Doula Class: Signs of Birthing

Last week I met with my doula April for our first class: Signs of birthing.  We are doing private prenatal classes instead of going to the University of Utah hospital for prenatal classes because both Bill and I felt that we could receive more personalized instruction that is in line with our desire to have a natural birth.  April offered to do a 6-class curriculum for us which included everything we ever wanted to know about labor and birth (and some things we had no clue even existed!)  It is geared towards preparing us for an unmedicated birth but also gives us information on birthing issues that may pop up on a moment's notice.

We went over the signs of birthing in the order in which they are most likely to appear:

Lightening: This is what people say when the baby "drops."

 The woman on the right's baby has dropped.  This forms a space in your upper abdominal region where there was none for weeks before (lady on the left).

When lightening occurs, it is due to the baby engaging in the pelvis.  This is great for me (when it happens) since there will be more room for me to take deep breaths and to eat more in one sitting (I feel as if I'm eating like a bird!  My stomach can only stretch so much and it doesn't accommodate much food.  Well, not like before, at least).  But, April did tell us that when lightening occurs, it may press against my bladder and cause me to have to urinate more frequently.  As if it wasn't frequent enough already.  Lightening occurs up to two weeks before labor in more than half of all pregnant women. 

Nesting: Nesting is when a pregnant woman starts buzzing around like a mosquito trying to get everything ready for the arrival of the baby.  April said that usually, nesting involves a small dose of OCD tendencies as the mom-to-be washes and rewashes, packs and repacks, over and over.  I hadn't had any "nesting" feelings until about 4 or 5 days ago.  Billy and I had bought Nacho's "dresser" (basically, a black ikea bookshelf and some green baskets to put clothes in).

I've also started making a board for the baby shower (1 week!) and I've been making a cocoon to put nacho in for his pictures.

You can buy these from several Etsy shops or you can find a pattern online for free.  I started knitting in law school as a way to relieve stress and not have to study Torts, but I stopped when I moved out here to Salt Lake.  It's been nice to pick it up again, especially when it's making something for my little Baby Nacho.  

Mucus Plug:  I talked about this one previously, but I'll revisit it here again because 1) I've never heard of such a thing before I got pregnant and 2) I'm a big fan of gross bodily functions.  The mucus plug is a bunch of mucus that plugs up the opening to your cervix; this prevents things from getting in, like bacteria.  When your mucus plug comes out, it means that the entrance (the os) to your cervix is dilating.

A regular cervix.  As a woman goes through labor, the os starts dilating and getting wider and wider.

I initially thought that the mucus plug would be kind of hard, like a wine cork.  when it comes out, the part that was closest to the os is hard and varies in color (can contain blood).  But this is quickly followed by a lot of what looks like cervical discharge (the kind that tells you that you are fertile: it looks like egg whites).  OK, just an fyi, this picture may provoke the gag reflex in some of you reading this.  You are forewarned.

Bloody show: Lovely name, innit?  Capillaries bursting in the cervix are due to the contractions.  The blood can be bright red or brown and is usually a minute amount (like spotting during a period).  This does not always happen to every pregnant woman.

Bag of waters: This is the ultimate vision everyone has of a woman starting labor.  She's walking around the supermarket, happy as can be when, all of a sudden, she stops and a look of horror crosses her face.  She looks down and sees that she has wet herself.  Almost immediately, she clutches the top of her abdomen and her face scrunches up in pain.  This is Hollywood's version of a labor.  However, only 10-15% of women ever experience a "water break."  The bag of waters, or the amniotic sac and the fluid it contains, helps to keep your baby gravitationally happy.  It bounces around inside of you cushioned by the amniotic fluid.  The amniotic fluid also helps to protect the baby from the squeezing motion of the uterus during a contraction.  It is important to look at the color of the amniotic fluid: it should be clear or yellow.  If there is any tinge of green or brown, there may be an issue of the baby passing meconium (fetus poop) in utero.  If this happens, go to the hospital right away.  

Contractions: I've recently posted about Braxton Hicks contractions.  Real contractions feel different in that you feel them in your lower back and they develop into a really annoying backache.  They start moving forward, which makes it feel as if you were in intestinal distress (read: diarrhea cramps).  Some women will actually get a mild form of diarrhea.  This is good so that you're all cleaned out for when you start pushing.  Although I'll be passing tons of fluids and blood during birth, I am terrified of accidentally pooping while I push!  So, I hope this happens to me and I won't have to worry that Billy will see me have a bowel movement for the first time.  I mean, if that happened, I don't think I'd be able to look at him in the eyes again.

Dilation and Effacement: Effacement is the thinning, shortening, and drawing up of the cervix.  Dilation is the opening of the cervix.  Effacement is a more important measure than dilation because you can be dilated to 10 cm (the required amount to let the baby pass through) but not be effaced and the baby won't come through.  The more effaced you are, the faster you will dilate.  So, if your doctor or midwife will be checking your cervix, keep that in mind.

Don't you all worry; I will let you know if any of this happens to me.  In graphic detail as usual.  Remember, knowledge is empowerment :)

Next class: Stages of birthing and management strategies.