An Acynclitic Entrance: Tourmaline Birth Center

Sometimes baby’s don’t always enter the pelvis in the “optimal” position (LOA: Left Occiput Anterior, meaning baby’s body is on the left side of the belly, and their face is facing your back).

But Maddy and Jimmy were seriously AMAZING. They were highly educated and LOVED Tourmaline, they felt safe, and completely supported which is key when creating your birthing team and space.

waters release.

Maddy’s waters released first, before anything else at about 1:45 am. Jimmy calls me to let me know and we go through TACO when it comes to Maddy’s waters: Time, Amount, Color, Odor. When everything comes back perfect (no foul odor, clear liquid, lots of it) I of course tell them to go back to sleep as surges can sometimes take awhile to begin.

But boy was everyone wrong.

At 2:15 am Maddy’s surges began at about 5 min apart and lasting a minute long. Jimmy calls me again at about 2:45 am and let’s me know they’re coming on quickly and strong and are already about 3 min apart. I immediately tell him to call the midwives as they may want her to come in and tell him that I am going to start getting ready and head to their house. But that if they go to the birth center before I get to them to let me know.

I left my house a little after 3 am and began the 55 minute drive down to Tourmaline (of course stopping for coffee at a 24 hour Starbucks 😂).

Halfway down to the birth center, Jimmy texts me that they’re heading to the birth center.

arrival.

I got to Tourmaline at about 4:15 am. Maddy was laying on the bed on her side and Jimmy was kneeling next to her gently caressing her and holding her hand.

Her surges were intense and full body sensations.

She labored in the tub for about an hour before the midwife noticed her grunts at the top of a surge and asked Maddy to check to see if she could feel baby’s head. It was a little after 6 am now.

When Maddy checked herself, she wasn’t quite sure what she was feeling, so the midwife offered to check for her if she wanted. Maddy consented, and when the midwife checked she exclaimed “OH her head is right there!”

Little one was on their way!

so we thought.

Maddy pushed both actively and passively (meaning her body pushed for her) for quite a while. The midwives and myself had her try different positions, they had a midwife come in and “shake the apple tree,” she used the fabric hanging from the ceiling to drop into, she sat on the toilet multiple times (you know the dilation station), and she even sat on the birth stool for a bit.

Everyone was wracking their brains and what position baby was in to try and help her rotate and move through the birth canal easier.

At one point, one of the midwives said baby was OP (occiput posterior: meaning baby was facing the front of Maddy’s body/belly making the hard part of her head towards Maddy’s back). OP baby’s can sometimes be a little more difficult to push out due to the way they have to travel through the birth canal.

After an intense time outside doing lunges on a few stairs, Maddy came back into her birth room and was greeted by one of the midwives wanting to “shake the apple tree” again. This time though, the shaking was more vigorous to try and get baby in a better position.

it worked.

As the midwife left to say goodbye to one of the midwives (shift change), Maddy yelled to the room (it was just Jimmy and I) that she could feel baby’s head and “baby is coming!” So I yelled down the hall to the midwives that baby was crowning (to everyone’s surprise)!

Maddy began to actively push again shortly before 10:30 am.

And little one was born into her dad’s hands at 10:44 am with one the largest bits of swelling on her cute little noggin due to coming through the birth canal acynclitic (her head was tilted to the side a little bit).

It was beautiful, and empowering, and so full of love and support. Dr. Stephanie the resident chiropractor whom Maddy had seen since she was about 18 weeks attended her birth, a midwife who officially received her licensure THAT DAY from the state of CA was in attendance.

It was awesome. And I couldn’t be more proud of them for trusting the process and working through everything that was thrown their way 💕