IN HER WORDS: Maria’s Story

“If you only have 5 minutes to dedicate to reading through this birth story, let me cut to the chase… It is my belief that Tracey Riley was born to help deliver babies into this world.  She is not only a supportive pregnancy and labor partner, but also extremely knowledgeable, confident, and an unparalleled advocate for pregnant women.  Our birth was complicated, extended, scary and amazing (sometimes alternating and sometimes simultaneously). What kept me and my husband sane through all of it was the love and support from our friends and family, God’s grace, and the unwavering support from Tracey as our doula.   From the beginning, Tracey was organized, practical and detail oriented, and helped us through every stage of pregnancy and birth, ultimately to the delivery of our beautiful baby boy!

Pregnancy: Tracey walked through a number of aspects of pregnancy to help make birth easier and safer, including preparing our birth plan, understanding and exploring the choices we were likely to face at the hospital, making healthy prenatal choices, advocating for me at doctor’s appointments, and doing exercises to help prepare for birth. She also helped us pack our bags with the essentials (while she packed her own special doula bag!).  

My OBGYN had recommended an induction for medical reasons, and we scheduled it on my actual due date, which also happened to be my husband’s birthday. We celebrated that a day in advance, to enable all of our attention to be focused on a new kind of birthday for a new person:)

Going to the hospital: Tracey arrived at our place about an hour in advance of our time of departure, and made sure our bags were fully packed, and that we hadn’t forgotten anything (we had of course).  She also drove with us to the hospital and greeted our parents, who had already arrived.  

While in the hospital she made our room nothing short of an oasis for medical staff and us. She set up a drinks and snacks table for the medical staff, was extremely friendly and kind to everyone we encountered and worked to build connections with anyone that would play a role during our stay. Needless to say, we had everyone coming into the room to spend time with us, chat and check in simply because they had heard that we were ‘the fun room’ and to help themselves to snacks and refreshments. 

Labor: Throughout the course of the induction, which was involved and required multiple interventions, each time the medical staff came in to recommend a new procedure or medicine, Tracey coordinated with the staff to ensure adequate time for us to discuss internally as a team before deciding on how to proceed.  When I officially started to experience contractions, she guided my husband in performing the ‘hip squeeze’ to help me ride out the pain. This was no easy physical feat! I had weighed in at over 200 lbs while pregnant, and both hubbie & doula were left drenched in sweat, but their efforts helped me manage this difficult stage of labor.    

Tracey also made sure that multiple copies of my birth plan were distributed to all of the relevant staff that came into our room, regardless of shift rotations & changing faces.  For example, during my delivery, it was important to me that no students were allowed in the room, so she made sure that students were politely escorted out. This was my right, however many times doctors did not ask or make it seem like it was NOT my right to decide.

Tracey’s dedication to her clients was on full display throughout my time in the hospital. When I was able to catch just a few minutes of sleep during 18 hours of early labor, she slept on the floor with a blanket and pillow. Finally after all this time, which involved me being poked and prodded and experiencing multiple staff rotations, Tracey guided me through a series of moves with the ‘peanut ball’ that seemed to help with moving past the plateau, and I dilated to 10 cm and I was able to start to push!  Throughout this very challenging labor experience, the only thing that I never questioned was the decision to have Tracey Riley as our doula, supporting my husband and I in the third and fourth trimesters. 

Welcoming our baby: When it was finally time to push, it was my husband and Tracey that hand delivered the baby to the world! My husband was holding my leg to my right and Tracey my leg to the left. She would count as each wave contraction peaked and verbally encouraged and reminded me to push down and out vs up and out.  The tension was difficult to control and the only way to get my son out in time was to concentrate on pushing him out with her guidance. I’ll never forget those 30 minutes, she was such an encouraging coach, guiding me with such confidence and I truly feel that if she was not there I might not have pushed that baby out successfully!

To me the best analogy would be if you were an Olympic contender and expected to perform at an Olympian level in a sport you’ve never even played once. The only thing you have is your coach, and you hang on to their every word and put your hopes and dreams into their hands, and then somehow magically through their guidance & your hard work, and the love of your husband who is whispering sweet loving encouraging words … you do the unimaginable, the unthinkable and the hardest thing you’ve EVER done.”