*This is pretty long, but well worth the read I think. 
It started Friday night, Nov. 5. Before we turned in for the night, dh and I enjoyed ourselves and made love. It was not intended to induce labor. It was just because.
Throughout the night, I awoke to several strong contractions (stronger than my normal bh contraction anyway.) They weren't regular or very close together, but they were different. In the morning, dh had a Men's Bible study to go to that he regularly attends on Saturday mornings. I told him to take the cell phone just in case. I had some more contractions throughout the morning, but nothing really impressive and nothing regular.
By the time dh got home, they were starting to peter out. I suggested going downtown for a walk. Actually I suggested walking to downtown (about a mile) but dh didn't think I could handle that this time and was afraid of me really going into labor or my water breaking w/o the car nearby. So, we drove downtown and then walked around. Still no more contractions.
When we got home, it was lunch time. After that, dd and I laid down for a nap. Dh let me sleep nearly 2 hours. When I woke up it was 4 p.m. Shortly after dinner, aroung 6 p.m. I felt the first contraction. It was quite intense, but I was still able to go about doing things. At this point, they were pretty far apart, 10-15 minutes. I actually got really ambitious and started cleaning house and organizing like a mad woman. I was somewhat in denial that I was in labor.
Around 8:30 dh suggested that we call the mw to give her a heads up. I said no, b/c I wanted to be sure that I was actually in labor first and that it wasn't a false alarm. My contractions were still 10 minutes or so apart but they were getting more intense. Dh and I did dishes together from 9-9:30 and I could tell he was worried about me. I had to stop everytime I had a contraction, which at this point was every 7-10 minutes. Still too far apart to worry about them. Dh asked me if I could talk through them and I said, "if I have to." At this point, I realized that I probably was going to be having a baby that night and that we should call a few people. Even though the contractions were spaced pretty far apart, they were very intense.
So, around 9:30 we called the mw to give her a head's up. At the birth center we went to, there are 2 mw's and a dr. I like both of the mw's but I definitely had a favorite, she had done most of my care and had delivered my older dd. I barely knew the dr. and had only seen her once my whole pregnancy. At my appt. the prior Thursday, my fav. mw told me that the dr. was going to be on-call all weekend. I was a tad disappointed about going into labor that day, but I was anxious to meet my baby, so I decided it would be okay. So, I called the answering service and asked to have the person on call paged. A few minutes later, my fav. mw calls me. The first thing I said was, "oh, it's you," with relief in my voice. She's very much a motherly figure for me and I think was just as pleased as I was that she was on call that night. BTW, the only reason she was on call was that the dr. had got tickets to a game late in the afternoon and asked her to cover for just a few hours. She offered to cover from 7p-7a. So, we barely made it! Anyway, she told me to take a warm shower, drink a glass of water and try to get some sleep. I followed the first 2 instructions, but was unable to sleep.
When I first laid down, contractions nearly stopped for 20 minutes. I was almost asleep and then the most intense contraction yet hit me! They kept coming. I tried hard to sleep, but everytime I was about to drift off, here came another one.
So, I got up and came here, MDC, for awhile to distract myself. When I couldn't sit any longer I called my mom. At this point it was 11:40 p.m. and I think ctx. were about 5 minutes apart, but I was really having trouble timing them myself. (My mw said we could wait until they were 3 minutes to come in.) As my mom and I were talking, she noticed when I would get quiet. After 15 minutes or so of talking, she suggested we time them. Well, I started watching the clock at that point and when I had a second ctx. just 2 minutes later, I did not tell my mom. In fact, I had 3 ctx. 2 minutes apart. She got busy talking and forgot to time them herself. So, instead of worrying her, I just told her I would let her go for now and that we would call whenever we got to the birth center.
At that point, I guess I was crazy, b/c I thought about taking another shower to try and relax a bit. I got undressed, but before I got in, I decided to do a self-check. Yikes...I couldn't feel my cervix, just baby's head! So, I quickly got dh up and started gathering things to leave. I should add that dd1's birth was induced and things were far different, with ctx. being unbearable and one on top of another from 4 cm on. I never realized that you could dialate rather painlessly. The ctx. I had had were not terribly painful, just really intense. It took us 20 minutes or so to get out the door and then we had to drop dd off. Oh, we also stopped at the store to get a frozen pizza for afterwards.
And we had a 30 minute drive to the birth center.
We arrived there around 1:30. Just before getting there, I had a ctx. that lasted nearly 2 minutes and was incredibly intense and, yes, painful. Once it subsided, dh helped me into the birth center, though I really didn't need help. I was totally fine in between contractions and didn't even feel like I was in labor.
After signing a few papers, my mw checked me and I was at an 8. :shock I decided to get in the jacuzzi tub and relax. My ctx. slowed down dramatically but were still very intense. It was kind of nice to have a break. I stayed in there for an hour. At that point, I really needed to use the bathroom. I waited until after a ctx. to get out, but immediately had another one. I realized that getting out and walking around was making them come much faster and more intense. After using the bathroom, the nurse suggested the birth ball. When I tried it, the ctx. slowed again like when I was in the jacuzzi.
I realized that I had total control and that was great! If I wanted a break, I would sit on the birth ball. If I wanted to speed things up, I would stand up. After a half hour or so, my mw suggested I start pushing just a little with each contraction (She never checked me again after the initial one, but she assumed I was probably complete and had been for some time.) When the next ctx. came, dh reminded me to push a little, so I did, and did not like that at all. I never got an urge to push the whole time. When I tried pushing, it made everything hurt much worse. I was really in control before that. After letting me take things at my own pace for a few contractions, my mw came in and told me it was time to really start pushing. She held back a little lip of cervix w/the next contraction and that hurt like he**! I hated pushing. It was so painful and I was not able to maintain control like I had before. I started crying b/c I was so tired and didn't want to do it anymore. Everyone around me was very encouraging, but I still hated it. It was very different than my first time. Pushing had been a good thing the first time and had relieved some of the pain of the ctx's and it only took me 17 min. the first time. We didn't time it, but I bet I pushed for at least 30-45 minutes.
As she started to crown, my water broke. DH said it was pretty cool, like a water balloon breaking! Once she started to crown, I finally felt like pushing her and push I did! I was still coherant and much more in control than I was the with my first. I knew she was being born and tried to watch, but I couldn't see past my belly yet. Her hand was up by her head and my mw had to finangle her hand out of the way. As I pushed the rest of her out, I watched and immediately reached for her. It was amazing!
After just a minute or so, we both were very anxious to know the sex. Boy was I shocked! I truly thought, my entire pregnancy, that I was carrying a boy. I just KNEW I was. But, I wasn't. She was born at 3:51 a.m. beautiful and healthy, 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 in. long! I'm now the proud mama of two beautiful baby girls. We were home in our own bed by 7 a.m., but I had trouble sleeping. All I wanted to do was gaze at my lovely baby sleeping next to me.
It started Friday night, Nov. 5. Before we turned in for the night, dh and I enjoyed ourselves and made love. It was not intended to induce labor. It was just because.
Throughout the night, I awoke to several strong contractions (stronger than my normal bh contraction anyway.) They weren't regular or very close together, but they were different. In the morning, dh had a Men's Bible study to go to that he regularly attends on Saturday mornings. I told him to take the cell phone just in case. I had some more contractions throughout the morning, but nothing really impressive and nothing regular.By the time dh got home, they were starting to peter out. I suggested going downtown for a walk. Actually I suggested walking to downtown (about a mile) but dh didn't think I could handle that this time and was afraid of me really going into labor or my water breaking w/o the car nearby. So, we drove downtown and then walked around. Still no more contractions.
When we got home, it was lunch time. After that, dd and I laid down for a nap. Dh let me sleep nearly 2 hours. When I woke up it was 4 p.m. Shortly after dinner, aroung 6 p.m. I felt the first contraction. It was quite intense, but I was still able to go about doing things. At this point, they were pretty far apart, 10-15 minutes. I actually got really ambitious and started cleaning house and organizing like a mad woman. I was somewhat in denial that I was in labor.
Around 8:30 dh suggested that we call the mw to give her a heads up. I said no, b/c I wanted to be sure that I was actually in labor first and that it wasn't a false alarm. My contractions were still 10 minutes or so apart but they were getting more intense. Dh and I did dishes together from 9-9:30 and I could tell he was worried about me. I had to stop everytime I had a contraction, which at this point was every 7-10 minutes. Still too far apart to worry about them. Dh asked me if I could talk through them and I said, "if I have to."
At this point, I realized that I probably was going to be having a baby that night and that we should call a few people. Even though the contractions were spaced pretty far apart, they were very intense.So, around 9:30 we called the mw to give her a head's up. At the birth center we went to, there are 2 mw's and a dr. I like both of the mw's but I definitely had a favorite, she had done most of my care and had delivered my older dd. I barely knew the dr. and had only seen her once my whole pregnancy. At my appt. the prior Thursday, my fav. mw told me that the dr. was going to be on-call all weekend. I was a tad disappointed about going into labor that day, but I was anxious to meet my baby, so I decided it would be okay. So, I called the answering service and asked to have the person on call paged. A few minutes later, my fav. mw calls me. The first thing I said was, "oh, it's you," with relief in my voice. She's very much a motherly figure for me and I think was just as pleased as I was that she was on call that night. BTW, the only reason she was on call was that the dr. had got tickets to a game late in the afternoon and asked her to cover for just a few hours. She offered to cover from 7p-7a. So, we barely made it! Anyway, she told me to take a warm shower, drink a glass of water and try to get some sleep. I followed the first 2 instructions, but was unable to sleep.
When I first laid down, contractions nearly stopped for 20 minutes. I was almost asleep and then the most intense contraction yet hit me! They kept coming. I tried hard to sleep, but everytime I was about to drift off, here came another one.
So, I got up and came here, MDC, for awhile to distract myself. When I couldn't sit any longer I called my mom. At this point it was 11:40 p.m. and I think ctx. were about 5 minutes apart, but I was really having trouble timing them myself. (My mw said we could wait until they were 3 minutes to come in.) As my mom and I were talking, she noticed when I would get quiet. After 15 minutes or so of talking, she suggested we time them. Well, I started watching the clock at that point and when I had a second ctx. just 2 minutes later, I did not tell my mom. In fact, I had 3 ctx. 2 minutes apart. She got busy talking and forgot to time them herself. So, instead of worrying her, I just told her I would let her go for now and that we would call whenever we got to the birth center.
At that point, I guess I was crazy, b/c I thought about taking another shower to try and relax a bit. I got undressed, but before I got in, I decided to do a self-check. Yikes...I couldn't feel my cervix, just baby's head! So, I quickly got dh up and started gathering things to leave. I should add that dd1's birth was induced and things were far different, with ctx. being unbearable and one on top of another from 4 cm on. I never realized that you could dialate rather painlessly. The ctx. I had had were not terribly painful, just really intense. It took us 20 minutes or so to get out the door and then we had to drop dd off. Oh, we also stopped at the store to get a frozen pizza for afterwards.
And we had a 30 minute drive to the birth center.We arrived there around 1:30. Just before getting there, I had a ctx. that lasted nearly 2 minutes and was incredibly intense and, yes, painful. Once it subsided, dh helped me into the birth center, though I really didn't need help. I was totally fine in between contractions and didn't even feel like I was in labor.
After signing a few papers, my mw checked me and I was at an 8. :shock I decided to get in the jacuzzi tub and relax. My ctx. slowed down dramatically but were still very intense. It was kind of nice to have a break. I stayed in there for an hour. At that point, I really needed to use the bathroom. I waited until after a ctx. to get out, but immediately had another one. I realized that getting out and walking around was making them come much faster and more intense. After using the bathroom, the nurse suggested the birth ball. When I tried it, the ctx. slowed again like when I was in the jacuzzi.
I realized that I had total control and that was great! If I wanted a break, I would sit on the birth ball. If I wanted to speed things up, I would stand up. After a half hour or so, my mw suggested I start pushing just a little with each contraction (She never checked me again after the initial one, but she assumed I was probably complete and had been for some time.) When the next ctx. came, dh reminded me to push a little, so I did, and did not like that at all. I never got an urge to push the whole time. When I tried pushing, it made everything hurt much worse. I was really in control before that. After letting me take things at my own pace for a few contractions, my mw came in and told me it was time to really start pushing. She held back a little lip of cervix w/the next contraction and that hurt like he**! I hated pushing. It was so painful and I was not able to maintain control like I had before. I started crying b/c I was so tired and didn't want to do it anymore. Everyone around me was very encouraging, but I still hated it. It was very different than my first time. Pushing had been a good thing the first time and had relieved some of the pain of the ctx's and it only took me 17 min. the first time. We didn't time it, but I bet I pushed for at least 30-45 minutes.
As she started to crown, my water broke. DH said it was pretty cool, like a water balloon breaking!
Once she started to crown, I finally felt like pushing her and push I did! I was still coherant and much more in control than I was the with my first. I knew she was being born and tried to watch, but I couldn't see past my belly yet. Her hand was up by her head and my mw had to finangle her hand out of the way. As I pushed the rest of her out, I watched and immediately reached for her. It was amazing!After just a minute or so, we both were very anxious to know the sex. Boy was I shocked! I truly thought, my entire pregnancy, that I was carrying a boy. I just KNEW I was. But, I wasn't. She was born at 3:51 a.m. beautiful and healthy, 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 in. long! I'm now the proud mama of two beautiful baby girls.
We were home in our own bed by 7 a.m., but I had trouble sleeping. All I wanted to do was gaze at my lovely baby sleeping next to me. 
