We love repeat doula families! Welcome baby #2, beautiful baby Zoey, to proud parents Emily and Gabe

"After hearing for 3 weeks that I could go into labor 'any moment' and being 2cm dilated and 80-90% effaced for over two weeks, the day before I’m in actual labor I finally released the tension I was carrying regarding the 'when'. I went for a nice long early morning walk, had a chiropractic adjustment, did another walk on the treadmill and bounced on a birth ball for what seemed like forever. I kept joking I would bounce this baby out!

We put our 17 month old to sleep that night and again I bounced on the ball and finally relinquished that I needed to go to sleep as well. I woke up at my typical 1:30-2am to go pee and when I stood back up I felt that different trickle that I couldn’t stop- my water had broken. Contractions started very shortly after and became regular pretty quickly.

I labored first a bit just in bed trying to rest, but felt too anxious and was not able to sleep between the surges. I decided to sit on the ball again which was the best decision, it took so much pressure off. Once contractions were about 5-7 mins apart I knew I wanted to go to the hospital even though I knew I wasn’t quite in the thick of active labor yet (contractions were regular but only mild to moderate intensity). I was worried about all of the changes with triage and having to be alone in the hospital during that (support people could only join once we got to a room). I also wanted to be out of the house before my older baby woke up.

I officially checked in at about 6:30am and the nurse checked me at just over 3cm, and said I could get an epidural whenever I wanted. I declined because I preferred to be in more active labor and closer to about 5-6cm (similar time my first birth). Thank goodness for my doula Tara, who helped me reach that point! She offered aromatherapy, pelvic tilts (which I hated, but I know was helping!), massage, hip squeezes (which were amazing). At about 8:30-9am I was at that point where I felt contractions about 2-3mins a part and was now at about 5cm. I was primarily laboring on the birth ball and was using breathing and relaxation techniques to manage contractions. They were getting so intense and hard to breathe through but I was so tired that I was dozing off in between contractions, feeling like I was going to fall off that ball. I felt ready for the epidural so I could hopefully get a bit of rest and relief.

Once it was placed, the pain was all but gone. I could feel contractions but I felt minimal pain associated. I did get about a 30 min rest/half sleep until we changed positions. We did about 30 mins side lying on the left then the right. The nurse then came in and said that the contractions had spaced out from 2mins apart to 5-7mins apart and did I want to do a little Pitocin to help pick it back up. I agreed, and Tara helped get me into throne position and my nurse added the Pitocin. (I’m not sure the dose but she said it was less than the usual starting dose). Very shortly after I looked over at my sleeping husband, and then over to Tara and said I was feeling kind of nauseous and light headed. I thought maybe I was reacting adversely to the medication? Within minutes my nurse walked back in and said she wanted to check things because she noticed I had a very long and strong contraction. She said maybe it would be a good idea to check dilation to see where I was at and I was shocked to hear that I was complete! Because my first birth had a pushing stage of only 20 mins, the nurse said she’d feel more comfortable waiting for the midwife to come catch before I started to push, in case she didn’t make it in time, so we waited an extra five or so minutes for her to arrive.

They brought the mirror so I could see and we all got into position. After a few pushes I could see baby’s head which was Covered in hair and that was so incredibly motivating! A few extra pushes and 8 minutes later the head was out, my husband was able to catch the rest of her body and baby girl Zoey was brought earthside!"