Ellis Timothy Ballard (Born: 8/29/22)
I was very excited and nervous to have an unmedicated birth. Knowing that this was likely going to be my only child, I wanted to experience it all, including the pain. I knew that our bodies were created to do this magnificent thing, and I wanted to know what it was like. All I had ever heard about labor was how terribly painful it is, but once I read about and listened to other women’s birth stories, I learned how rewarding it can be. I knew I would need a doula to help me through the process, and I was beyond grateful to have had Kristen as my doula. She made the entire experience wonderful. Also, a lot of the details of this story were recounted by Kristen, she kept up with the timeline once I went into labor and provided it to me after Ellis was born. What a gift.
My estimated due date was August 29, 2022. I was getting very anxious as I approached my delivery date because I didn’t want to be induced. Although my OB was supportive of my birth plan and knew I wanted spontaneous labor, she also said she would want to induce me one week after my due date. I had a doctor’s appointment on Friday, August 26th for a membrane sweep. She said that because I was only 1cm and because my cervix was still thick, it was basically a 50/50 shot that it would start labor. The plan was to do it again that following Tuesday if it hadn’t happened by then. I was getting more anxious.
Up to this point I had been doing everything I had read to do that would naturally induce labor safely. Sunday afternoon, August 28th, I was at the pool with my husband, Greg, and texting with a friend of mine. My friend asked me, “any action?” I told her, “Not yet!!”, and that I thought I had lost some of my mucus plug the day before, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. I also told her that I had lots of cramping the previous night but that had been going on for weeks. She encouraged me by saying that it sounded like my body was getting ready. My response to her was, “I’m hoping so!! I’m thinking I make it to my appointment Tuesday morning and after she does the next sweep, maybe that does the trick. I really don’t want to be induced!” Another reason I didn’t want to be induced is because I knew that it often leads to more medical interventions. It just wasn’t what I wanted for my birth experience, so I prayed Ellis would make his debut that week!
That Sunday evening after dinner I started to have mild, inconsistent contractions. Around 10:30pm I decided it was time to at least inform Kristen because they had started getting more intense. I was lying in bed, and I told my husband that this could be it, Ellis may be coming. It was hard to know for sure, but these contractions felt different. About 20 minutes later I stood up to go to the bathroom, and my water broke! It wasn’t a huge gush, but I knew this was it. I called Kristen and she told me to try and get some rest. My plan was to labor at home as long as possible. About 30 minutes later Kristen texted me back and said to call the nurse line because they may want me to come in sooner since I was GBS+. Because of this I would have to get an antibiotic administered a couple of hours before I delivered. The nurse said to go ahead and come in, so around 12:00am Greg and I started for the hospital.
When we got to triage, I was dilated to 3cm. About an hour and a half later, we finally got settled in our room and we both tried to get some rest. It wasn’t long before my contractions started to get much more intense. I was lying on my side and holding the bed railing as I worked through a few contractions. Kristen messaged me around 3:30am to check in and I told her I couldn’t get any rest because of my contractions. She suggested side lying with pillows for as long as it was comfortable. I told her to maybe start heading my way around 6:00am. A couple of hours passed, and I had moved from the bed to a birth ball. I felt like I couldn’t stay still. The pain was rough, and I started to get horrible back pain which was causing nausea. I threw up multiple times. Kristen was on her way and suggested Greg do some hip squeezes. They provided relief and made the contractions much more manageable. Kristen showed up around 6:45am and started a diffuser with lavender, and Greg turned on spa music. I remember feeling a sense of calm. I don’t think I got sick again after that. We started to do the rotisserie, since contractions were causing pain in my back. Kristen and Greg switched off on performing hip squeezes and massaging with clary sage oil. My contractions were roughly 3-5 minutes apart, lasting between a minute to a minute and a half.
Sometime around 8:00-9:00am I was 5cm and about 90% effaced. We took a walk up and down the hall to try and get more pressure on my cervix. Around 9:45am as I was on the birth ball, Kristen suggested I work through a contraction without the counterpressure to see if I still felt pain in my back, which I did not. She said that this was a good indication that Ellis had made his rotation and was in a good position. Greg had gotten the nurse to work on filling the tub. At this point, my contractions were roughly 4-6 minutes apart and still lasting between a minute to a minute and a half. I did a few more contractions that way and Kristen reminded me to relax my hands and shoulders.
At 10:15am the tub was filled, and I got in. I laid my head back on my pillow and felt instant relief and relaxation. I lost more of my mucus plug so progress was being made! After I had been in the tub for about 45 minutes, Kristen noticed my contractions had spaced out, so she suggested getting on my knees and leaning on the tub for a while. I started to vocalize through my contractions as they were becoming much more intense. I stayed this way for about 15 minutes and my lower back started to hurt so I returned to lying down with my head on the pillow. I was still vocalizing through contractions, and I told Kristen and Greg that I was about to say the code word (which meant I had changed my mind and wanted the epidural). A few more minutes went by, and I said the “word”. Kristen asked if I was sure, and I nodded. She suggested doing one more contraction in the tub before getting out to have the nurse check me. She informed me later that her gut was telling her that I had hit transition.
Around 1:00pm I returned to bed and laid down on my left side. I was cold so Kristen and Greg kept me warm by gently rubbing my legs through a couple contractions. Then my body started to push at the peak of a contraction, and I said, “I didn’t mean to do that”, thinking I was supposed to wait to be told I could push. But Kristen reassured me it’s a great sign that my body felt the urge to push. Greg let the nurse know and when she checked me, I was 9cm! It felt so good to finally push! It was instantaneous relief. I had passed transition, and the code word was never mentioned again.
At 1:15pm Kristen suggested trying to use the toilet. I stayed there for a while, still feeling pushy. Doctor Thurston hung out in the bathroom with me, and they had put some blankets down on the floor just in case. She started to see the baby’s head! I was very comfortable where I was, but Doctor Thurston wanted to get me back over to the bed. She made a comment that she didn’t want the baby to be delivered in the toilet. I remember her being funny. Out of nowhere as I was waddling back to the bed from the toilet, a nurse came over to me and asked if two of her students could come in to watch to witness a “natural birth”. I think I was on the verge of a contraction; I didn’t have much time to think about it, so with a bit of annoyance in my voice I quickly said, “that’s fine”. It was almost 2:00pm and I had made my way over to the side of the bed, where I leaned over and started pushing again. Greg was holding my arms from the other side of the bed and supporting me as I bore down. Everyone could see the baby’s head now. Maybe 25 minutes later I said, “at what point can you just reach up there and grab him?” I was getting tired of pushing. I think the doctor said something like, “I can but I know you want to do this yourself, and you’ve got this. You’re so close.”
Somewhere around 2:30-3:00pm I climbed up on the bed to try pushing on my hands and knees for a while. Then I laid down on my back, Kristen got out a rebozo scarf and had me hold one end while Greg held the other. I was pushing with all the energy I could muster. At this point there were probably 8-10 people in the room, 4 of them being the doctor, Kristen, Greg and my mom – essentially a room full of nurses cheering me on. It was a bit strange because it wasn’t what I envisioned but at the same time it felt empowering. At 3:10pm Doctor Thurston checked the baby’s heart tones and said it was time to get the baby out, his heart rate was dropping. I felt somewhat scared in that moment and thought, “I have got to get him out!” so I pushed as hard as I possibly could, but my perineum would not give. Doctor Thurston asked me if it was okay to cut a small episiotomy to get him out, and I said it was fine. I remember thinking, “this is it; I’m finally going to meet him.” At 3:15pm she made a tiny cut, I pushed, and Ellis was immediately born and placed on my chest. I felt such relief and immediate love looking at my sweet boy. He didn’t make me wait. He decided to enter the world on his estimated due date, 8/29/22.
-Katelyn Ballard
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