Leading up to labor we were trying all the natural tricks to get things moving for Vanessa. It was a Tuesday afternoon around 1pm in October and Vanessa went in for acupuncture in hopes that it would encourage labor. Vanessa and Caleb called me around 9:30pm to tell me that her water had broken (acupuncture is my favorite natural method for encouraging labor!). At first, she wasn’t having any contractions so Vanessa went to bed to try to get rest while she could. Soon contractions began to pick up and they came on strong and close together. It was intense and she was unable to get any sleep. All night long Vanessa worked though each wave. Her contractions were much more intense when she was lying down but then they would slow and let up when she was upright. This made it really hard to get good rest. Around 5:30am Vanessa asked me to come to their home to help give ideas for relief and assist them in deciding when would be a good time to go to the hospital. We labored at their home for another couple of hours but as things got much more intense we decided to head in. When we got to the hospital things once again slowed down. This is normal upon transferring, however, with this intense irregular contraction pattern I also was starting to suspect that baby was possibly having some positioning issues. When Vanessa got checked she was 3cm and moving along but still had much of her labor journey ahead of her. On multiple occasions throughout the morning we thought we were getting close to birth and the nurse set up the delivery table and all was ready to go. Then Vanessa was checked and still had a ways to go. Around 3:30pm, after working very hard for a very long time trying multiple different positions to help move baby down but only having progressed to 4cm, Vanessa decided to get a mild epidural to take the edge off and get some rest. She slept for about 5 hours followed by a really sweet time with her mama and hubby reading her letters of love and encouragement from some of her besties. It was such a sweet time to see these blessings pour over Vanessa. Around 9pm things began to shift and baby made some big movements. At 1am on Thursday morning Vanessa began to push and just 30 minutes later Caleb was able to catch his SON Truman and hand him to his mama’s chest.
While supporting the Halls throughout their birth journey, the words that came to my mind over and over were peace and trust. Throughout her entire labor journey Vanessa had complete trust in her body and in her birth team. In moments where it would have been easy to be overwhelmed with discouragement, Vanessa owned her story, trusted the process, and knew that she was safe and cared for. This is the power of a birth team that you can trust; not a promise that all will go as planned or run smoothly, but that you can have peace throughout your birth journey and know that you are held and loved. Caleb did such a sweet job of being present with Vanessa and trusting her body, and speaking that encouragement into her. Vanessa’s mama was a ball of love in the room, beaming with pride watching her fierce beautiful baby birth her grandson. Truman was born from love into more love. Her doctor, Dr. Koch, provided communicative and empathetic care that empowered Vanessa to be an active player in her birth decisions.
Shortly after he was born Vanessa and Caleb serenaded their sweet boy with “You Will Always be my Baby”. The words to this song were incredibly fitting and beautiful:
We were as one babe
For a moment in time
And it seemed everlasting
That you would always be mine
Now you wanna be free
So I'm letting you fly
'Cause I know in my heart babe
Our love will never die, no
You'll always be a part of me
I'm part of you indefinitely
Boy don't you know you can't escape me?
Ooh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby
And we'll linger on
Time can't erase a feeling this strong
No way you're never gonna shake me
Ooh darling 'cause you'll always be my baby
Vanessa and Caleb, when you asked me to be your doula I literally got teary with joy and excitement knowing that your birthing room would be sacred ground. The way you trust one another is incredibly special. There is a freedom in your love that produces peace as you navigate uncharted waters. Parenthood is a story of loving another human more than your heart can contain and yet slowly letting them go to be free to be more and more their truest and most amazing self. But the love for our babies, only grows deeper as they spread their wings and fly. You have birthed Truman into a lifetime adventure of trusting love and pursuing peace. It was an honor to walk alongside you as you began this new chapter of your journey together. Love you guys!
