Kieran Adams Cronin’s Birth Story

First photo with Kieran...such a perfect baby and birth.

I wrote Kieran's birth story long before our family blog, but since I was asked to give a testimonial for Vivante Midwifery, I thought it was time to share his birth story too...since his sisters' stories are here for the world already: Makenna's & Teagan's Birth Stories

Kieran Adams Cronin’s Birth Story

by Darcy Cronin

I started having some Braxton-Hicks contractions for a couple of days in mid-January at 38 weeks. I was certain that the baby would come early and asked my mom to come up for the weekend…no baby…but we ended up having fun nesting instead. I wasn’t entirely surprised to find that I was 2 cm dilated at my weekly midwife check-up. By the next week I was 3 cm dilated, but not having any regular contractions. I guess that we expected a prompt baby, because Kevin had planned to start his paternity leave the Monday after my due date, and that’s when his parents, Neil and Mary Ellen, arrived from Florida to “help take care of the baby.” Well, we had a great visit together waiting for baby to come. We went on lots of walks and enjoyed eating at some delicious Portland restaurants. I went to water aerobics daily, but still no baby. After a week of waiting, they pushed back their flight a few days. Thankfully, they were there to greet him, even if they had to fly out the next morning.

So, once I was 8 days past the due date, we were very ready to meet our baby. That night I woke up at 3 a.m. as usual to go to the bathroom, and thought to myself that I really didn’t want to go back upstairs until my water had broken. As I got up from the toilet my water broke! I was so excited! I ran upstairs to tell Kevin the good news. Then called the midwife and was told to try to get some sleep and call again once the midwives changed shift at 6 a.m. Then I called my mom, and she told me that she had just woken up before I called, and she was ready for the four hour drive north. When I came back to bed Kevin told me that he was certain that we were going to have a boy…we had already picked out the name many years before, Kieran Adams Cronin.

I managed to get a few hours sleep, but was up early to greet my mom, and tell my in-laws that I was finally in labor! I called the clinic again, and they suggested that we go on a neighborhood walk, and if labor hadn’t progressed by the afternoon to come in for a check up. Despite the cold blustery weather, we bundled up and walked a mile and a half along the Willamette Bluff...it was so windy that my large umbrella turned into out several times! I had a few small contractions, but nothing to truly stop me. I was only really surprised by how much fluid I was leaking, since they always make it sound like your water breaking is a single event…not a constant flow. 

By mid-afternoon I wasn’t feeling any stronger contractions, but Kevin and I went into the clinic with the intention that we would head to the hospital from there. The baby’s vital were good, and I was feeling good and mentally ready start labor. At that point my water had already broken 12 hours before, and they agreed that we could be admitted into the hospital that evening, and suggested that we should get an early dinner and go on another walk on our way.  We had a few slices of pizza next door and then went on another 40 minute walk until dusk. It was only later that I realized how lucky I was to have such patient midwives.

Once we were in the hospital the plan was that we would try to get some sleep (they prescribed a low dose sleep aid) and if labor hadn’t started in full by the morning, then they would start me on some Pitocin. We were both excited, but the Ambien helped me sleep through the night.

When I woke up in the morning I was feeling some mild contractions, but they still weren’t very intense or regular. I hoped that I would start labor without the Pitocin and not need an IV, but I was very ready for labor to begin. It had then been 29 hours since my water had broken, it felt like I needed some help to bring me into labor. So around 8 a.m. they started me on the lowest dose of Pitocin, and within about twenty minutes of sitting on a yoga ball I could feel regular contractions. They were painful, but entirely manageable. I stuck to the yoga ball and a little bit of walking before the maternity tub was available at 10 a.m. I was starting to have some intense contractions going down the hall and remember noting to myself that I was going to have to make it back down the hall myself (they didn't allow tub births and I was only scheduled to soak for an hour).

The water was hot, really too hot. I submerged myself for only a few minutes before I started asking for water and ice cubes. I kept on having Kevin pour cold water over me, but I was worried about becoming too lethargic. So I sat half out of the water, and enjoyed the hot and cold water. It reminded me of sitting in a steamy Finnish sauna until I was ready to leap into the Baltic...and then repeat, the hotter and colder, the better. :-) I could tell that I was progressing though, and before my hour was up I headed back on the seemingly long walk to my room.

My midwife Lisa examined me once I returned, and we were all thrilled to learn that I was 7 cm dilated already…less than three hours after starting the Pitocin. I continued to sit in the same very upright position that had felt so stable and comforting in the tub, only now I requested that they start playing music, a most memorable CD from our wedding that I had them play over and over again. For the next few hours I sat and listened to the music and held Kevin’s hand. He rested his hand in mine and focused on staying calm through the most intense contractions. It felt so good to have him as a grounding place, and to be able to have an entirely relaxed hand in his even though the rest of my body was contracting intensely at it’s own pace. I only got upset when he wanted to go get food, and I insisted that his mom get him a sandwich…but I needed him to stay put! He didn't get that I was already feeling like I was getting close to transition and wanted his hand as a steady anchor. After a few hours like this I was at 9 cm, and my midwife suggested that I try some other positions to help move things along. I had thought that lying on my side would be good from what I read before the birth, but it really didn’t feel right. I sat on the birthing ball more, the toilet for a little while, and tried squatting too. Although this movement wasn’t exactly comfortable it did help move me along and before long I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.

It took me a few positions of pushing to figure out what was going to work for me, and Lisa felt inside me while I was pushing to feel how/where I was pushing. She suggested that I try a “birthing bar” that was attached to the bed like a big loop where they could tie a sheet for me to pull on. This allowed me to curve in a C better, since before I had been pushing him straight into my pelvic bone instead of around it. I could tell the difference immediately and feel the baby moving down. I kept listening to the music, and began to get very excited about meeting the baby so soon. In between contractions and pushes I rested and just smiled. After about 45 minutes of pushing and smiling we got to meet our little boy! 

January 31^st, 2006 at 3:37 p.m. Lisa put him up on my chest immediately, yet he was water logged after such a long time in the womb, and had fluid in his lungs. I wasn’t worried though, because he was already wide-eyed and within a moment of them suctioning him out he was crying. He was all wrinkly like a wise old soul, and his bald head was perfectly formed, even with the head plates slightly visible.

Lisa helped me deliver the placenta, and gave me a few stitches for a small tear, which really didn’t hurt much with all the euphoric feelings. I was certainly sore for a few days, but it was all worth it. My back hurt from all the curving, but after some ibuprofen and a few hot water bottles it felt just fine. Thankfully, nursing came naturally for us both.

I was so excited to have a baby boy and to be a mom. Before the birth I had told Kevin that there were no photos to be taken either during labor or right after the birth. I had seen too many photos of exhausted post-labor moms to want that image memorialized. However, I felt differently once I had Kieran in my arms. After a brief moment to take him in, I asked him to grab the camera! He was so wide-eyed and beautiful, and then peaceful and sleepy…I couldn’t get enough. Kieran was certainly worth the wait!

Lastly, I feel like I need to give thanks for the excellent care that I received from Providence Maternal Care Clinic. Even though I ended up choosing to have home births with Vivante Midwifery for my next two births, I couldn't have been happier with their services. Only later did I learn from my mom that while I labored my widwife, Lisa Chickadonz, quietly stood behind the curtain in the doorway listening but not intervening until she felt she should check in. She had a very quiet and secure way about her, not wanting to get in the way of my laboring, but feeling comfortable to give me guidance and support.

As it was, I had Kevin, my mother-in-law and my mother there to cheerlead for me, so I didn't really need an overbearing midwife/doctor. It also turned out that there were nurses doing shadowing to become labor nurses, so I had two nurses there the whole time and when Kieran was born there was a shift change, so two more nurses came into the room to watch the birth...so four nurses total, who were all very sweet and congratulatory, thanking me for giving birth before they went home (or just came on shift). I had never pictured eight people being present in my "birth plan," but I felt very well cared for and elated to have not needed more medical support. While I had some Pitocin to give my body a nudge, I felt lucky to have had a very natural birth in a hospital setting.

Kieran weighed in at 8 pounds 1 ounce (rounded up). If you look closely, you can see the head plates still shaped from coming through the birth canal just moments before. 

Kieran taking his first snooze out in the world...he was a very peaceful baby.