After weeks of prodromal labor, Heidi went into active labor with her daughter around 9pm at night two days after her due date. Her and her husband had planned for a long labor like most first time parents, but quickly realized that wasn’t going to be the case. They hurried to the hospital a little before midnight, where Heidi spent most of her labor in the tub. Once she started to feel like she had to push she got out and was 10cm dilated! She started pushing with her body’s urges and her water finally broke. Shortly after her water broke her daughter’s heart rate started decelerating rapidly during contractions. Despite good pushing efforts, her midwife suggested calling an OBGYN in for a vacuum extraction. The intimate birth room was quickly overcome with a flurry of activity and with only two pushes with the vacuum assistance, Heidi’s daughter was born after only six hours of labor! She cried immediately and was thankfully perfectly healthy after the labor scare.
Fearing an even faster birth then her first delivery, Heidi was on edge during another bout of weeks of prodromal labor leading up to her due date. The night before her due date her water broke while using the bathroom around 8:45pm. Per her midwives advice, they headed straight to the hospital even though her contractions were barely recognizable. While sitting in triage, her contractions suddenly started forcefully around 10:20pm. She demanded to get in a room with a tub. She was in the labor room with just her husband while she rode out a short bout of double-peaking contractions in the water with only about 30 second breaks. When she started feeling like she needed to push she made sure to warn her husband to call the nurse. After getting out and on the bed, she was checked and was 10cm dilated. The OBGYN Resident was the only one on the floor to supervise the birth and stood watching, per Heidi’s birth plan, as she pushed out her almost 10lb son in three pushes at 11:46pm. The resident caught the baby from behind and immediately handed him to Heidi to pull up to her chest.
Heidi Mills Bio
Heidi lives in Kansas City, Missouri with her husband, Joseph; three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Alda; and newborn son, Desmond. She is a Certified Birth Doula and owner of the business Bloc Births LLC. Her focus as a doula and on her social media accounts is educating on the positive role a doula can play in all different types of birth experiences; particularly including hospital birth, medicated birth, and providing non-medical support to high risk pregnancies. You can find her on Tiktok and Instagram at her handle “whatadoulado”, making silly and informative videos talking about all things that “a doula do” and providing random commentary on parenthood. Connect with her on her website, Tiktok, or Instagram.
Resources
- Favorite Birth Prep Book: The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Partners, Doulas and Other Labor Companions
- evidencebasedbirth.com and the Evidence Based Birth podcast
- The Birth Hour Patreon Group
Kindred Bravely
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