The Birth of Brandy
| Brandy Katherine’s Birth Story (as told by her doula...) I was very excited to help Andrea and Jason with the birth of their second child. I knew that Andrea had decided to make sure that this birth was everything that she wanted it to be. In her search for a new physician she realized that she did not want to be in a hospital at all. She searched for a midwife that would attend her for a home birth. She chose Jude with Sunrise Midwifery. When she told me what her plan was for the birth of her daughter, I was thrilled for them. During Andrea’s pregnancy I went to a couple of appointments with her and knew that Jude was the perfect midwife to attend to them. During my prenatal appointments with Andrea she let me know what she would like to do. She got prepared to have a water birth and a lotus birth. With her planning, making Ebay purchases and being fabulously creative she created a wonderfully relaxing and beautiful place to bring her baby into this world. As her pregnancy progressed we communicated quite a bit. Andrea was calm and peaceful about the upcoming event. As her due date came and passed she was looking forward to meeting her baby but was still being very patient. We had talked about things she could try to get things started but she felt like Brandy would come in her own time. After 41 weeks passed Jude had mentioned a non-stress test and an ultrasound. Andrea and Jason decided that this would be a good idea to do if they were going to use any alternative induction methods. I went with them to Dr Kells office for the test. Everything went great and Brandy looked very healthy and happy. The next day at 41/4 (supposedly) Andrea took some castor oil. It caused 18 hours of contractions and quite a bit of intestinal discomfort. As the evening progressed her contractions were coming regularly. They had been 10 minutes apart and now they were coming every 5-6 minutes. I went to their home and we timed things and hung out. It was getting late and Andrea wanted to rest so I crashed on the couch and she tried to sleep. She woke me up just after 4 in the morning. She was not able to sleep very well because she kept having to get up to use the bathroom. We took a walk around the block and her contractions were every three minutes while we were walking. I thought for sure the castor oil had done the trick, I was wrong. After breakfast and The Last Mimzy her contractions started to spread out again. I left at 2pm so that Andrea could rest and enjoy the 4th of July fireworks. I was expecting to hear from them soon. When I had not heard from her by Saturday morning I called her. Jude was there and they were doing an herbal induction regiment. Her cervix was dilated to 2-3 cm and was 60% effaced. I came over Saturday night to do some pressure points and see what we could do to encourage this little one to come out and meet her Mom and Dad. When I got there I could tell that Andrea had a very emotional day. She was feeling a lot of stress about reaching 42 weeks the next day and having to consider going to the hospital for induction. I asked her if she was positive about her dates. When she had told me in December that she was pregnant she thought that she would be due in August some time. That was before the first ultrasound and appointment with the Doctor. She got out her calendar and showed me how she had been charting everything. We looked over her ovulation, her menses, vacation dates and everything. The dates didn’t add up to mean that she was 42 weeks the next day. She seemed to feel better about the decision that they might need to make, and from her comments I got the impression that there would be no hospital involved. We worked on some pressure points and I marked the points with Sharpie and had to cross some out because I mismarked them. I left Andrea looking like a poorly spotted pup, but there was enough there that Jason could keep working them. I could tell that she was much more relaxed and peaceful about labor again, as she had been up until the last few days. She went to bed and woke up to her water breaking at 5:30. She called me just after 7 to let me know that her water had broken. She was going to try and get some more rest as her contractions had not really picked up yet. I arrived at their house at 10 am. She was very happy and excited that today was the day they were finally going to meet their daughter. Jude arrived and she did an initial evaluation and found everything to be great. She was still about 3 cm dilated with a stretchy cervix to between 4-5 cm. Andrea sat down with Jude and showed her all of the stuff that we went over the night before. Jude agreed that her dates were probably off and she made a note of it even though it was no longer a concern. Andrea was feeling good and we watched the Birdcage to keep everyone laughing. Ollie trudged in and out of their bedroom wearing my shoes. Andrea began to get a little tired and wanted to rest. Jude took up her latest knitting project and I went and got everyone Subway. Andrea rested with Jason taking great care of her and then she woke and ate some of her sandwich. I went in and rubbed her feet and she was starting to feel the pressure of the contractions. She wanted to get up and start moving. She walked laps around the kitchen and I applied counter pressure to her back and hips. The contractions were just starting to regulate now and they seemed to be about 3-4 minutes apart. Andrea looked longingly at her hot tub in the yard. We agreed that she should have ten contractions before she went in the tub. I think she made it to 9 and then could no longer ignore the call of the water. She got into the tub around 3 pm and Jason and I added bags of ice to cool the tub down to a comfortable temperature. Jason got on his suit and got in the tub with Andrea. He massaged and applied counter pressure to her back during every contraction. Her Mom went and got more bags of ice. We finally got the tub to body temperature so that if she wanted to birth in the hot tub it would be ideal. We put on the music and Andrea labored exactly as she had imagined, except we were under the sun instead of the moon. We made sure to keep her hydrated as her labor continued on. It was a beautifully serene setting to labor in. Jude and Mani arrived back from their lunch about 4 and checked on Andrea and Brandy and then began to get things set up outside. Just after 5 Andrea began to become a bit more vocal during her contractions. She was breathing and moaning through each one making it look easy. I talked her through some while Jason applied pressure on her back. In between contractions she was resting and smiling, completely content with how things were. At 5:30 Andrea was leaning forward during a contraction and she made a different noise than during any other. She told us that she felt her move down. Shortly after that she began to push with each one. She got settled into a position where she was leaning back on Jason in the corner of the hot tub. Jude suggested being more on the side of the tub but Andrea was comfortable where she was. Jude monitored from one side and I took pictures and video from the other side. Andrea pushed for about 25 minutes all the while smiling and even laughing between contractions. She giggled when she could feel Brandy wriggling her head. Andrea delivered Brandy herself and brought her right up onto her chest and she and Jason just admired their new daughter. It was very peaceful and calm as Brandy made her entrance at 6:05 pm on July the 6th, 2008. They held her for a long time until her placenta was delivered. Andrea then moved into the bedroom and Jason held Brandy and her placenta with her unclamped cord. It was an absolutely beautiful birth experience for them and all of us there helping. Once in the bedroom Brandy was able to latch on immediately and nursed for a long period of time while Andrea visited and looked radiantly happy. It was a very healing experience for their family and it was just how they wanted it to be. Brandy was allowed to come into this world just as nature intended because of the intense resolve of her parents to make it possible. It was the most peaceful birth I have ever seen. Andrea announced that Brandy’s middle name would be after her sister and everyone cried. Jude and Mani weighed Brandy in a very cool scale and found that she was 9lbs even. She was 23 inches long and after her initial exam it was determined that she was definitely not 42 weeks. Andrea looked absolutely radiant. She, Jason Ollie and Brandy bonded as a family. I am very appreciative that I was able to help their family during the birth of both of their children. It is a great privilege to have been able to share this time in their lives with them. In the Doula Spirit, Kimberly Flake |
