The Birth of Jax

This is the story of our first born, Jax.

6:30 AM -My wifes water breaks. Unlike on TV, this doesn’t mean the baby is coming out immediately, so we didn’t freak out. It was a special moment though, because we now knew today was going to be the day. I finished packing my suitcase and loaded all of our stuff in the back of her car so it was ready to go. Then I made a large breakfast for us knowing that we both would need the energy. I also called my friend Dr.Coberly and asked if I could get adjusted right away. I knew I would need to be at my best to support my wife through this day so I had to get adjusted. He let me come over right away and I got adjusted before heading to work. (Yes I went to work, as the average first stage of labor is 14 hours)

10:30 AM -Jamie called and reported her contractions were getting closer together and told me it was time for me to come home. Contractions were 4 minutes apart from 10:30 to 11:30, so we headed to the University of Iowa. After checking in, her contractions became 2.5-3 minutes apart and lasted almost a full minute. This continued from noon-5:30. She would be in pain for 1 minute, and then would have 1-2 minutes to relax. She spent most of the time sitting on the birth ball during this phase. She did lie in the whirlpool for about an hour as well, but when she felt things getting more intense, she felt it was time to be out of the water. During each contraction, I would apply pressure on her Sacrum (lower back), and hold it until the contraction was over. This seemed to be the best thing at relieving her pain. Occasionally I would massage her shoulders as well, because becoming extremely tense during labor is counterproductive. During these 5 plus hours, there was not a lot of talking, from anyone. Our midwife knew we needed peace, and the staff did their best to leave us alone. We had some peaceful music playing in the background and that was really it. I knew better than to ask stupid questions like “how are you” or try to give advice.

5:00 P.M. “Transition” – The pain starting getting worse, and Jamie started getting frustrated and a little doubtful of her ability to keep going. She only once said she didn’t know if she could keep doing this. At this time, our nurse Amy came in like an angel. She literally held Jamie’s hand and told her how amazing she was doing. She showed her how to breathe thru this stage and comforted her at a difficult time. We determined she was in the “transition” stage, which is the hardest but shortest phase of labor. Being aware of this helped morale. Jamie felt she was close, and our midwife agreed it was a good time to check Jamie’s progress. She was 8-9 cm, so the end was close. Our doula then arrived, and between her, the nurse, and the midwife, she kept going for a few more contraction cycles until the midwife determined the baby was ready to come out.

5:30 P.M. “Delivery” The last pushing phase is intense to say the least. Our doula assisted Jamie in breathing/pushing correctly, while the rest of the staff kept her spirits up and let her know how amazing she was doing. Each contraction got stronger and Jamie pushed harder and longer. I have never seem Jamie push so hard. Pushing a baby out requires every ounce of strength and determination you have, plus a little more. The baby’s head started to appear, and I myself wondered how the baby was going to squeeze out. After the head was out, one more push and the rest of him popped right out. He was immediately placed on Jamie’s chest and let out a great cry, which is a good sign. All the nurses commented on how alert Jax was. We chose not to have the antibiotic eye drops put in, and Jax just stared at his new mom. After 2-3 minutes, the cord had stopped pulsing, and I cut it.The baby remained on Jamie for at least an hour while cleanup and other things were being done.

It was complete. My wife had just had a completely non-medicated delivery with her first child. The nurses called her hardcore, the doula and midwife said it was “perfect”.She herself was in amazement of what had actually just happened. I cried a little.

Some takeaways from this:

This birth wouldn’t have been possible in most hospitals. Why do I say that?

1.1.The LAST position Jamie wanted to be in during contractions was on her back. She tried it, it didn’t work. If she would have been forced to lie on her back, the pain would have likely been so severe she would have needed an epidural. For her, squatting on the bouncy birth ball was her desired position.

2.Jamie drank TONS of water throughout labor and delivery. Some hospitals prefer to hydrate you with an IV, instead of drinking. For Jamie, this would have been just cruel. Not only is the ordeal physically exhausting requiring hydration, the labored breathing dries your throat bad. After almost every contraction, I would hand her a cup of water to soothe her throat. Even during delivery she sipped in between pushes. Can you imagine running a 12 hour marathon with not ever taking a drink of fluid?

3.The delivery was done in a squatting position, not in the traditional back lying position. This allows more room for the baby to get out, puts gravity on your side, and makes mom able to push much more effectively. Who knows how long it would have taken for him to get out if she were forced to lie on her back during pushing. She did try it a couple times, but could tell it wasn’t going to be effective.

4.We were allowed to labor in a low stress environment. We did not have wires hooked up during labor, just intermittent checks. There was no IV stuck in her arm. Her dilation was only checked twice thru the whole pregnancy, and that day was the first day. No one pressured us to do anything. She was at peace to do what she she knew she could do.

I mention these things because they are things not every mom knows before they go in. The current C-section rate in the U.S. is 3 times higher than it should be, and even with all our modern medical advances, the infant mortality rate is high. Birth is a natural process, yet some docs still look at pregnancy as a pathology that needs emergency medical attention to end it as soon as possible. If women were unable to give birth on their own, our species would have died out a long time ago. Therefore, if you are going to have a baby, do your research (on every medical intervention), talk to others, and follow your instincts. You are free to fire your medical providers and also free to turn down any and all medical interventions they suggest. Throughout her pregnancy we did both, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

*This post does leave out the mental and physical preparation that Jamie did leading up to the birth. I feel that will be best in another post, written by her.