I woke up out of a dead sleep at 5am, sat straight up to the pain from what felt like HORRIBLE period pain. It lasted for about a minute and stopped. I assumed that this was more fake labor, as my unborn child liked to torment me with this for the four weeks prior to this point. I went to the bathroom and timed it, JUST in case, cause well..today IS my due date. I sat there for a couple of minutes terrified that my water was going to break and I really wanted to avoid the mess HAH.
At 5:10am I had another cramp that lasted about a minute and was more intense than the one before it. I’m still not convinced because, every time I thought it was real, it wasn’t. At 5:18am I was stopped to have what I KNEW was a contraction, oh my god, a REAL contraction! I labored for about two hours before I felt like it was time for my mom to be my active ‘doula’. I tried to take ‘micro naps’ in between the contractions, but they kept getting closer and quicker than I expected. At about 12:30pm I decided I was going to the birth center. I didn’t care that I hadn’t been having the contractions this close for a long enough time. It was TIME.
I get to the birth center and I was greeted by midwife Kitty guiding me into the exam room to check my progress. I go to get undressed and I have bloody show! Yee another good sign that this is really happening. While being checked I’m hopeful to hear at least, “oh you’re 5 cm”, but instead Kitty says “You’re 8 cm! Let’s go get that tub ready!”. I wobble my quickest to the birth suite where I’m guided to the shower to use while I wait on the tub to be filled up and ready. The worst part for me wasn’t the pain in my pelvis, it was the pain coming from my back. The only thing that helped was extreme pressure on my lower back. The tub was filled and I hung my body on the edge of the side. Shane (my partner) held my hands and I gripped them during contractions. In between contractions I felt my body float and I braced myself for what was about to happen. I felt her shift down. I felt the urge to push.
My body was telling me it’s time. I pushed just to see if anything was even possible to happen, and I felt my water breaking. Kitty tells me she saw my water breaking and that it’s time. I changed positions where my feet were held up by the handle bars in the tub. I pushed with 2 contractions and as Kitty thought the 3rd contraction was ending,
I pushed again as hard as I possible could imagine… She was here. I did it. She’s here. “Oh my god she’s so tiny!” as she was brought to my chest and I let out this sign of relief. Her face was wiped and she cried immediately. I looked at her and couldn’t believe she was actually here. I was moved to the bed to recover and to do 3 tiny stitches that were mainly precautionary. The newborn exam was done right in front of me on the bed while I ate my postpartum feast and took some medication for the obvious tenderness.
At 6pm I was told I could go home and that they would call me the next day to check on me. I’m so glad I chose Sweet Child O Mine because instead of remembering an anxiety filled long three day stay at the hospital, I remember my completely private cozy suite with the same two staff members I was used to the most, who I truly felt comfortable with. I remember feeling like a bad*ss because I DID IT, and without medication! I loved my care and if my sanity allowed for another child, I would, without a doubt, chose them again.
