Your Yoga Birth

2009-08-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

4 Week Childbirth Education Series for Couples

Each Saturday August 15-September 5 from 12:00pm-3:00pm

$250 per couple

This 4 week workshop will help prepare you and your partner for your baby’s birthday, whether you plan on delivering in a hospital or at home, with or without pain medication. You and your partner will learn many great skills to help you cope with the challenges of labor. We will explore breath, meditation, movement, chanting, massage and hypnosis to help you both achieve your birth wishes. We will also explore the benefits and risks of all medical interventions and pain medications without bias or judgment, so that you are empowered to make informed decisions that best suit your family.

Bring your yoga into the Labor and Delivery room. Approach your birth with a positive attitude, a warm heart and an open mind.

Call Leah at (323) 434-1943 to register and/or get more information.

About Leah Miller: Leah has been teaching Prenatal Yoga at Silver Lake Yoga for 3 years. She is also a peri-natal Massage Therapist, a Doula and now a certified CAPPA Child Birth Educator. She is committed to helping women and their families enjoy the miracles of the childbearing year.

Helen Azariah

2009-08-02T22:45:00.001-07:00

I'll start by saying I can not believe I have the privilege of writing a birth story! Helen "Lenny" is such a joy, truly. And all of the details of her birth are pretty much overshadowed by how intensely RJ and I love her, grunts, spit up and all. It is a really indescribable sort of love.

On to the story. So about a month before my due date I experienced two weeks of pretty consistent and irritating cramping. These braxton hicks contractions just bothered me, but didn't really interrupt my life. But, about two weeks before my due date things seemed a little different. I had my appointment with Dr. Dwight and he checked my cervix. i was almost 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced, He suggested that I do a lot of walking, nipple stimulation and sex to get things moving. RJ and I walked around the reservoir in silverlake and then went to the south pasadena farmers market - where we ran into Leah. That night around 9pm I started to have true contractions. They were really pretty regular and seemed to be increasing in intensity. I had a feeling "this was it" when I just could not get comfortable and sleep. Around 2 am I woke RJ because I felt like I couldn't get through the contractions alone.

I tried to eat something and we tried to stay busy and distracted. I got into some of the positions I learned in Leah's birth class-- all of them involved being supported by RJ physically. That helped a lot. I tried to do some of my visualizing and that also helped to stay focused and calm. I didn't really get super excited yet because I thought the labor could sort of stop anytime and I was two weeks early. So I kept trying to remember that each contraction was helping my baby get closer to coming into the world. We started timing contractions around 4am and they were steadily increasing in intensity and frequency. RJ did this on and off for a couple of hours.

We called our doula, Nicole, at 6am to let her know that things had started. I was still debating whether I should go to my scheduled massage with Leah at 11am so we also talked to her on the phone. At first she thought it might be a good idea, just to keep labor moving, but it soon became apparent that labor was progressing pretty quickly. Nicole was on her way to our house around 10:30am and Leah asked RJ how I was handling the contractions. She let her know I couldn't really handle them alone. I needed her support to go through each one and Leah figured I was most likely in pretty active labor so we stayed at home. By the time Nicole arrived I was mostly not talking much. It was really hot in the house and I was trying to stay moving, but I was really tired from missing a night of sleep and also was in a lot of pain. I had stared making a lot of noise during the contractions. Between 11am and around 2 the contractions were pretty frequent, but we were mostly focusing on keeping heat on my back, which hurt alot and trying to stay active. Anything too active, like walking a lot, was really uncomfortable, so we kept trying positions with the birth ball. During this time I was feeling the need to pee after every contraction, which was really helpful--- it was relaxing.

Around 2pm I was super exhausted and in a lot of pain, but dealing pretty well. The pain during contractions felt like a lot of pressure bearing down with a lot of intensity. I got a little scared and was really really hot in our house (no central AC) and totally dreading the drive to the hospital. I said we needed to get going and Nicole and RJ seemed a little hesitant, just because they wanted me to stay home and be comfortable, and I also think they were under the impression that it would be a LOT longer before the baby came. But I sort of made it clear I needed to go.

The drive to the hospital was intense but we made it safely. Once I made it to the labor and delivery floor my contractions started coming much faster. The floor was really full but I got a room pretty quickly and when the nurse checked me I was 5 cm dilated and totally effaced, It was encouraging but by this time I really couldn't think about much of anything except getting through the contractions that were coming really quickly and seemed to last a long time.

About an hour and a half later I was checked again and was 8cm dilated. Everyone was really encouraging and said the baby would come soon. Dr. Dwight came in and had me do some practice pushing and I couldn't really focus on much other than the intense pain. At this point I was making a lot of noise-- and that was the only thing that really got me through the contractions. My back was just killing me and Nicole and RJ were trying so hard to do all sorts of positions and use pressure to relieve the pain. But it wasn't really working. I was checked again an hour later and was still 8cm. And then again two hours later and was still 8cm. At this point I was in pretty excruciating pain. I could barely move into any new positions and it became apparent that the baby, while not in any distress at all, was in a posterior position-- so I was having pretty intense back labor. The contractions were coming so fast I barely had time to rest and I was screaming at the top of my lungs during each one. So I told RJ to get me some help. Turns out, Dr. Dwight, upon realizing the position of the baby, ordered an epidural in case I asked for it. I hadn't planned on this AT ALL. and asking for it was really hard for me. But I am so glad I did it, because I was completely overwhelmed by pain and couldn't focus on the happy fact that I was about to birth my baby.

I got the epidural, felt relief within minutes, but could still feel all the contractions, just at a MUCH lesser intensity. Within 20 minutes of having the epidural I was talking to RJ and Nicole, which I hadn't done in maybe 6 hours and I was relaxed enough to focus on how amazing it was that I was about to give birth. Dr. Dwight came in and basically sat on the edge of my hospital bed and started massaging me to open space for the birth. He wouldn't have been able to do any of that without the epidural. I went pretty immediately from 8cm to 10 and he asked me to start pushing during the contractions. Within 40 minutes or so, the baby was out. Dr. Dwight turned her as she was coming out and I definitely felt the pain and burning while pushing her out, but having the brief rest (even just 20 minutes) with the epidural gave me a lot of strength to push.

Helen Azariah arrived with maybe a cry or two and then for the next five or six hours, including getting weighed etc. did not cry once. She was so alert from the get go. And she was breastfeeding almost immediately. I would love to serve as a resource for anyone who has more questions ( I know I wrote a lot, but there is, of course, much more to say!). Email me: pandjiris@gmail.com

Also, our experiences with Dr Dwight (especially during labor) and Good Samaritan were pretty amazing.

Divine Birthing

Your Yoga Birth

Helen Azariah