Labor Story

It was early morning and Zak was now in the bathtub, dozing off at moments but mostly in a state of deep corporeal focus. I was kneeling over the edge of the water, pouring water over her to keep her warm and relaxed. My knees and back were on fire, and I was in and out of full consciousness as I waited for the next wave of contractions.

The whole labor party was exhausted but vigilant; Stephanie and Nikki had left the bathroom and retreated to the birthing room to give Zak and me some space. And it was a space I'll never forget, that point in the labor when I felt we were on the final crest, and it was just Zak and I, the water, and the baby... preparing. It was the moment I made myself remember to write down, much like a promise made to oneself in the middle of a dream as the awakening is coming on, a promise to bring something back.

The progress of the labor had been slower than we had expected for a second child. It was early morning, a little after 7AM on April 27th, nearly 12 hours after the labor had begun, and we were still uncertain of how much longer this would last. Zak's labor had started right as Hunter was being tucked into bed for the night, around 8:30PM. Within an hour or so, the contractions were definite enough for me to call in the team: Stephanie and Nikki for the labor, and Rachel to watch over Hunter while we were away.

I called the Sutter maternity center but didn't get the same anticipatory reception that I had with Hunter's birth. We didn't have the fortune of a midwife appointment during the early stages of labor as we had with Hunter, so prior arrangements with Sutter had obviously not yet been made. Their inital response was that they were booked, no vacancy, but that 'our business was important to them' (hm, ok). We tried to take this in stride, but it was more than a bit demoralizing. Prior experiences with Dominican hospital had not endeared us to the place, and it was difficult to imagine birthing there.

When the contractions became strong enough for a stroll around the block, I got a call from Rachel relaying a message from Sutter that a room had cleared and was available. Within about 45 minutes of walking by flashlight and measuring contraction intervals, we felt it was time to check in.

When we arrived shortly after midnight, the nurse checked Zak and estimated a 2cm dilation. So we resumed our strolling through the maternity center, walking slowly up and down the main set of stairs and the vacant hallways on the lower floor, and pausing for contractions that were strong enough to require full focus and vocalizations (low tones to drop the energy where it needed to go).

We felt we were steadily progressing until the nurse checked Zak again around 1:30 and still estimated a 2cm dilation. It was hard to take, but we did... I remembered the metaphor of the labyrinth from the Birthing from Within class years ago, when we had been preparing for Hunter. Our destination was certain, but the length of the journey and number of twists & turns were completely unknown. The only thing I could possibly hope to do for Zak at this point was to be fully present.

A little before 3AM, we decided to go home and progress there. Zak labored on the living room floor for 2 more hours before we felt the contractions were powerful and frequent enough to go back to Sutter. The nurse estimated a couple more centimeters of dilation at that point, and Zak continued what she was doing. We were no longer taking walks at this point. By 7AM, we were all exhausted and decided to try the bath.

This is where everything seemed to pause, right where I began the story. We all settled into it for awhile, waiting for the next move.

After about 30 minutes, Zak decided that the pause had lasted long enough and felt that the bath was actually slowing the labor. When she got out, the contractions indeed became much stronger and within minutes the tone of her vocalizations took on that unmistakable quality I'd heard when Hunter was arriving, the moans rising quickly and interrupted by the force of the contractions. Her body was ready to push. A nurse confirmed full effacement and 10 cm dilation.

We had to scramble, one of the nurses actually running into the hall to catch a midwife by the name of Marganne who was leaving another birth. She barely had time to get her gloves on as Zak pushed. Within 2 or 3 minutes, Scout arrived still cocooned in her water sack which hadn't broken during delivery.

Hunter arrived with Rachel later that morning, and Scout immediately took notice of her big brother, turning her head to track him as he spoke. He's a focal point whenever he's in her field of vision.

We all went home as a family that afternoon to begin our adventure.