I started feeling contractions throughout the day Saturday. They were uncomfortable, but I could tolerate them. Since I had been having similar contractions for a couple of weeks, I just put them in the back of my mind and refused to beleive they meant anything. They were getting closer together as the night went on, and John kept asking if I wanted to go in and get checked. But I was adamant about waiting until I couldn't handle it anymore. I just didn't want to be turned away at the hospital. We went to bed around 11pm, but I didn't sleep. The contractions were getting worse, and were about 7 minutes apart. I had to sit up in bed and breathe through them, but still convinced myself that they were nothing. By 3am, I had to get out of bed. They were getting pretty bad. I went downstairs and made myself a cup of tea, and laboured to the Beatles for awhile.
![]()
I kept telling myself "I can hold off until 3:30" and then "I can hold off until 4:30", etc, etc, etc. We needed to call my mother-in-law to pick up Brynn, and I didn't want to wake her up in the middle of the night, in case it turned out to be nothing.
By about 6am, they were coming every 3 minutes or so, and they HURT! I called upstairs to John, flicked the lights to get his attention, and finally banged on the wall to get him to come down. His mother showed up about 15 minutes later to pick up Brynn, and then we were off to the hospital. The ride there was total hell. It really got labour going, and by the time we got to the hospital, I had to stop and complain through 5 contractions before we made it up to the L&D floor.
When I got into the triage area, I told them that I thought the contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart. They hooked me up to the monitor and told me that they'd let it run for about 40 minutes, to see how my contractions were. After about 5 minutes, the nurse came in and told me "Your contractions aren't 3-5 minutes apart, they're right on top of eachother." She checked me, and told me I was 4-5cm dialated, and that I'd be having my baby that day! She asked me about my preferences, and I told her I'd rather not have an epidural. So she told me that she'd get me a room with a jacuzzi tub.
When we got set up in the room, the nurse came in and introduced herself. She told me that she had 3 kids, and two of them were born totally natural, so she would help me have the birth I wanted. She was great! I only wish I could remember her name, so I could send her a thank you card. I was bummed out to discoverd that the jacuzzi tub in our room was out of order, but the nurse brought in a birthing ball for me, and told me that I could labour in the shower whenever I wanted to. I paced around the room for awhile, with John supporting me through the contractions. I tried the birthing ball for awhile, but didn't like it. The contractions seemed to hurt a bit less when I was standing. After an hour or so, I decided to try out the shower. I stayed in there, sitting on a stool with the shower nozzle against my belly, for the better part of the morning. John filled up a peri bottle with hot hot water and pressed it against my back through the contractions. It helped quite a bit.
The nurse asked if I wanted her to check my progress, so I hopped out of the shower and went out to be checked. I was nervous that she would tell me I hadn't progressed at all. It took SO long to dialate with Brynn, that I was sure that my body would fail me again. So I was pleasantly suprised when she told me I was already 7cm. She told me that they could break my water if I wanted, and that it might help me to progress faster. But I also knew that it would make the contractions much much more painful. And I was already in so much pain that I didn't think I'd be able to handle anything else. I told her that I'd decide after the next time she checked me. I laboured standing up for awhile, and the nurse and John took turns massaging my back through the contractions.
I got the shakes really badly. I hated the feeling of totally losing control of my body. The nurse told me that it'd be a good idea to check me again. I climbed up into the bed, and she told me that I was 9cm! She asked if I wanted my water broken, and I decided that at this point, it wouldn't be a bad idea. So she went to get the doctor. When the doctor came into the room, I was already pushing. I had no control over my body. It was totally surreal. I remember screaming louder than I've ever screamed in my life. (John told me afterwards that the nurses and doctors in the room all cringed, it was so loud). And I couldn't stop myself. The doctor was frantically telling me "don't push, don't push!" but I couldn't stop it from happening. The nurse checked me when all of this was happening, and said "You know what? She's 10cm, she can push."
They started rushing around the room setting everything up, and told me that I could push through the next contraction. What a weird, painful feeling. The pain was totally indescribable. I thought I was dying. I thought for sure that I would split in two. I remember being totally in denial that it was happening, thinking for sure that they'd tell me "the baby isn't coming out, we'll have to do an emergency c-section." I really didn't want the same experience I had with Brynn. To do all that work only to have the baby cut out of me. So I pushed like crazy. I pushed as hard as I could, and then pushed 10x harder. And eventually they told me that the baby would be out with the next contraction. I still didn't beleive them. They told me I could reach down and feel the head. It didn't feel like much of anything to me, so I still didn't beleive that the baby was "right there." With the next push, the head came out, and had a feeling of total releif wash over me. It felt so good to have that baby out. I looked down and saw the head, pushed once more, and the baby was born!
They had John cut the cord, and I was totally annoyed that nobody had told me the sex of the baby. I asked "what did we have? what did we have?" and John told me "It's a boy!!" (And that I didn't beleive until I saw it, either, lol. We were both so sure it'd be another girl.) They passed the baby up to me, and I got to hold him and feed him for the first time. It was great.
Kieran was born at 11:15am on June 5th, weighing in at 8lbs, 7oz (only one ounce bigger than his sister). He's absolutely perfect and I couldn't be happier.
Kieran
By about 6am, they were coming every 3 minutes or so, and they HURT! I called upstairs to John, flicked the lights to get his attention, and finally banged on the wall to get him to come down. His mother showed up about 15 minutes later to pick up Brynn, and then we were off to the hospital. The ride there was total hell. It really got labour going, and by the time we got to the hospital, I had to stop and complain through 5 contractions before we made it up to the L&D floor.
When I got into the triage area, I told them that I thought the contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart. They hooked me up to the monitor and told me that they'd let it run for about 40 minutes, to see how my contractions were. After about 5 minutes, the nurse came in and told me "Your contractions aren't 3-5 minutes apart, they're right on top of eachother." She checked me, and told me I was 4-5cm dialated, and that I'd be having my baby that day! She asked me about my preferences, and I told her I'd rather not have an epidural. So she told me that she'd get me a room with a jacuzzi tub.
When we got set up in the room, the nurse came in and introduced herself. She told me that she had 3 kids, and two of them were born totally natural, so she would help me have the birth I wanted. She was great! I only wish I could remember her name, so I could send her a thank you card. I was bummed out to discoverd that the jacuzzi tub in our room was out of order, but the nurse brought in a birthing ball for me, and told me that I could labour in the shower whenever I wanted to. I paced around the room for awhile, with John supporting me through the contractions. I tried the birthing ball for awhile, but didn't like it. The contractions seemed to hurt a bit less when I was standing. After an hour or so, I decided to try out the shower. I stayed in there, sitting on a stool with the shower nozzle against my belly, for the better part of the morning. John filled up a peri bottle with hot hot water and pressed it against my back through the contractions. It helped quite a bit.
The nurse asked if I wanted her to check my progress, so I hopped out of the shower and went out to be checked. I was nervous that she would tell me I hadn't progressed at all. It took SO long to dialate with Brynn, that I was sure that my body would fail me again. So I was pleasantly suprised when she told me I was already 7cm. She told me that they could break my water if I wanted, and that it might help me to progress faster. But I also knew that it would make the contractions much much more painful. And I was already in so much pain that I didn't think I'd be able to handle anything else. I told her that I'd decide after the next time she checked me. I laboured standing up for awhile, and the nurse and John took turns massaging my back through the contractions.
I got the shakes really badly. I hated the feeling of totally losing control of my body. The nurse told me that it'd be a good idea to check me again. I climbed up into the bed, and she told me that I was 9cm! She asked if I wanted my water broken, and I decided that at this point, it wouldn't be a bad idea. So she went to get the doctor. When the doctor came into the room, I was already pushing. I had no control over my body. It was totally surreal. I remember screaming louder than I've ever screamed in my life. (John told me afterwards that the nurses and doctors in the room all cringed, it was so loud). And I couldn't stop myself. The doctor was frantically telling me "don't push, don't push!" but I couldn't stop it from happening. The nurse checked me when all of this was happening, and said "You know what? She's 10cm, she can push."
They started rushing around the room setting everything up, and told me that I could push through the next contraction. What a weird, painful feeling. The pain was totally indescribable. I thought I was dying. I thought for sure that I would split in two. I remember being totally in denial that it was happening, thinking for sure that they'd tell me "the baby isn't coming out, we'll have to do an emergency c-section." I really didn't want the same experience I had with Brynn. To do all that work only to have the baby cut out of me. So I pushed like crazy. I pushed as hard as I could, and then pushed 10x harder. And eventually they told me that the baby would be out with the next contraction. I still didn't beleive them. They told me I could reach down and feel the head. It didn't feel like much of anything to me, so I still didn't beleive that the baby was "right there." With the next push, the head came out, and had a feeling of total releif wash over me. It felt so good to have that baby out. I looked down and saw the head, pushed once more, and the baby was born!
They had John cut the cord, and I was totally annoyed that nobody had told me the sex of the baby. I asked "what did we have? what did we have?" and John told me "It's a boy!!" (And that I didn't beleive until I saw it, either, lol. We were both so sure it'd be another girl.) They passed the baby up to me, and I got to hold him and feed him for the first time. It was great.
Kieran was born at 11:15am on June 5th, weighing in at 8lbs, 7oz (only one ounce bigger than his sister). He's absolutely perfect and I couldn't be happier.
Kieran
