A Very Different Birth Experience

Well, I got my natural childbirth. Although I wasn't in full labor, I went in on Wednesday afternoon ready for baby Tai to come out. At that point, he was 10 days overdue and I had been having contractions on and off for days, but they would go away.

We checked into the hospital and the doctor broke my water to get labor going. Within a couple of hours, I was feeling the pain, but it was not much different from when I had Maia. With the help of my friend April who is a midwife and doula, I kept it together and breathed through all of the contractions. Finally, I was fully dilated and ready to push.

That is when the hell began. With Maia, it only took 45 minutes to push her out. It was intense, but since it didn't last that long, my memories of it are positive. This was not the case this time. Taira's head was huge and he was facing the wrong way. As a result, he got kind of stuck. I had no desire to push, but I did it anyway. I was getting nowhere. After a couple of hours, I was laying on the bed exhausted. The energy to push had left my body. Nobody actually uttered the words, but the air was full of it, "c-section." I knew I didn't have much time left, and honestly, I did not care. The baby needed to come out.

From out of nowhere, came a woman's voice. It sounded familiar, but I was so out of it it just sounded like mumbling. I heard something about squatting. Suddenly I was moved off the bed and placed in a squatting position with Yoshi supporting me. A couple of pushes in that position, and I felt the familiar burning sensation. The baby was coming out! Time to wake up my doctor who was napping on the couch. No I'm not kidding. I somehow found the energy for a few more pushes and out came my sweet baby boy. I wish I could say this is the end of the story, but it isn't.

When Tai was born, he was not breathing. The cord was wrapped around his little neck and body several times, and he was blue. I was kind of out of it, but April told me, "Roula, talk to your baby. Call his name. You're connected." Then I realized what was going on. I did what she said, and Yoshi tried to keep me calm. Luckily, it was less than a minute. Lots of nurses and doctors came running into the room. Oxygen was administered. All of a sudden, we heard a cry. He was okay!!!

Yoshi and I were a bit traumatized by this experience. It makes me wonder if something was wrong before and that is why my body never went into full labor by itself. Maybe I should have had an induction much earlier. In any case, Taira is here now, and he is happy and healthy. Given the hard labor and tenous start we had, we are so very grateful for this fact.