This is the birthstory written by our DOULA, Cynthia Huddle.  She was wonderful!

Cassandra Erin Beauchamp

The Doula’s Perspective

        At 6:30am, Monday, February 10th, I received a call from Tom, Candy was in labor and they were ready for me to come on.  I got dressed, kissed my family, and headed out.  It was on a Monday- and I left at around 7:15am, so there was no traffic.  Finally, I arrived at the house at 7:59am.  Jamie was in the playroom with his grandma, and aunt.  Candy was in the kitchen walking back and forth and concentrating well on her contractions.  They were coming ever 2 minutes, and she was going to the bathroom every 15 minutes.  Something was definitely going on!

          At 8:48am- we decided to go ahead and go get checked at the hospital.  I followed Tom, Candy, and Jennifer to South Austin Hospital.  I arrived at 9:12am.  Candy was all checked in, and the nurse, Nancy was checking her at 9:25am- -2 station, 5cm dilated and 100% effacement.  They finished up all of the questions, and checking in procedure for an hour.  At 10:55am Toni, the Unit Manager, came in to give Candy a heplock.  At that point- Candy was gagging so the nurse gave her some juice.  Her contractions slowed down to 5 minutes apart.  Little did we know, that was just the beginning.  

          By 11:40- Candy had gotten on the birth ball, and 10 minutes later she had dilated another cm, and the baby had dropped to -1/-2 station.  So, it seemed as if things were moving along, but a little slowly.  That was okay- we decided to go for a walk.  Candy got all of the monitoring stuff taken care of, Blood Pressure, and the likes, and off we went at 12:35pm.  By 1 o’clock, we were back in the room.  Candy got on the birth ball, and Tom massaged her back.  Sure enough, 10 minutes later, Nancy came in to take her blood pressure, again!  The blood pressure monitor went on a rampage, and tried to attack Candy’s arm.  Candy said, “Forget the contractions! They don’t hurt as bad as this thing!”  Luckily, her blood pressure was fine.

          By the time the next hour rolled around, Candy was ready for the birth ball again, with Tom rubbing on her back.  Candy was saying she couldn’t do this anymore, during each contraction.  She requested Tom to push hard on her lower back.  She got monitored and checked again, and then I had suggested getting into the bath. 

          At 2:30pm, Candy was in the bathtub, and Tom poured water over her belly.  That lasted about half an hour, and then we decided to go for a walk again.  The on call doctor was in a c-section, so Nancy checked her again.  She was about 6-7cms by now.   Candy tried to nap for 30 minutes, and decided then, to take a shower.  By 5:15pm, it was time to monitor again.  Candy was getting very hot, and the contractions were coming closer together.  his means progress must be happening!!!!

          We decided to go for another walk at about 5:45pm, but had to be in the room by 6:15pm to be monitored again.  Nancy went ahead and checked again, for the last time, still 6-7cms.  Within an hour, Nancy was leaving, but she wanted to introduce our new nurse, Debbie.

          Debbie was a new nurse, and just got out of school.  So, this was her very first job.  She was very nice, and really tried to keep straight to the plan, and make sure she did not interrupt often.  We discussed other options for progressing, Stadol to help relax, and breaking the bag of waters.  At 7:30- we decided to wait until the doctor got to the hospital, she was on her way, and should be in by 8.

          At 8:15, Candy was ready to talk to Dr. Eduardo for the Stadol to be prescribed.  We all watched Joe Millionaire on TV.  By the time Joe Millionaire was over, Candy had had a small nap, bounced on the ball, and gone to the bathroom.  The doctor finally showed up at 9:11pm, and checked Candy, still 6-7cms.  She got her supplies, and at 9:30 relieved Candy breaking her water for her, and 15 minutes after that really relieved her with the Stadol injection.   Candy said, “It feels like I am talking in a box.“.  Hopefully, this will let Candy really sleep now.  Poor Candy is exhausted!

          Well, it let her get a little rest, she was out by 10:00, but had the IUPC put in 20 minutes later.  Candy went with another Stadol injection at midnight.  She was checked again, and still at 6-7 cms.  About 45 minutes later, she couldn’t sleep because the contractions were getting harder.  She was sitting up at 1:00am, and got checked by Debbie at 1:20am.   Well, the rest must have worked!  Debbie said she was at 8 cms!  Woohoo- after 15 hours of being there, we were on our way to the end! 

          Candy got on the ball for a while, while Tom, and I took turns pushing on the side of her hips.  She started saying that she CAN do this!  WE were all so very proud of her!  She was getting positive, and we were almost to the end.  Things were getting very exciting!  At 2:25am, she had progressed another centimeter!  Wow- the Stadol must have really worked!  She was fighting with all that she had!  Candy was up on the bed trying to push by 3:15am.  That is when it happened.

          Debbie said she thought she felt an arm, and wanted to go get a second opinion.  The other nurse came in at 3:45am, and said, “You are still at a 7.”  So, we called the doctor in.  Poor Candy had had enough- it was late, she was tired, and worn out, and was ready for it all to be over with, and here we go- backwards.  So, everyone left the room and let Tom and Candy talk, and decide on what they wanted to do.  They decided to do more Stadol, and then get the epidural. 

          Candy received more Stadol at 4:30am, and then the IV was hooked up.  An hour later the anesthesiologist came in.  Jennifer and I left the room while they put the epidural in; it only took 30 minutes.  By 6:15am, Momma and Daddy were asleep.  It didn’t take long for Jennifer to fall asleep either.  It had been a long day.

          Debbie’s shift was up at 7, and Kem came on.  She was well rested!  She was in such a great mood- and said, “This baby is going to be born while I am here!”  Dr. Landwermeyer came in at 7:35am, and checked Candy.  She had progressed to an 8, but she wanted to do a Pitocin drip.  Candy was okay with that, so it started 10 minutes later! 

          We all took a little nap.  Tom and Candy had been up late the night before, so this was especially hard on them!  Kem came in and checked Candy at 10- she had progressed to 9!!!!  We were really there!!!  The end was in sight!  After being at the hospital for over 24 hours, we were ready to push! 

          So, Candy started pushing, with Tom, Kem, and myself all behind her.  It was a very powerful, amazing moment.  Everyone was focusing on the birth of this little girl, who still had no name!  Actually, that is not true, her name was Tractor.  It took exactly an hour and a half, at 11:57am, on February 11, 2003,Cassandra Erin Beauchamp was born.  Dr Landwermeyer put baby Cassie on Mommy’s chest, while Daddy cut the cord.  They went to clean little Cassie up.  During that time, the placenta was born, only 5 minutes after birth.  After stitching up a first-degree episiotomy, they brought the baby back to Mommy and Daddy.  That was when they decided on her name.

          Cassie was rooting, so we quickly put her to the breast.  She latched on like a real pro.  She had a long journey.  All she wanted to do was eat and go to sleep.  Her mommy had had a rough journey, too.  So, with baby latched on, mommy feeling great, Daddy calling all relatives and friends, and Grandma snapping pictures, I decided to leave.

          Cassie is a very beautiful and very lucky baby!  She has a brother that loves her dearly, and a grandmother that was there to see her very first breath of air.  Her father is intelligent, and extremely capable of handling rough situations.  But, her very first idol in life, her mother, is an extremely amazing, strong and powerful woman.  With each of these people in her life, Cassie will be an amazing woman herself!

              Welcome to the world, Cassandra Erin Beauchamp!