It was about 4 am on wed may 21st when I woke up to my first “real” contraction of my pregnancy. I was 37 weeks and 6 days pregnant and I had been having Braxton hicks for the past week or two but nothing like this. I had been praying every night that God would put me into natural labor since I was developing preeclampsia/hypertension for the third pregnancy in a row. I would possibly be induced very soon. Once the contractions kept coming about 7.5 min apart for two hours I started to get pretty excited knowing that it was going to happen within the next 24 hrs. I got up around 6:30 am feeling very anxious to get things done so I took a shower and then called my mom to tell her the news.
I had my 38 week ob apt scheduled for 9:50 am so I figured I could see what my
midwife thought and go from there. Joe didn’t seem to be convinced I was having a baby that day so I agreed to let him take our girls fishing which was already the plan for the morning. I had my friend Stacy take me to my apoinment since we had lunch plans and a girls day planned for the afternoon. When I got to my apointment the midwife asked if I would like to be checked for dilation and I agreed. She immediately told me that I was a good 4.5 cm dilated and if I wanted she would strip my membranes to get things going because I was having a baby today! I agreed because I really wanted to avoid being induced within the week! I told her I would like to be able to come back later and have the baby rather than stay at the hospital and labor, she jokingly said it was fine and I could just come back and have the baby in triage!
I got back in the car and the first person I called was my mom because I just can’t help but tell her everything. The next call was to my husband. I told him we would run some errands and go out to lunch as planned and then start walking to keep labor progressing. I ran by the house really quick to grab something and told my daughters that mom was going to have the baby and they started jumping with Joy and giving me lots of kisses, it was really sweet.
Stacy and I went to the local tea room and got lunch and tea. I was having contractions about 7.5 min apart still but they were strong and lasted about a minute and a half. Once we got done with lunch we headed to a really nice nature center close to my house and walked some of the trails for about 45 minutes until I decided I just wanted to go home and relax.
When I got home I was still having the same type of contractions and decided to start a movie which I turned off pretty fast because I couldn’t focus on it. I decided to give my doula Kim the go ahead to come over. When she got there we started getting the yoga balls blown up so I could lean on or bounce on them. Things were getting pretty uncomfortable so I also had Tamera head over (my photographer). In the meantime randomly my 3 year old daughter Claire comes up to me to tell me she has a bead in her nose and started crying about it. I was in no shape to deal with the situation so I had Joe take over…he eventually resolved the issue! My contractions were still about 6-7 minutes apart but getting stronger. My doula Kim was awesome and started giving me a prenatal pedicure and painted my nails while also pressing on some of the pressure points that can help labor move along. Tamera my photographer arrived around 5 pm and that is when I moved myself into the nursery rocking chair to continue my labor in a more quiet space. I have to add that while in the nursery I ran out of ice to chomp on so my dear husband went to the gas station to pick up ice but also came back with 4-5 different varieties of chocolate! He was so sweet! It wasn’t long before I knew I would be heading to the hospital soon because I started shaking which I remembered was a good indication I was transitioning. I went into the bathroom to do a quick self check to make sure I wasn’t actually ready to push a baby out. I felt the bag of waters with babies head right behind it. I knew I would have a baby immediately once my water broke so I told everyone it would be a good time to go. The car was already packed and ready so I got my flip flops on and headed out the door. Little did I know that would be the worst car ride I had ever taken!! Evans hospital was only 10 minutes away but we couldn’t drive fast enough. When I had my first contraction in the car it was followed by the urge to puke so yelled for Stacy or Tamera to find something in the back for me to puke in…there wasn’t much so I halfway puked in a cup and all over myself. I started freaking out because I smelt like puke and wanted to get out of the car!!! Stacy found a throw away casserole dish that was unused in the back of the car and I put it in my lap just in case it would happen again. We finally reached the emergency room where Stacy got me a wheel chair because at that point there was no way I could walk! We got to labor and delivery as quick and possible with me making a scene the whole way up. When we got to triage we had to deal with a very annoying nurse situation but then the midwife came to check me and told me I was 9.5 cm with a bulging bag of waters and it was time to go have a baby. I remember thinking how right my doula was in the morning about giving birth in triage!
When I got to my labor and delivery room I was in so much pain and didn’t know what to do with myself. My midwife told me I could delivery any which way I wanted. At that point I was on my left side holding on to the hospital bed and didn’t want to move! I had a very strong contraction and felt like I needed to release my water bag and that is what I did…I just kind of pushed and let it go! Once that happened I could feel her head descending and started saying I felt her head. The midwife told me I could start pushing so I did! It hurt so bad, but within about 4-5 strong pushes and 9 minutes after my water broke at 7:19 pm I pulled my little girl into this world. I remember taking a huge deep breath and smiling feeling so amazing because I had just finally pushed her out. She stayed on my chest immediately and started breastfeeding as well. I kept telling my midwife that that was the best birth ever! It really was, compared to my last two inductions this was one of the most memorable and amazing days of my life! Emma stayed on my chest for the first hour or so before they took her from me to weigh her and all that stuff. She weighed 6 pounds and 6 ounces and was 18.5 inches. Her and I both were happy and healthy and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience!!
All photo’s from Click photography
