Written By JJ Pedigo // Photos By Kyle Kaz

Ellie Pedigo was born on June 4th, 2023 at 3:01 PM at the Birthing Inn in Tacoma. On the day of a Strawberry full moon. 5 babies were born there that day, we were number 2.

On the morning of June 3rd I started having contractions that were noticeable but irregular. Went out to lunch with my husband and daughter, before I started helping Ayah get ready for prom. Had contractions while doing her hair and makeup, but they were manageable. Around 11pm my contractions started to become more frequent and a bit more regular. Around 2am I started having regular contractions that were evenly spaced and about a minute each, and tried to breath and rest through as much as I could with the TENS device on my back. I labored and got no real sleep all night till about 6am when my contractions went to about a minute and 15 seconds every 4 minutes or so and I was to the point where I could only sway and breathe through them so I called my midwife Nikki at Gig Harbor Midwifery. Nikki said to meet at the birth center at 7:30am. That next hour and half Shawn got everything loaded in the car while I stood and swayed and moaned. The 20 minute car ride to the birth center was brutal. I had to fully recline the seat and lay sideways, I couldn’t sit up and I was pretty stressed about being in the car. Poor Shawn was going 80 and probably trying not to freak out.

We made it to the birth center my midwife and two training midwives were waiting. I just started crying with relief that it was finally our time and to have that support. For the first couple of hours all I could do was stand and sway. One of the midwives suggested we do a vaginal exam which I’m glad I agreed to, thanks to some convincing from Shawn. Turns out my water was bulging out of my cervix and I was about 5cm dilated. The midwife also felt that Ellie's shoulder was kind of hooked on my pelvis which is why all my pain was in the front of my belly. We tried a variety of positions to try to get Ellie to move but I couldn’t tolerate anything but standing so Shawn and I decided to have my water broken in hopes that I could labor in other positions than standing. Ayah, my daughter, showed up and was able to help offer some support and made sure I had water and honey sticks. I was so worried.

After having my water broken I was at 7cm

and got into a weird position with my back on the bed and my hips in the air on top of pillows to try to get Ellie to come down off my pelvis. I was crying worried that she wouldn’t and I remember I kept talking to her asking her to move and my birth team was amazing at reassuring me that she was moving. Once she was in a bit of a better position I was able to lay in a side lying position and got some rest from constantly standing. After having my water broken and Ellie moving off my pelvis, I felt like the contractions there after were no where near as bad as at first (until transition and pushing). I had about an hour or so of rest where I could nod of a bit between contractions, with the TENS unit on my back, and a spiky ball in my hand that my photographer Kyle had brought.

I had to get up after a while because the contractions were unmanageable for me laying down. So I went back to standing and swaying. My team started working on getting an IV in as I had I was GBS positive, but after a couple tries, it was apparent I was too dehydrated to get a line in. So I stopped and swayed until I felt like I had to poop. I went into the bathroom and tried to sit and use the bathroom, but couldn’t, then stood in the shower with this huge feeling like I had to poop. I just kept repeating that to my midwife. I moved out of the shower to the bed and was able to get on all 4’s but in a kind of upward kneel. I pushed in this position for a while, but nothing was really happening. I was pretty stressed, and thankfully my team recognized it and helped me manage my anxiety and helped me slow things down so I could manage my emotions. I opted for another exam and the midwife explained that I wasn’t fully dilated yet and they wanted me to kind of resist the urge to push so that I did make my cervix swell. So I took some arnica tablets and then got in the tub.

The tub helped my body relax some

and I was able to fight the urge to push for a while. Again, I would nod of and try to rest a little between contractions. At some frame rate in time I couldn’t stop the urge, and just felt my body pushing. With every contraction my body was just pushing. I was finally able to grab under my right knee and start bearing down. Shawn was getting me cold wash cloths for my head and neck and just sat behind me with steady hands on me. I didn’t feel like anything was happening I just felt tons of pressure. My midwife advised I could do my own vagina exam. So I did. then I was able to feel her little head with my finger tips. I started talking to her telling her I was so ready to see her. A few hard pushes later and she was out. Ayah got to watch the whole thing from the business end too.