Heather & Zach

I woke up on Saturday morning, 3:30 am to go to the bathroom and realized I was having some surges. They felt different from the Braxton-Hicks I had been having for a few days so I started to get excited but tried to stay calm because I didn’t know if it was the real thing. They were a little more than what I could sleep through so I stayed up the rest of the night until my husband got home at 9 am, at which point the surges basically stopped. I was so frustrated! After Zach left for work again around noon I started watching funny YouTube videos to get me in a better mood for the day. The surges started again but weren’t that close together. I decided that I was too frustrated to stay home so I went to my parents house and the surges began picking up on the way there. I started timing them at 4 pm and they were 4 minutes apart, 45-50 seconds long for more than an hour. My mom told me that she thought I should go to the hospital and I said, “Look at me. Do I look like I’m about to have a baby? I’m not going to the hospital to just sit around for 8 hours while they sit and tell me my labor is going too slow.” But around 5:30 I decided that I needed to tell Zach to come home from work and we needed to start planning on going to the hospital. We debated about whether to go to dinner first because I REALLY didn’t want to get there too early. But we decided it would be better for me to relax if Zach dropped me off at the hospital and while I was getting checked he went and got some take-out from Bombay House. That was my reward meal for going into labor on my own this time. My mom came to the hospital with me and when they checked, I was at a 3.5. I was a little bummed but they wanted to keep me for an hour to see how fast I was progressing. Zach came with our dinner and our 2 yr old daughter and we enjoyed it together. When the babysitter came and picked up our daughter, I felt relieved that I could finally relax and have Zach’s full attention. By then I was at a 4.5.

Zach was SO GREAT at helping me to relax and putting counter pressure on my back during the surges. We also had a fantastic nurse who was very comfortable with natural childbirth and helped enormously with pushing up on my knees and hips. Since they did the intermittent monitoring, I was able to move to any position I needed and obviously the only one that I found to be unmanageable was on my back. The birth ball was fantastic as was the polar bear-ish position with my chest and head being propped up on several pillows. It was hard work but it was very manageable and quick. I moved at 1 cm an hour until I reached a 7. From that to a 10 was about 2-3 very intense surges. The doctor didn’t realize it would go so fast and she was barely “suited up” when she told me it was okay to push when I was ready.

They didn’t have time to prep the bed and I didn’t have time to move into a squat like I had wanted to so I just went ahead and delivered on my side, which is how I had been laboring. The doctor, nurses, and my husband were so great at helping me keep control. I honestly don’t think I would have had the willpower to do it without their help. After 2 surges, she was out.

Lily, like my first daughter, was born in her amniotic sac which was full of meconium. Her cord was also wrapped around her neck so they had to get that off before she was all the way out. But they put her up by my side and she was vigorous and breathing so they didn’t have to clamp and cut the cord, which I had prayed and prayed and prayed for. Lily was so calm and quiet by my side until they started to rub the meconium off. She just wanted to cuddle her mommy in peace. She took to nursing right away and she had zero complications. She was a week “over-due” and weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs, 19.5 inches.

This birth was such a fantastic experience especially after experiencing the induction/epidural/preeclampsia birth with my first daughter. I’ll never do an epidural again. This was so much better and more enjoyable. The recovery this time around was so quick that everyone I saw for the next 3-4 days was in awe that I was back to “normal” so fast. I’d recommend a natural, unmedicated childbirth to anyone who is willing to put forth the time and effort into preparing their body and mind for it.
My doctor was Elizabeth Dayton who works at the Central Utah Clinic in Payson. She delivers at both Payson and UVRMC. She is a family doctor and she is absolutely fantastic. She’s not natural labor minded, but she is open to anything that you want or need. You just have to tell her and make sure she knows your preferences. I never had to show her a birth plan or written document of any kind stating my wishes. She remembered them all when it came time to deliver. She was adamant with the respiratory team that my daughter was fine despite the meconium and they didn’t need to cut the cord and suction her lungs like they are accustomed to doing anytime a baby is born with meconium. She prefers to only do the cervical exams when they’re necessary or when you want them. She doesn’t do them every week, routinely, like a lot of other doctors. She was very calm and supportive and attentive during the delivery. I just have nothing but the highest praise for her. The only negative experience I had with her is that because she spends so much time with her patients during visits and makes sure you don’t feel rushed, it sometimes can take a very long time to see her. I always tried to solve this by scheduling early and getting a morning appointment.