At last, Melina!

Our beautiful new baby Melina (her middle name is my maiden name) was born on April 26 after a long and complicated labor and delivery.

On April 25 Melina was nine days late, so I had an acupuncture treatment to induce labor. I was kind of skeptical about it working, especially since the acupuncturist put only four tiny needles into my lower back. That was at 1:30 p.m. At 4:30 I started getting contractions, and at 8:45 p.m. my water broke while I was rolling around on an exercise ball trying to get the baby to go lower. At that point, the contractions were coming every minute and a half. My midwife and her student midwife showed up right away to assess the situation, and at 10:40 p.m. we drove to the birthing center – me in a great deal of pain, with Jeff rubbing my back in the back seat.

The first 6-8 centimeters of dilation went really fast, and were just what I was hoping for in terms of a natural birth. I labored in a hot tub with candles lit and music playing, with Jeff rubbing my back and helping me through the contractions. They were very painful, but I could keep on top of them with visualizations and chanting. I actually found that moaning at the same tone as the hot tub’s jet motor really helped. My parents were there in the background, along with the midwife and two student midwives. Things were progressing so quickly that at one point I thought the baby might be born by three in the morning.

By 5 a.m., contractions still two minutes apart and everyone was waiting for baby's head to drop. The baby was at –2 station – not nearly low enough.

The next 11 hours were spent in increasing pain and frustration as I kept laboring without any progress. A small bag of water had escaped in front of the baby’s head, and when the midwife broke it, my dilation went down from 8 to 6. I tried everything to get the baby to drop – squats, walking, laboring in a rocking chair, on a birthing ball, in the tub, on the bed, trying homeopathic remedies and herbs to focus the contractions… nothing worked. Jeff and dad were getting upset watching me in so much pain, and I was getting more and more exhausted, hopeless and frustrated. Throughout the whole ordeal, the baby’s heart tones were very strong and she seemed to be tolerating labor well, but we decided that if I hadn’t progressed any more by the next check, I was going to go to the hospital. At 3:30 p.m. I hadn’t progressed. The midwife made the arrangements on the phone and we drove to the hospital, with me having terrible contractions in the front seat of the car.

By this time, I was more than ready for an epidural, and my midwife agreed that it might help me relax enough to allow the baby to drop. They gave me the epidural right away – sweet relief! – and started pitocin to see if stronger contractions would help. I sat there talking and laughing while my body continued to labor away without any pain at all…

After a few hours of laboring with very strong contractions, my cervix still hadn’t dilated and the baby was still at -2. The doctor recommended a c-section, and I couldn’t see any reason to continue laboring, since I had been stuck at 6 cm for almost 15 hours. Jeff and my parents had taken off to get a bite to eat, so I had to call them and tell them to come back ASAP for the emergency c-section. At 8:30 Jeff and I went in for the section, which was completely painless. I was so happy to finally get to see the baby, that any reservations I had about c-sections evaporated. Jeff and I kept up a conversation while they opened me up, and at 8:58 p.m. he excitedly announced that it was a GIRL! Baby Melina had arrived in the world!

So right now I am in the hospital recovering from the section, which really is major surgery. It turns out that Melina was probably at an odd angle and was unable to move through the birth canal. She has a bit of jaundice, so she is in the nursery today getting phototherapy. A good friend of mine works in the nursery, which is fantastic because she has been able to teach me a lot. I am very sore, with so much trapped gas in me that I still look nine months pregnant, but every day is getting better. Melina is beautiful and Jeff is quickly becoming a champ at calming her and changing diapers!

Although the whole experience was terribly grueling, I was glad to get the chance to go through both a med-free and a medicated birthing experience. My experience at the birthing center was as beautiful and spiritual as I wanted it to be, until my labor stalled; and when I needed it, medical technology was there to support me and possibly to save both my life and Melina’s.