Viola May

Viola May Rhame was born Jan. 9th at Alma Midwifery at 8:32pm. I'd been having pretty significant Braxton Hicks for about a week and a half. I went in for a visit at Alma on Thursday, three days before the birth. I asked Kori to check my cervix, and she said I was 2 cm dilated. With my baby fast approaching, I felt a lot of gratitude that I was going to be giving birth at Alma where I felt safe, supported and in a cozy environment.

On Sunday morning I felt like the Braxton Hicks took on more intensity, but they were irregular and totally manageable. I used the mini-Braxton Hicks surges to practice the Slow Breathing that I'd learned about in HypnoBirthing. With each one, I slowly filled my belly and lungs with air and envisioned the long muscles of my uterus moving up and the blue ribbons of my cervix opening with the exhale. When our elder daughter got up from her nap at 3:30pm, I was lying on the sofa and realized that I wanted to retreat and be alone. My husband took over childcare, and I went upstairs to nap. Around 5:00pm the Braxton Hicks took on regularity ranging between 5 and 10 minutes apart. I got in a bath, rested my forehead on a towel and floated belly-down in the tub for the next hour. Surges came every 4 to 6 minutes apart, and I texted the midwives an update that the baby was clearing her throat and may make her debut that night. Kori immediately called, and somehow talking to her made the fact that I was in labor more real. I was rocking the Slow Breathing and noticed that the more relaxed I was, the more manageable the sensation was. I reminded myself not to think about what was to come, but to only be present in what my body was experiencing at that moment.

My mother came to pick up our daughter at 6:20pm. I got out of the bath and spoke to Kori who advised me to put one leg up on a chair for each contraction alternating legs for half an hour to open up the pelvis. After that half hour, the contractions became more intense. I went to lie down with Damion and kept my visions going with each surge. I found myself drifting off and falling asleep in between them even though they were peaking more highly. I focused on keeping my tongue on that spot where the teeth and the palate meet. If I had to clench something at the peak, I would clench the blanket underneath me. At 7:15 I was breathing through another surge. I felt the baby's head move inside of me, and my water broke in one big pop. It startled me for a second as my fluid rushed out in one gush all over our comforter. I got up to clean myself in the bathroom, and the next surge peaked with an involuntary heave. I called Kori who told me to come into the birthing center. Damion packed up the car, and we left for Alma 15 minutes later. At that time, I thought I'd be in labor for quite a bit longer but wanted to be at the birthing center with my trusted midwife team in a big tub.

I moved slowly from the car to the front door where we met Kori. I walked up the stairs and had to stop for several surges. Kori and Whitney had the tub running, and I striped off my clothes. I stood over the headboard and had another surge that ended in a big heave that bent the top of my spine over. Kori told me that my baby was coming soon, but I still didn't believe her somehow. I felt like I should be more "out of control" if my baby was coming so soon. I got in the tub and felt the baby's head in my cervix and moved to Birth Breathing. I tried to breath into the back of my throat and imagine her moving down. The pressure was intense, and I felt my body take over. The midwives remained extremely calm. I hadn't even heard Mirra arrive. I put a towel under my knees in the birthing tub to get some traction and leaned over the edge of the tub. When her head moved to the vaginal canal, the midwives had me exhale with "horse breathing" to keep my jaw, face and lips loose. The perineal pressure was intense, but I tried to meet my body's urgency with taking my time on pushing. As her head was making it's final exit, I could feel her wiggling which was a pretty amazing feeling. I could feel that she was trying to help me. Damion caught her at 8:32pm. Because of the cord, he released her and she swam back between my legs where I brought her up and out of the water. Such an amazing moment to finally be able to look onto her face. In the end, I gave birth 27 minutes after arriving at Alma! I had no concept of how long we were there.

Throughout both of my labors, the most powerful tool was my visualizations. I also believe that the HypnoBirthing breathing techniques allowed me to conserve energy and keep myself calm throughout labor. However, the biggest differentiator for this birth was the kind, talented and flawlessly competent midwife team. The whole experience was so wildly different than my hospital birth with our first daughter. My hospital experience felt like a fight at every turn where I had to deal with time pressure, scrutinizing observation, and resident after resident repeatedly checking my cervix. It's truly amazing how much of a difference it makes when your caretakers work in harmony with your individual birth process, and you can go into that focused surrender that ushers along labor and birth.

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