Here are Mindy’s words…my prenatal yoga student.
Read on for her wonderful birth story!
Congratulations to Mindy and Dan!
As far as my delivery story….here it is. I wish that every woman has the ease and comfort of my pregnancy, my labor, and my delivery. And most importantly, the outcome of a beautiful healthy child at the end. I trusted my body to deliver my child. I had absolutely no pain and I never felt the “ring of fire” from the pushing phase. Here’s my story as briefly as possible.
I labored all day Friday March 20th with Dan, my sister, mom, and two nieces here since we had plans for the afternoon. My labor was so easy that everyone stayed and when a contraction came I just had Dan massage my back and I just breathed through it like riding a bike up a big hill (thanks to all those Reebok workouts). My midwife and doula came over that evening when my contractions progressed to about 5 minutes apart. Everything was set for my home birth-my birthing pool, music, candles, essential oils, massage tools, food, coconut water-I was ready. My contractions progressed to two minutes apart lasting one minute each but when my midwife Tioma checked me I was fully effaced and she could see my daughters head was low but I was only one centimeter dilated and not the 10 centimeters I needed to deliver. I then became disappointed by this whole day of work and my thinking I was about to push my baby out and this frustration somehow stalled my labor and my contractions just stopped. I didn’t really have many contractions for Sat or Sun but since my water had broken, I was on the clock “for safety reasons”. I had an acupuncturist come over my apartment for three hours late Sunday afternoon to help kick start my stalled labor. During the evening my contractions started again but they were far apart and my family was getting worried with the water breaking and more time passing. Early the next morning Dan and I made a decision that maybe I should go to the hospital to make sure that there was no medical reason why I was not dilating and why my labor stalled. We walked 10 blocks to the hospital because I was feeling perfectly fine. I got to the hospital around 11am and started feeling some contractions while in the waiting room waiting to be evaluated. They felt the same as before. No pain just slightly uncomfortable period cramps. I was talking and joking with Dan and my Mom as if nothing was going on and would just briefly pause to breath through the 30 seconds or so like riding that bike up a steep hill. I was admitted about an hour later and when they checked me I was 6.5 centimeters dilated, all while in the waiting room for the past 60 minutes. They moved me to the labor and delivery room and 60 minutes later I was 10 centimeters dilated and about 5 pushes later my baby was born. Minutes after I delivered I asked if I could leave and go home since I felt great but they said I had to stay for 48 hours to monitor the baby as standard hospital procedure. I did a completely natural child birth though the hospital environment was not what I had hoped for. The hospital staff told me they were very impressed with my delivery because it seems like unfortunately a natural childbirth is rare at NY Presbyterian Hospital Cornell Weil Medical Center here on 68th and York. Dan and my midwife Tioma were in the labor room with me the entire time and I was glad they were there. Dan was amazing throughout my labor and although the hospital wouldn’t let him catch our daughter as she was being born, which he was going to do at home with the midwife. We were just happy to hold our precious daughter in our arms. She breastfed minutes after being born and latched right on. It was so cute, she climbed up my belly and found my breast and latched herself on. It’s an amazing sight to see what a newborn will instinctively do without any drug/medical intervention. She was born alert and had an almost perfect score on the APGAR test.
We’re doing wonderful.
Sedona Pamela Arminio: 7lbs 4oz. 20 1/2 inches long, was born on March 23, 2009.
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