Eco Child’s Play

I woke up in the early morning and knew that our baby was ready to come into the world. My husband and I had created a vision for how we wanted Leona’s birth to unfold, as a peaceful decent. My breath and a positive perspective were my greatest tools in manifesting this.  We found an alternative birth center within a suburban Chicago hospital, so that the setting would match our intentions. Natural birth has proven itself billions and billions of times across the globe and was how I wanted to deliver our child.

I spent the next few hours sitting on an exercise ball in a “birth zone.” A hypnobirthing class taught me a few breathing techniques and visualizations that allowed me to open gracefully to the experience and the journey that lay ahead. 

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I thought of the contractions as waves, with peaks and valleys. Despite the intensity of the peak, I knew a valley lay ahead. Sometimes I envisioned a cave by the sea. The water level rose, filling the cave. As the waves waned, the water level receded. My husband hung a photo of a stunning rose on the wall beside me, reminding me of the opening and unfolding that was occurring in my body for the baby.

He reminded me that Leona and I were working in harmony together.  I spoke to my daughter and explained what was happening.  We were partners in a process that lasted approximately 16 hours.  I had prepared for this day with by taking a hynobirth class and practicing the breathing techniques daily.  There were a couple visualizations that I prepared in my mind that would help my body and mind to align by allowing the baby to descend.

Once it was light outside, my husband called our midwife to update her. She instructed us to wait until the waves were at least a minute in length from start to peak and three minutes apart for an hour. We had a long way to go.

Our doula arrived to our home in the early afternoon. Her gentle presence was much appreciated as my husband prepared our hospital bags. Although I hadn’t been experiencing waves as long as the midwife described, the waves were coming closer and closer together. I knew it was time to make the trip to the hospital, but at that moment I really wished I had chosen to have a home birth.

During the car ride to the hospital, I stayed in a “birthing zone” and had little awareness of my surroundings. I was in a seated position and moved my torso in small circles, allowing the birthing energy to move. Our doula navigated our way through the intake procedures, while I sat in a wheelchair. I was getting the urge to push and I started realizing that our baby was ready to come forth.

There were no delivery rooms available at the hospital when I arrived, either the standard delivery rooms or in the alternative birth center (abc). One of the abc rooms opened up after I waited for 45 minutes. I was then examined by the midwife, who said I was 9.5 centimeters dilated.  Leona was ready to emerge.

I entered the birthing tub and started pushing. Gradually, a head began appearing and receding. Finally the midwife told me that after one more push, Leona’s head would emerge. She was right and after another push, her body appeared. Leona was then placed on my chest, where I looked at her in awe.

She had been a precious seed growing inside of me for nine months. Now she had come forth into the world, no longer needing the umbilical cord. Leona is now 12 days old and brings a smile to my face and tears of joy to my eyes. She is a very alert, tranquil, and peaceful soul.

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