Birth Stories ONLY!

Wow, it was a beautiful, wild experience.....
I worked the night before and I had a lot of pressure and contractions (and coincidentally, was taking care of one of my co workers in her labor!). At 5:30am on the 18th (a beautiful, blue, green, sunny morning), I got up to pee and had a warm gush of fluid, when I stood I had another warm gush. More leaking when I went to pee, so I crept in and told my husband (daughter still sleeping and then came downstairs to call everyone (my best friend and midwife, Tara; another midwife; and my mother) because I was sure it was going to be very fast (my daughter was 5 hours). Tara arrived in 15 min., everyone else in about an hour or so and would you believe, nothing was happening! This was the case through the whole day! It was a lovely time with everyone around, however. We walked downtown to a cafe, I took a nap, another walk, ran into many friends and neighbors out walking, had a foot masssage. Around dinner time my spirits were down as I began to think about being ruptured 12 hours and how long I should go before needing to try something to stimulate labor or present to the hospital (a fear for me). We decided to try some homeopathics and one dose of castor oil to start. We had a great dinner with everyone, fresh greens from our garden, homemade ice cream, berries. Everyone was planning to take off after dinner and reconnect in the morning if nothing had happened yet. We all chatted for a while after dinner and did some dancing with my daughter. At about 9:15 I squatted down next to Olive and had a big warm gush, when I stood back up I had a very intense 3 min. or so contraction, ahhhhh! From that first contraction I had alll the sensations of transition, should I poop, pee, push, breathe, ahhhh! I ran upstairs, luckily they followed , I went into the bathroom ( I guess something just seemed right about being in there) and had a handful of contractions, very long about one minute apart. Tons more pressure with each. I was making lots of vocalizations to get through them and I kept needing to do odd things with each one like take off my pants I told Tara, I have to get my pants off, I don't know why, but they have to be off) or hang at a particular spot on the side of the tub. These contractions were much more intense than I remember with Olive and I kept saying, "I have no control, I can not get any rythym." When I couldn't take the pressure much more I went and crawled on our bed. I wanted to lay on my side so I could try and slow down a bit and have some control as he came out , but I just could not do it. I flipped back to hands and knees and was pushing, he was essentially pushing himself out. It was so intense, like my body was not my own and I just had to go with each sensation and push. I was making some serious low animal like sounds. When I could feel he was right there, I reached up and touched his head, he was about to crown! I pushed out his head with another big gush of fluid and Tara caught him at 9:53pm (about a 40m. labor!). He began to cry before his body was even out. He had a "compound presentation" a hand up near his neck/face(so did my daughter!) and that combined with the speed with which he came caused a 1st-2nd degree tear, not bad. When his body was out, my husband yelled out, its a boy! Since I delivered on hands and knees, I could not see him as he came out so I said "where is he?" and Tara slid him through my legs and I pulled him up to my belly saying "I love you, I love you, a boy!" I finally was able to roll over onto my side and settle down with him in my arms to deliver the placenta. My mom and Olive came right up to the bedroom and Olive touched him right away saying, "he's so sweet!" Wow was my body shaky and full of sensation, slow to calm down. I had some tea and chamomilla to try and settle down. Sy nursed beautifully right away. We checked over the placenta, Olive put on gloves and checked it out too, "I'm a placenta checker, our little baby lived there." Now she says, "the placenta is in the freezer, we're going to plant a tree." Everyone helped us get settled and we had a family snuggle and went to sleep.
I have been taking it slow, comfrey compresses to the bottom, herbal baths and lots of tea. He is, of course, the perfect addition to our family. Thanks for all the sweet congratulations. Wishes for all your births to be beautiful experiences, I can't wait to hear them.

On Thursday morning, 6/24/04, we had our normal wake up and I showered and then dressed me, then Goo.
I got Goo's breakfast together and then DH came out and he and I started breakfast. I was planning to go to work, but as soon as I sat down to eat, I got an incredible contraction. I had to walk around the kitchen until it passed. I had two more before we left, and they were 15 minutes apart. Ok, I went to the bathroom before we left (standard protocol for 38 week pregnant woman going on a car ride) and I had a bloody show. I had DH call the doctor office. They set up an appointment for 11, but we could come earlier if needed.

We took Goo to daycare and were planning on stopping at work before heading to the doc office, but the contractions were now 8 minutes apart. We got to the doc office by 10, but the contractions were now 4 minutes apart. I was having a short contraction followed by a longer contraction. We did an internal, found I was 2 cm, GRRRR, but they wanted to put me on the NST. Contractions were 2 minutes apart! DH reminded the staff that there was a Red Sox home game at 1pm. They told us to go in NOW and go the back way. My hospital is on the same street as Fenway park, so if you take Route 90, you have to pass the park to get in. We took the alternate Route (route 9 for those who know the area). I was in such pain on route 9, that poor DH had to drive and coach me through the contractions. By the time we got to the hospital, I was screaming and crying. Contractions were 1-1.5 minutes apart. Got a nice priority ride up to L&D by the guards.

We got a hep lock put in and the penicillin started(GBS+). Then we discussed an epidural. I didn't want this time, but the pain was so much. I went about 1 hour without it, but then I started vomiting and lost bladder control everytime I vomited. (It wasn't pretty.) After 5 minutes of this, I decided to do the epidural. I had many contractions while the woman was getting things ready, so I had to scream at her when she touched me during a contraction. She looked inexperienced and I think this made the whole process longer and hard for both of us.

I was 3 cm after the epidural. We talked about doing an AROM (artificial rupture of membranes), but then they on their own broke during my protests of that. Unfortunately, there was meconium in the fluid. Then I complained of this sore spot on my left buttock. They decided to check again even though it was only 30 minutes. I was now 6 cm. After a little longer, I started to really feel the pressure of the contractions mostly in my groin. They checked again and I was 10 cm, ready to push. AH! DH asked for a mirror (I forgot we had agreed to that) and I watched as I pushed. It was so cool! After 14 minutes of pushing, she was born!
It was really neat because her shoulder got stuck and I could see why the doctor was telling me to not to push even though I really needed to. She was able to maneuver Moo's shoulder out and then she was fully delivered.

We had to get a NICU team on site to suction her. Then we discovered that I was only with one dose of penicillin and I should have gotten a second dose before she was born (we missed by 15 minutes) so she had to get tested at NICU(grr). DH went with her and a simple 10 minute blood test turned into a 45 minute "let's check her out since she's here anyway". I was a wreck since they never told me what was going on. I did finally get her with me in the maternity room. I didn't need any stitches. (wow!)

Here are two photos!

Moo at birth
Foo and Moo

Lila Kerry is asleep downstairs on her daddy, so I'll take my moment to write our birth story. She wasn't due for another two weeks. We were supposed to have our big work days this weekend to get READY for our homebirth!

We did get to go out Friday night like we had planned - we hired a sitter for ds and used our Christmas gift card to go out to eat. Then we shopped for a few more things for the homebirth. I finally convinced dh to hook up the new VCR so we could watch our midwife's video!!

We watched a few births, and I told dh that I'd had a few contractions. Nothing major - I'd go to bed and see if they woke me up later. They did! I was up from 4:00 - 6:00 AM watching more births and timing contractions. They were 20 minutes apart and about 25-30 seconds long. Pretty mild.

When we got up in the morning, we paged our midwife to let her know. I hated calling, since she had told us that July 3 was the only day before my due date that she would be out of town (3 hours away!) at a family reunion. But we talked and agreed that I would call when contractions were 10 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long. Her assistant, Amy, lives 30 minutes from me so I would also call her.

I took a warm bath and drank a glass of wine to slow things down a bit, and took a nap to rest up.

My contractions started getting closer together at about 4:00 PM, and were about 10 minutes apart at 5:00. At 6:00, I called and asked the assistant to please come. When she arrived at 6:40, I was having 70 second contractions every three minutes or so.

When my SIL came to watch ds at 8:00, I was already in transition. I really needed to get in the birth pool! My midwife was on her way, but still pretty far away. Amy had not delivered a baby in a birth pool, so my midwife wanted me to wait until she arrived. But I begged! So I got in the pool and had 2 or 3 strong contractions - the warm water felt SO good! Then my water broke and I had to push. So I got out of my comfy water and onto the bed.

Sitting and lying down were both painful in this labor, so I pushed on my hands and knees. Pushing with this baby was so much different than with ds. With ds, I had the cast of thousands at my feet and the "PUSH PUSH" cheerleaders going full force. With this birth, Amy helped me breathe through the urge to push. She supported my perineum, and I supported myself when my daughter's head was born. THEN I got to push her body out at 9:13 PM(what sweet release!). I only have one tiny inner labial split - not enough for a suture. With ds, I had second degree tears and a gazillion stitches.

Lila came out pink and loud! Her apgars were 10 all the way across. She weighs 8 lbs. even, and is 19 inches long. She's nursing really well! I can't believe my baby is here!

I hear dh coming to get me - must be time to nurse again.

Well, **SHE** is here! Born July 9th, 2004, at 12:53pm.I was so convinced I was going to have a boy. What a suprise. Her name is Samaya Zion.

She has opinions on everything! She cried when she was born, and cries whenever anything is not going her way. So different from my first baby, who I rarely heard cry.

it was the easiest birth I could have wished for. Almost totally painless. I think part of the reason it went so well is that I took homeopathic arnica thoughout the labour, and rubbed arnica gel on my belly and back. I also took some rescue remedy when I was feeling shakey towards the end. I also moved how I felt good, and was amazed at how just a simple adjustment in position would change the rushes.

I spent basically the whole labour alone and that felt good. I was totally dialated for about an hour or two (time, what is that?) in awe. I was sitting in the bathtub with the soles of my feet together for a lot of the rushes. When I got the urges to push, I sat on my haunches, and let her head slowly come out, with the sac around her head (born in the caul). Now I know what it feels like to really want to push. I got up on my knees above the water, and let her slide out with the rush, while my mom, DD and partner watched me catch her. She breathed after a few seconds, sputtered and cried.

She weighed 7 1/2 lbs according to the scale I have, but she looked sooo tiny to me, especially compared with my 30 lb. toddler.

she is a good nurser, and there is lots of milk. She's getting fatter by the day.

I'm so glad my DD was able to witness her sister's birth. The first thing she said was "bay-bee.." and continues to say it every time she sees my new little angel. She is so far showing no signs of jealousy.

I am so proud of my self that I gave birth unhindered and unassisted. But at the same time it seems like the only way it was meant to be.

Life is Beautiful

I was due 7/22/04 - and Bonnie was born 6/19/2004. So things went different than planned, but the outcome is great!! There's a lengthy pre-birth story - thanks for your patience!
I always said I was going to work until the day I went into labor, and I did! On the morning of 6/18, a Friday, I noticed that perhaps I was leaking a *tiny* bit of extra fluid. It wasn't continuous, and I wasn't all that worried about it. At lunch, my friends and co-workers threw a baby shower for me (which was really great - we had it in the conference room, ate lots of good food, and didn't play any silly games!) and people were asking when I was due. I said "Forever! 5 more weeks!" and one of my friends who had a baby at 34 weeks said "You never know!" and we all laughed.
During dinner, I noticed that the "tiny bit of fluid" was now kinda bloody. I got worried, and called the Dr. on call at my clinic. DH thought everything was fine, and I mostly, did, too, but we went to the ER to get checked out anyway. We had tickets to a concert we really wanted to go to (not many bands come to Alaska) and were hoping we'd be out of the hospital before the show started. We walked in with just the clothes on our back.
Even the nurse thought I'd be out of there. But she came back and said I had ferns, that I was ruptured. My Dr. came in and said that the baby would be born very soon. At that point, Bonnie's birth became a totally managed affair. Because they weren't sure when my water had broken, they gave me pitocin at around 4 am. My water completely broke around 11 pm, though, and I was having my own contractions starting at around midnight. Well, after a couple hours of pitocin, there wasn't any break in the contractions..they were continuous, and very painful. At 6 am, they checked me and said I was 1 cm. At that point, I was already hooked up to a gazillion machines and couldn't move, and had been up for 26 hours. So I asked for an epidural, which gave relief to one side of my body. At 8 am, I was checked again, and I was at 5 cm. So my Dr. decided to stick around, and at 9:15 I started pushing. Only because of the epidural, I couldn't really feel what was going on, and it was more that people were telling me what was happening and what I should do. I remember snapping at DH that I didn't need to be told to push harder...that of course I was doing the best I could. :
Bonnie was born at 10:16 that morning. It took us two days to decide on a name. (Before she was born, we didn't know what sex she was - I never had an ultrasound. We were still waffling on names - I wanted a girl, so perversely thought that of course we would have a boy, and was thus concentrating on boy names.) She was, amazingly, 6 lbs 15 oz, and only on oxygen for a couple of hours, in a warming box for a couple of days, and out of the hospital and home with me on Monday. I still can't believe how good she's doing, compared with what they prepared me for.
She's nearly a month old now. Still has hair all over her body (including her ears!) but other than that, you'd never guess she was born early. I guess she was ready, even if I wasn't.
I'm so glad she's here. I can't imagine life without her now.

It wasn't exactly the intervention free birth I had been hoping for but I still have a baby all the same and he's wonderful... Here's his story:
My name is Elias Christopher and I was born on Wednesday, July 14 at 10:15am. I weighed 8 lbs 7 ounces and is 20.5 inches long. My mommy went to the hospital on Tuesday night. When she was hooked up to the monitors,she was already having contractions and didn't even know it! The nurse inserted a pill up by her cervix to help things along because she was only 1 cm dilated. At 1am the nurse started pitocin to help the contractions get stronger and come more regularly. My Daddy went to check on the fur babies at home at around 5 am and while he was gone Mommy's water broke. That's when the fun began. Mommy was not happy. When Daddy came back he had to ask the nurse to give Mommy something for the pain. The nurse gave Mommy stadol which made her really loopy but took the edge off the contractions. At this point, around 6 am Mommy was still only 1 cm dilated. At around 8 am, Mommy said, "MAKE THE PAIN STOP!!!!" and the nurse brought in the anesthesiologist for an epidural. The anesthesiologist applied the drugs to the epidural as if mommy was still dilated to 1 cm but when the nurse checked later, Mommy was at 7 cm!!!! No wonder everything had hurt so bad. The epidural helped Mommy get some rest because now she couldn't feel a darn thing. At 9 the doctor came in thinking that she was going to break Mommy's water and get things going. Imagine her surprise when Mommy was just about ready to push me out! The doctor cancelled her appointments for the morning and at around 9:30am Mommy started pushing me out. At 10:15 my head came out with a giant sploosh of fluid and I started crying. The nurse announced my APGARS as 8 for 1 minute and 9 for 5 minutes. My fingers were a little blue or I would have been a perfect 10. That's ok, my Mommy and Daddy think I am perfect anyway. I hope you enjoy my pictures - I think I'm pretty cute! http://community.webshots.com/album/163596833kCsPXg

I went to my ob appointment on the morning of the 12th. My bp was up, I gained 4lbs in 5 days and had protein in my urine for the third week in a row. Since I had no progression in my cervix since the week before even with a lot of contractions, we decided that induction was the way to go. The hospital called at about 9:15 that evening and told us to come on in. I got there around 10pm and they hooked me up to monitors to watch my contractions. They started pitocin at midnight. It started really slow and I let my dh sleep for a few hours. At around 3am I woke him up because I was having to work through my contractions. I was having a lot of back labor and there was one spot on my back that wouldn't stop hurting. At around 6am the nurse have me a hot compress for my back and checked me. I was still at 3cm which is what I went in at. The back pain wouldn't go away and I couldn't relax between contractions so I got a shot of stadol. It helped me relax and slow my contractions down. I was able to get about an hour of sleep. At 8am my ob came in and I was at 4cm. She said she would let me labor a while longer and would be in later to break my water. At 10am I used the restroom and had a great urge to push. I screamed for my dh to get the nurse. She checked me and I was at 5cm. I was having a hard time reisiting the urge to push so I got another shot of stadol. At 10:45 I told my dh to run and get the nurse. There was no way I couldn't push.

I was at 8-9 and the baby was coming down. They were trying to work with me to stop pushing while they were setting up for the delivery. They got my ob real quick. Right before she came in I pushed really hard twice and felt the baby come down. My ob came in right around 11am. She broke my water. I pushed about 5 times and delivered the head. One more push and his body was out. Parker Holden was born at 11:12am on the 13th of July. He weighed 8lbs 12oz and was 23in long.

My dh called my mom to come when I was at 8-9 and she showed up with my ds right when I was being stitched up. My ds was scared of everything going on. I started nursing Parker and ended up tandem nursing both of them right after my birth with my ob and the nurses in the room still.

Parker is a champion nurser. William gets a little jealous and comes up just to get a sip while he is eating. Tandem nursing is a bit of a challenge but it is working out ok. William likes to love on his brother and has to run and see what is going on if he is crying.

I didn't get the drug free birth I was planning. I had a hard time with the struggle as to whether to get pain meds or not. Overall I had a very good birth experience and don't regret any of it.

It's a Boy! I'm finding it hard to sit for very long, so I can't elaborate on everything, but here it is:

Monday night, July 12, I started feeling very minor contractions, like Braxton Hicks, but noticed they were coming every 10 minutes or so. Through the night, they were strong enough to wake me up, but not real painful, and still 10-15 minutes or more in between. By 5am I couldn't sleep anymore, got up, and took a nice long hot shower. I realized during this that they were coming much more frequently, like 3-5 minutes, but were very short, 20-30 seconds, and not incredibly intense.

I called my midwife just to give her a heads up, and she said to call when anything changed. If she didn't hear from me, we would just keep my appt. scheduled for 2:30pm that day. I was pretty convinced this was about to happen, so I called my mom and sister and they came over. We filled up the birth tub. Then about 10am, they started spacing back out. I couldn't believe it. Still fairly intense, but short, and now back to 10-15 minutes apart. Dh and I went for a walk, but nothing really happened. My midwife came over at 2pm, and I asked her to check me - 2cm and fairly soft, but still 10-15 minutes, sometimes more, between contractions. My midwife suggested we go do something fun, and you could tell she didn't think anything was going to be happening for awhile. I was starting to get really discouraged and felt ridiculous having everyone hanging around the house for nothing.

So we were just waiting for ds to wake up from his nap, and then were going to go the mall or something. He woke up around 3:30pm, and wanted to nurse. And yikes, I had two major contractions while he was nursing. I had to unlatch him, and then things really started moving. Intense contracts, but 5-7 minutes apart. Painful though. I got in the tub and they slowed down to 10 minutes apart. Out of tub about 5 minutes apart, back in tub, back to 10 minutes apart. Updated my midwife, and she said she'd cancel her class that night, and call her when anything changed. Around 8pm they were still about 6 minutes apart, but when my midwife called she decided to come over anyway just to check things out. But again, you could tell she didn't think anything was really happening yet. I was totally calm between contractions, eating, talking, feeling great. I had to concentrate during the contractions, but nothing unbearable.

By the time she arrived 30 minutes later, it was a whole different story. She came in as I was writhing on the bed, as I had gotten out of the tub to dry off so she could check me. She immediately sensed that things that changed. I was 8cm. I got back in the tub, she called the other midwives, and about 10 minutes later, I told her that maybe I was crazy but I felt like I had to push. She checked me again and I was complete. She hid her panic well, but you could tell she was freaked that the other midwives weren't going to arrive in time.

Turns out they had plenty of time, because I pushed for 1.5hours. And man, that last half hour was BRUTAL. I seriously htought I was going to break in half if I pushed the head out, and told everyone as much. They reassured me that I really wouldn't break, but I was convinced that I would be the first woman in history to actually break in half. The pain and pressure was soooo intense. But the contractions were very short, and I had a few minutes in between to rest - so much different than my last pushing experience.

I was on my knees in the tub when I finally pushed his head out, and I flipped over onto my butt as he crowned. My midwife and I pulled him up out of the water onto my chest. He had a cord around his neck, and it was a very short cord at that. She and I together pulled it off, and I just sat there dazed for a moment with him curled up on my chest. No one knew if it was a boy or a girl. Finally I reached between his legs and felt that it was a boy. We waited about 10 or 15 minutes, and finally decided to cut the cord as it was too short for me to climb out of the tub with him still attached. So we cut it, I handed him off to dh, and I climbed out, and pushed out the placenta. Then climbed into bed, back with baby.

My midwives were fantastic, such great care I can't believe it. I had only a very small, surface tear, didn't require any stitches. No swelling or brusing. Ds was 8lbs, 2oz, 21" long, and perfect. Born at 11:08pm on July 13. Recovery is going well, sitting is right now the only problem. The bleeding is almost gone and I am in shock - I bled for almost 4 weeks with ds1.

Oh, and speaking of ds1, he was a trooper. He stayed up to see the birth despite being really tired. He checked in on me meriodically, gave me hugs, patted my shoulder, and was so sweet it was unbelievable. While I was pushing he looked worried at one point, and I just told him that I was okay and everything was fine, and he was reassured. He has been so sweet with the baby - asks to hold him, kisses his fingers and toes, and is so gentle and sweet. I am so impressed with the little guy. And now I have another one!

Hello ladies,

Sumaiyah was born July 1 at 7:20 am 6 lbs 12 oz 18 3/4 long at home as planned in the water.

My edd was Jul 7 but on June 30th I decided to paint the kitchen (last thing on my to do list) at first I just wanted to do the cabinets but I actually did the whole thing. I guess I exerted myself a bit much because about 1 hour after I finished painting I noticed my underwear was wet. Not discharge but just like water. It was odorless and colorless. I changed my underwear 3 times and they all got soaked at the end i just put on a skirt and decided to go with out them at that point the 'leaking' stopped. I tried calling my MW but she was not home and did not page because I did not think it was that big of a deal. She was due to come the next day for a prenatal anyway so I figured I would ask then.

I continued to have my BH contractions all day. It was 5pm had been up since 7 am that day and the girls had not taken a nap (I have 3 other little girls 5, 3.5 and 2). I was tired but figured I would hold off on the nap and put them to bed early. at around 8:30pm they were asleep. I had gotten something to eat and dh came home around 10pm at which point bh were regular but not painful and not much different than before. Looking back I did feel more pelvic pressure that night because I remember telling dh 'oh cant this kid just come out?' dh had been out all day getting out mini van fixed and was tired himself. He also bought pizza and I had some afterwards I was too full and wish I had not ate it. Around midnight I went to the bathroom and saw blood in the toilet when I got up and I wiped with paper and there was blood. I was excited to think things were moving along and that soon I would have this little baby to hold.

I timed my contractions and called my MW at about 1:30 am. She listened to me on the phone and decided to head out. I was planning a waterbirth so we planned to fill the tub. DH was a little thrown off by the whole thing because he says I did not tell him anything during the day or warn him. early in the day I had no idea I would be in labor by night...anyway it was taking forever to fill the tub with the hoses (useless in my opinion) the tub was filled much faster by using buckets and this is how it was emptied as well (the hoses sit in my closet right now)My MW came and finished filling the tub I got in and it really made me relax and take the edge off of the contractions.

At about 5 am I could feel things were starting to change and contractions were getting more intense. I was determined not to push this time around and let my body to what it had too. But the contractions were killing me. I know that with my 2nd daughter who I did feel the urge to push with the contractions seemed to stop feeling like dialating contractions and more like pushing ones. Well at 7 am they still felt like the dialating ones and I kept screaming and saying "Why?!" over and over. My dh asks my MW why am I saying that and shes like 'oh sometimes women make those noises in labor' and Im like no Im really asking why is this still hurting like this lol...so I aske her to check my because maybe Im not fully dialated and its hurting under my belly and my back. Shes like "no Im pretty sure your 10cm and I think you should just go with what your feeling" Im like "im feeling like I want to pass out" It is 7 am and remeber I said I was up 7 am the day before so now I had been up for 24 hours and just wanted it to be over to get some rest (which btw I did not sleep even after I had the baby because of ppl coming to see me and then at night baby wanted to nurse so I was up till 4:30 am the next day so yeah almost 48 hours and no sleep...sounds worse than it really was because atleast you have that 'birth high' to help you out and sustain you). After a couple of more contractions and no real pushing urge my MW checked me and as soon as she put her fingers in she said "see I told you head is right there all you have to do is push if you want" so with the next contraction I pushed and although I was in the water I could still feel 'the ring of fire' which I found strange since in all the stories I had read women say they dont feel it. With 2 more good pushes she was out and I leaned back in to the pool holding her. She was a little purple and quiet and peaceful (she still is like that today and wonder if it had to do with the water)My 3 girls were there as well (They were up at 5:30 am!). They were so happy to see the baby and I was relieved to be done.

This was my first waterbirth and looking back now on the labor I definatley like the water for laboring but I think if I do have anymore I might opt to get out of the tub for the pushing stage. So that is my story...hope it was not to long.

Michelle mommy to 4 little women
Naseebah 5
Juwayriyah 3.5
Khadija 2
Sumaiyah 3 weeks

PS to moderator please delete my other birth story posted it in a new thread my mistake.

On Wednesday, I spent the day doing some serious nesting. I scrubbed the bathroom, washed the windows, ironed the curtains, organized the cupboard underneath the kitchen sink and finished the part of our room that is your nursery. Your dad did his own "nesting" that day, and bought a digital camera. As your dad and I sat down to dinner I told him, "Even though there are still things I've got to do, if the baby came now, I wouldn't have any anxiety over the things I need to finish." We ate our dinner and discussed that tomorrow was really JULY- the month we had been waiting for anxiously.
At 11:00, we went to bed. At 11:30 I woke up with what I thought was indigestion- back pain and lower abdominal cramping that I'd had off and on all week- and a full bladder. I went downstairs used the bathroom and then went back to bed. This happened three more times; each time I groggily trudged down the stairs and quickly fell back asleep when I returned to bed. But, on the fourth time, when I realized it was still dark and I'd already been up four times I decided to check the clock. It was only about 1:30! I noticed that my backache and cramping was coming back and it hit me- these were probably contractions!
I decided to watch the clock and see if I had another contraction before I could fall asleep again. Sure enough, at 1:37 I had one, and then another at 1:42. I woke your dad up and told him that I was pretty sure I was having contractions, we lay there and talked about it until the next contraction came at 1:47. He grabbed the Birthing From Within book from the nightstand to see what it said about when to call the midwife or head to your birthing space. We laughed because it recommended that I start a labor project- fat chance at 2 am! We went downstairs to see if any of our other books had more definitive advice. By this time I had to use the bathroom again and I noticed some bloody mucous.
After consulting with the book and each other, we paged my midwife. The contractions during the time we waited became stronger- there was no longer any question in my mind about what they were. Your dad packed himself a bag. We talked and were teary eyed and excited- we were finally here, and soon you would be with us!
It took about 20 minutes for my midwife to call back; she was delivering a baby girl when I had called. I described to her my contractions and the "bloody show". She said that I was in early labor and it could last for 24 or more hours. She advised me to draw a bath, try to relax and go back to bed if I could. If, my labor did not slow down when taking a bath and relaxing, she said I should call back when my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I was no longer laughing and conversational between contractions.
I told your dad what she had said and we went to the bathroom to get the bath ready. I said, "I'm so glad I washed the bathtub today." Your daddy laughed and said, "This is so like you. You got everything ready and now you can go into labor- you're such a planner!" We put lavendar in the bath and I lay there in the tub as he sat and talked with me.
At this point my contractions got stronger, and I started a "counting" technique to help myself get through them. When I got to the point in a contraction where it was very intense I would start counting backwards from an arbitrary number, like 40. For some reason it helped me remember that the contraction would end, eventually. At first, my contractions ended before I would get to zero. Later, I started getting to zero and then counting back up. After about an hour in the tub, daddy suggested that we try to go back to bed. I was dubious about the possibility of sleeping through the pains I was having, but agreed to try.
Of course, daddy fell asleep within a few minutes of being in bed. I tried, but I was not able to relax enough to fall asleep between contractions. After about 20 minutes of laying in bed, I could not take laying down through the contractions anymore and decided to quietly go downstairs and give your dad some time to get rested for the coming day.
During my time alone, I walked around our house, laid in tub for a while more, and laid on the couch in baby pose to help you get into position. I kept imagining my body opening up for you to come out and smiled each time I felt you moving, preparing for your big journey. After my time on the couch I got back in the tub for a while. I lay down and had a couple of contractions within a very short time. I decided I'd better start getting ready soon. After a contraction ended, I got up and dried off. I pulled out my comb and started combing through my hair, but before I could finish I had another contraction. When the contraction was finished, I started brushing my teeth, but before I could finish, I was having another contraction! I made my way up the stairs to find some clothes and wake up your father. I headed to my closet first and started looking for my clothes. As I found them, your dad's alarm went off. It was 6 am. The alarm was set to radio and as it turned on it played a Paul Simon song: the first words that came blasting out were "I'm gonna watch you shine, gonna watch you grow" and the song was about a father's love for his child. How perfect! I said to your dad, "I think it's time to go, my contractions are really close and strong." At this time I fell to my knees with a contraction and your dad came around the corner and saw me. He said that he'd page the midwife while I got dressed.
After throwing on some clothes and making my way down the stairs (with several more contractions going on), the midwife called. She said to come on in. Your dad had the car loaded up and he helped me to make my way to it. The car ride to the hospital is a blur for me. Your daddy drove quickly but safely. I was going through transition at this time and this was the hardest part of my labor, not a great time to be strapped into a seat and going over bumps. We pulled into The Birthing Inn at 6:30.
Palmer greeted us at the door, she was our childbirth educator and she was a doula at your birth. She hugged me and then helped me to lean over a couch as I breathed through a doozy of a contraction. We walked back to the room where you were born. It was the same room where your daddy had given me a footbath a few weeks earlier. I laid on the bed and your midwife, Kay, checked my cervix. She said that I was 7 centimeters dilated and had gotten there at the perfect time. I asked Palmer to fill the bathtub for me and she got it ready quickly, while I leaned forward on the bed and your dad rubbed my lower back.
When the tub was ready, I stripped my clothes off as I walked for it. The hot water felt so good- I realized that my entire body had been contracting when I had contractions before I got into the water. The water helped me to focus my energy on you and my labor.
As I labored, your dad put cold rags to my forehead and held a glass of water to my mouth for me to drink. Palmer and Kay, and a doula in training named Erin, who sat in on your birth, sat around the tub and encouraged me. They told me that I was doing a good job and to keep working with the contractions the way I was. We had brought the unity candle from our wedding and your dad lit it. When my eyes were open, I would look at the candle or look out the sliding glass doors at the sky and the trees. You were born on a beautiful day!
Shortly after 7:30 I felt like pushing. When I told Kay, she said to try and see how it felt. It seemed to relieve pressure, and I thought I was practicing pushing. Your dad was concerned that I might hurt myself if I wasn't fully dilated yet. Kay said that she thought I was ready if I felt like I was. On my next push, my bag of waters ruptured and came shooting out like a squid's ink. Your dad voiced his concern again and after a contraction, Kay asked if I would let her check me, so that he could be sure it was okay. I said sure. When she checked she said, "All right, there's his head." I couldn't believe it! I didn't know I was really pushing! Your dad reached and felt the top of your head, and then I did too. I was so excited I yelled out, "I'm going to have a baby!" Kay suggested that I pull one leg out of the water to give you more room to come out. Then she reminded me to relax my legs when I pushed. With my next few pushes I got serious. And, voila, out came your head. As I pushed, I felt an incredible surge of energy and amazing strength flow through my body. Another contraction and the rest of your body followed. At 8:15 a.m. on Thursday, July 1st, 2004 you emerged into this world in a warm, watery entrance and were promptly delivered into your mama's loving arms. You weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and were 20 inches long.
Palmer and Kay rubbed you with a towel and suctioned you nose and you began your first cry. Then your dad cut your umbilical cord and took his shirt off so that he could hold you skin to skin while I got out of the tub and got a few stitches. When daddy brought you to bed, you nursed for the first time. I asked him who he thought you were. He said that as he held you he was thinking that you were Caiden. Then he suggested that your middle name was my maiden name. It took us several hours to be sure, but we decided he was right. We spent hours holding you and staring at you as we lay in bed. You were, and are, so perfect.
Your birth was an incredible and beautiful miracle, and the best experience of my life. The day you were born, a part of me was born. I can't believe that I got to be your mama- I am so blessed. Thank you for being mine!