The Birth Story of Elaina
Caryn (Ca-Ryn) Rooney
Born May 1, 2012 at 2:26
am
6lbs. 3oz. and 20 in.
April
30, 2012 was a beautiful spring day in Colorado Springs, with the sun warm and
the air filled with the fragrance of freshly bloomed lilacs and cherry blossoms.
I (Jen, their doula) received a call from Chris around 10:45am asking me to
join them at their home. Karin had been experiencing contractions every 15
minutes from about 12:30-8:30 that morning, and they had progressed to every 5-7 minutes from 8:30-10:30. She had visited
her obstetrician, Dr. Fuller-Eddins, earlier that morning, who had measured
Karin at 3cm dilated and 95% effaced. The baby’s head was at a zero station.
After having experienced several days’ worth of pre-labor signs, it was official:
Karin was in labor.
I
arrived at their home around 11:45, and found both of them smiling from ear to
ear with excitement. Karin busied herself with boiling water for tea for me and
presented me with the banana-chocolate chip bread she had baked. She would
pause to get through contractions and then move right back to serving me. I
realized then that leading Karin through childbirth was going to serve as a new
experience for me. How was I to lead and serve someone who is such a leader and
server? I gave it to God, knowing it wasn’t about what I do, but what He does
through me. We spent the next couple of hours getting the two of them
comfortable with a few comfort measures and positions, and orienting them to a
team mentality, with Chris providing a constant source of strength and
encouragement for Karin. Karin had prepared note cards with applicable
scripture that Chris would read to her at intervals, and they would pray
together and smile at the stories Chris had prepared for her about memorable
times from when they were falling in love. As they slow danced through
contractions, I thought about how a new kind of romance was entering their
relationship at that moment, and how someday they would look back on it with
great fondness. Around 2:00, Leslie from Rockrimmon Massage came by to drop off
some info about acupressure. Talk about perfect timing! She stayed for nearly
an hour, volunteering her time and skills to show Chris (and myself!) how to
trigger appropriate acupressure points for helping Karin’s labor to progress.
They worked like a charm.
By
4:00, Karin had been in a strong labor pattern for a good amount of time and we
decided to head into the hospital. Her contractions had, in addition to being
frequent, become extremely long. Upon arriving at Memorial she informed me that
I need to update the information I had given her, as her long contractions were
proving my handouts to be inaccurate. I laughed to myself—what a firecracker
she is! I figured it unwise to tell her she was having it harder than most. The
charge nurse, April, measured Karin at 4cm and 100% effaced and gave her the
challenge of walking for the next hour to see how she progressed before being
admitted from triage. A few steps at a time, we made our way down one hall,
where an hour later April found us, Team Rooney, working through a contraction
with Karin leaning over a bench. Karin was admitted into the room adjacent to
the bench (good thing, or we’d have probably never made it into another room!)
and measured 5-6 cm. At about 5:45, the spa tub was filled and the jets were
turned on, and Karin tried to figure out what was supposed to be so great about
laboring in a tub. It didn’t turn out to be the saving grace she had been
hoping for, as her contractions were still extremely long and most of her pain
was in her back. Still, she stayed with each contraction and focused hard on
letting them pass through her without fighting them. She really had it down, at
least for the most part. Chris stayed where she could see him, coaching and encouraging
her through every contraction. By 6:15 she was a solid 6cm, and at 6:30 she
decided to get out of the tub. As she was getting her hep-lock placed and the
nurse asked about allergies, she gave the cute and unexpected response that her
only allergy was to contractions. From then on the nurses kept commenting on
how much fun she was. Chris agreed, of course, and so did I.
Chris
continued reading Karin scripture and telling her love stories while she
labored, and Karin’s mom joined us as we continued trying various positions and
working through each contraction. At 6:30 Karin’s water broke, and at 7:00 she
measured at 6-7cm. Her contractions continued to be long and close together,
often one right after another without the first having yet subsided. She prayed
for strength and discernment as she grew in exhaustion. I was so impressed by
the attitude she held and the way she would speak to herself with reassuring
scriptural truths. Chris never left her side even as dinner time came and went;
I recall that one time he did attempt to run to the waiting room for his
sandwich (because I told him to!), but he came back before ever actually
entering the hallway. He just wanted to be with her. He would hold her face in
his hands, rub her arms, and speak soothingly to her. He did his job just
perfectly.
Around
8:00, Karin measured at 7cm, instead of the 7-8 or 8 we had all been hoping
for. It was disheartening to see such minimal progress after witnessing the
amount of work she was putting in. She was doing everything right, but the urge
to push was causing her some problems. (A strong urge to push prior to complete
dilation, combined with extreme fatigue, causes a vicious cycle. Any lapse in
strength allows an involuntary push which then causes the cervix to swell,
which then keeps the cervix from dilating.) Karin recognized that she had
reached her limit, and decided to get an epidural so that she could rest and
avoid injuring herself. Praise God for her discernment even in the midst of
such fatigue!
By
9:00 the epidural had been placed and Karin was feeling much more comfortable
as she dilated a little more to 8cm. Karin’s sister arrived and was able to
offer Karin a chance to process what had happened so far, and Chris and Karin
prayed and gave thanks for God’s provision in their lives. As soon as she had
settled in a bit, Karin started asking me about my baby and whether I had
enough milk at home for her since I had been away so long. Chris and I both had
a good chuckle, it was just so “Karin”—sweet and thoughtful. Chris ate some
dinner, Karin had some applesauce, and I slipped away for bit. As I was making
my exit, I ran into Chris’s parents and sister, and Karin’s mom in the waiting
room. Karin’s dad was dutifully watching their other grandchild, Liam, at Chris
and Karin’s house. I was so honored to meet each of them. They were all so
friendly, and so eager to hear any news of their beloved Karin’s progress. I
returned to find Karin trying to sleep, so I got comfortable in the rocking
chair next to her and waited for her labor to progress. After 5 hours, progress still did not occur,
however. Pitocin had been administered and the contractions were strong and
frequent, but Karin’s cervix remained at 8 cm. The swelling remained as the
probable source of the problem.
Around 2:00am on May 1, Dr. Fuller-Eddins
detected heart decelerations in the baby following contractions, which is a
sign of fetal distress. Upon a closer look, she found that there was a general
lack of variability in the baby’s heart rate, also indicating fetal distress.
Because dilation was still not occurring and the baby wasn’t tolerating
contractions, Dr. Fuller-Eddins recommended a caesarian birth. This was all so
different from Karin’s birth plan. I was so impressed to find Karin praising God
and acknowledging His control over her life despite this news. While she may
have been disappointed at first, she chose to be wise and welcome God’s will in
her life. She asked Chris to read the scripture she had prepared from 1 Samuel
27-28: “I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of
him. So now I give [her] to the Lord. For [her] whole life [she] will be given
over to the Lord.”
At
2:15 Karin and Chris went in for surgery, and at 2:26 baby Elaina was
born. I was sitting in the waiting room
with the grandparents when all of their phones buzzed at the same time and they
all read the text and saw the picture of their new baby granddaughter. It was
such fun. I cried with them as they hugged and congratulated each other, and I went
back to the nursery to catch of glimpse of the sweet tiny baby before leaving
them to celebrate together as a family.
Upon
visiting the next day, I learned that when the doctors were performing the
c-section, they found Elaina in a very odd position. Her head had been cocked
back and to the side, and her arm was up by her head. If Karin had continued to
push or if Dr. Fuller-Eddins had decided to try to let Karin deliver vaginally,
it would have been very risky for both Elaina and Karin. It is now so obvious
that God’s hand has truly been in everything, from start to finish. The change
in doctors, the epidural, the heart rate decelerations, and the c-section were
all outside of everyone’s plans—except for God’s. Because Karin and Chris had
committed themselves to God’s will and were willing to part with their birth
plan, they were blessed the safe delivery of a beautiful, healthy baby girl. I
am so encouraged by this story. God is so good!
Karin
and Chris, it has been an honor working with you through this amazing time in
your life. Thank you for choosing me to be your doula. Continue to commit
yourselves to God’s will-- you will be excellent parents! Congratulations on the birth of your
beautiful daughter! Elaina, your entrance into this world was nothing short of
a modern day miracle. God was here in your birth and will be with you always.
May you be the light for Christ that your name means you to be.
In Christ,
Jen
DeBrito
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