Talia's Birth Story (Part 2)

Thur, 5/12/2011 – 40w3d

In between making trips to the bathroom every 30-90 minutes, I managed to sleep about 4 hours through the night (with the help of my Hypnobabies tracks). Around 5 AM I couldn't sleep anymore, but I rested and just enjoyed being alone with my baby and my thoughts. At 6 AM we called my parents to let them know nothing had changed, and they headed out on the road shortly after. Around 7 AM Eli woke up and we all just hung out around the house. I played around on my birth ball – sitting and bouncing on it at times, and leaning over it others. I made a conscious effort to play with my son and spend this precious time with him, and we talked about how baby Talia was coming to live with us very soon.

Sometime that morning I had gone onto the ICAN of Atlanta forum and posted about what was going on. I wanted to be able to share my excitement and nerves with women who understood how I felt. I was hesitant to post about it because I was still in denial that my water had broken, and I didn't want to look completely stupid if it turned out that was not the case. I think in my heart I had come to terms with what was happening, just not in my head. I also made a post to the Hypnobabies and HBAC yahoo groups (not sure if I did this the night before, or that morning). The only other person that I told (because several hundred people weren't enough) was my friend Katie. She was in charge of notifying the women who had attended my Blessingway when I was in labor so that they could all send good thoughts and prayers for me and my baby.

Thinking about it now, I realize that although I didn't know 90% of the people who I told about the beginning of my birthing time, I somehow felt deeply connected to them. They were genuinely excited for me to be at this point, and I knew that they were all cheering me on. At the time, I think that knowing that all over the world there were women who were thinking of me made me feel strong and energized. Now, it just makes me teary-eyed with thankfulness.

Anyway, back to the story. Around 8 AM I got in touch with Nichole, who wasn't too thrilled to hear I had only slept 4 hours that night. She promptly told me to take a nap (she also recommended a visit to the chiropractor, but I had seen her the day before and she doesn't work on Thursdays). I did as I was told because I didn't know what else to do, but also because I was just tired. The novelty of my water breaking had worn off (thankfully) and there was plenty of work ahead of me. I took a nap for a couple of hours and then joined my husband and son for lunch.

Earlier, Nichole and I had started talking about things that might encourage labor to start (now that I was rested). Since acupuncture had been mentioned to me a week earlier, I decided this sounded like a good option to consider. I quickly got back on ICAN and contacted a few women who had experience with it in hopes of finding a practitioner who could see me that day. Elaine got back to me pretty quickly and directed me to Acupuncture Atlanta in Buckhead . I called them up and explained my situation. Immediately, I was given the direct phone number to an acupuncturist (Nicole Circija) and she told me she could see me at 4 PM! I wasn't too crazy about shelling out $100 on a therapy that may or may not work, but at this point I was willing to try anything. The website for the company also has lots of good info on acupressure, so while Eli napped Joel did some acupressure on me. I had a few mild episodes of cramping during this, but nothing exciting.

Around 3 PM my parents arrived from Florida and Joel and I left for our first round of acupuncture. Since I am scared of needles (I know, ironic for a nurse), I made sure to bring my mp3 player (to listen to Hypnobabies) and my Blessingway beads. I wrapped the necklace around my wrist twice to form a bracelet. Having it with me, feeling the beads, and thinking of each of the women who had gifted them to me was very calming. I never felt alone or scared or even the least bit worried.

The acupuncture appointment was a really cool experience. Most of the needles she placed didn't hurt (except my little toe, but she explained that's because there isn't a lot of flesh to anchor the needle in), and it was really cool to feel my uterus immediately reacting to the stimulation. My baby was moving all over the place, I was having mild and sporadic contractions, and I was feeling very encouraged. The whole procedure took about 40 minutes. During that time, the acupuncturist gave Joel some tips on doing acupressure and she gave us a moxi stick to use at home if we needed it (which we never used). She also told us that if we needed another treatment we could come back the next day for free. We decided to set the appointment and told her we would call if something happened. So glad we made that appointment!

On our way home, we checked back in with our doulas (not sure who I was talking to at this point) and we updated our working plan – eat dinner, call midwife, take a walk, go to bed, and check in in the morning if nothing changed. We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner (I was hoping the spicy foods might help something), Joel tucked Eli into bed, and I called the midwives. I was a little nervous making that phone call. It sort of equated to calling the principal and turning myself in, I guess. It seems silly now, but that's how I felt. I suppose it was just another step in admitting that something was happening.

One thing I really love about our midwives' practice is that there is no “on call” service to deal with. You simply dial the office and press “1” and you are instantly connected to whomever is on call. That night, it was Anjli. We saw Anjli on our very first visit to Intown Midwifery at 20 weeks (when we opted out of our homebirth plans), and then I hadn't seen her again until my 40 week appointment just a few days earlier. I remember feeling very at ease with her after our first meeting, and I had secretly been hoping she would be on call when my baby was ready to be born – and here she was!

I told Anjli what had been going on over the past 21 hours (of course, she wanted to know if I was SURE my water had broken, and I told her I was pretty darn sure), and we discussed our options. She told me that she had to offer me the option of coming into the hospital that evening to be induced, but I could tell from her voice that she wouldn't have voted for that option if it was her decision (at least that's what it sounded like). We decided that I would go for a walk to give labor one last bit of encouragement for the evening, and then go to bed. In the morning, I would go to my NST (as originally scheduled) and call her after that to discuss where we stood.

So, Joel and I headed out on our neighborhood hike. On the way out, we pulled Eli's carseat out of our car and I hauled it up the hill and installed it into my parents' car. I figured it didn't matter if I was carrying heavy objects, since it could only help! We set off around the neighborhood, and I had a few contractions during our walk, but nothing that made me stop. We returned home, I took a shower, and we went to bed.