by Elizabeth Dorothy Saipe

The month was to be October; however, the due date was uncertain. Ultrasound technology predicted the 8th, midwives predicted the 17th (based on my longer cycle) and I, myself, figured it would be the 20th (based on conception date). Thus when contractions started on the 5th, it was close enough to a due date; however, they stopped in four hours. Again on the 12th, we noticed regular and increasing contractions, but again they accomplished little (still 1 cm and long) and stopped after seven hours. Home again without having had the baby -- depressing!

On the 13th I went to the Misericordia with hemorrhoids and an inflammation of the perineum -- thrombosis, i.e. blood clots. I was offered two choices: incise or use sitz bath and Tucks. I chose the latter for the night. Unfortunately, by 2 p.m. on the 14th I was climbing the walls, after having inserted a suppository, and I called my doctor. He got me in that afternoon and removed five pieces of clots, saying that I may pass more later. Relief at last! At least it was only painful in a small area now.

However, life does go on, and on Friday, the 17th, another of my due dates, I experienced a tablespoon or two of vaginal bleeding -- uh-oh, what now? My midwife referred me to an obstetrician at the Misericordia hospital. After an ultrasound determined that my fluid levels were 5.6 (a little low) and an unexpected dark line appeared between my placenta and uterus, placenta abruptio could not yet be ruled out. So I stayed overnight until a more sophisticated ultrasound could be done on Saturday. This ultrasound showed my placenta to be no different from a first trimester placenta and indicated fluid levels to be 8 -- full or normal. Relieved to hear these results, and not yet tired of being pregnant, I begged to be discharged. I only had bleeding from the cut in my perineum and had two more clots come out. So they let me go home on the condition that I come in for daily non-stress tests (NST) until a biophysical could be done on Wednesday, the 22nd. I agreed. So I was released on the 18th with a feeling that all was well with me and my baby.

So on Sunday (19th) after the morning service we came in at noon for an NST. Alice, a nurse, told me that a good test would be four accelerations or spikes in a 20-minute strip. I appreciated knowing this information for the upcoming NSTs. On Monday (20th), my NST was fine, but my blood pressure (BP) and protein count were up. The obstetrician was contacted and gave me an order to be on bed rest at home or I would be admitted to the hospital. I gladly complied, just to be able to be at home. The next day (21st) my BP was back to normal and my NST was fine. So that night I ventured outside for a walk with a walker on wheels. My husband's mom accompanied me. The day was Wednesday (22nd) and we arrived early for a biophysical profile (BPP), however the doctor didn't come until later. My NST and BP were great. The OB came to do the BPP and found the fluid levels to be over 7 and saw the same mysterious black line by he placenta. Both baby and I were doing well, so he thought the next BPP could be on Monday the 27th. Also, he ordered an NST for Saturday (25th). On that day, the nurse also stripped my membranes and said she thought the baby was presenting in a posterior way. So I went home and did lots of hands and knees positions in order to get the baby to turn for an easier vaginal delivery. By Monday, the BPP showed one pocket of fluid measuring 3.7: quite a drop, so he wanted to make sure that I'd have this baby this week. He also suggested induction by balloon and we booked that for Wednesday, the 29th. In the meantime, I tried some herbal remedies to get into labour before then. By Tuesday, I felt contractions become more rhythmic and stronger as I continued on the blue and black cohosh hourly. By noon, I decided we'd better get the older children brought to their temporary homes after their phys ed class. So we were left alone at home from 5 p.m. on. By 6 p.m., I was running out of blue cohosh and by 8 p.m. contractions had stopped after 12 hours. Oh well, I told myself, I'll get a good rest tonight and we'll go in the next morning (29th). On the 29th we had the balloon and the Foley catheter inserted by 10 a.m. and we stayed till after lunch to be observed. No labour, no fluid, a good NT and we were released to go home at 2:30 p.m. with instructions to return if we saw a gush of fluid, if labour started or if 24 hours had elapsed, whichever happened first. Immediately, I went off to the health food store to buy more blue cohosh again. Now I could be home again in my own bed for the night, with continued doses of blue cohosh. Labour started slowly around 4 a.m. and by 5 a.m. I took my last dose, since contractions were getting stronger and were well-established. By 6:30 a.m. we headed to the Misericordia Hospital to be admitted. We were sent to room 9, with contractions being two minutes apart. We were informed that there were eight more inductions coming in and that today (30th) would be a busy day for the nurses. Labour coach, Netty, came in around 7:30 a.m.

At first, labour was mostly at the front, but within an hour, I had very strong back labour due to the posterior position of the baby and this continued for about 12 hours. I laboured in many positions to try to turn the baby: on my hands and knees, on the toilet, sitting and leaning on the bed, on my knees in the shower, squatting on a stool in the shower and leaning over the head of the bed raised to its maximum height; all in order so that the baby could put pressure on my cervix in such a way as to make the contractions more effective. The contractions were very intense and I kept needing ice packs and back pressure on my back.

By noon I was on an IV for saline/glucose fluids and I also agreed to a shot of morphine to take the edge off the intensity of the contractions. I was 5 cm and 80% effaced, and tended to tense up rather than relax during the contractions. This really helped for the next two hours.

From 4 to 6 p.m. I made little progress being at -1 or 0 for station, and 7 to 8 cm dilated. However, I knew I had to turn my baby in order to be able to deliver vaginally. My GP came to check on me before 7 p.m. and saw how I was doing: I was tired but not giving up. My coach asked me if I wanted all this to end with a C-section. Most definitely not. She said I just needed a little boost of something. My baby had turned 1/4 turn and would be facing one of my side. So I had accomplished this turning with all the position changes, trying to get the baby's back off of my back and towards my front.

Oxytocin was suggested to possibly help the baby finish turning. So oxytocin was given in small amounts for the next hour: 6 ml every 15 minutes. My water was also broken around the same time (before 7 p.m.) and I had to be on the bed, on my side, strapped to the monitor because of my two previous C-sections and the doctor's fear of uterine rupture. Well, by then the baby was no longer posterior but transverse and with the breaking of my water and the oxytocin, the baby must have turned to be anterior because I felt an easing of the pain on my back.

In that hour, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., because of shift change, there was no interference from the staff. I relaxed, moved onto my back, felt like pushing and gently started to “grunt” the baby down the birth canal, unbeknownst to my husband or the coach. Contractions were more intense but near the end of each I gave a little push and relaxed for what seemed like five minutes between contractions.

Just before 8 p.m., the “new” nurse, Bonnie, came in and saw my perineum bulging and checked me and found me to be at +3 station. “We're going to have a baby soon,” she said, and Netty breathed a sigh of relief. The nurse called for doctors and nurses, and within minutes the room was filled with a flurry of activity. The bed came apart, I had to recline and lie flat, with my husband and coach each holding one leg and foot up as if in I was in stirrups. Three pushes, separated by panting sessions to ease head and shoulders out and our daughter was born -- face down! She had fully rotated before I had felt the urge to push her down the birth canal. A VAGINAL VICTORY! I felt ecstatic and very grateful.

It was later that I had found out how close I had been to another C-section for failure to progress (around 6 p.m.) My GP negotiated for me to have an extra two hours till 9 p.m. to labour and Rosalinda Dorothy Saipe was born at 8:03 p.m. on October 30th, three weeks past one due date, two weeks past another, and even 10 days past my own date. She definitely had some peely skin. She was so ruddy and rosy-cheeked that she immediately suited her name: “a beautiful rose” and a true “gift from God.”

R osy-cheeked,
O ur second girl,
S o big and healthy,
A rrived safely.
L ong-awaited,
I n October:
N ewly born on the 30th .
D ad's in love
A nd so is Mom.

D earest girl,
O ur lovely baby,
R uddy-cheeked,
O so lovely,
T ender skin,
H ealthy-looking,
Y es, thank the Lord for

ROSALINDA DOROTHY!

Story from Birth Issues magazine, published by ASAC in Edmonton.