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Lucy's Birth Story

Written by Hattiesburg Midwifery Mama, Jamie Lippincott



Like many first-time moms, I had several of the “am I going into labor?” moments from week  37 up until Lucy’s birth at 39 weeks and 4 days. However, I knew something was definitely  different and labor was approaching when I got up on December 16th.  


I got up that morning and went to work like normal. My job involved sitting at a desk quite a bit  that day. I remember multiple distinct contractions throughout the morning. I finished work at  12 and walked the business cell phone to my boss since I knew I was definitely not going to be  answering phone calls during my maternity leave. ( I was met with wide eyes as he laughingly realized I was going into labor and told me “good luck. Have fun”)  


I had a prenatal appointment with Amanda that afternoon at 2. So with a little time to kill, I went to  Walmart and Sam’s to stock up on a few food items and lots of paper plates! Walking through  Sam’s while 9 months pregnant in early labor stages may not have been my greatest idea, but  boy was I glad to have those strawberries, fig bars, and rotisserie chicken!  


Everything was normal throughout the appointment and I left ready to see how things would  progress. I called my husband, Evan, on the way home. We had made plans to have 3 close  friends over for a steak dinner as a graduation celebration for one of them. Since I was still in  the very early stages of labor, the distraction and hearty dinner was welcomed. My  contractions were consistently 15-20 minutes apart at that point. I rested for the next hour or  two. Evan cleaned our house and got everything ready for dinner. As our friends arrived, my  contractions were about 10 minutes apart but not so intense that I wasn’t able to conceal the  fact I was in labor. As we ate, contractions were getting stronger and I was having to  concentrate through them. We ended up telling our friends I was in labor around 9 pm when I  couldn’t conceal the contractions anymore. I deal with pain and can stay relaxed best with  distraction, so having our friends there for the first stages of labor was actually nice… however  different than how I would’ve thought it would be! 


I had kept Amanda posted with the progress up until that point, as well as my sister (Sharon)  who was planning to attend the birth. At around 10:30pm, Evan began setting up the birth pool  in our room and Sharon arrived. By 11pm, the contractions were 4 minutes apart, but only  lasting about 30 seconds. I tried to sleep again, but that was definitely not happening. I walked  the short hallway in our home, just trying to meet the urge to move around. The next few hours  were filled with walking, bouncing on/leaning over the birth ball, listening to Sharon tell me  stories to help me pass the time, listening to my favorite worship songs, resting through  contractions as I could and hugging and swaying with Evan when they were more intense.  


By 2am, contractions were 3 minutes apart but still not very long. I was beginning to get tired  but still felt that we had a good way to go left. This was when we decided to text Amanda. She  and her team started arriving 45 minutes later. She checked my vitals as well as Lucy’s heart rate and position. We then talked through a few options to try to rest a little better through the  next little while and hopefully the contractions would either slow down just a little, or grow in  intensity. We decided on filling up the birth pool and spending some time trying to rest in the  hot water. There was about an hour that was very peaceful and calm. As Evan held my hands  and held me close to him, Sharon applied counter pressure on my hips when contractions  came. I distinctly remember one particular contraction that felt powerful, but calm and  peaceful. That hour of calmer contractions was so helpful! And then the contractions started  getting way more intense. 


The times are a little fuzzy to me… I was definitely in labor land and didn’t even notice the big  thunderstorm that rolled through. Somewhere around 6 am I started feeling like I should push. I  had gotten out and back in the birth pool. We went through several different positions, but  none of my pushes were feeling very effective. I spent several contractions on the toilet and  then moved to the birth stool… which I will forever look at differently. (it’s a love/hate  relationship with that stool)  I had expected the contractions to be painful… obviously. But what i didn’t expect was the  charlie-horse cramps in my hips. I’ve had intense leg cramps for years, mostly in my calves,  but sometimes in quads or hips. They were frequent in pregnancy. As each contraction came, a  charlie-horse cramp came with it. After 2.5 hours of pushing and trying positions to avoid the  cramps, we started realizing something would have to change.  

Amanda asked how I felt about a cervical check at that point to assess where we were at. At  that point, we realized that part of my cervix was not effacing. That gave some guidance as to  a few different labor positions that might be more effective as well as helped us realized that it  would need to be held out of the way manually until Lucy’s head was low enough to hold it  back.  


After a few positions, my water did end up breaking and we were seeing progress. I was finally  starting to push effectively. I was exhausted at that point though and not handling the  contractions paired with the leg/hip cramps well. I remember trying to push but recoiling away  from the pressure because of the cramps. I remember Amanda telling me that I was going to  have to push harder. I told her I didn’t know if I could do that. She responded by reminding me,  gently but firmly, “well, you either have to figure out how to push harder or we’ve got to  transition to the hospital” That was what I needed in that moment. Something shifted mentally  for me then. I wasn’t trying to manage both the contractions and the cramps. (and not  managing either one well for that matter) But I shifted into embracing the contractions and  trying to lean into them, despite the increasing charlie-horses.  


 I’ve dealt with my share of pain and it has always made me more quite as i dealt with it. So I  always thought I would be the quite type in labor… that was most definitely not the case!  Something about labor changes the way your interact with your surroundings. I wouldn’t have  thought i would’ve yelled but I did, without even realizing it. as each contraction came, and my  exhaustion continued to grow, the yelling and effective pushing came too. We knew at that  point that we couldn’t work around the charlie-horse cramps anymore. If I was going to be able  to get that baby out, I was going to have to do it with the charlie-horses. Amanda suggested  getting into a deep supported squat. Between the contractions, the charlie-horses, and lack of  electrolytes compounded by having POTS, I couldn’t feel my legs. I remember my husband  telling me in my ear that he had me (as he supported so much of my weight that my legs  couldn’t handle at that point) and that we were going to get to meet our little girl soon!  


Amanda said to give it three contractions in that squat. “You can make it through 3! and then  we can change positions” That squat was more painful that anything I had anticipated, but  effective. At the third contraction came, Lucy’s head was crowning and I finally knew how to  push. We were definitely not moving from that squat until she came out!! I could feel Lucy’s  head with my hand and knew she was right there! That was such a strength booster at that  point. On the next contraction, out came her head followed by her body on the next  contraction.  


We sat on the floor in between the foot of our bed and the dresser, a space of about 2 feet. The  relief and joy was through the roof. The passing of time is a blur, but I remember hearing  Whitney call out the times as Amanda checked Lucy’s breathing. She needed a little help  breathing. After a couple rescue breaths though, she was breathing well on her own!


We transitioned from the floor to our bed. Having Lucy lay on my chest and knowing she was  out safely was the best feeling… slightly interrupted by the delivery of the placenta… which  was a little more difficult than I expected. Lucy was born at 10:23 am and the placenta at  10:38. My bleeding was excessive and I was hemorrhaging. Amanda gave me a shot of pitocin  IM followed by an IV. When my bleeding slowed and everything was stable. Amanda  addressing any tearing and gave Lucy a thorough exam right there next to me. While Sharon  and one of Amanda’s assistants made sure I ate something and drank electrolytes. I had  started labor off with a hearty, protein heavy dinner, but only had yogurt and electrolytes  throughout labor. I was pretty weak! After food, electrolytes, and a little rest. I was starting to  feel better and greatly wanted a shower. We slowly eased into the bathroom. We stopped  walking and I went to touch the wall in front of me to stabilize myself. The next thing I can  remember is waking up looking at the ceiling and realizing that I had fainted… and that I wasn’t  going to get to take a shower. haha! I went on hands and knees back to my bed and get settled  in the bed with Lucy back on my chest. And we stayed right there for the rest of the day.  


Amanda and her team handled everything so well and got us settled down for some sleep. We  all slept with instructions not to get out of bed until Amanda returned that evening. When she  returned, I was much more stable on my feet and made it to the bathroom and back and onto  the porch for a few breaths of fresh air.  


We settled in for sleep that night for the first time as a family of three… happy for the safe  arrival of our little girl!




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