Did you find out the gender? Announcing baby K's arrival with an extra special surprise reveal!
Kaden's birth announcement was written by our birth doula, Tara. Tara is our Naples area doula and is a quite a natural at this doula thing! Tara is a mom of two boys and one pup, with her background in social work.
Kayla had her initial consult back in February with our doula agency owner, Christine. I felt really lucky to be chosen to be her doula; there’s something special about supporting first time moms! I first met Kayla, Kevin and Jazzy, their dog, at their home. After giving Jazzy a thorough belly rub, I got to know these first-time parents with a lot of questions. Over the next few months we went through all of those questions and got to know each other, while they prepared for life with a baby. We discussed labor, breastfeeding, postpartum and everything in between. One thing I learned is that Kayla had severe sciatic pain throughout her pregnancy, which made practicing Spinning Babies exercises difficult, but Kayla was tenacious and didn’t give up (practicing SB can create more space in the lower uterus and also stretch tight ligaments and muscles which can otherwise contribute to sciatic pain). She tried physical therapy and massage to get some relief with little results. Her last effort was to make a chiropractic appointment as one more way to get relief during her last couple of weeks of pregnancy. However, she didn’t have time to even go to the appointment, because the birth fairy stepped in…
Kayla’s contractions started in the morning, the day before her chiropractic appointment. Her due date was over a week away. The contractions were very manageable, so she went to work as usual. By the afternoon, the contractions were still coming so she decided to leave work early so she could get some rest. She followed her instincts so well. She shared that to her surprise, her water broke as she drove into her community! Since her contractions weren’t very strong, we decided to not rush to the hospital. Kayla knew she wanted an epidural but wanted to be about 5cm first. Kevin rushed home from work and Kayla’s contractions intensified, which is typical after your water breaks. It wasn’t long before we headed to the hospital.
At the hospital we found out Kayla was only 2cm dilated, but since her water had broken, they admitted her. (It’s typical to not be admitted until closer to 4cm, when labor gets more active). We then tried to keep Kayla moving to encourage dilation. Kevin and her doula were by her side the entire time. Kevin whispered words of encouragement and tried to make her laugh. Kayla was listening to her body with every contraction and found dropping into a deep squat felt best. After several hours, Kayla had little dilation change, but contractions were stronger. The couple and their midwife decided to have the epidural and start Pitocin to encourage her contractions to be more productive.
Immediately after the epidural Kayla’s blood pressure dropped drastically. She felt fine, but her nurse noticed the baby’s heartbeat had dropped. Suddenly several nurses were rushing around the room and the anesthesiologist was called. I offered support for Kevin as he was making sense of what was happening. Kayla went deep within herself and spoke to her baby, trying to reassure them both that everything would be okay. Just as the midwife was about to call an emergency cesarean, baby’s heartbeat stabilized and would remain so for the rest of her delivery.
The next morning Kayla was fully dilated. After a lengthy pushing stage (3.5 hours) her midwives called for a doctor for a vacuum. Kayla later shared that this was exactly what she needed, as it gave her the extra determination to get her baby out naturally! The doctor never showed and with Kayla surrounded by her doula, her partner, and not one but TWO supportive midwives (the on-call midwife was so invested in this birth she stayed well past her shift change!), baby was safely born! Everyone in the room was eager to find out if this baby was a boy or a girl!
Please join me in welcoming baby BOY (the surprise really was a surprise, they didn't know at all until the moment of birth!) Kaden Reed. He was 6lbs 8oz and 19 inches. He made his arrival at 9:51am on April 4th, 2019. Kayla, you DID it!
In doula love,
Tara
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