MACKENZIE DROLL
I am a blessed wife and homeschooling mom to 4 sweet but rambunctious kiddos. I love scrapbooking, sewing and being outdoors. I am originally from Canada but got to Texas as soon as I could. Now I have found another passion…after having such amazing drug free, natural births (all different scenarios… one was with a doctor in the hospital, one was with a doula and doctor in the hospital and the last one was a water birth at home with a midwife) I found myself sharing my stories with anyone that would listen. Clarity set in that I should become a natural birthing instructor when a friend approached me about her very difficult first birth experience and fears of her upcoming labor and birth. I was able to guide her and help her to a new, more peaceful and confident experience with her second child. That is my passion! I believe God created the birthing process and for thousands of years women have successfully given birth naturally. My desire it to teach and empower couples to have the birth they want, to know they have a voice and choices in so many aspects of their pregnancy, labor and delivery when well educated. I am excited to be on this journey and look forward to helping you to achieve the pregnancy, childbirth and parenting goals you have.
MACKENNA
Let me start by giving you a bit of background first. Dave, my husband is in the medical field for the heart. He was very apprehensive at the beginning about the natural birth. He has a son from a previous marriage that was born by “emergency” C-section. He tagged along for our natural childbirth classes but not very enthusiastic. I have always wanted a midwife and have babies at home but he agreed to try natural childbirth if that’s what I wanted but must have them at the hospital… just in case.
December 23rd, 2010 my water broke at Midnight, minutes after getting into bed. My contractions started 30 minutes later and were 4 ½ minutes apart. My husband and I looked through our student handbook to make sure we were timing things right since the contractions were so close together right off the bat. Our plan was to stay home as long as possible. So between contractions I washed some clothes, walked around and joked around with my husband. We tried putting on some music we had specifically picked for this occasion (I didn’t like it), my husband tried the back massage with had practiced (I didn’t want him to touch me), I tried to lay in bed or sit on a ball (I didn’t like it) so I resumed walking around between contractions and leaning on a chair with legs bent and focusing on my breathing and visualizing the baby moving downwards.
At 3am I start to get concerned how close my contractions continue to be and knew we have 30 minutes to the hospital…my husband happened to have missed the session on having a baby in the car and not to stop the pushing if the need arises. So we headed out.
When I was checked for the first time, I was “only” 4 cm….I looked at my husband and said, “Drugs sound really good right now”. He was not caught by surprise and proceeded to talk about our plans and how this was expected and that I could do this.
They tied me down in a bed which was the most uncomfortable part of the whole thing and the nurse kept asking me question after question. I had to tell her to wait a few times because she expected responses through a contraction. I would go silent and focus on the clock instead. My husband gave them our birth plan and a bowl of chocolates to eat while they read it over. With brows raised, they said they would help us as much as possible with our requests.
After 45 excruciating minutes, I was finally let lose from all the wires and monitors. I wanted to get in the shower and try to soothe the back pain. Not even 10 minutes into it I felt the urge to push. I sent my husband to get the nurse. Supposedly the nurses and he had a good laugh about me being a first time mom and excited to get things going.
WELLLL…..the nurse checked me in the shower and told me I was 9 ½ cm, she needed me in bed so she can call the doctor. (The nurse apologized after about laughing at me)
She tried to tell me to not push and blow candles instead. THAT HURT! I said, no way, you better be ready to catch this baby.
Fortunately the doctor arrived in time and after an hour of pushing, baby girl Number one made her arrival. No interventions whatsoever! Breastfeeding right away. I was walking around the halls soon after with the nurses asking if everything was ok. Our physician even delayed cutting the cord until the umbilical cord stop pulsating.
ASHER
Our second child was born 2 days late. Before the due date, my doctor asked if we wanted to strip the membranes or look into inducing. We already knew that was not what we wanted so we declined. We emphasized again how natural we wanted the whole process to go.
It was 9:30 pm and I was so uncomfortable I was spending a lot of time in the bath. At one point I thought I felt a very mild contraction but I’ve been having those for 3 weeks now. So I waited through a few more contractions before getting out of the bath. I waited through a few more before letting my husband know just to make sure. We called our Doula and babysitter to head on over.
My mom was also present this time so she was there to help (I really had 3 coaches this time). My Contractions were already 5 minutes apart. Our doula (Lisa Rutledge) was suggesting positions and showing my husband how to counteract the pain of the contractions with the hip squeeze. They took turns which most times it did help. After 2 hours of laboring at home, I really didn’t want to go yet but felt it was time to head to the hospital. I said, “it must be close cause I’m really thinking of pain relief and getting serious right now, let’s go”. My doula and husband have been keeping track of all my responses and knew where I was at but wanted to give me time to make up my own mind.
When we got to the hospital I was really struggling with going in (I kept visualizing being tied down to that bed again and how horrible it felt) so we labored in the lobby for a few more contractions. Finally we went in to Labor and Delivery Triage and I was already 9 ½ cm. They had me switch beds and wheeled me down to the room. I had told my doula I did not like lying on my back to push so she recommended me facing the back of the bed and squatting. My doctor was easy going about it and even declined the nurse popping my water…he said just to let it go naturally.
My water broke moments before my son made his appearance. Hard labor was 2 hours with active pushing lasting only 20 minutes this time. Breastfeeding right away.
ASHTYNN
After 2 successful births at the hospital, 100% natural without any interventions required, I was finally able to convinced my husband to agree to a home water birth with a midwife. He is now a firm believer in natural childbirthing methods. He can even pinpoint where they had gone wrong with the birth of his first son, and feels they may have been able to prevent the C-section and shares it with everyone who will listen.
Baby number 3 arrived at night as well. I had fallen asleep on the couch while watching a movie but a sharp pain woke me up at 11pm. I didn’t think much of it since I’ve been in pain for 3 weeks now and got up to go to bed. I ended up wetting my pants. After wetting a second pair, I finally clued in that my water must have broke. We called the midwife (Paula Davis) and midwife student (Lisa Rutledge, ore Doula for baby #2) and started to fill the tub. My contractions started 30 minutes later as the midwives arrived. I walked around my house freely and stopped to lean on chairs and my bedpost during contractions. We joked about eating Whataburger while we waited. The contractions were between 3-5 minutes apart and growing stronger each time. My mom was here again to help out.
After an hour, I was really anxious to get in the tub and warm up. My midwife checked and I was 5 cm. Had to be at least 5 cm or it could slow down the process so I was happy to get in. Had about 2 contractions and was ready to push, taking everyone by surprise. My mom was upstairs thinking we had time but she made it down just in time. My husband remembered to put the video camera on this time and after a few pushes baby girl number two was here. Best experience of them all. Mind you, having only 2 hours of labor wasn’t so bad either. Breastfeeding right away.
3 Healthy kiddos later and excited to share the true natural way of birthing your children.
