 Andrea Lythgoe, B.S., CD(DONA), ICCE, LCCE
Doula and Childbirth Educator |
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About Me
I am a native of California, having grown up in San Jose (yes, I do know the way…) and Morgan Hill. I came to Utah in 1989 to attend college. After 7 years, marriage and one daughter, I finally graduated from the University of Utah in 1996 with a degree in Community Health Education. Later that same year, I earned my CHES (Certified Health Education Specialist). After a stint working in a medical clinic doing patient education, I decided to pursue my dream: Working with pregnant women and their families. I certified as a childbirth educator in 1998 with ICEA (The International Childbirth Education Association) and began teaching classes independently in my home. After several years of teaching in my home, I started teaching at one of the local hospitals where I teach natural childbirth courses as well as childbirth preparation.
Ever since my first daughter was born, I have wanted to be a doula. However, it is a difficult job to do with children, so I knew it would have to wait until a different season of my life. I took my first doula training in 1997, while pregnant with my second daughter, knowing I would not be able to follow through on the idea right away. In 1999, with my daughters old enough to spend time with family while I attended births, I felt ready to begin my career as a doula. I chose to attend a second training to enhance my skills and give me some energy and enthusiasm. I started attending births and soon certified as a doula with DONA (Doulas of North America).
In addition to my birth work, I am a full time mom for my three daughters. My garden takes much of my time in the summer and I love to eat the vegetables I grow. (I often share with my classes and clients, too!) I am a book addict and have a large collection of books on pregnancy and birth.
Since many of my clients want to hear my birth experiences, I'll include them here:
Kyra's Birth (July of 1993)
While I was pregnant with Kyra, I was a student at the University of Utah. I tried to take as many credits as I possibly could, knowing that it would be much more difficult to take classes after the baby came. Spring Quarter ended June 26, so I was hoping that this baby (due July 8), would not decide to come during finals week. With finals over, my next worry was getting into our new apartment before the baby came. We had been living in a small, one bedroom apartment that would be too cramped for three, so we had planned to move at the end of June. Unfortunately, our move was moved back to July 8, and it looked like we might not make it. I spent the last weeks of my pregnancy using my "nesting instinct" to pack for the move. Unlike most women in the ninth month of pregnancy, I was hoping the baby would stay IN longer. Well, at about 1:15 am on July 7th, I awoke feeling as though I'd wet my pants. Embarrased, I changed clothes and went back to bed. Fifteen minutes later, the same thing happened again. Somewhat smarter this time (but still not realizing my water had broken) I changed, adding a pad to absorb the fluid and went back to bed. The third time it happened, I realized the "leaks" were accompanied by contractions. Labor had begun!
Knowing Darrin needed some sleep (he'd come to bed just as I'd woken up the first time), I left him in bed and spent a few hours lying on the couch watching CNN Headline News over and over and over. Contractions weren't difficult to handle, and I dozed as much as I could in my excited state. I even tried packing a few things for the move, but didn't have the energy. I woke up Darrin at around 5 am to tell him what was happening, as I couldn't keep it in any longer, but told him to go back to sleep. Fat chance! He was too excited and so watched TV with me for a while. Around 5:30, we decided to get ready to go to the hospital. While I was in the shower, the contractions came fast and furious, as little as two minutes apart, and strong! So we hurried to the hospital, and were bewildered that they had remodeled since we took the tour and we couldn't figure out how to get in. We finally managed, and were admitted.
I labored for hours in the hospital bed, while hooked up to the monitors and IV. It was much, much harder to labor lying on my back. I had never been told that I could move around or that continuous monitoring and IVs were not mandatory. I was having a difficult time relaxing, and all Darrin could think of to tell me was "relax!" over and over. When the nurse came and asked me if I was ready for "my" epidural, I snatched at the chance, though it wasn't what I'd wanted.
After that, labor was easy! So easy, in fact, that I wasn't even part of it. Darrin & I did a crossword puzzle, watched some TV, and called family to let them know what was going on. When they told me I had to start pushing, it was like being expected to dance the waltz when I didn't even know the steps. I had no urge, and there was no feedback from my body. I simply couldn't tell if what I was doing was working or not, and it seemed pointless.
At 10:56 am, Kyra was born, and I was very glad to have my beautiful, healthy little girl. Immediately after her birth, she was taken to be cleaned off and weighed, measured, etc. I was left on the bed asking over and over "Is it a boy or girl?" No one had bothered to tell me!
I was able to hold her and nurse her for a while before Darrin took her for her bath. Meanwhile, I devoured the lunch they'd brought me, since I was starving from not being allowed to eat since the day before. I even ate the parsley garnish!
We had a horrendous time getting nursing established, and I really feel that it was sheer stubborness on my part that got us through some serious difficulties. I only wish I'd known there was such a thing as lactation consultants and La Leche League where I could get help! I also had back pain at the site of the epidural and was stiff and sore from having my legs stretched unnaturally during pushing while I couldn't feel them. Plus I'd had an episiotomy (ouch!)
Darrin decided to try and make the move while I was still in the hospital, so he arranged for a moving crew of family and friends to do the job that afternoon. So the next day I went "home" from the hospital to a new apartment full of boxes. (I do not recommend this!) It was a very difficult transition for me, as I was in a new place, where I knew no one, with a small baby I wasn't quite sure how to care for. I had no car, and going from full-time student and part time employee to a stay-at-home mom with a baby who slept much of the day was quite a shock, and contributed to the postpartum depression I went through.
We eventually settled into a routine that worked for me, but it was not easy. That little baby is now a very bright, intelligent girl just starting high school. Time has flown!
Callie's Birth (December 1997)
With Callie's birth, I had been trained as a childbirth educator and doula, and I felt much more prepared and educated. I once again planned for an unmedicated birth, and actually felt some confidence that I hadn't felt before. I had an uneventful, smooth pregnancy, and taught my first childbirth class while pregnant. It was fun, since the couples in my class were all due at about the same time I was.
Just as before, this labor began at about 1 am. I had to laugh when I realized I was in labor, because the last thing Darrin had said to me before bed was "I'm tired, so don't go having the baby tonight, OK?" and I had promised to do my best. At a doctor's visit that day, I had been 4 cm dialated, which threw me into a panic as I was not at all prepared. I'd spent the rest of the day buying the things I'd needed, packing my bags for labor, finding someone to babysit Kyra, etc.
I spent the early hours of my labor rocking in the darkened living room with only the Christmas tree lights on, listening to soft carols on the stereo. Very relaxing! Once again I let Darrin sleep (I thought it was the least I could do) until I though we needed to get things moving towards heading to the hospital. I woke Darrin and sent him to the shower and called my sister to come take over with Kyra. It was a bitterly cold night (I'd just heard on the radio the current temperature was 13 degrees) and so when my sister knocked at the door just as a contraction started, I felt I had to let her in. Darrin was in the shower, and Leslie is famous for her "no coat in any weather" attitude, so I knew she would be freezing! I answered the door hunched over in a position that relieved the back pain caused by the baby's posterior position, and then squatted on the floor just inside the door for the remainder of the contraction. Leslie was about to call 911, having never seen a laboring woman before!
When Darrin was dressed and ready to go, we headed off to the hospital. I was disappointed to learn that I was only 5 cm dialated, only a bit more than I had been at the doctor's office, and after 4 ˝ hours of good, strong labor. Logically, I knew that with a posterior position, dialation would be slow, but emotionally I felt disappointed. I should have been farther along after all that work! After negotiating with the nurse for intermittent monitoring, I set about getting this baby to turn. I tried a variety of techniques that encourage posterior babies to turn. After an hour or so, I finally felt the baby rotate to a better position. Immediately labor became more intense and sped up. The change was very noticeable and I was glad for it, though it was more difficult to deal with the stronger, more effective contractions. The thing that helped me the most was making very low sounds. I switched from moaning to growling to buzzing, all very low pitched. It was as though making sounds pushed the pain away.
Darrin was wonderfully supportive, rubbing my back and providing pressure where it hurt the most. When I felt as though I was going to break down and lose all my coping skills, he said just the right things to me. He needed some coaching in how to do certain techniques to help relieve my pain, and that was tough to do as a laboring woman. In hindsight, I would have liked to have a doula there to take that responsibility for helping him help me so I could have focused on myself and not needed to teach him during my labor.
This time I was determined to feel the "urge to push" I had read so much about, and so when I was completely dialated, I waited for it. After about 10 minutes and 3 or 4 very painful contractions, my doctor suggested I give a little push just to see how pushing felt. So with the next contraction, I pushed a bit, and it took away most of the pain of the contraction. You bet I wanted to push now! It was almost an irresistible instinct to push and relieve the pain. It wasn't long after that before I had my little Callie in my arms. As with Kyra, we did not know the baby's sex, and I was determined not to have the baby taken away from me before I could find out and see for myself. I will always remember Darrin's excited shout of "It's a girl!" as Callie was placed in my arms and I lifted her up.
The emotional high of those hours and days after birth are incomparable. Everything seemed more vivid, more sweet, more delightful. Even the middle of the night feedings and lack of sleep couldn't get me down. There was no postpartum depression, no crash at the end of the high. We just settled into a new family routine with little difficulty.
My physical recovery was also much easier, for several reasons. Not only was I on an emotional high that made the exhaustion easier to bear, I did not have back pain at an epidural site, I bled much less, breastfeeding went easier, and I was not sore all over. The most difficult part was feeling torn between my two daughters. I remember vividly a time when Callie woke up crying with a vengeance right as Kyra fell and cut her lip and was crying and bleeding. I didn't know where to turn and just cried! (I took care of the bleeding child first, in case you're interested.)
Brynn's Birth (April 2002)
I woke up at 3:10 in the morning with a contraction. My first thought was that I had slept a long time before needing to get up to use the bathroom. Then I realized it wasn't a full bladder that had woken me up, but a contraction. That had never happened before, and so I knew right off something was up. After the contraction ended, I got up, used the bathroom, and went back to bed. Just started drifting off to sleep when another contraction hit. Looked at the clock - it was 3:20. Still fairly mild, so I just waited for it to end and tried to go back to sleep. Another, stronger contraction came just a few minutes later, and they quickly picked up in regularity and strength. By 4, they were coming 3 minutes apart and needed my energy to cope.
So I woke up Darrin, and asked him if it was a good day to have a baby. He just said "What?" and rolled over. I shook him again and said "I've been having contractions, Darrin" he just mumbled "OK" and didn't quite seem to get it until I said "I'm in labor!" I decided to get in the shower both to help with the contractions and to get ready to go to the hospital. In the bathroom before getting in the shower, I thought we might not even make it out of the house. Several very strong contractions, accompanied by strong nausea and rectal pressure, came one right after the other. But after I was able to have several bowel movements, it eased off & I got in the shower. I'd had recurring dreams during my pregnancy that I was in the shower and suddenly found myself crowning, and so I couldn't really relax in the shower thinking it might happen, so I quickly got out and we called Darrin's mom to come be with the kids and paged Linda to meet us at the hospital. By this time, the contractions were 2 minutes apart if I was standing or moving about, a little more spaced out if I sat down. Darrin was massaging my back and I was moaning through them.
We left for the hospital about 5:00, and I was surprised to see snow on the ground as we left. Fortunately, the roads were clear, and it was a mercifully quick trip there. Linda met us at the door & we went directly to a room. I think we got there around 5:30. I was checked and found to be 5 cm, 100% effaced and at a 0 or -1 station. That was about what I had expected. We did a 20 minute strip on the monitor with Darrin straddling the bed behind me rubbing my back as I leaned against him. (Wish I'd had him shave, because I kept wanting to rub my cheek on his, but he was too scruffy!) and Linda rubbing my feet and ankles. As soon as the strip was over, I got in the tub. I think it was around 6 am at this point. I tried lying on my back in the tub, but it became very obvious very quickly that wasn't going to work, and I flipped into a side lying position. At first, I flipped the wrong way so I was facing Darrin, and he couldn't reach my back to rub it like I wanted. So after that contraction ended, I flipped over again, this time facing away from him so he could rub my back. The only problem with this was that I was facing the wall and couldn't make eye contact with anyone. But Darrin was good about keeping one hand firmly on my shoulder and talking to me the whole time so that I could feel connected. Darrin & Linda poured water over me & kept me relaxed. I could tell things were progressing quickly as the contractions picked up once again in intensity and I started feeling lots of pressure in my lower back. Before long, with each contraction all I could do was go totally limp and moan deeply. I needed lots of pressure on my back, and Darrin pressed on my sacrum while Linda reached across and pressed my knees. I also could not keep my legs together, as it really hurt my pelvis, so Linda supported my upper leg through each contraction. Darrin also had to keep my head above water as I wouldn't do it myself. During each contraction, I could really see and feel my belly changing shape. My belly got narrower and longer. Brynn also seemed to be trying to dive her way out of there by planting her feet at the fundus and stretching out full length, which really hurt. She kept doing it during contractions. At this point, I just kept thinking "I don't want to do this part anymore, I just want to skip to nursing her!" The jets were really irritating me, as they kept hitting right on my nipples, and the sensation was driving me crazy. (The next day as I got in the shower, I had a major "DUH!" moment as I realized that the nipple stimulation could have been part of the reason why it was so intense.) After about an hour in the tub, I was feeling the whole classic transition signs, nausea, burping, shivering, etc. but I couldn't believe it yet, because it seemed so fast. Then the urge to push came, and suddenly I HATED the water. With the next contraction, I tried to get up on hands & knees, but Darrin started counterpressure before I could get my knees under me and I slipped down into the water again, so we resorted to the position we had been doing before.
After that contraction, I got out and was sitting on the toilet drying off, and the urge to push was incredibly strong. I pushed through a contraction there, and then asked for another exam since I was still in denial. I was complete, but with a small lip, so I just decided to do what felt right. A sidelying position similar to what we'd done in the the tub worked really well at first, and I pushed for a few contractions that way. But then the urge to push went away completely, and I didn't want to be on my side anymore. But I didn't know what I wanted to do. They checked me again, and found the lip had swollen a bit. Tried to hold it out of the way during a contraction, but that was horrible & I told them to stop. I decided to try hands & knees, but a contraction hit before they could get the end of the bed up, and I just knelt there demanding something to lean on NOW! A quick thinking nurse grabbed my birth ball for me & I was able to cope better once I was draped over it. Darrin was doing a sacral lift which helped tremendously, and I found myself doing a sort of pelvic tilt pivoting against the heel of his hand during contractions. Got through several more contractions this way, but then the worst one hit. An incredibly long one, lasting through what seemed like three contraction lengths, but never letting up much. It peaked three times. Once I stopped moaning to moisten my mouth, and Darrin stopped pressing & Linda stopped rubbing my leg, because they thought it was over. I made it very clear that it wasn't & we just kept dealing with it. It was the most difficult point in the whole labor for me. But after that contraction, the urge to push returned, so it must have been just what I needed to get rid of that lip. I tried pushing in that position, but it just wasn't working, so I went back to the sidelying position that had worked so well for me so far. That was definitely better, and with the next contraction, my water broke. But it was a high leak, and there was still a pocket in front of Brynn's head. Kept pushing, but I wasn't feeling her move down as I had with my earlier labor. But as Linda kept reminding me, with every contraction I kept asking for counterpressure at a lower and lower place, so she was definitely moving down. I started to feel intense pressure on my pubic bone, and I knew I had to push her past it, so I wanted to move my lower leg, but Darrin was in the way & I couldn't make the words during that contraction. After the contraction, I repositioned my leg and it helped tremendously. In the very next contraction, I felt her slip past it and suddenly felt the sensations of crowning. Linda asked if I wanted the bulging bag broken, and I did, just wanting to be done. She did, and as it popped, it suddenly felt as though Brynn's head slipped down an inch and doubled in size. I wanted to know where she was, so I reached down and could feel the top of her head just inside. After the next contraction, which I could tell had moved her a lot, I reached down again and her head was bulging through quite a bit, almost to the tips of her ears. The next few contractions were tough, as I just tried to ease her head out and not push too hard. Finally during the third contraction this way, her head came out.
During the next contraction, her shoulders were a bit slow, because her cord was around her neck. It went from her belly button up around her neck and back down the front of her again. Darrin said it sort of looked like an Olympic medal around her neck. Linda just moved it aside and then had me finish catching my daughter. I brought her up on my belly as I rolled over to my back a bit. She was so small! She lifted up her head and looked at me, then laid down again. I started rubbing her back and the nurses started drying her off, and suddenly she peed all over me! It made me laugh. Once the cord stopped pulsating, I cut it and then was able to move Brynn around to better look at her. She is just beautiful! Fuzzy reddish hair, fair skin, big eyes! I held her for about 2 and a half hours before letting anyone else have a chance at her. I put her within range of nursing to see if she wanted to, but she just wanted to lick and taste a bit. Later, when I was talking to Darrin and not paying attention, she just latched herself on beautifully and nursed for nearly an hour. When I was needing to get up and empty my bladder, Darrin took her and helped with the bath & newborn assessment, all of which was done bedside. She never left my sight the whole time we were there. I had a very small tear, didn't even need to be sewn.
She was born at exactly 8 am, weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and was 20 inches long. We left the hospital about 6:30 that evening and Brynn & I spent most of the day snuggled up skin to skin on my chest.
My three births were very different, but I am grateful for them. Having been at the point where I felt an epidural was my only option, I can relate to women I've worked with who felt the same. But I also know what it takes to deliver unmedicated and I also know it can be done. There were many times during my second pregnancy and especially in labor, when I doubted myself and my strength, but I made it to my goal.