Birth story - Crystal and baby Kieran

After suffering from years of infertility and miscarriages as well as a traumatic birth with my daughter (long, out of control labor and unnecessary interventions), I knew I needed to find resources to not only give me the tools to have a better experience this time, but to heal from the wounds that I carried. I was led to The Positive Birth Company after a review from Louise Pentland. I was amazed by her experience with Siobhan and hypnobirthing and immediately wanted the same for myself with my son.

Once I reached the second trimester, I started working through the content in the digital pack. The videos were great at helping me understand the science behind birth and how I can use various techniques to create the right environment for my body to give birth. I was starting to look forward to giving birth and eagerly hired a doula and made up a birth plan using the BRAIN approach based on my previous experience with my daughter. 

In the last month of my pregnancy, the Coronavirus hit the United States and in particular, the state I reside in. This created loads of fear and anxiety for me, not knowing whether I'd be able to have my husband or my doula at my birth or if it was even safe to give birth in the hospital. It took many conversations with my OB, doula, and husband to reach the conclusion that being at the hospital was safest given that I was Group B Strep positive and that I had some complications throughout this pregnancy.

On April 9th, I went in for my 39 week appointment in the afternoon and was 2 CM dilated. I asked for my membranes to be stripped to see if that could help get labor started - especially as I had been experiencing inconsistent surges for about a week or so. Right away the surges became more intense, but were still manageable. I went on with the rest of my afternoon at home and by dinner time, the surges were consistent enough to be timing them through the Freya app. My husband and I got our things ready for the hospital and spent as much time with our daughter before putting her to bed. Around 8 or 9 PM, I let my doula know that things were progressing, but that I was able to breathe through the surges just fine - thanks to the app and its soothing affirmations and music. My husband laid down for a nap and I tried to rest, knowing that we would be meeting our son soon. By 11:30 PM, it was harder to focus during surges so I had my doula come to the house. I labored at home for another hour and a half before we headed to hospital. 

Upon arrival, I was already 5.5 CM dilated and was admitted to the labor and delivery floor. My doula was able to be with us because he is also a licensed acupuncturist who had privileges at the hospital. He immediately did some acupuncture and acupressure due to feeling nauseous as I was entering transition. It was such a relief for me because I was in transition for quite a bit of time, of which I labored either standing up and swaying or in the tub. By 6 AM, I was 7.5 CM dilated and was getting tired so I moved from the tub to a chair. Things became quite intense at this point and I had a bit of a wobble, but kept repeating to myself the affirmation that my surges can't be stronger than me because they are me. 

At 8 AM, my OB started her shift and checked me to see how things were progressing. I was almost fully dilated with a bit of a lip of cervix left so they broke my waters to try and move things along. Right away I felt the urge to push and it took everything in me not to push so that my cervix could dilate fully. I kept saying I needed to push so my OB allowed me to start pushing to try and get past the lip. After thirty minutes of pushing, I got past the lip and my son was nearly crowning, which was painful and exhausting.

This is where I started to lose faith in my ability to give birth and if it weren't for the amazing team I had, I probably wouldn't have given birth. With another thirty minutes of pushing, my son was born at 9:38 AM.  Kieran Patrick barrelled into the world at 8 lbs 1 oz and 21 3/3 inches long. My husband was able to stay with me in recovery and after 24 hours, we were sent home to spend the Easter weekend as our first weekend as a family of four.

Kieran has been a wonderful blessing in such uncertain times. His birth was a deeply healing experience for me (and my husband), and I have Siobhan and The Positive Birth Company to thank for that. Thank you for offering your talents and skills and for creating such a positive space to birthers all over the world.