Let's Tell Your Story: The Birth of Amelia Joy

By Jenna Forester

When I found out I was pregnant, and even before, we knew this would be our last baby.  My goal for this pregnancy was to build a supportive birth team that would empower my birth choices, and to enjoy my pregnancy and birthing time.  We knew we wanted to have a doula present at our birth.  I had a natural water birth with my second delivery without a doula, but knew that

having a doula this time, would really allow me to enjoy my birth and not have to ‘manage’ myself. 

We were so excited to be able to use Amy as our birth doula. We took a spinning babies class this pregnancy, and I started reviewing my Hypnobabies curriculum, that I used with my last birth.  I made a provider change halfway through my pregnancy to someone who was more supportive of our pregnancy and birth preferences.  We joked about how bougie my delivery was going to be with such a dream team this time! 

I had a really uneventful pregnancy.  Then COVID hit. 

Suddenly I saw all of my plans for our birthing time changing really rapidly.  Originally we thought maybe restrictions would be lifted by the time we delivered, but the closer we got to delivery we realized that likely would not happen.  We changed our plan with our doula to arrange for virtual support and our midwife kept us updated on policy and procedure changes in the hospital. 

As we got closer to our due date, I could definitely feel myself getting more anxious about what our birthing would look like, who would be there etc. 

I knew likely I’d go over 40 weeks, as both of my previous baby’s were born after 40 weeks.  Starting at around 39 weeks, I started focusing more on prep for birth in hopes of getting labor started on its own.  Honestly, it also just gave me something to focus on.  At my 40 week check up, we discussed the option of induction after 41 weeks with our midwife and agreed it was a reasonable option.  We scheduled our induction for the following week on a day she was on call.  While I hoped to go into labor on my own before then, in some ways, knowing what our plan was, and knowing that the provider I had built a relationship would be there for our birth when everything else had gone sideways, really helped. 

Over the next 5 days, I focused on spending time with our girls and enjoyed an acupuncture session, which helped me feel relaxed and balanced.  The day before our induction I scheduled an induction massage which was super lovely and really helped me feel ready for our induction the next day. 

I had been contracting on and off for the past week, so I was hopeful that our induction would go quickly and smoothly. 

Monday May 4 we were scheduled for induction at 6:30am.  My parents arrived the evening before to care for our big girls while we were at the hospital.  I woke up at 3:15am that morning and was excited to meet our baby that day!  We got checked into the beautiful new birthing suite at our hospital and got hooked up to the monitor for a quick check on baby.  Our plan was to induce with low dose oral Cytotec.  I got my first dose at 7:45am with the expectation that this would likely take a couple doses to get things going.  I had a few contractions over the next couple of hours but nothing regular or particularly uncomfortable.  James and I watched tv, and chatted and just hung out waiting for the magic to happen! 

We had been joking about our birth being our ‘hospital vacation’ after all the time we had spent in quarantine with our other kiddos in the 8 weeks prior to our birth. 

Jenna laying in the hospital bed with her earbuds listening to HypnoBabies in during her hospital induction

During the day I received 4 total doses of Cytotec without much of anything happening.  At that point I was feeling really ready to get moving with our birthing time!  Our midwife came in after evening shift change and gave us the option of going home, and coming back another time or waiting for labor to start on it’s own, or starting low dose Pitocin to get a good contraction pattern going.  We decided to start Pitocin.  This meant I would have to be hooked up to continuous monitoring, but our labor nurse offered options for wireless monitoring so that I could move around while I was laboring. 

We had been updating Amy and checking in with her throughout the day and she was sending us some tips for positioning for labor and it felt great having her there for when we needed her. 

Around 9pm we started Pitocin.  By 11pm we were starting to get a decent contraction pattern, and by midnight I started listening to my hypnobabies tracks to help relax during contractions.  I was able to rest on the bed with a peanut ball between my legs for about 30 minutes or so, and then contractions really started to pick up.  I told my nurse I was ready to get into the tub for a little while, so she helped hook me up to the wireless monitor, and wrapped my IV site.  Another nurse came in and helped us fill the tub.  I got in the tub and immediately felt the relief of the deep hot water. 

Over the next hour and half or so my contractions picked up and I found myself really having to concentrate on breathing and relaxing during them.  The nurses were so great and sat next to the tub, holding space for me, and helping to adjust the monitors as needed, without interrupting my labor vibe. 

My husband was a total rock star, offering support whenever I needed it, getting me ice chips, handing me my water and just being there.  Our room was quiet and peaceful during our labor time, with low lights and it felt really peaceful.  At one point I could tell the contractions were really starting to pick up in intensity and I knew that I was likely in transition.  I decided to get out of the tub at that point.  Once I got out of the tub, I knew our birthing time was close.  I had the nurses call our midwife.  I went to the bathroom, and had two really powerful contractions and knew I needed to get to the bed before the next one hit.  I got to the bed and got positioned on hands and knees leaning over the peanut ball and immediately felt the need to start pushing. 

I was able to push as I felt the need, and by the time the midwife came in she could already see her head. 

I started to feel a little out of control during the intensity of this stage of delivery, so one of the nurses was calmly coaching me through breathing between contractions.  I remember at one point yelling “oh my god! Get out of there!” which is funny now after the fact. 

After about 20 minutes of pushing our beautiful baby was born encaul, which is supposed to be good luck!  It was a really empowering experience, as a nurse myself, to birth my baby in a room full of nurses and our midwife. 

I felt really supported and I really appreciated the calm atmosphere.  After she was delivered, they slide her between my legs so I could turn over and hold our sweet girl.  We were able to snuggle peacefully until the cord stopped pulsing, around 12 minutes after delivery.  During this time, Amelia was ready to latch and start breastfeeding already!  After my husband cut the cord, our placenta delivered shortly after. 

Our placenta was heart shaped, which between that and our en caul delivery with our midwife Traci on National Day of the midwife, really felt special!  We were able to spend over an hour uninterrupted while we all just hung out with our nurses and midwife. 

Then one of the nurses offered to weigh her and we all took bets on how much she weighed because she looked so tiny! I was sure she’d be my smallest baby after seeing her! She weighed 8lb 1.5 oz, which is actually 1 oz bigger than my middle baby! 

Even though our birthing went differently than I had envisioned earlier in my pregnancy, I am so happy with our experience and our team.

Baby Amelia wearing a hospital hat with a big bow being held by a gloved health care provider.