Birth story time.
It’s 1:45am in the third trimester. You’re either tossing and turning to get comfortable, dealing with heart burn, getting up to pee, having thoughts of the baby to come, or you may even start to feel contractions. The latter is what happened to Rachel. The first time you experience contractions can be a little strange. You aren’t sure if this is really it or if it’s just another symptom of the third trimester. But this was it. She notified me right away, and I was up with her because I’m in my third trimester too. Her contractions danced around between 4, 5 and 7 minutes apart so I hit the road, while Rachel labored at home throughout the night and into the morning. She found her rhythm, a ritual, and different relaxation techniques through early labor. Breathing, stretching, using sounds to find comfort. She practiced everything we talked about during our doula visits and it really set her up to cope beautifully with active labor.
This early labor phase lasted nearly 10 hours. Some women stay in this phase for many hours or even days, so it was decided that her husband Nate will head to work, and Rachel’s mother will support her during this time. Her mother sat with her at home and provided comfort, because she’s done this 5 times herself.
By 11:45am, it was time to head to the hospital. Contractions were strong, close together, and under 5 minutes apart. Nate, Rachel and I met outside of the hospital. The sky was blue, and the sun was shining. A beautiful day for a beautiful birth.
Once we entered L&D at Penn Highlands Elk, everyone was thrilled to find that Rachel was about 6cm dilated. She was still coping extraordinarily well for the active labor phase. Breathing, holding our hands, tapping out rhythms during contractions. We tried a couple different positions on the bed, kneeling, sitting, and even in the tub for a couple contractions but by that time Rachel was in the transition phase and needed to get out of the water.
Once she was back on the bed, side lying was where she was most comfortable. She found comfort holding one of her hands with Nate and the other in mine, and with her head in the nook of my shoulder. I felt the power flowing through Rachel in these moments. There’s something so uniquely beautiful about a woman-to-woman connection in childbirth. You lean on each other figuratively and quite literally.
“I think my water broke”. Something was definitely happening. I quickly got the nurse; she came in and yelled for the other nurse and the doctor. It was show time baby! At 1:35pm, the pushing began. Nate to her right side and doula to her left. She was effectively pushing and still side lying. The energy in the room was calm and confident. Rachel took some of the most meaningful deep breaths to give her baby girl oxygen as she made her final descent. At about 1:40pm, Rachel and Nate’s wedding song played over the speaker. It was symbolically perfect, as their love was what brought them into this very moment. As the song began to end, baby girl’s head was making its way earth side. At 1:45pm emerged a beautiful baby girl, head full of hair, and a very tiny cry. Exactly 12 hours of labor later on March 5th 2021, Leona Lynn Shaffer was born.
A word from Rachel:
“Hiring Alexa to be our doula was our number one best decision during my pregnancy. She gave Nate and I so much support, clarity, compassion, and education before, during, and after delivering Leona. I was so thankful to have her with us throughout our journey into parenthood. She was able to attend our birth and made it a better experience than we ever could have imagined. If you are looking for extra support during your pregnancy, I highly *highly* recommend Alexa as your doula.”