Sarah, Dave and Emery - The Birth

Most of you know that I have begun my certification to be a Doula in past few months. I have LOVED all that I have learned and only grown more excited about it. My first family to support was one of my best friends Sarah, her husband Dave and on-the-way Emery. This is the birth from my point of view. I wanted to remember every detail so I wrote it as soon as I could after the birth. For those of you who are not all that into birth or spend hours reading birthing blogs and find as much excitement and joy in it as I do - I must warn you now: It's long. Really long. :) Most of the details are for my memory, Sarah if she wants it, and fellow doula certifying friends.

Sarah decided she wanted an all natural birth, free of any drugs or invasive interventions as long as everything remained safe. She did a lot of research and really informed herself and made a well thought out decision to do it with natural coping methods and support. She received all of her prenatal care and birthed at the Austin Area Birthing Center and had all really wonderful experiences. She took great care of herself during pregnancy, eating healthy and swimming and walking frequently. She developed gestational diabetes and had to alter her diet quite severely but managed very well and made the best of it - keeping her blood sugar levels down with diet and exercise and without the use of medicines. She is one of my best friends, so of course I had to ask her if I could be her doula - lucky for me they said yes. :)

Here goes!

My phone rang at 4:31am on Thursday morning. Thinking it was my alarm, I hopped up to turn it off and go back to sleep. Halfway there (I keep it in the kitchen) I realized it wasn't the ridiculously annoying alarm sound I switched my alarm to, but it was a ringing sound....SARAH! I missed the call. I frantically called her right back and she answered right at way with, "I'm in labor. They're 5 minutes apart. This hurts like hell. We're going to the birthing center at 5am." (Later that day I checked my voicemail and she had left me a message and all it said was, "I'm in labor. We're going to the birthing center at 5am. 2500 William Cannon Drive." That just cracks me up - clearly she was in throws of intense labor as I was at the birthing center with her for her appointment exactly one week before! Haha but hey she's stickin to the facts, making sure she's getting across good information!) ((Also, while I was on the phone Micah - being Micah - jumps out of bed and starts getting all of our towels for me to bring. HA! Just being silly of course. I love him.))

I got off the phone and literally started running in circles. My bag is not packed. What do I wear? Pack my toothbrush? YES, brush your teeth there - you need to go! No, she sounds like she's pretty far along, brush your teeth now. Should I bring books just in case I forget what to do to help her? Yes, pack them. And her folder. She might keep the room freezing, bring a sweatshirt. I might get covered in all sorts of bodily fluids - bring a spare outfit. Go ahead and bring the toothbrush just in case. Flip flops or tennis shoes? Bring both.........and so on and so on. I mean can you tell this was my first time and I was nervous?! HA!

I finally make it to the car, back up and realize I'm nervous and jittery and need to take a deep breath or I'm going to cause a car wreck. Take two deep breaths. Much better. Headed to help my dear sweet friend in any way I can! I call on the way because I realize when she called I immediately went into excited friend mode and not doula mode and didn't find out any info I wanted to! So Dave fills me in on how long they've been up and how she is doing. I could tell she was far along in her labor when I had spoken to her I just wanted to get an idea of where we were and what was going on. I make my way south to the birthing center and arrive before Sarah and Dave. I was glad of this because I got to meet the wonderful midwife Vicki before they arrived. I told her it was my first birth as a doula and that I had just begun my certification. She reassured me and told me I would mostly be helping her with her breathing and getting her cold wash cloths. A few minutes later Dave and Sarah arrive and, after finishing a contraction, make their way inside. I grabbed all the bags - reassuring Dave not to worry about it and that he could stay with Sarah.

Once inside Sarah was in the amazing room with the extra large incredible bathtub. I mean this thing is really awesome. All of the rooms at the BC are wonderful but this tub - fabulous. Vicki wants to check Sarah and see how far along she is. After a few contractions she is able to relax enough to let Vicki check her cervix......NINE CENTIMETERS! We were all amazed and just so proud of Sarah. She managed it to 9 centimeters at home. In about 3 hours. (I had learned that she first woke up with contractions at around 1am) ROCKSTAR. So amazing. So Vicki decides she definitely needs to go call her birth assistant to come in. Sarah continues to have contractions about 1-2 minutes apart, really staying on top of them and handling them well with her breathing. Dave was so incredible and right next to her every step of the way. Rubbing her back and encouraging her and praising her. You couldn't ask for better support from a Dad. I would stand in front of her, she sitting on the bed, and she would rest her head against my chest. Most contractions I gently stroked her arms downward from her shoulders to her elbows and out. Encouraging her to breath down into the contraction and breath it away. There was not much coaching needed because Sarah was doing so fabulous. Just affirming that to her.

After a little while, about an hour, she decided she wanted to get into the bathtub. She worked through a few contractions in the tub and then requested Dave join her. Dave put on his swimsuit and hopped in to be in the water with his wife. He gently encouraged her and massaged her back. I sat outside the tub to rub her arms or let her squeeze my hands through contractions. She continued to do really and stay very much in control. A few times she mentioned that she felt out of control or that she wasn't doing well. We assured her she was doing INCREDIBLY and that if she felt out of control in her head there was zero visible sign of it. She was doing fabulous. I noticed she was starting to bear down a bit during one of the contractions. I asked her about it after the contraction let up and she appropriately said, "I don't know, I'm just doing what my body does."

I told Vicki what I had noticed and she checked her again and said that if she felt the urge to push to go with it. She gave her some helpful tips as to how to push and where to push out of and Sarah started going for it with the next contraction. She leaned against Dave in the bathtub and he supported her amazingly well during this time also. All of the fears he had mentioned to me in our meeting seemed to have disappeared with the distraction of the amazing event that was taking place (which he later confirmed). During this stage, aside from verbal encouragement and support, my main role was keeping her washcloth for her face ice cold. I re-cooled it after almost every contraction and tried to think of what she might need before she asked for it. Mainly sips of water. She started pushing at around 6:30. (5 1/2 hours into labor!) The first few pushes seemed to be not too intense but they rapidly grew more intense with each contraction. She pushed for some where between 8 and 12 contractions I'd say (only 36 minutes). She started to be very vocal at the end of each push, letting out higher pitched yelps. She was able to get at least 3 good pushes from each contraction and she gave it all she had. She was yet again proving to be amazing at this. Amazing at letting go and letting her body do what it was created to do. She didn't resist or back away from the pain. She pushed through it and rested in between each one with her cold washcloth on her face. After the pushing let up she reached down and felt Emery's head a few times. I love that Vicki encouraged her to do this. So special and I would think so rewarding. To feel that your hard work is paying off and you are getting so close to meeting your baby!

And then, she pulled her knees back with Dave's help, like she had done at the start of every other contraction, she yelled louder than all of the other pushes, her body kind of lurched back into Dave's and raised out of the water a bit, and then out came Emery Hendrix Hampton at 7:06 am!!! She came out so fast it caught everyone by surprise! Emery cried right away a loud healthy cry and Vicki immediately brought Emery to Sarah's chest. To her mama. Sarah just breathed and cried. Dave cried. I cried. An amazingly intense and the most special of moments. The birth of their first child - their sweet, perfect daughter Emery. I am so blessed to have been able to share this moment with them. To be a witness to their most joyous day. To watch Sarah's body do what God created it perfectly and beautifully to do. To birth. To mother. And what an amazing mom I know my best friend will be.

I am so thankful Sarah and Dave allowed me to be their doula. I am so excited for them, for their sweet little family. This will be a day I truly will never forget.

The next day Sarah said, "That is the craziest thing I will ever do." I was able to stop by for a few minutes to drop off some food and hold sweet Emery, they are all doing wonderfully and adjusting so well. Emery is just beautiful and so well loved. God is so good.

Emery Hendrix Hampton
September 22, 2011
7:06 am
7 lbs 8 oz
21 inches long


Right after the delivery - Sarah looks as beautiful as ever!

Emery and Dad.

Look at that perfect head! I told you it was fast!

All dressed.

Beautiful.

Me and sweet Emery! Resting Sarah :)

Sarah and her daughter. Which is weird to say!

Us again. :) Love her already!

The Sweet Hampton Family of 3 and their friend and Doula.
Love you guys so much! So proud of all 3 of you!!!

P.S. Doulas: Vicki, the wonderful midwife, also let me really check out the placenta later on and explained all the different parts to me. I even video taped it to be able to show Sarah. She said she wanted to see but was obviously busy right after. :)