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Elizabeth Jean Kelso's Birth

Wednesday November 22, 1995 at 9:30 pm.
7 lbs 11 oz. 21 1/2 inches long.

I woke up Wednesday morning at 6am with a contraction but I didn't realize that was what it was -- I just thought I had gas. I had two more by 7am, and decided I was probably in labor. They were pretty mild, so my husband (Kip) and I went to work -- his office is only a short distance from mine.

The contractions were about 15 minutes apart, and I could talk through them until about 11:30am. Then I called Kip and told him it was time to go home, I didn't want to do this alone anymore.

We got home, and I had a sandwich. Then we packed my bag, and I tried to lay down. I couldn't stand doing contractions laying down, so I walked through them. Around 3pm I couldn't talk myself through the contractions anymore and Kip began talking me through them. We had taken Bradley classes, and really practiced the relaxation. Around 3:30 I began throwing up -- apparently my lunch was a bad idea. The next couple of hours are sort of blurry, I walked through the contractions and Kip talked me through them -- telling me to stay relaxed and to let my body do the work. Somewhere between 6:30 and 7pm, I started vocalizing and I had never expected to do that. At 7pm Kip called the midwife -- we expected to get the answering service and I didn't see any reason for me to talk to them. But she was already at the Birth Place with another birth. After talking to me, she suggested that we come in. At this point my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and 1 minute 15 seconds long.

Kip packed up the car, and off we went. We arrived at 7:30, they checked me shortly after that and I was at 7cm going on 8. I hadn't really given it any thought, Kip told me later he was really surprised at that, he thought we would have a long time to go.

I went through a couple of more contractions - still standing, and I couldn't stand to have anyone rub my back, or really even touch me. Then the midwife, Lori, checked me again, and I was at 9cm, and my water was going to break any time now. Lori asked me to please stand over one of the cloth pads on the floor, so I didn't leak all over the carpet :-). My water broke, Lori asked me if I felt like pushing, I said "I don't know" - not really knowing what that would feel like. She left the room to look after the other mother, and I guess I was sitting on the bed pushing. Kip asked me if I was twice before I said "Yes", and went looking for Lori or the nurse. They came back shortly and I was at 10 cm, so I could push. I tried to push kneeling on the floor, but they couldn't find the baby's heartbeat that way (an equipment problem), so I lay down on the bed on my side and Kip held my leg up in the air and I pushed that way. I pushed for 1/2 hour, and out popped Elizabeth at 9:30 pm.

I had two tears requiring a total of 14 stitches. I think getting stitched up was the worst part, I had my baby, and I thought I should be done :-).

Elizabeth is perfect, she's nursing like a champ, and we're enjoying getting to know one another.

Judy Kelso
Mom to Elizabeth 11/22/95