This photo was taken 1 min after I gave birth to my daughter. I was looking at my midwives and doula with pure gratitude.
August 7th 2012 at 1 am, (ten days after July 29th my estimated due date) my fiance and I head for the hospital while I was in horrible back labor and of course it got worse and worse. Through the early morning into the afternoon I was having tremendous back labor pains. Around noon the pain was so strong that I would shake in silence every time I had a contraction. I was in 12 hour labor and my fiance and doula’ Billie Wolfe had been by my side through out it all. Throughout labor I sat on the bed sitting up, I sat and rolled on the exercise ball, I even took a few hot showers. The whole time I controlled my breathing and I never let out a scream, but moaned instead. I had watched some documentaries on natural birthing and one documentary showed a woman having an orgasm while in labor. I think I was far from an orgasm.
Finally I had enough. In a low-tone voice, with whatever energy I had left I looked into my fiance's eyes and I told him, "I can't do this anymore, I need some pain killers". The backpain was so unbearly painful that I gave into the drugs and took the epidural. I was trying to avoid the epidural because once you take a drug during labor, 90% chance that it will become a downward spiral of interventions. When the doctor gave me the pain killer and asked me how was the pain, I told him “It feels like a knife is stabbing me in the back”. He was so confused and worried, he says “Perhaps I didn’t do it right”. I said, ‘No, No, it’s better than a chainsaw in my back”. I was 95% effaced but only 2 centimeters dilated for the whole 12 hours of excruciating pain. After half an hour of being relaxed by the epidural, Lonnie Morris came into the room to check on my dialation and I became 9 cetimeters dialated!
My mid-wives Lonnie Morris and Leah Marinelli were ready to deliver my baby. They placed a large mirror in front of me so that I could see the baby come out. Leah held my legs, while Lonnie delivered the baby. I also had Bille, the doula holding a scarf and we would tug on each end when I would push. I pushed for an hour and a half with a smile on my face because I knew the baby was coming. I remember my fiance saying that he couldn’t believe I was smiling at that point after going through so much. I was still in pain, less pain, but I was overcoming it with excitment and joy that she were coming. I remember telling the midwives, “Let’s get this show on the road”. They are against interventions, but they said that for my case it was needed. They always made me feel like I was on the right track and I was doing everything right. At 4:43 pm when the baby was halfway out I pulled her out myself by grabbing her from under her arms and onto my chest. August 7th, 2012 on Tuesday at 4:44pm at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, NJ my little Italian/Indian Princess was born at 7 lbs 7 oz. I cried with tears of joy having her little body on mine and being able to hold her hands and see her face.
Giving birth naturally was incredible. Every time I pushed I would see more and more of my baby's head. I had a "woah" moment when her head was out and I had to give one more push and her arms came out. My midwives knew I wanted to pull her out, so they yelled, "she's coming, she's coming, now! Grab her!".
I am so grateful to my finace, midwives and doula. I couldn't of done it without them. Their spirit and empowerment really gave me the perserverance to have a natural birth. No doctor would have done what Lonnie Morris did for me. I would have had a completely different experience. I called them the "Dream Team".
The next day I was in the recovery room with my baby, fiance, and my parents when Lonnie came by for a quick visit. She came to see how I was doing and to say hi to the baby. Lonnie said, that a doctor would have given me a c-section. I thanked her again profusely and she left me with, "You're my hero".
If you are in the NJ/NY area you can contact "The Dream Team"
(Midwife) Lonnie Morris - http://www.childbirthcenter.net
(Midwife) Leah Marinelli - http://www.homebirthwithlove.com/
(Doula) Billee Wolff - http://doulamatch.net/profile/564/billee-wolff
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