| Mandolin's Birthstory |
Mandolin Rain Medsker arrived swimming on Monday, December 22, 1997.
At 4:30 I woke up and knew that I would not be able to go back to sleep and
that we should fill the birth pool we had rented. My husband, Staten, who is
normally a very light sleeper did not budge when I tried to wake him twice,
so I thought I'd give him a little more time . At 5am I shook him awake, told
him that I'd really like to let him sleep for another hour, but that he needed to
get up and fill the tub.
We then called a friend to come over and watch our 21 month old son who
incidentally slept through the birth. We had our friend pick up some groceries,
reschedule my husband's appointments for the day (He's a Chiropractor and
works out of the bottom level of our house and we didn't want anyone showing
up wanting to be adjusted. :-) ), and get some things ready for the birth.
Labor got progressively stronger, and I was really enjoying it. We had
decided not to time contractions or check dilation, so I only know things were
speeding up. I checked my E-mail and made some herb tea while the tub was
filling. The tub was ready at 6:30 and I had decided to wait as long as I could
before getting in. At 7:00 while washing dishes, I heard and felt a pop and
knew that my water had broken. It leaked onto the white linoleum floor and
was the color of green tea and quite opaque. I saw the color and freaked out.
All I could think was "meconium, that means the baby is stressed. We need
help. We need to call the midwife." I kept repeating to Staten "Honey it has
meconium in it." I didn't hear his reply because my mind was consumed by the
thought that we needed help. I finally heard him say "It is okay. It's no big deal."
I was still filled with fear. At that point a huge painful contraction came over
my body and I held Staten's. During that time, I left the physical experience and
went to the temple (I'm LDS) and literally held God's hand. I remember
words that were spoken which made me realize that everything truly was all
right and I needed to simply trust God and my body to bring forth this child in
safety and peace. I realized I had started to cry from the sheer power of the
experience when I felt the tears on my face. The experience faded and I felt the
contraction fade too. I told my husband what had happened and realized that
he had known that all would be well. I needed something extra to boost my faith.
The contractions became painful and I knew I needed to get into the tub to relax.
I highly recommend water to labor in. I felt so light and was able to relax fully
when I didn't feel gravity so strongly.
After a bit, my contractions changed and I felt an irresistible urge to bear down.
Not to push, but something more primal. I let my body do what it needed to.
After 2-3 times of that, I wondered where the baby was. So, out of curiosity, I put 2
fingers inside and felt a head in my vagina. I remember thinking "I guess that
means I'm fully dilated." After about 2 more contractions I felt again and the baby
was around 2 finger joints deep. Staten then asked t feel where the baby was
and I told him "Okay after this contraction." which was coming on very strongly.
On that next contraction, I put my hand down and felt the baby start to crown.
Her head just kept coming through and was completely born. I had kept my hand
on her head and was amazed that it was so fast and so effortless. As I held her
head, she started to move it back and forth underwater and I wanted her whole
body out immediately, but felt no urge to push. Staten said something, but I was
totally focused and felt another urge and let my body release this little soul.
The birth was so forceful that I lost my handhold and my baby was free in the
water. I wanted that baby so the next thing I knew I was standing up and had
turned around feeling around in the then murky water for this child. I finally
saw a tiny body swimming gently at the bottom of the pool. I picked the baby up
and saw an angel's face and knew she was a girl. I sat back down in the water and
my husband gently rubbed her back. She breathed right away, coughing just
a bit. Staten asked what sex she was (he had received inspiration early on in the
pregnancy that it was a girl) I told him we had a girl then I checked.
We had planned to not cut the cord, but I was having a hard time keeping
her face out of the water and knew I could not lift her up any higher. We had an
umbilical clamp and Staten clamped, cut the cord, and took the baby while I got
out of the tub. I nursed her and the afterpains began which were far more painful
than the birth. The placenta took 1 1/2 hours to birth, but there was no other
bleeding before it did. I think placentas are disgusting and it was not until I started
to think about the placenta in a positive light in that it had taken such good care
of my baby that I could release it.
Looking back, I realize that I experienced the "fetus ejection reflex" that Michel
Odent talks about in "Why Laboring Women Don't Need "Support"Mothering
Fall 1996. It was involuntary, fast, and very effective. My body knew what to
do and did it. I had been very fearful of tearing and had visualized daily the
head birthing effortlessly with no swelling or tearing. Guess what?! No swelling
or tearing.
I am grateful that my husband suggested we go unassisted when I was beginning my
third trimester and that I was able to find this list with so much support. I'm
so thankful we had the faith and trust to go unassisted. Because of the meconium
I would have been monitored very frequently and that would have stressed me out
completely. Mandy would probably have been suctioned which in our case was
completely unnecessary. Finally, because I did not deliver the placenta as soon
as I "should" have I might have received a Pitocin shot.
I am so grateful for this experience. The opportunity to build faith both in God
and in my body was tremendous. I am in love with this birth. I feel so powerful
and enriched by this experience.