Fiona Jill Dubin

Hi all. Reading Gabriela's birth story inspired me to finally sit down and write mine. Like Gabriela said, every one is different and every one, equally spiritual. Even though my labor ended with a c-section (not what I planned!), all my labor preparation--listening to other women's stories, the yoga and all the attention to my body--were so valuable to both my mental and physical strength during and after labor. Afterwards, I was out and about, and pain-free almost immediately…and all this means more energy to spend on my sweet little Fiona.

I woke up at 3 am on December 27 with contractions. They were somewhat erratic, coming every 2 minutes, then every 6 minutes, and lasting for about 45 seconds each. I couldn't sleep through them so I got up did some stretching, yoga and breathing exercises. The contractions continued this way pretty steadily. My husband, Nathan, was fabulous and worked to make me comfortable with back rubs, cups of tea and really good music.

The contractions continued like this through the morning and into the next day, increasing in intensity and more and more centered in my back. I called my doula, Cheri, and she said it definitely sounded like active labor. I called my doctor and she said "call me back when you're 4-1-1." I still wasn't sure if this was "it." It certainly felt like "it" but then I'd always thought that contractions started off more spread apart and then gradually got closer and closer together. How could I be having them so often and not be in active labor? Around 7 pm I called Cheri to come over. I was more and more convinced I was in active labor but was committed to staying home as long as possible.

When Cheri arrived she immediately recognized that the baby had not yet dropped and was likely in a weird position. So she put me to work! She had me doing squats, walking through the contractions, swinging my hips to music-all kinds of things to loosen the pelvis and to get the baby to turn and drop. It was painful but I could really tell we were making progress. We worked this way until about 11:30 pm at which point we started to grow a bit concerned that we hadn't felt the baby move in a while. Fully prepared to return home if necessary, we decided to head to the hospital to get the baby on the fetal monitor.

Arrived at the hospital at midnight. The baby's heart beat was fine, plus-great news!-I was 4 cm dilated and fully effaced. But, she was still real high-station -3. I was admitted into Cedars and continued laboring.

By 5 am, after about 26 hours of contractions I was sooo tired! I started considering an epidural. Cheri suggested getting another exam before I made any decisions. After all that time since being admitted to the hospital, nothing happened!! I was still 4 cm, the baby still station -3. My doctor called and said I should be given pitocin. I was so bummed about not progressing, and at this point in serious back labor that I also asked for an epidural.

Now I was stuck on my back. Couldn't do much of the pelvis loosening stuff that had worked so wonderfully earlier. My doctor came in at 9 am. Still 4 cm, baby still not engaged and very high. We upped the pitocin, the doctor broke my waters and I lay resting until noon when my doctor returned. Still no progress. 32 hours and not only was there no more dilation, but everyone seemed really concerned about how high the baby was. No one knew for sure but everyone suspected that the baby was, as my doctor put it, "sunny side up."

Then my doctor said the words I so hated to hear: "we have to do a c-section. " It's still really hard to think back on that moment. My doctor gave me a pep talk and told me that the pushing stage in this instance could be dangerous, require forceps, etc… I knew we had to do it and tried to mentally prepare. My doctor said she'd be back in an hour for the surgery. In the meantime a bunch of nurses, residents, and staff prepped me for the operation. Then, all of a sudden I had 2 gigantic back-to-back contractions and the baby's heart beat dropped. In an instant I was now being prepped for an emergency c-section. People were talking all around me, I'm being wheeled out of the labor room, and a resident doctor is saying that if my doctor couldn't get back in time that she'd be doing the surgery. I totally panicked! Suddenly breathing through contractions seemed like cake compared to breathing through this craziness!

Fortunately, the baby's heartbeat returned to normal, my doctor arrived in time, and the surgery was performed. I was a mess during the surgery, I had the shakes and was kind of traumatized. The worst was the recovery room and being separated from Fiona. Nathan was with her in the nursery and thank god for Cheri who stayed by my side. We had an awesome nurse who let me out early seeing that I was recovering really well and desperate to be with Nate and Fio.

Reuinited! The best moment ever. Nathan, nurse and baby came into the postpartum room, put Fiona in my arms and we all watched as Fio latched on to my breast like she'd been doing it all her life! She's so beautiful and absolutely perfect!

I don't want to sugar coat the c-section experience because it wasn't fun and it certainly wasn't what I planned. But, I know now it was the best and right thing. So, my advice, be prepared for anything; keep up the yoga all the way through pregnancy and labor; have a doula with you (Cheri Masek was amazing for me); and make sure to have good music playing at all times!

Happy New Year and thank you Jessica for the wonderful classes.

Julie Cohen