Gracie Louise's parents are "so thankful for all the support from our doulas & our village!" 9/6/20

"On the morning of September 4th I started to experience back pain which came and went throughout the day. By that night I was feeling light contractions and kept feeling the need to move around. Andrew and I took several walks around the community that night/early morning (10pm, 4am, 8am). At this point we knew I was having contractions but nothing was consistent so we just tried to sleep on and off.

Contractions became more intense by Saturday afternoon but still had no pattern to them. After talking to our doula, Emily, we decided it was best to head to the hospital to get checked out. After getting there, to my surprise, I was already 4 centimeters dilated and the nurse said I wouldn’t be going home without a baby! They quickly admitted me and got me into a room so Andrew could join me (Yay COVID rules!).

It wasn’t long after that when Emily arrived. I was able to labor in and out of the bathtub for several hours with help from Andrew and Emily. By 8pm things had become pretty intense and I was exhausted. The nurse checked me and said I was 6.5-7 centimeters. At this point I had been having contractions for 21 hours and got an epidural to hopefully catch some relax time.

After an hour or so doctors and nurses came in to check the baby's heart rate which seemed to be running very low. Nurses were around the bed in every direction unhooking monitors, giving oxygen, and readjusting my position so fast we really didn't even know what was happening. Within minutes we were off to the OR!

Gracie Louise was born via emergency cesarean on Sunday September 6th at 12:51am. She weighed 5lb 9oz and was 18” long. Gracie was healthy as can be and came into the world bright-eyed and bushy tailed (and has been ever since)!

Without the voice of our doula Emily, I’m not sure what we would have done! She knew exactly what to ask our providers each step of the way, even during the switch to a cesarean birth. A special thanks to our postpartum doula, Tanya as well for all of her help after coming home. Tanya gave us time to catch up on sleep, endless advice, and a heck of a lot of guidance during the first few weeks with a newborn. We are so thankful for all the support from our doulas and our village!"

Authored by Tori, first time mom