“Chloe
Seguin”
Proud
Parents: Cody and Keven Seguin
Birth at
Grand River Hospital - Saturday June 11th 2011 10:22pm
Written
by attending Doula - Lindsay Cooper
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| Waiting to head to the hospital |
It
was a grey and overcast Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of my phone at
6:40am. It was Cody was letting me know that she had contractions wake her up,
and that these were different; more lower down in the abdomen than the previous
pre-labour contractions she had been having the past few days. I told her that
the only way we could tell if this was true labour was to time them so we could
see if they were consistent. They were a bit sporadic so I told her to get some
more rest and let me know when things progressed a bit more. I had a feeling in
my gut that this was going to be “the day” so I took a nap. I woke up a second
time to the sound of my phone with Cody reporting that the contractions were
stronger, and coming about 4 minutes apart. I told her to call her midwife. She
did and was told to meet their midwife at the clinic. The midwife checked the
progress and Cody was 4cm dilated. The midwife sent them home with instructions
to return again in approx. 1 hour, and if she was 5cm then they could admit her
to the hospital. I met with the couple at their house. They had made plans with
a close friend that day for a visit so I met Josh when I walked in the door.
There was excitement in the air. Everyone seemed very calm and excited at the
same time. The men were wolfing down sandwiches to prepare for the long haul.
Mom was rocking on a birthing ball, drinking ice tea, and starting to notify
close family members of her labour status on her cell phone.
We went
back to the midwife’s office only to be immediately directed across the street
to be admitted to Grand River Hospital. The midwife wasn’t there at the time,
she was on her way to meet us at the hospital. We had Nasrin, Cody’s secondary
midwife her primary midwife, Min, was off this weekend. The couple were
admitted quickly and we settled into our small private room at approximately
1:00pm. Cody was great at handling the contractions all morning, she preferred
to be sitting or laying when they were happening and was very positive and
relaxed in between. Nasrin walked us through protocols, procedures and told
Cody to rest as much as possible because the contractions were still quite
spaced out and we wanted mom to rest as much as possible to keep up her
strength for later. Soon she would be allowed to go into the tub and move
around when things picked up more and she was more uncomfortable.
Cody’s
labour was progressing at great speed! She was close to 6cm dilated just under
2 hours of being at the hospital. Kevin and I did as much as we could. We were
mainly focused on coaching Cody on her breathing. Cody preferred to have some
space and little distractions so we tried to keep the room as quiet and provide
only the physical contact that was needed, hand holding, water fetching etc.
Cody was so kind and positive in between contractions like nothing ever
happened, constantly making sure we were all OK. We could tell that they were
getting harder on her, she would tense up and started to be a little more vocal
with each contraction. It became clear that she wasn’t comfortable in the
hospital bed anymore.
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| Breathing through a contraction |
usting the heat of the water, holding her hand through contractions and
getting her water or chap-stick when needed. She often had her eyes closed and
just laid there peacefully in between contractions. As I sat there I just
stared at her beauty. She was a true birthing Goddess in my eyes. In between
each 20 minute session of jets on the tub, the midwife would come in with her
hand held fetal monitor to check the heart rate of the baby. Each time Nasrin
would say that the heart rate was great and the baby was very happy. The jets
would go back on and we’d monitor the intensity and feel of contractions from
time to time. After 3-4 sessions of 20 minutes of jets, Cody starting to
feel a bit “pushy” with a lot of pressure on her bottom. She decided quite
suddenly that she wanted out of the tub at around 4:20pm. We got her out, had
her go to the washroom and got mom dried up and back in bed for another exam to
check the progress. Things were going so great in the tub that we all expected
things to keep continuing at the same pace but Cody was only 7cm.
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| The awesomeness that is Josh |
Once Cody
was out of the tub it was obvious that she had lost her rhythm and she was
having trouble staying on top of the contractions. Dad and I looked on as the
Midwife was explaining that a rupture of the membranes would help pick things
up some more so that the contractions would be more effective. We held her hand
and spoke with her for a few moments, We said we were there for her no matter
what, we had gone over the risks and benefits and Cody decided to go ahead with
the procedure. Cody liked it when I put my cool hands on her forehead and neck,
after being in the tub she was quite warm. Kevin seemed quite composed during
the entire labour, he respected her need for space, was constantly by her side
providing words of affirmation which was so sweet to hear, and gave her soft
kisses on her head. Josh was there for the entire day. Sometimes we needed him
to leave the room while Cody was exposed but he took everything in stride and
waited patiently outside the room with a smile that came easily and calmness
that radiated from him.
Cody
worked through another hour of hard labour, the midwife was providing some massage
on her lower back while we helped mom focus on her breathing. This was a very
quiet hour. Cody was doing amazing. She was able to rest and snooze a bit in
between contractions. Things picked up quickly again. One thing we had noticed
was that baby Chloe was a very active and happy baby in moms belly. She like to
move around, a lot! She would move in between contractions and cause mom a lot
of pain. Cody would finally get over a contraction and then Chloe prevented her
from resting in between and would spur on more contractions. Chloe was sitting
up high still and pushing into moms ribs made it hard for Cody to take the deep
breaths she needed. Around 5:30pm after another exam Cody seemed to have
stalled a bit in her labour, with no progress still at 7cm. The contractions
had become on top of each other with very little rest in between with Chloe's
movements, the pain causing Cody to throwing up the sandwich she had ate
earlier in the day. Finally, after a time, Cody calmly stated in between
contractions that she needed a rest and wanted an epidural. Nasrin explained
the risks and benefits. In this particular situation it would provide mom with
rest in between contractions to help reserve her strength for pushing later. It
would also allow mom to relax her muscles better and breath more oxygen to
Chloe. With Chloe sitting high up, we wanted more effective contractions to get
her lower in the pelvis to be ready for pushing.
The
hospital staff came in and did the necessary exams and forms needed prior to
the administering of the epidural. Along with the epidural the staff was going
to administer a very small amount of pitocen to help get those contractions
effective at pushing Chloe down farther in the pelvis. Kevin and I were
asked to leave the room when the epidural went in. Kevin and I were very tense,
things were getting very intense and I could tell Kevin was scared. Like mom,
dad needed his space when I tried to check in with how he was doing
emotionally. We tried to talk about light-hearted topics while we waited to
keep our minds off of what was going on in the room. All of a sudden we heard a
loud “BANG” and a sharp intake of breath by all the staff. Kevin and I nearly
jumped out of our skin. Our hearts were in our throats. It sounded like Cody
fell off the bed or something. Then we heard laughter, Kevin and I looked at
each other and said everything must be okay if someone was laughing. Boy did
they give us a heart attack out there. At
approx. 7:00pm we were allowed back in and as Nasrin let us in, she explained
that the loud bang was them lowering the bed and all of a sudden the bed hydraulics
gave out and dropped, startling the staff. Thankfully the midwife and techs
caught her before she fell off! Everything was fine, we all had a good laugh.
It helped to break all the tension. I rushed to Cody's side. I asked her how
she was doing. She replied she was good and her butt was “tingly”. I laughed,
It was nice to see mom back to her old self again. A complete flip in
personality, she was talking, telling stories, calling family and updating them
on her progress. Seeing mom happy again helped put Dad and I at ease. I could
tell Cody was initially disappointed that she wasn’t able to do a natural birth
but she quickly realized that it was the best choice for her at the time and
she was prepared that things wouldn’t necessary go the way she planned. The
happy couple had a lot of supportive friends and family so we had the next hour
to relax and take visitors in 1-2 at a time to say hello. They had close
college friend Josh, parents of Kevin; Fran & Brian, Cody’s co-worker
Crystal, and friend Meghan. Cody’s dad and step mom were en route to the
hospital.
At 8:00pm
after all the visitors had a chance to wish the couple good luck the hospital
staff came in again. There was such a cute conversation started about birds,
nesting and eggs between the staff members and Cody. The staff was excellent,
they were very kind and informative. The O.B. did another exam and announced
that Cody was 9.5cm dilated! There was just a small lip of the cervix in the
way but the baby was nice and low, the head was in a great position, face down.
This helped reassure mom that she made the right decision and excitement kicked
into high gear; to think we’d get to meet baby Chloe very shortly! The Dr. said
one more hour and it would be time to push.
This hour
was just nice quiet conversation between Kevin, Cody and myself. We had a nurse
the whole time Cody was in bed after the epidural. Her name was Sarah, she was
nice and would answer any questions we had regarding the epidural effects and
what to expect with the pushing stage. At 9:30pm, Sarah said it was time to
push, we got the bed ready, the stirrups and equipment was all ready to go.
I was holding Cody’s right leg up to her chest and Kevin was helping
Cody’s head and shoulder to keep her chin to her chest. Cody was to hold her
breath and push for a count of 10, exhale and take another deep breath in and
repeat 2 more times. We did 2 sessions of pushing when we heard that Craig and
Susan (dad and step mom of Cody) made it to the hospital just in time. Cody
insisted she needed to see her dad before Chloe came out, so we stopped the
pushing, put moms legs back down and covered her up. Craig and Susan had a
quick visit and once they left we got right back to it. We only did one session
of pushing and I could see the top of the baby’s head. I told mom and dad and
asked Cody if she wanted the mirror. She did. We got that rearranged, the rest
of the hospital staff came in and we pushed some more. Mom was a champion when
it came to pushing, she only pushed for about 20min. Each time the head was
more and more visible. It was happening so fast! Cody reached down to touch the
head and started tearing up. It was amazing to see the look on mom and dads
face. They were glued to that mirror the whole time.
10:22pm
was the official time that Chloe made her debut into the world. Many tears were
had by mom and dad. She cried right from the get go so we placed her up on moms
chest for some skin to skin. She was a nice size, nice and pink with brown
hair. She had a bit of fluid in her lungs and Cody was bleeding a bit so the
cord needed to be cut and clamped soon. After dad cut the cord Nasrin took her
to be cleaned up, measured, weighed and suctioned. I was acting as paparazzi
snapping all the pictures I could. There was a special moment where Chloe held
dads finger in her hand. She was very vocal and alert all night. Big, bright,
blue eyes taking in everything.
Chloe weighed
in at 8lbs 11.6oz. She was 20.5cm. She was a big girl! We were all guessing
8lbs 2oz. She had a bit of damp lung which is fairly normal and would clear up
within 24hr. Since Cody had the epidural she needed to stay at the hospital for
8-10 hours. So it looked like they would get to spend the night. I took
pictures of all the guests holding the newest member of the family and proud
parents Cody and Kevin. I packed up all my things, congratulated and gushed
over their beautiful girl, said my goodbyes, and took one final picture of me
with the parents and Chloe.
It was by
far one of the most exciting and interesting days of my life. I know that
whatever I write will fail to capture the perfect joy that these people
expressed when they met Chloe for the first time. I felt truly honored to be
able to be a part of such a sacred moment between Cody and Kevin. Thank you so
much for this opportunity and congratulations on your beautiful, perfect
daughter.
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| Welcome Chloe-Lee |
