Duncan, OK Birth | Baby B

From the get go, Maddie knew what her Birth Plan was. 1) Labor a little 2) Epidural 3) Nap 4) Push 5) Baby. As her photographer and her doula, I was ready to make sure she got that epidural exactly when she wanted it. But there is always a chance of a hiccup in the Birth Plan, isn’t there?

We met at the lake 11 days before her induction to get some maternity pictures. I loved the white dress she picked out! As we were getting the final shots of her standing in the water, it started to rain.

With rain hitting our windshields, we drove to Viridian to talk more in depth about the Birth Day, and what she could expect from me as her photographer and doula. She was optimistic, because she had been having semi-regular contractions. With the induction date coming closer, she was really hoping that she would go into labor on her own.

A few days later, she sent me a text saying her contractions were strong enough that she had to stop and focus to breathe through them. That was my cue! I made sure my own bags were packed, and got them by the door, and just waited for another text saying they were closer together and she was headed to the hospital. But those contractions eventually subsided, and we set our minds back to the induction day.

Knowing that she was planning on getting the epidural, I honestly thought there would be a bit of down time for me. So when I went to Duncan Regional Hospital on Wednesday, April 28, my bag was full of snacks, headphones, and an iPad for doodling while we waited. As her doula, I planned on being there for the duration of the labor, even if it involved a long nap on Maddie’s part.

When I arrived, she had been throughly checked in and was starting a pitocin drip to encourage contractions. It was working just as it should.

About an hour after I got there she said, “Whoa, that one felt different.” Her water had broken on it’s own! It really is the weirdest sensation to feel your water break, and have it running out continuoulsy. When she called nurse Aftan to come in she told her, “Either I’m peeing on myself or my water broke.” After a quick check, Aftan was able to confirm that her water had in fact broken. Maddie sent a quick text to Rylan, who had just stepped out to eat some breakfast. He came back in the room fueled and ready to go, which is good, because Maddie was going to need him.

Per usual, the water breaking amped up the intensity of the labor, and Maddie was starting to really feel it. Knowing that it was only going to get harder, she went ahead and requested an epidural. I coached her through the contractions - which she was handling really well. They were hard enough that she could only breathe as the waves came and went. Rylan held her hand, and from this point until Baby was born, he never got more than 5 feet from her side.

The anesthesiologist came in a lot quicker than I anticipated. “Oh, good!" I thought, “she didn’t have to be uncomfortable too long at all.” As I was thinking that, I noticed that he did not wheel his equipment table in for the epidural procedure. He started talking to Maddie about her blood platlette levels. They were a little low. Too low for her to get the epidural. I know I was listening, but as I was trying to process what exactly that meant for Maddie, nurse Aftan leaned over and whispered in my ear, “she’s going to have to labor without it.” Not only would she have to labor longer than she wanted to without an epidural, there was also a chance she would have to deliver the Baby without it as well.

I never doubted Maddie for a second. I knew she could do it full on without the epidural. Aftan stopped the pitocin machine altogether, and busied herself to start a platelet transfusion. If the transfusion worked, and her platelet count increased, she could get the epidural. I took the opportunity to take a few pictures, because I knew that what Maddie would need as her body continued to progress through labor was her doula - not her photographer.

This was certainly not on the Birth Plan. She went from 4 centimeters dilated to a 7 in the next few hours. By 11:00am, Baby had dropped, and she said she could feel him in her hips. She curled up on her side facing the monitor. As the contractions came, Rylan pushed on her lower back, and I put my entire body weight on her hip - every two minutes like clock work. Then Rylan moved to the other side of the bed so he could face her, and she could squeeze his hand. And we watched the bag of platelets and prayed that it would move faster.

But Maddie, wow. At one point she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, and said “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do this.” She didn’t mean that she didn’t want to see her baby. The pain was just incredibly overwhelming. This was not her plan. Before the next contraction hit I told her that I knew it hurt, and she didn’t want to - but that she could, and she would need to help herself and focus everything she had on making herself breathe through contractions. She took a deep breath, and after that, it was like she made up her mind to get herself through it. Even in so much pain, she stayed on top of her breathe, and was able to compose herself. I was so proud of her.

Finally, around 12:30pm, the platelet transfusion was finished and a different anesthesiologist came in, and said something. I can’t remember what I said, but Maddie recognized him by his voice and perked right up. Relief from the pain was coming! They got her up to the side of the bed, curled over a pillow, and she got the epidural that she had wanted three hours earlier.

Because she was at a 7/8 when she got the epidural, she still felt a lot of pressure, but she was much more at ease. It felt like no time at all before Dr. Cornejo came back in. It was time for Baby to be born!

In most of the births I’ve been honored to attend, it seems like the pushing stage of labor involves a lot of jokes and laughing. The relief that the Mom feels knowing she will be holding her baby soon is felt by everyone in the room. This birth was no different. Lots of smiles and laughs in between pushes!

Then it was 1:32pm and Beckett was born.

In true Covid fashion, the first look at Beckett by the some of the family was through the birth room window. Even the huge puddle of mud in front of the window couldn’t keep the smile off Big Brother’s face.

Dr. Myrick would be along quickly after the family to do a full check up on the Baby.

Beckett was born on a chilly, rainy, Wednesday, so now he can honestly claim that he really was the sunshine on a cloudy day. Just like the song says.