A MOTHER’S perspective
by Keona C. McRae
It's all so amazing now, looking back on
the day that I gave birth. But before I tell you my birth story
let me tell you about the amazing journey that led up to Sunday
February 22, 2004.
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It all started on Father's Day of 2003 when
my husband and I found out that we were going to be parents.
About 2 months later we had found the most perfect place to
have our baby and we went to the Lisa Ross Birth and Women's
Center for our first visit, an orientation to get to know the
facility and staff.
I fell in love with the center then.
Especially when I saw that they had a water tub to birth in! It
had always been a dream of mine to have babies, especially to
birth in the comforts of water. Each and every prenatal visit
brought us closer to the staff and to the wonderful day of our
baby's birth.
So, now here's my story. My labor began
early that Sunday morning around 6:30 am. I didn't think
anything of the discomfort I was in until my husband got up
about 30 min later and said, "Okay, we're leaving
now," and we were out the door by 9 am. I was neither
looking forward to nor dreading out 3+ hour drive to Knoxville,
TN. I was just in the moment. Well, 5 hours later we found an
extended stay hotel room and before we even made it to
Tennessee I had been having contractions 5 minutes apart. But
it was okay; between every one I was able to get the most
luxurious naps!!!
I think that I was still in denial about
actually being in labor, even while I was still having
contractions in our room. We made one trip out to the grocery
store and we both realized that the contractions were so bad I
couldn't even walk through them, and my husband better not have
left my side any because he would've regretted it!! When we got
back to our room the contractions got a little more intense.
I remember at one point Malcolm asked me
what they felt like and I told him that I didn't know. He
couldn't understand how I couldn't explain pain that I was
feeling every 5 minutes. I tried to tell him that I didn't
think about the pain because I knew that if I focused on each
contraction I would dread the next one and get scared or
perhaps even stall my labor. I remember several phone calls
coming in while I labored in our room and I remember Malcolm
making a few to our doula and the birthing center. Then at some
point I started getting the shakes and getting scared a little
and my husband helped me so we could start making our way to
the center.
We arrived at LRBWC around 8:30 pm along
with our doula and midwife on-call Susan; perfect timing. We
all walked in together. And it seems that less than an hour
later I was in the tub, laboring peacefully with my husband
right beside me. Our doula, Cindy Stair, whom we had met less
than 4 weeks earlier, was a God send. She was great with
massage and cold compresses and giving me water to drink, all
the things my husband would normally do, but I needed him right
by me and she was able to fill in those areas.
After a while of laboring, with many, many
piggy- back contractions I began to feel the urge to push. My
husband says that he saw my water break in the tub, but I was
officially in Labor-land by that point. It was instinctual to
listen to my body and I was not scared any. Like the laboring
in our room I didn't focus on my contractions. I simply rode
the waves and rested in between and mostly listened to what my
body was saying. I tell you, pushing made things feel so much
better!!!
I don't know how long I pushed. Time was
also something that I did not focus on, after a while
EVERYTHING disappears. Half of our baby's head came out after
one long push. I reached down automatically and felt all of his
curly hair. Malcolm was still in position behind me and I came
out of Labor-land long enough to remember how important it was
for him to catch our baby. So I put the urge to push on hold,
while I instructed Cindy to start filming and my husband to
move to the front of me. When his head fully emerged and Susan
felt for a cord around the neck I heard Malcolm start to
cry/laugh. With one last push our beautiful son arrived at 11:
31 pm. When our son, Malcolm D. McRae III, was placed on my
chest I realized that I was now a Momma. Until this day it is
still hard for me to believe that I was pregnant for 40 weeks
and that I labored for 17 hours and then had a BABY!! It is a
God given miracle. This is the reason why I rode 230+ miles, 3+
hours in full-fledged labor. I am thankful for being a woman,
and thankful for all of the wonderful people in my lives that
helped us and supported us through our journey. The people at
LRBWC are so amazing. They never doubted us any the whole way.
They are in touch with their patients and I really appreciate
the way that they never doubt what we as women are capable of.
I am forever grateful for everyone here at the Lisa Ross Birth
and Women's Center, and our Doula Cindy Stair. Thank you all.
