Alix's Birth Story
Dear Vittoria and yoga classmates,
Just wanted to send greetings, and let everyone know that our baby boy, Alexander Alan Bach Gregg was born November 16 (Monday morning) at 6:53 AM. Please check out our blog at www.xanderalan.com for more photos. He weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 21.5 inches long.
Below is my birth story. It was a fabulous and life changing experience, and definitely had some unexpected moments. We are now happily at home and enjoying life with the adorable bambino! :)
Sunday my husband James and I went to the gym in the morning, I walked on the treadmill, and later that day we did a bit of shopping, so we were definitely active which I think helped with Xander's speedy arrival.
Sunday evening we went to bed around 11:00 PM, and I woke up around 1:15 AM with the feeling that my water was breaking. I felt like I had period cramps, but they weren't too intense. After consulting one of my pregnancy books, I was convinced that was what had happened, and woke up my husband. We called the hospital and they suggested we come in to be evaluated. We also called our doula and she made plans to meet us there.
After checking in they put us in a triage room initially. My contractions quickly intensified in this room. We were in this room from approx. 2-3:30 PM. At that time, the RN suggested we move to a labor and delivery room, which involved a loooong walk down the hallway. AT least it seemed eternally long to me. ;) I had to rest several times against the wall b/c the contractions were so intense. I practiced the yoga move with my arms above my head, leaning forward like we did in class. We were also practicing our deep breathing. During the walk, our doula Peggy Sue arrived. She was surprised to see how much the labor had progressed in a short time. When we finally arrived to the L & D room, my first instinct was to get into child's pose on the floor. I'm sure it would seem odd to an observer, but it really helped me get through those incredibly intense contractions. I don't remember feeling afraid of the contractions, and I tried to embrace them, but it was definitely extremely painful at times, and the deep breathing was essential. I stayed on the floor for a good part of the labor.
My husband helped me with breathing exercises, while Peggy Sue did some massage on my next and back. After laboring in that position for at least an hour, to an hour and a half. At that point, I felt the urge to bear down, and the hospital staff suggested I move to the bed to continuing laboring, and possibly to push, if I felt the need.
Honestly, everything happened so quickly, it was totally surreal. We had made so many plans in the event that we experienced a long drawn out labor, that when it happened so quickly, we didn't really know what to expect. I think I was expecting it to be slow and peaceful, when it was actually quick and intense. I was also expecting to be able to feel where the baby was while he was on his way out, and I actually had no concept of that at all.
The breathing we practice in yoga really helped, and truthfully, I felt like I went into myself, into that primal state where I was concentrating so hard on the work at hand that I was unable to focus on anything else. At one point, there was a moment of excitement as the baby's heart rate dipped, but by then I was ready to push (around 6 AM), and the baby was born by 6:53 AM, naturally, with no pain medication. The doctor who delivered the baby, and our doula said it was one of the quickest births they have seen for a first time mom. After seeing Xander for the first time, I felt so happy and relieved that he was a perfectly sweet and healthy baby.
Looking forward to hopefully seeing all of you at some point again in the future. I will miss class and will hopefully be able to come to the postnatal class sometime soon.
Fondly,
Alix