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Labor & Delivery of Clarissa May Bell

Born: Sept. 3rd, 1998

A Little About Me:

I am 33 years old, in excellent health. My husband and I have been married six years and never figured we'd have children until last year when I got the "baby-bug." This is my first child. I am employed as a flight attendant and kept a very active life-style. My main physical activity during my pregnancy was lap swimming at the YMCA as well as yoga stretching and walking. I was also roller-blading up to my fourth month, until my doctor demanded I stop such foolish activity! I gained a total of 35 lbs to my original weight of 132. I'm 5'10" tall.

Pre-Labor:

The week prior to my due date (Sept. 4th) my feet began to swell. It was extremely hot and I began to really want to have this baby out. My doctor ordered me not to swim any longer yet it was so hot that I went into the ocean to cool off up to my belly three days in a row! Two days before I delivered at one of my check ups I was found one centimeter dilated and had lost my mucus plug!

Labor Doulas:

After taking a very informative child-birth class I met a woman who wanted to be my labor doula. She informed me she felt I was one of the healthiest women in the class and wanted to assist me so much she would volunteer! I really liked her and we immediately struck up a friendship. I insisted I pay her anyway. Her good friend also volunteered to help me. I wanted to go completely natural - no drugs - and knew these two women would be a great support to me.

The Night Before Labor:

The night of Sept. 2nd we had a barbeque with my mother-in-law. I ate a shark filet with spicy seasoning. Afterwards we took a walk around the neighborhood. I was experiencing the longest and strongest Braxton-Hicks contractions I've ever had. During the walk I remember a large cricket landing on my tummy and staying there for a few seconds. Very lucky! I also recall walking by a house with a garage band practicing. The lead singer was singing the words, "Keep on pushin', keep on pushin'!" Very ironic!

The Beginning of Labor:

At around 2 AM Sept. 3rd I awoke with what felt like period cramps in my lower abdomen. I had never felt this type of pain before during my pregnancy so I became very suspicious and excited. I went to the backyard and walked around. There was a stray cat who bounded over the fence as soon as she saw me. I had named her "Squeaky." This was a very hot and sultry night, just three days before a full moon. There was a breeze blowing up from the south and frequent lightening flashes in the sky from electrical activity. A very strange weather occurrence for the Los Angeles area. I'll always remember it!

First Phase of Labor:

At 6 AM I decided to call my doctor to inform him that I thought this was it! Of course he recommended I come to the hospital immediately to be monitored. Two weeks prior to this we had a false alarm and rushed to the hospital to be monitored only to be told to go home after I drank 32 ounces of water and the contractions stopped. So - I drank 2 large glasses of water and my husband fixed me some herbal tea and an english muffin. Still the contractions kept up, yet at an irregular pace.

At 7 AM I called my doula and told her I thought this was it. She told me to hang out, that if I was still talking through contractions and walking around, I was no where near needing to go to the hospital. Going there now would only make me tense and possibly slow down my progress.

Around 10 AM my husband, Bill, left for work and my two doulas arrived. Bill had to repair a computer that had crashed and would be back ASAP. I made some oatmeal with raisins and ate it to keep my energy up.

By 11 AM my doulas and I were walking around the mall nearby. Since it was such a hot day we decided to go someplace air-conditioned to keep my labor progressing. We bought removable tattoos, looked at animals in a pet shop and stopped for drinks in the food court. Every time a contraction hit I would tip-toe through it. Some of the sales clerks guessed I was in labor.

We got back home around 2 PM and I began to feel stronger, more painful contractions. I was nearing the end of phase one very quickly. Bill finally walked in the door around 2:45. I was so glad to see him because I really wanted to go to the hospital soon. Between contractions we got my bags together. Then Bill decided to go take the car to get it washed. My doula also thought this was a good idea just to burn up some more time. I thought it was crazy, but did not voice my opinion. I trusted I was in good hands.

With every contraction I got down on my hands and knees and moaned softly. I kept drinking water and began to sweat a lot. Bill got back with our car all freshly washed. He was only gone about 15 minutes but it seemed like an hour. All of a sudden I felt my stomach lurch and I began to gag.. I threw up into a nearby bucket we had handy. After that I felt greatly relieved and much more relaxed. I really wanted to get in the car before another contraction hit.

Then Bill decided to get the video camera ready and suggested we start with an opening message from me to my little girl. It sounded like a good idea. I just hoped this was the very last diversion before heading off to the hospital. Finally we got into our cars and left for the hospital. It was now 3:30 and we arrived at 4:00. During the drive I dealt with the contractions by moaning in a low voice and stretching out in the front seat reclined back. Every time we hit a red light I cursed silently to myself. Traffic in L.A. at this time of day is just beginning to get bad and it was a Thursday.

The hospital looked really busy. There were no wheel chairs or assistants readily available so after a contraction I got out and was walked in with my arms over Bill and my #1 doula. I had another contraction in the elevator, then walked straight to Labor & Delivery, gave them my pre-registration card and was shown into a big beautiful, although somewhat hot and sticky room. Bill got the camera set up along with our digital audio tape player and speakers. We were all set.

My doula wore a T-shirt of mine with one of my favorite TV characters on it - Xena: The Warrior Princess. This shirt was supposed to be a focal point for me during labor but I was in such a state of detached pain that I completely forgot about it. The removable tattoos we purchased earlier at the mall also went untouched. We put them on later in the post-partum room in celebration of our endeavors.

The next two hours that it took me to deliver my baby proceeded rapidly. I was assigned to a wonderful young male nurse whom I will remember forever as the most gracious, sympathetic person in that hospital. Monitor belts were strapped around my waist and I was allowed to labor in a chair with my knees in the seat, facing the back of it; a much better position to be in than flat on my back in bed! I began to lose myself with each contraction, yet felt very soothed by my choices of music playing between contractions which included everything from Mozart to Guns N'Roses! My body seemed to secrete natural endorphins to deal with my pain. I never even thought about asking for medication.

My doulas massaged my back, shoulders and feet, fed me ice chips and put cool wet towels across the back of my neck. I was sweating profusely. They hugged me and told me how great I was doing, moaning along with me during my contractions.

Then came a low point. A voracious contraction seized me and I threw up bile all over the floor. I felt like I wasn't even in my body. Almost a second after that I felt a warm gush of liquid pour from my legs. My water had broken naturally! I looked down on the pillow under my knees and saw the wet stain. Unfortunately, it was also stained with a light bit of meconium. I knew instantly what that meant (that the baby would have to be suctioned before given to me) and felt a bit down-hearted, yet grateful that I was nearing the end of my labor.

My nurse checked me and announced I was 8 centimeters dilated already! This was the first time I had been checked! WOW! I was going through transition and hadn't even had time to realize it. My nurse informed me that my doctor, whose office was just across the street, had been notified. He told me that if I felt pressure in my rectal area to hit a call button because he had to leave for about ten minutes! Yipes, - I thought, why was he leaving me now? Where was my freaking doctor?!? I knew the baby would be coming soon. Everyone just seemed so casual. My mother-in-law showed up. Bill, his mom and my doulas each took turns looking at me and seeing the beginning of the baby's head crowning. I was feeling pressure with each contraction. I hit the call button. So did Bill while my #2 doula stood in back of me like a quarter-back, ready to catch the baby!

The nurse came back in and told me my doctor was there but would need me to move to the bed because he would not deliver the baby in the position I was in. I moved to the bed between contractions. The time to push was finally here. It was a great relief, not as painful - yet a lot of pressure and burning. They wheeled in a mirror for me to see what was happening. My eyes were locked on the sight of my ever widening vagina with amazement. My doctor appeared very calm and almost comical to me dressed in his surgical attire while everyone else was totally casual. He sang a little rap tune for the baby as well as a funny rendition of "Beautiful Screamer." My brain told me it was funny but I just could not laugh at the moment. My doctor had harbored the personality of Al Gore all through my pregnancy so for me to finally see him lighten up was more shocking than anything else. It was clear, he preferred to deliver the babies rather than handle the monotonous office visits.

It only took me four sets of pushing contractions to deliver Clarissa, yet I did have the help of an episiotomy on that last great push. My doctor took the time to pour mineral oil over me and stretch my perinium as much as possible but when it looked like the right side of my clitoris was going to tear he brought out the scissors! I quickly averted my eyes as I heard my nurse tell me to - "Go on, get mad!" A low growl escaped my lips as I bore down and felt Clarissa's head emerge. I was immediately instructed to pant so as not to deliver the rest of her body too quickly. The doctor needed to suction her and check to see if the umbilical cord was around her neck. It wasn't.

I delivered the rest of Clarissa's body easily and the nurses whisked her over to the warmer bin to do further suctioning in case she had aspirated any of the meconium. From our video tape it looked as though all they suctioned out was a lot of clear mucus. Her APGAR scores were 9 and 9! She was very pink and alert. She weighed in at 6 lbs.-14 ozs and was 18 inches long. She squeezed Bill's finger while the nurses checked her over and bathed her. Finally she was given to me so I could nurse her and we could meet for the first time. Clarissa latched on instantly and looked at me with big blue eyes of wonder. I was thoroughly overjoyed. I felt like I was on top of the world. That moment will forever be the high-light of my life.

I spent that night in the hospital and was discharged the following evening. Clarissa is 3 weeks old now and growing strong. After going through natural child-birth I feel like I can accomplish anything!

Eleanor Bell