On Friday night I started having contractions that felt different, but I had already gotten myself excited once so I just ignored them. By about 3:30 a.m. there was no more ignoring them. I downloaded myself a contraction timing app and began timing. 1 minute long, 7-8 minutes apart. By 9:30 they were getting stronger and closer together so we called the on-call midwife. She had us come in, but I was only dilated to a 3 so she sent us walking to see what happened. An hour later, still only a 3, even though I couldn't walk through the contractions. I was disappointed and discouraged, but she sent us home to rest for a few hours. By about 3:00 I was really starting to dread facing any more contractions in the car. We only live about 20 minutes from the birthing center, but we ended up having to deliver at the South location- about 45 minutes from our house. 45 minutes of contractions every 4 minutes while sitting in the car sounded like torture. Once we were in the car contractions slowed down a little bit, which had me worried that I was once again going to get sent home, but I was hoping it was just God being merciful to me. He was. I was at a 5 once I got there- phew. We let our family know we were "checked in" and we turned off our phones and got to work bringing a baby into the world.
Let me just take a minute to say that my husband is the absolute perfect labor coach for me. There is no way I could birth without him. Unfortunately for him, that means that going to the bathroom and getting a bite to eat is pretty difficult since I didn't want him out of my sight.
I labored on the birth ball against the bed, then in the bed for a while before finally getting into the tub. I felt so much more relaxed once I got in the tub the midwife even commented- the birthing pool is the midwife's epidural. So true. My contractions continued to stay 4-6 minutes apart, which was good in some ways (lots of rest), but I think made labor last longer overall. I was 5 cm at 4:00 and only 8 cm at 8:00. I stayed at 8 cm for about 45 minutes (and if you know anything about 8 cm- that's a long time to not make any progress). The midwife thought it was because my water hadn't broken yet so the baby's head couldn't push down enough to make me dilate. She said she could break my water for me to hopefully speed things up if I was getting impatient, but she warned me that it might not work, but it would definitely make it more painful. What kind of choice is that?! While I was thinking about what to do my water broke. Let me just say- best. feeling. ever. Until she told me that it was meconium stained. Basically Isaac had already pooped. I freaked out a little bit. I know that makes some babies have to go the NICU (and there is no NICU at the birthing center). The midwife reassured me that his heart rate had been good so we had no reason to think he was in distress. I didn't believe her for a while, but after another contraction I could not think of anything else besides getting the baby out one contraction at a time. I'm pretty sure that I went from 8-10 in about 3 more contractions and I was ready to push.
So many people talk about pushing as something that comes naturally and the urge takes over your body. I think I'm broken or something. Because that does not happen to me. I did feel more comfortable this time than I did with Ethan, but it still felt awkward and unproductive. I pushed for about 20 minutes in the tub before Isaac's heart rate started dropping. The midwife said she would let me push one more time and if I didn't make significant progress she wanted me to get on the bed so I could feel contractions a little better. I really wanted to have a water birth, but I knew that she was right. Once I got out of the tub and on to the bed I only had to push a few more times before he was finally here. He cried the tiniest little cry immediately (oh, and pooped ALL over me) and as soon as I started talking to him he quieted down and cuddled up to me. About 3 minutes after he was born I remember saying, "that wasn't that bad." Ha! Talk about endorphins kicking in because I'm pretty sure the 20 minutes before he was born were filled with "I can't do it, I hate it."
So all in all- nearly 12 hours of early labor, followed by 4 hours of active labor, 2 hours of transition, 25 minutes of pushing- got us a 7 lb 9 oz, 21 inch long baby at 10:40 p.m. on April 12, 2014.
He is amazing and all three of us are in love.
Congratulations!
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