Leo's Birth Story

Leo Eric Kwesi made his appearance on Sunday, March 21 at 3:56 p.m. Labor began on Saturday morning when I woke up at 10 a.m. and felt something similar to menstrual cramps. I got down on hands and knees in the living room to stretch and breathe, and tried to keep my excitement under control in case this wasn't the real thing. Since they were the first contractions I had felt, I wasn't sure!

It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the 70s, and so Benjamin and I took a long walk in the neighborhood that afternoon, pausing to buy a spinach salad and an iced chai latte from local cafes. By evening we made our way back home for dinner and to watch a movie. Now I was on the exercise ball, rocking and breathing through the stronger contractions. Benjamin began timing them as we watched Tortilla Soup, and by late evening he called the doctor to ask what to do. A little while later when he said he thought we should go into the hospital, we picked up our bags and went. I was nervous that it was too soon and they would tell us to go home and come back later, but I trusted his judgment.

As we drove through Cambridge and Boston nearing midnight, salsa music played on NPR. It cheered me and calmed my nerves. We arrived at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, valeted the car, checked in at the OB admitting office, and went up to triage. After waiting a few minutes, a triage nurse took me back to a small room with lots of equipment, bright lights, and a small bed. The nerves came back as we went through the list of questions. "What's your plan for pain medication? Will you get an epidural, or have natural childbirth?" asked the nurse. "I'm going for natural," I said, not at all sure that it would happen. Finally they checked my cervix, and I was 5 cm dilated. Phew, what a relief! I made it over the first hurdle -- getting admitted to the hospital.

They took us to a labor and delivery room with an awesome nurse who dimmed the lights and told us she'd be back to check on the baby every half hour. So we got comfortable and labored on our own for the next several hours. I sat on the exercise ball on one side of the bed and Benjamin sat on the other side, and we breathed together. I leaned over the bed on a stack of pillows to rest and doze off between contractions. At 7am the doctor came to check on me before another doctor began her shift, and I had dilated to 8cm. Good progress, so I was happy. The contractions felt like cramps that kept getting stronger, and they were manageable with breathing and rocking. The doctor said it probably wouldn't be much longer and offered a shot of pain medication, which I refused.

As it turned out, it would be a while longer. I got in the shower to manage the pain, which helped the sensation and my mood, but not my progress. Despite drinking water and juice, I eventually got quite tired and got out of the shower. 12 p.m. came and went, and I was 9cm dilated. I was nervous about transition and pushing, and it showed.

By 2pm, I had not made any more progress, so they broke my water to get things moving. Then I got grumpy. Throwing up certainly didn't help. I wanted to quit. Wanted no part of this labor thing any more, I was ready to go home thank you very much. Don't bother me, this is not what I want to be doing. The nurse asked me if there was anything she could do, and I asked her to help me keep my sense of humor. She sweetly sidestepped, saying that what I was feeling was completely normal.

I didn't feel the urge to push, but at some point Benjamin encouraged me to start, so I did. Every time a contraction came I pushed with my whole body, and when the nurse encouraged me to "push past that point" I would push harder, even though I was already pushing as hard as I could. Benjamin saw Leo’s head coming out, and was really excited about his hair. I was not as excited, since I still just wanted this to be over. After pushing for 45 minutes, Leo was born with his eyes open, looking very alert.

They put him on me immediately, and left the umbilical cord connected for a few minutes. It was the coolest sensation to be connected to him while he was lying on top of me. I was so exhausted, I remember asking them to help me hold him so that he wouldn't fall. After he stayed with me for a little while, they took him to be weighed and warmed up.

It's amazing to me to think I brought this little being out of my body and into the world. I couldn't have done it without the amazing nurses and my incredible husband. They completely kept me going when I absolutely wanted to quit. I saw that my potential is more than I realize, even when I'm giving it my all. With encouragement and trust, there's still more.