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Tuesday night (8/5) at about 10:00 pm, Erik and I were watching TV
in the living room. I was lying on the couch and he on our giant ottoman just
in front of me. I suddenly felt mildly crampy/uncomfortable. I didn’t think
much of it until it happened again about 12 minutes later, and then again 12
more minutes later. It was now around 10:30 and I knew exactly what was
happening. I said to Erik, “I’m pretty sure I’m having contractions.” He asked,
a little shocked, “Really? So you think he’s going to be here tonight?” I
replied, “No, not tonight, but definitely within 24 hours.” We didn’t talk
about it anymore and went to bed soon after. Through the night I continued
contracting. I was able to sleep well, but 2 or 3 ctx woke me and Erik up as I
groaned through them.
Erik’s ridiculous alarm started going off at 5am (!!) every
9 minutes waking me up each time. I also realized the ctx were waking me up
more frequently. I began timing them. I think they were about 7 minutes apart.
Erik kissed me good bye and left for work at 6. I got out of bed as I heard him
drive off (Looking back, I never should have let him leave. I expected to be in
labor a bit longer because Stella’s labor took a day and a half). I decided to
take a shower.
As I was getting up and around things steadily intensified.
I’d have to stop and sway back and forth through contractions at this point,
but they were still very manageable. Before I got in the shower I decided to
check my cervix to see if it’d changed any from the day before. I’d felt it
after my midwife appointment after Sheryl said I was a solid 2cm. I was
definitely open more and I could feel my bag of water bulging. My eyes opened
wide. I knew this was it.
I was able to shower. When I was in there I had a few ctx.
They were about 5 minutes apart and ~30 seconds long and still very manageable.
I got out of the shower and realized by tub was filthy so I just had to clean it. I also cleaned the
toilet, the sink, and picked up clothes to start a load of laundry. The laundry
never made it further than being thrown down to the bottom of the stairs.
I called Sheryl at 6:50 am to tell her I was pretty sure I
was in labor, ctx 5 minute apart, able to talk through them. She agreed that it
sounded promising and advised me to call back if my water broke, ctx were 2-3
minutes apart of became too intense to focus on anything else through, or at 10
am if none of those things had happened.
When I got off the phone I texted Erik. I told him I’d
definitely need him home before lunch. I let him know I’d talked to Sheryl. At
6:53, I called my mom, no answer, so I got dressed and went downstairs. I
picked up a bit and bounced on my birth ball a little. I was starting to get a
little worried about being alone with Stella, my 3 year old, and caring for her
because my ctx were definitely getting stronger.
I got ahold of my mom at 7:15 and said, “It’s baby day!
Please come now!” She assured me she’d be here before 9 am. In my mind, I
thought, “9?! That’s almost 2 hours! I need someone here now!” I wasn’t scared,
I just wanted Stella taken care of while I focused on me.
At 7:25, I got ahold of Staci, my doula, she was going to
try to get a sub for her 8 am class and come right away, but wasn’t able to, so
another time of shortly after 9 was given.
Again, I began to worry. I quickly made myself stop.
Worrying would only make my pain worse. I decided I should eat. Just as I was
going to the kitchen, Stella woke up (7:40 am). She wanted help getting
dressed. “Oh Jesus, how am I going to get up the stairs without dying,” I
thought. I hobbled up to help her dress and brush her teeth, stopping every few
minutes to lean over and breathe/yell through contractions. Not really yell,
but vocalize loudly.
When I reached her, Stella asked me what was wrong and I
told her it was time for baby goose to come out of mama and it was hurting me
very much. I assured her that I was alright and I’d do my best to help her. Once
she was dressed and had clean teeth we went downstairs to finally eat.
We had oatmeal, Greek yogurt and my favorite tea. Eating
while have contractions every three minutes was no easy task, but I got all my
food down. I didn’t even finish eating before texting Erik at 7:58 to come home
and calling Sheryl at 8:05. I was no longer able to sit or talk through the
pains. I was getting pretty loud and I was beginning to shake and sweat during
them. Sheryl was on her way at 8:20 am. I decided I should let my dad know what
was going on so I called him and let him know I was in labor and that my midwife
was on her way and that I’d let him know when baby was here. After I got off
the phone I put Beauty and the Beast on TV for Stella so I could focus on what
was going on in my body for almost the first time since it started.
My mom arrived at 8:15, just as Erik texted me that he was
on his way home. When she got here, she greeted Stella and me and saw the state
I was in. We went upstairs to start filling the pool. I’m very glad it was
already blown up in our room. That was one of the only things that went right
with the darn thing. Mom took the hose to the bathroom to hook it up while I
labored standing up and bent over my bed. I began to hear lots of expletives
coming from her direction. The hose didn’t fit. Shit. So she started filing
with our trash can. That was working just fine. She filled while I labored.
Erik got home at 8:30 and quickly left to run to ACE to get
a different connector so the hose fit. While he was gone, during contractions
my body started involuntarily pushing. I was trying my hardest not to fight
against it, but not totally give into the pushing either. I had no idea how
dilated I was (I thought about checking, but I didn’t know what 10cm felt like,
so I didn’t) and my water hadn’t broken yet.
At 8:45, Erik got back, hooked up the hose and it barely
reached from our bathroom to our bedroom! I got in as it kept filling and it
felt pretty good. There wasn’t quite enough water to really float around. We
filled the pool until the hot water ran out. Getting in the water, Erik finally
being home and there being someone available to watch Stella seemed to relax me
quite a bit. I wasn’t ‘pushy’ during contractions anymore and I was able to be
fully aware and calm in between them. Stella got in the pool with me for a few
minutes, but she was too loud and distracting during contractions so we had her
get out.
Sheryl arrived at 9:15 and set up shop. At the end of my
appointment the day before, we joked that we expected to see each other again
soon, but not the very next day. Her arrival eased my mind even more. Staci
arrived right after Sheryl and jumped right in.
Sheryl was preparing to check my dilation and I said, “Oh
please tell me I’m at least 8 or 9cm.” She smiled and said, “Even better, you’re
at 10. You can start pushing whenever you’re ready.” I was so incredibly
relieved. I didn’t really feel like I needed to push anymore, so I waited and
had a few more ctx. I experience the calm before the storm that happens for
some women when they’re completely dilated. It was cool. I wasn’t exhausted or
anything. I felt exhilarated and excited and ready to meet Mr. Baby. Once the
ctx picked back up I tried pushing a bit. Hands and knees didn’t do much, so I,
reluctantly, got into a sitting/reclined position. I say reluctantly because it
hurt to move! Leaning over the size of the pool was so comfortable. At one
point, we weren’t sure if my water had broken yet. I was pretty sure it hadn’t,
but, still, wasn’t sure. I asked Sheryl to check and while she was a
contraction started and POP! I couldn't get the hang of pushing in the pool so
after about 20 minutes we decided to move to the bed.
Sheryl set Erik up on our bed with pillows on him so I could
lean against him. When I moved over there, I was afraid I wasn’t going to be
able to get on the bed because it hurt to lift up my leg to climb on. I finally
got up and comfortable, and the fun (ha!) began. I pushed and pushed and pushed
for what felt like forever. I don’t really think I got the hang of pushing
until close to the end. I got a good handle on it when I started to actually
feel him moving down. It was amazing. I saw his head with the mirror and it was
so motivating after feeling like nothing I was doing was productive.
Pushing was tough because my contractions were pretty spaced
out and not lasting very long. I could only get a couple good pushes out of
one. Sheryl noticed as his head
was coming down he was bringing the anterior lip of my cervix with him and it
was acting like a rubber band shooting him back up when I’d stop pushing.
During one of my last few ctx
she pushed the lip back as I pushed and HOLY SHIT did it hurt!! It worked
though. I’m pretty sure I screamed. Two more ctx and he was out. During my last contraction I was
able to get 3 good pushes out of it and out came his head. Sheryl delivered his shoulders and I
finished pulling him out and up to me! It was miraculous. He cried and cried
and cried beautiful noise! We waited until his cord was empty to cut it.
Feeling the differences in it was amazing.
My placenta delivered 4
minutes later. MW said it was one of the quickest she’d seen. Baby was just a
yelling away the whole time. While we were lying there with him Erik told me we
could name him Ian if I wanted to. (This was prompted by a conversation we had
a couple nights ago about me not really loving the name he had picked out. We
talked about a few names and decided to name him when he arrived) I asked him
if he was sure and said we could wait to name him. He insisted. After a little
bit, we got up and I got into the bath to warm him up. Sheryl helped me wipe
him off in there a bit because he still had lots of vernix on him. We
eventually got out and dressed because I was starving. We went downstairs to
relax and I ate and Ian nursed for forever! Sheryl briefed us on the next 24 hours
and let us know she’d be in to check on us in the morning before she went into
the office and that was that. My doula left shortly after and my mom shortly
after her and then it was just us 4 snug and cozy at home.
He was born at 10:36 am, just 4 and a half hours after labor
really started. He weighed 6 pounds and 9 ounces. We’re not sure exactly how
long he was. Sheryl measured 20”, but our pediatrician measured 18.5”. It doesn’t
matter anyway. He was absolutely perfect!
