Chelsea and Archer's Birth Journey

So it finally happened, after a long 8 days of being overdue, she went into labour. Chelsea's actual due date was last Tuesday, and baby Archer was born on Thursday, March 11, at 9:08 am. The night was super stormy, and the mountain got a fresh 38 cm of snow. It reminded me of a scene out of the movies, when babies are typically born on stormy nights.

I got to Chelsea's house at around 8:00 pm, and after her son, Liam, left to go with his aunt overnight, we stayed while Chels laboured until just after 11:30 pm. Her contractions were pretty strong, and building in intensity. Her husband, Spencer, Chelsea, and I all hung out in the living room mostly, until after a few hours and communicating with her midwife over the phone, she decided it was time to go to the hospital.

Like I mentioned, the weather was insane. Just putting change in the parking meter left Spencer and I soaking wet to the bone, and frustrated because the machine wasn't accepting some of the change. It was a covered booth, but the sideways blowing rain was too much for that. After we had our parking passes, Spencer drove Chelsea to the emergency room doors, where I had a wheel chair waiting to bring her upstairs. They have the other side of the hospital locked up at night, so we had to go in through the emergency entrance.

Once we were upstairs, Chelsea's midwife, Deborah was there to meet us. She's the same one who delivered both of my girls, so it was nice to see her again, and from the outside perspective. Chelsea got into the little room we would be using, while I put the wheel chair away, and then Spencer and I unpacked all of our stuff into the corner, on the floor because it was a pretty small space. There was one big reclining couch in the room, and Deborah brought in an extra stool that had wheels, so Spencer and I traded seats every once in a while.

When we got to the hospital, Chelsea was at 5 cm, and in active labour. So the next few hours were spent with Chelsea working through her contractions, and plenty of guided breathing. I used a lot of deep breathing techniques I've learned from yoga practice. I liked using breath that was loud in and out of my nose, and nice to follow. Chelsea also liked blowing through her lips loosely while exhaling, which I think kept her focused and relaxed as she let go through each contraction. During active labour, Chelsea kept her composure beautifully.

After a few hours, somewhere close to 3 am, Chelsea had dilated to about 7ish cm, and seemed to be plateauing, so Deborah was able to work with her cervix, by pushing the lip in while Chelsea pushed her baby past. Unfortunately, the lip kept falling back down. Now, I've got to give my friend some major props here because I had this same procedure done in both of my labours, and it was extremely hard to work through, and it took the first time in both of mine, but she handled her way through it plenty.

Deborah had Spencer take Chelsea into the shower, and she laboured in there about half an hour. I helped get a bunch of supplies ready for Chelsea like ice chips, fresh water, and a big bowl of ice water for cold cloths during pushing. That gap of time seemed to go by pretty fast, and I'm not sure I even sat down for very long then. Deborah had wanted to get a nap in, and had asked the nurses if they could take over for a while, but they were too busy with the other women in labour. Chelsea came back to the room, and danced around with her contractions before returning to the bed to labour.

I made sure Chelsea was drinking tons of diluted juice and water between her contractions, but like everyone in the room, her uterus was getting tired. So her contractions were starting to fizzle. At this time, everyone was starting to have little naps in between, except for me because I had been drinking black tea all night, and since I barely ever drink caffeinated drinks, I was flying. Eventually Spencer and I traded, so I was lying on the couch, and I gave into an exhausted 30minute nap. I did wake up for every contraction, and it was more of a state somewhere between consciousness and sleep. Chelsea was saying some pretty funny things then, too. She would fall asleep for about 20 seconds at a time, and shot up saying, "Oh, sorry for falling asleep there, I was just having a dream about my friend and her husband, and they were writing a cook book." Another time she jolted up out of sleep, and asked, "Did something just shake the room?" She'd moved the bed by waking up.

The midwife tried pushing in the lip on her cervix a few more times, and then Chelsea would really work through contractions, and it took quite a while for the last bit of progress. The last stage of labour moved on the slower side. We were so tired. Around this time, the energy started shifting in the room, like Deborah wasn't there completely. She had said she'd been up at a birth the previous night, but it just seemed like she was losing faith in Chelsea's try for a VBAC. She told her that if she didn't start showing some progress, then she would have to the call the obstetrician because like all VBACs here, they closely monitor labour, and don't let it tilt too far from the path of regular text book labour. Chelsea had to wear these two annoying belts around her belly that recorded and monitored every contraction, as well as the baby's heart beat. I started asking questions like isn't it normal for a woman to get a bit of rest around the transition stage of labour, and what could we do, like position changes, or if she should eat something. I did not want to see Chelsea give up because I had so much faith in her ability to overcome anything.

Around 7 am, the doctor lady did come in, and at first I didn't even realise she was the doctor because she was wearing a long striped sweater with a safety pin in it. I know that sounds completely judgemental, but hell, I'm sorry, I could not tell she was the doctor. I thought, "Why is this new nurse on shift not dressed properly?" Anyway, the doctor checked Chelsea herself, and talked to Deborah about how she did think Chelsea could get the baby past that milestone, and if so, she could keep trying for her VBAC. I forgot to mention that Chels did have an iv put in half hour prior to this, and her contractions were really taking off again. Chelsea feeling overwhelmed, I'm sure, told the doctor she needed help to push, and wasn't sure if she was doing it right. I'm so glad she asked because the doctor had a fresh energy, and was really great at coaching. She had a no b.s. disposition that gave Chelsea the right start to the final stages of her labour. But she did warn us that if Chelsea made no progress within 15 minutes, that she'd be going for a C-section.

All I can say is she did it, Chelsea took on the inner goddess, and became the strongest woman I've ever seen. Those 15 minutes past, the doctor came back in, and explained that she would have to try a few different positions. Right from then on, Chelsea was a natural at pushing, you'd have thought she was a veteran, who'd totally had previous vaginal births. She was so strong, inspirational, and utterly amazing. She never raised her voice more than an even sound with her voice that kept her steady through the contraction's work. She never even said any swear words, and definitely not like on the movies where the woman tells her husband off. Chelsea alternated between two positions while she was in her pushing stage. That was good for Spencer and I because we were on either side of her, and using our upper body strength, it switched muscle groups for each contraction, though I'm totally sore all over, it was an even process.

At 9:08, Chelsea and Spencer welcomed their son, Archer Britton into the world with so much love and beauty. It was the biggest honour to be with them in that moment, and I will forever cherish the whole event. I am so proud of her accomplishing her VBAC, and not giving up when the cards weren't looking too favourable. The biggest reward, of course, is her perfect little baby, whom came into this world at a whopping 10 lbs, 3.4 ounces. Little pork chop.

And to you, Chelsea and Spencer, all of my deepest love for inviting me to join you through this magical journey, and congratulations on the becoming a family of four.

Love him already.