Nathan's birth story - doula's version

Kristine’s first labor was long and arduous so she was due for a beak the second time around and she certainly got one!

She was expecting this little one on January 15th but as early as January 3rd the midwives were seeing changes in her cervix that indicated that she might go earlier. As of that appointment she was 50% effaced and a centimeter dilated. By Monday the 9th she was 2 cm. She was quite ready to go early and little Colin was ready too. “Mommy hurt?” he said when Kristine grunted and groaned her way through each day toward the end.

On Wednesday Jan 11 she was not too surprised to find her belly hardening a little more than before and had some pinkish discharge. At 2:30 in the afternoon she had a massage and Roxanne used the pressure points known to stimulate labor. At 5:30 that evening Kristine had her first ‘real’ contraction and wondered if this could be ‘it’.

By 11:30 she was still contracting and called me, the doula, to give me a heads up. At midnight she lost her mucous plug and by 1:30 am her contractions were 7 to 8 minutes apart.

At around 2:20 am, with Bobs hand on her big belly they both felt a ‘big movement’ as Kristine’s water broke. Time to head to the hospital!! The couple got things together and waited for Roxanne to arrive for Colin. They left home about 2:50 and called me to meet them at the hospital.

Apparently it was a pretty wild ride as Bob zoomed around an unsuspecting driver waiting at a red light. He raced to the hospital while Kristine tried desperately NOT to push.

When they arrived at Northside Bob began filling out the myriad of paperwork while Kristine sat nearby making fairly loud noises. She noticed that the security guard seemed to be trying his hardest NOT to look at her! Finally a nurse arrived with a wheelchair saying “We’ll take it from here.”

By 3:24 Kristine was in her room. All the nurses were trying to get Kristine not to push. She was, as she called it “tree frogging’ as Colin does, repeating over and over, “why,why,why” (why can’t I push??) The answer, no one was authorized to catch the baby; they were still waiting for the midwife.

Finally, the midwife was there and the pushing could begin. The baby’s head was already crowning. Apparently Kristine was pushing anyway! It only took about 5-6 pushing sessions, and at 3:37am a boy was born!

At 3:45 I walked into the room to a wailing baby and a shaking mother. “Things happened so fast” she said, and, of course, the one midwife who was her least favorite was the one on call. Kristine could hardly wait for the suturing to be done and the midwife to move on.

I got some blankets from the warmer, which helped with the shaking but not as much as finally getting her baby into her arms. It began to subside as she held little Nathan, or was it Kade, or maybe Kyle????? At least she and Bob were sure of the middle name, Martin, as they looked at their new son and tried each of the first names one by one.

He nursed well then had his first bath around 5 am, crying heartily while Kristine ate a much deserved but not too great sandwich. At least breakfast would be served soon!

By 5:30 or so he was back in his mothers arms and it only took one glance for his parents to be sure…his name would be Nathan!

So with Gush in one arm and Nathan tucked safely in the other Kristine was ready to move to her post partum room and wait for Colin to come meet his new brother.


It was an honor to serve you during this pregnancy and birth.
Blessings to you all
Guina Bixler, CLD