All About the Birth of Nealon Ling

I am so blessed to have given birth to a beautiful and healthy baby at home in my bedroom. It is so amazing that our bodies know how to grow and birth a baby without a conscious thought.

I had been ready to bring about the baby birthing for a few weeks. Since 37 weeks, I was sure that he would come early. The midwives had commented on how low the baby was and when I told Alisha that I thought he was not going to wait until my due date, she said that that was her intuition also. He ended coming "early" but only by five hours and 27 minutes -- not the days or weeks that I had imagined.

In the weeks before my due date, I saw a chiropractor a few times and also went to an acupuncturist for cervical ripening treatments. I had been feeling some pelvic cramping in the last few weeks, so I knew that things were progressing. My hips must have been expanding as well because I always felt like they needed to pop. I tried to do everything I knew how to in order to encourage a healthy labor -- stretching, avoiding reclining and doing pelvic rocks to help best position the baby, and walking.

The night before the night I went into labor, I felt some more significant cramping and thought that early labor might be beginning -- and even woke up with some of the same sensations, but they went away and didn't return until the following night. I talked with my friend Erin the next day and asked her if she remembered how long it was between when she felt cramp-like sensations and when she went into labor. She told me she couldn't remember exactly but that she definitely felt them the day that she went into labor. So, I got the idea that labor was around the corner. Of course, I was only 2 or 3 days from my due date at that time, so I realized that it wouldn't be much longer. I had been hoping that he would be "on time" and not late so that I could have as much to get adjusted and acquainted before my night classes begin.

The night before I went into labor, my friend You came over and made me spicy Korean noodles, and -- after talking with my friend, Autumn, I squeezed the acupressure points on my ankles and shins to try to get the birthing juices flowing around 10 p.m.

I then awoke around 2 a.m. feeling very mildly painful sensations that felt like menstrual cramps -- and couldn't sleep very well. I woke up every hour or so to go to the bathroom. I felt like this could have been the beginning -- but didn't wake Chris because it was still early on, and I wanted him to be well-rested. We stayed up late -- of course, and so didn't really start sleeping until almost 1 p.m. So, I slept intermittently and woke up around 7:30 or so and laid in bed, falling asleep off and on 'til around 9. It was then that I realized that these "cramps" were coming on pretty regularly. I wasn't sure if these were contractions because I imagined that I would feel them more in my abdomen as well -- and that the Braxton Hicks contractions would slowly become painful. I started to watch the clock. I remember 9:38, 9:46, 9:52. So, the pains were already pretty close together. It seems like once I started watching the time, they were already about five minutes apart. My morning glory was in bloom.



Iris called me right around then, and I talked with her while I went to the bathroom. I told her that I felt like I was having menstrual cramps. She said to me, "Rachel, there are no such things as menstrual cramps when you are pregnant. What you are having are called contractions and so you can start referring to them as such." It was then, while sitting on the toilet, that I had the first bloody show. I called Chris, and he was very excited. I had told him about the regularity of pains when we woke up -- but (before talking to Iris) I hadn't used the word "contraction" so this was the first real sign for him that we were really in labor.

I paged the midwife to let her know that I was having contractions and that I had lost my mucous plug -- and to ask her advice as to whether I should still go to my acupuncture appointment. I had already scheduled an appointment with an acupuncturist for 11:30 a.m. -- and was prepared to get a labor induction treatment, rather than the cervical ripening treatments I had been getting previously. She told me that I was in early labor -- and that if I felt up to it, it might be good to go ahead and go -- and that it may help to get things rolling. So I decided to go ahead and go. Chris shifted into high gear and started preparing for the birth. The timing of everything happened perfectly. He made me breakfast -- an omelet with purple onion and chevre, wheat toast with butter and jam, and yogurt with pineapple slices.



And so we headed to see Nicola at Magnolia (www.magnoliahealing.com) in SE Portland, timing contractions in the car. At this point, my contractions had been about five minutes apart since 10:30. Nicola was really great -- and did an electrode treatment that constantly stimulated the points between my thumb and forefinger and on my ankles. I had about six contractions lying on that table completely still. They were still pretty mild, so it wasn't too uncomfortable. When she came to check on me, I was ready to get up and move around, so she removed all the needles, leaving three in on my right ear -- which I wish I had a photo of -- to help with pain, and little "seeds" with tiny needle pricks on my shins and in between my thumb and forefinger -- that looked like tiny circular band-aids.

By the time we were driving back to our place after the appointment, things started getting a little more intense -- and I definitely started to feel like a woman in labor. Chris drove carefully and quickly -- with no horn, since the car on my horn isn't working (dangerous, I know, right?), and by the time we got home at about 12:30, I felt like things were picking up.

Chris began laying down the plastic carpet protection sheeting while I leaned on the bathroom counter -- and then proceeded to blow up the birth tub. I called Sarah Marie earlier in the morning after talking with Iris to let her know that I was in early labor, and after getting back from the acupuncturist I called her again to let her know she should think about heading over that afternoon. She had planned a party for that evening with her colleagues that she traveled to Nicaragua with -- to reunite and trade photos and eat fried chicken and such. I had told my Mom and a few others that we were going to have the baby tomorrow night because Sarah Marie had already invited fifteen people over to her house and Murphy's Law said that Nealon would come and crash the party -- which is exactly what seemed to be happening. So Sarah Marie arranged for everyone to party at her house without her. She had already prepared a bunch of food and everyone was already planning on it, so the party plans went ahead as planned and Sarah Marie came over.

When Sarah Marie arrived around 2:00 p.m., Chris was setting up the tub -- and he was a bit overwhelmed by the whole situation. I had had Chris call the midwives after I called Sarah Marie -- because I knew it would take about an hour for one of them to arrive, and my contractions were about three minutes apart. When I spoke with Beth earlier, she had said that early labor could last for quite some time and that it might be midnight or early morning 'til things really got going -- but I was pretty sure it wasn't going to take that long. I thought I might be calling her over too soon, but I preferred to err on the side of having a midwife for the birth of my baby than not. Beth arrived around 2:30 with Seth, the midwifery student assistant. I met Seth at my last appointment with the midwives, and agreed that he would attend. He is a fifty-some-odd chiropractor and acupressure specialist who is observing births so that he can deliver babies. I guess in Oregon, chiropractors can be licensed to deliver babies after observing fifty births. So, it was nice to have him there. He put pressure on my sacrum through a few contractions -- but then backed off and encouraged Chris to take that role.



Chris was very helpful and supportive throughout the entire process: touching me as I asked, not touching me as I asked, getting in the tub with me when I asked, getting out of the tub when I asked, etc. He was a fabulous support person.

Sarah Marie was awesome as well -- she was my favored masseuse, rubbing my lower back and leaning over the tub for the last hour or so. She also kept me cool with wet washcloths sprinkled with essential oils.

The pain was very manageable I thought. Beth told Alisha that she couldn't really tell that I was that far along until she checked me because I was very calm. I was holding it together pretty well. The position I maintained for the most part during contractions was leaning over the birth ball on my hands and knees. I also did some leaning over the bathroom counter with a flat back. Towards the end, before I got in the tub, I wanted to hang -- and wish that I had had a bar or something from up high to grab on and hang loosely. I did hang onto Chris and Sarah through a contraction or two -- but by then I was ready for the tub.

We didn't do a practice run with the birth tub so, of course, when we went to fill it we did not have the right connector to the faucet. So everyone (but me) took turns holding the hose to the faucet. We didn't have any duct tape. Sarah Marie and Chris also took turns bringing up hot water in big pots from downstairs. Around this time I could smell the birthday cake that Sarah Marie was baking in the oven.

Luckily, by the time I was really in transition and the contractions were getting intense, the water level in the tub had reached the minimum height. I only had a few really vocal contractions before getting into the tub -- kneeling and pushing against a footstool in an upright position.



The tub felt awesome. I just grabbed onto the handles and let the rest of me go loose behind me. It was when I got into the tub that I felt my body begin to push the baby down, involuntarily. I could feel the pressure of his head moving downward and felt like I needed to poop. The midwife was saying it was fine to poop in the water -- but I really preferred to sit on the toilet, so I got up and sat on the toilet for a couple contractions, which was not fun, but I was able to have a small bowel movement. The towel rack was really not a great place to hang onto because I felt like I might rip it out off the wall.



Once I was back in the tub, I was getting close to pushing. Beth had called Alisha when I told her that I felt pushy. She told me to wait as long as I could and not to push until I had to. And before long, I was there. I could feel the baby's head right on the verge. And my water had still not broken at this point! I felt so much pressure and asked Beth when my water would break. She said that she could break it if I wanted her to, and that would relieve some pressure. I told her I would wait through a couple more contractions to see if it would break. At some point, I put my hand down to feel the baby's head -- and Beth told me that what I felt was the water sack and the baby's head was just behind it. The next couple of contractions, I was pushing -- and it scared me because I felt like I might tear if I pushed any further. So I asked Beth to break the bag. I remember telling her that I just wanted to push the baby's head -- and not the bag, too. She broke the bag from behind as I was on my hands and knees -- and said she had a hard time breaking it -- that my bag was super sturdy. And that was a relief. After that, Beth encouraged me to push with contractions and we were so close.

Alisha had arrived sometime before this while I was in the tub. She has such a soft and loving energy -- and she came and held my hands. I was moaning and groaning and she told me to put that energy into my bottom. Beth was telling me to give small slow pushes, and that I was "stretching beautifully." The baby's head became visible as I was on my hands and knees, and then Beth asked me to turn over so that it would be easier to put the baby's head on my chest. My contractions started slowing down towards the end as I was pushing, and so once the baby's head was right there -- the next contraction couldn't come quick enough. It stung and Chris and I were furiously stimulating my nipples trying to bring on the next contraction.




On the next push, the baby's head was out -- and then his whole body. It was such an incredible feeling and such a instantaneous relief and rush. Chris lifted the baby up onto my chest.










I remember Sarah Marie standing in front of me with the laptop -- all the while Iris had been on Skype, virtually sitting in the room with me during the labor. The midwives tended to the baby on top of me, and then passed him off to Chris while I remained in the tub for the delivery of the placenta. I missed seeing Chris hold Nealon for the first time, but Alisha got photos so I look forward to seeing those. The placenta took some time because my contractions were farther apart and I couldn't really tell when I was having one. I didn't want to rush it, and I was content to just keep lying there in the warm water. Finally, it came out, and Beth helped me to the shower for a quick rinse.

She then checked me out and said that I had a very small tear that would heal on its own and that I wouldn't need any stitches. Whew! That news made me very happy. I had done it naturally, at home, in water, without intervention, complication or injury. I had a beautiful baby boy in my arms.



I was really lucky. Beth says that I was only in active labor for about 3.5 hours and that pushing took about half an hour. I got home from the acupuncture appointment around 1:00 and Nealon was born at 6:33 p.m. Not bad!

And now Nealon is here!