I finally have a couple minutes to type out a quick birth story. Here it goes.
I woke up on Thursday to get the 8 year old off to school. Started having contractions at about 8am, but they felt just like the contractions that I'd been having for the last two weeks, so I didn't really think anything about it. We went shopping to get last minute first communion stuff for our oldest. At about 1:30 I had my first contraction that kind of hurt in a check out line. I decided to start timing them. They were 3 minutes apart.
So, when we got home, I called my doc and went in to have a non-stress test. I didn't think that I was in labor, as I've never gone into labor naturally before (cervadil with the first and pit with the second), so I drove to the doc myself. The doc (not my normal doc) says that I am in "very, very early labor" and am still just 2 centemeters. Tells me to go home, take a nap, etc. By the time I leave, I'm breathing through contractions and had to call Hubby to come pick me up.
When we got home (about 3), we called people to come get the other kids. By the time they left, I was on my hands and knees moaning through hard, very quick (30-40 seconds; very close together) contractions. We left the house a little after 4 to go to the hospital.
I had one contraction on top of another in the car, but thankfully we live about 5 minutes from the hospital. I went into triage for a while while they got my room ready and I was 4-5.
We got to my room--my wonderful doula picked out the room furthest from the nurses station so that I would be left alone. I got straight on the birth ball. Hubby put in our 50 minute long labor CD. Contractions were coming fast fast fast and quick. At one point, I asked someone to check me. I was 8 cm with a bulging bag. Got back on the ball and had to push with that contraction. I told them that I was pushing, so they called the doc, but didn't seem too concerned that the baby was coming any time soon. I had another contraction and my water broke, but just trickled as the baby's head was blocking it. I kept pushing and told them. No one seemed to care. I looked up at my doula and told her, "It's burning. The baby is coming." She tried to tell the folks (teaching hospital--we had an intern and a med student), but they didn't seem to know what to do. So, I stood up off of the ball to show them. Hubby said that Joseph's head was out a couple inches. At that point, people really moved.
They told me to get on the bed. I tried to take a breath, but couldn't and just leaped onto the bed on my hands and knees as Joseph was born. It was amazing. He was born at 5:20pm. Our CD was about half over.
I feel like I finally got the birth that I wanted. Natural. No one telling me what to do, or really paying much attention to me at all (hospital staff, I mean). Delivered on my hands and knees. No tearing. Super quick. We left the hospital in about 27 hours despite being GBS+.
Perfect.
I cannot recomend getting the obgyn and the pedi to sign the birthplan in advance if having a hospital birth. If anyone had a problem with anything that I was doing, Hubby or doula said, "the doc signed off on it."
It was just wonderful.
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