Audrey Kai Rundall

On October 16th Ellen awoke at 6:45 and told me that she thought her water had broke.  I shook off the fuzzy sleepy fog and realized just what this meant - we will be meeting our baby soon, possibly today.  It felt a little surreal that just 12 hours before we had spent the afternoon and evening enjoying our friends wedding ceremony and reception.  Ellen was doing her best at inducing labor the night before by cutting a rug out on the dance floor. 



Ellen looking beautifully pregnant at Steamboat Lake

 After we got out of bed Ellen got right to making a chocolate cake, a birthday cake for our little baby boy or girl. At around 7:30 she started having contractions 12 to 15 minutes apart. We decided to wait to call our midwife Suzanne until 8:30 to give her an update.  At that time the midwife told us to call her back in an hour with another update.  When we called with the second update the contractions were at 3 minutes apart and getting more intense.  The midwife was at the house shortly thereafter, around 10:30.  Ellen's contractions were at full intensity by that point.  She spent some time on the birth stool, then on the bed, and then in the shower.  My perception was that Ellen was fighting and pushing away from the pain and sensations of the contractions during this time.  Her breath had been very short and shallow. Suzanne checked Ellen and reported that she was 3cm dilated and 100% effaced.  Ellen was a little discouraged by only being 3 cm. Suzanne told her that she needed to surrender over to the sensations.  She spent the next hour on the bed and was getting much more into the contractions with deep breathing and moaning.  At one point I tried to ask Ellen what she was visualizing during the contractions.  Her response was an emphatic "what?" and a dismissing wave of the hand.  She was in her primal zone.  After the fact Ellen told me that she was imagining her cervix opening during each contraction.



Ellen working through a contraction and making cake

 Every once in awhile Suzanne and her apprentice Katherine popped their head in to the bedroom to check on the progress.  Otherwise they were busily prepping everything for the delivery.  At 12:45 Suzanne told Ellen that she need to get out of the bed and start letting gravity do its job. It was time to start getting more aggressive and get into vertical positions.  There was work to do!  At this point we seemed to be in a time warp so the timing of events is a little fuzzy.  I remember Suzanne and Katherine saying that they were going to set up the birthing tub in the living room and that this may be a good change for Ellen to get that last couple centimeters of dilation.  I was starving at this point.  Thinking that labour might go on for another few hours I snuck away to get some food in my belly.  3 bites into my peanut butter and jelly sandwich Suzanne shouted out for me to get back in the bedroom.  It was time to push! 

After checking Ellen's progress Suzanne asked her if she had been having urges to push. Ellen replied that she hadn't and Suzanne said that it was time.  It seemed like around an hour of pushing during contractions changing positions from the birth stool to the bed and back to the stool.  This part seemed so hard.  Ellen at one point jokingly said that she was going to postpone finishing this part up until next weekend.  But she perservered and little baby Audrey was born at 2:57pm on October 16th.  Audrey let out some cries almost immediately.  And as all parents know it was love at first sight.