ADRIE LESTER

About a week before my "due date", I had the urgent sense that the baby would be arriving soon, so Ben and I made sure we had every last thing ready. Over the next few weeks, I had several sessions of regular contractions, but they always faded away. I had some acupuncture done, and we had our first ultrasound at 42 weeks, to be sure the baby and placenta were healthy (they were). On June 6th, Tanya called to say she would come over. "Let's have a baby today!" It was beautiful - sunny and warm. When Tanya arrived we talked and took the dogs on a walk on our neighbor's trail. I still had some tacks in from the acupunturist, and Ben and I stimulated those from time to time, especially the ones on my lower back, because they seemed to help intensify the contractions. After resting a while, we applied some castor oil to the outside of my belly, let it soak in, and then I took a shower to rinse it off. We went to the Robert Frost Trail at Amethyst Brook and took a long long hike up the mountain. We walked for about two hours - the longer we hiked, the stronger my contractions got, which was really exciting! I was amazed that I was able to hike so long and far while having contractions. We talked a lot about food, so by the time we returned to our car we were really hungry. We stopped and got some hearty Mexican food, and while we ate my contractions subsided. Tanya decided to go home for a while, and told us to go home and rest, and to call right away if anything picked up again.

We immediately fell asleep at home, and I woke up around 7 pm with steady, strong contractions. I could not get comfortable, so I woke Ben up and we called Tanya and Kirsten, and our doula, Shannon. I knew this was it! Ben made me some tea, and I stood in the kitchen, trying to find the most comfortable position during contractions. We went upstairs and Ben started draining the old water from the tub so he could refill it, as I lay on my side on the bed, unable to stand any more.

Kirsten arrived first, and after checking on me, started gathering their supplies. Ben held my hand and I began to moan during contractions, trying to breathe deep and low. Shannon arrived and sat with me also, holding my other hand and talking me through the contractions. As Tanya arrived, the contractions were very intense and close together. When a long break did come between contractions, it felt wonderful and relaxing, with Ben stroking my hair or back. I felt burning hot, and tried going into the tub for a while, but the warm water made me feel hotter, so I laid back down on my side. I felt something very different with the next contraction and I said "The baby's coming!"

Kirsten checked that I was totally dilated, and said that I could start pushing when I wanted, which was good because the urge to push with the next contraction was so strong. The contractions and pushing felt really good now. I sat up with Ben behind me holding both my hands. He fed me a few spoonfuls of lemon sherbert and with the next contraction I felt a huge powerful force gathering in and around me, and pushed with some primal yelling. They showed me the baby's head crowning in a mirror, and I reaced down to touch it, hardly able to believe I was actually doing it, giving birth to our baby. On the next contraction, I gave a huge push, out came the head and the midwives said, "Ok, slow, slow!" but I didn't even hear them over my own roaring, and with one more push the whole baby was out!

They put the baby right into my arms, crying robustly. I saw the cord and at first thought the baby was a boy, but when I checked I saw that we had a baby girl, just like we had thought we would. We couldn't believe how big, beautiful, and healthy she was. After birthing the placenta, Kirsten helped us start nursing. The midwives checked us both over, and then made us breakfast, and then we all fell blissfully asleep, our new baby between us in the bed.