For an hour, I was a whirlwind of energy. I took a shower, organized the dog sitters, called my parents and doctor and, of course, called Michelle. She was an hour away, in Beatrice, but she jumped into her car and headed to Lincoln right away.
Overall my experience at the hospital was excellent, but the check-in process was excruciating. I was already in a lot of physical discomfort and was immobilized by the fetal heart monitor. I was so relieved when Michelle arrived and immediately went to work advocating for me. She convinced the nurse to let me move around after I’d been confined to the bed for an hour. My contractions became much more bearable when I could walk and sit on the birthing ball.
For the next few hours, I found what worked and stuck with it. I sat on the ball and my husband sat behind me and rubbed my back. Michelle sat in front of me and held my hands and spoke encouragingly. My labor was extremely fast – five hours start to finish – and I barely had any rest periods between contractions, which made for a fairly intense and uncomfortable experience. Although my goal was natural childbirth, I did ask for pain medicine once or twice after particularly strong contractions. Together, Michelle and my husband encouraged me to persevere drug-free, telling me I was doing great and that things were progressing really quickly. In retrospect, I was probably too far along to even be a candidate for an epidural, but it didn’t matter. With support from my birth team, I worked through the experience without any meds.
No one had to check and confirm that I’d proceeded through transition. Michelle said she could tell purely from the noises I was making that it was time to push, and she was right! Although I’d had visions of a peaceful and slow delivery, by that stage of the process, I just wanted to get that baby out! I practically clamored onto the bed the minute my doctor arrived. After pushing through two contractions, my beautiful son was born.
The moments after his birth are a blur in my memory. Although I was elated and experiencing a rush of endorphins, I remember feeling a bit lonely when the baby was on the other side of the room getting cleaned and measured and checked over. My husband and parents crowded around our newborn, and so Michelle came and held my hand while I received stitches and began the recovery process. I insisted she head home at around 11 p.m., and I remember thanking her repeatedly for being such a calm and reassuring presence throughout the evening.
In the end, we felt so lucky to have had Michelle with us on this magical journey. My labor was quick and “by the book,” but it was still scary and unfamiliar at times, and it was a huge comfort to have someone with us every minute to answer our questions. After a somewhat perilous pregnancy, we felt that we had a very charmed and blessed labor and delivery experience.
I should note that during those first hectic and sleepless weeks at home, Michelle checked in on me frequently and offered support and counsel. I realized that the role of a doula doesn’t end with childbirth; she was invested in my mental health as well as my baby’s physical health, and she was available whenever I needed advice or a pep talk.
Now six months old, Coltrane has continued to be a miraculous little guy. We speak often about that amazing night when he came into our lives. ~ Sara G.
Michelle Lieske
