Mackey's Birth Story (Part 1)

Our birth experience was just about everything we could want it to be—a non-medicated birth with a relatively short labor and a healthy baby and mom. We managed the entire first stage of labor at home, with our doula—the peerless Sarah Greenman—and arrived at the Birth and Women’s Center, in Dallas, ready for the action of the second stage. Two hours later, Mackey Elizabeth Smith was born.

Contractions had started around 9 p.m. Thursday, April 9, right after dinner. I did have some eggplant, but I really can’t say that it triggered labor. We started monitoring the regularity of the contractions, but without thinking that “IT” was happening yet. It was only when I lost the infamous mucus plug at 10:30 p.m. that I wondered if something more intense was happening.

Around 12:30 a.m., after continued contractions and starting to employ the comfort measures we learned in our Bradley Childbirth classes, Ashley called Sarah to let her know what was happening. She said to keep her posted, and to be patient—we could be in for a long night. That long night shortened itself as Ashley called Sarah again a few minutes later to report some fluid leakage—we wondered if it was amniotic fluid. Sure enough, while Ashley was on the phone with her, my water broke (I was over the toilet—phew!). When Ashley got off the phone, he said to me, "Wow…we're going to have this baby TODAY!!" And that's when I knew I needed to be prepared to get serious. We put on the iPod playlists we'd created for the occasion and I got ready to FOCUS.

Sarah came over around 1 a.m., and from then until about 5:45 a.m. I went through both active labor AND transition (though we didn't know that until later). During that time, I was completely unaware of the passage of time. Ashley even asked me at one point if I wanted to know what time it was, and my answer was a curt, "No." I didn't want to know how long it was taking or think about how much longer I had to go. I buried myself in a state of focus to achieve the relaxation I knew was necessary to let the labor do what it needed to do.

I spent most of the labor in the bathroom, where Ashley had lit all of our sandlewood-scented candles (I had chosen one of my favorite scents as a comfort during labor). I wasn't in the tub the whole time, but I guess I found the bathroom the most versatile environment. Sarah said I was like a mama kitty, finding the smallest, darkest room in the house to labor. It wasn't conscious—which I think is fascinating—the instincts that take over when your mind gets out of the way.

Ashley was an incredible partner. He was always at my side, ready to support me, whether physically, holding me up during a squat, or emotionally, telling me that I really was DOING this. Every "You are AMAZING" worked like a tonic, not because it was meant to, but because I could tell he meant it. And if he meant it, then it must be true, so it gave me strength to face down another contraction.


Sarah was an incredible doula, both for me and for Ashley. Her wisdom and experience were invaluable as we went through something brand new to both Ashley and me. Her suggestions, whether to walk around for a bit, squat through a contraction, or do "horsey lips," helped us keep a forward progression throughout the labor. I never got scared, so I never felt that I backed away from what was happening.

In the early morning hours, my contractions went from being localized (dilating the cervix) to all-over (flexing the uterine muscles). By listening to me, Sarah could determine that it was time to head over to the Birth Center. Ashley and Sarah quickly gathered all the bags for the birth center (the mama bag and papa bag, the baby bag, and the labor bag).