.  I ran into the room and the midwife said, "Apparently, he DID decide that he would be coming!"  I washed my hands, grabbed a leg and a few minutes later a screaming mad baby boy came out.  8 lbs  7 oz!  Earlier in the day we had been discussing names and two of the names on their list were Killian and Ian so I suggested naming him Killian with a nickname of Ian.  That worked for them and it means Little Warrior, which he definitely has proven himself to be in the past 24 hours.  

Each of Sara's births have been a totally different and amazing experience.  I love being in the room when one of God's little spirits comes into the world, and I love that Sara has allowed me to share in all of these experiences!  I am not a birth coach normally - she is the only person that I have done this for, and I'm happy with that.  I love her children and will always be their Aunt Heidi.  

And to think - it all started because 14 years ago I dated their dad...:)

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